Chapter 42

Ariel had not expected the bar to give not only at the top, but in the middle as well. It bent with a loud shriek and she felt herself falling back. She braced her self for the impact on the uneven stone and dirt floor, but instead felt an explosive tie gelling sensation cascade down her left arm. Her eyes shifted and she saw him there, arm through the gap in the bars and holding her. She was still braced against the bars and he was using her own leverage to hold her up. For a few very long moments they just stared at one another.

Finally she let go of the broken bar and grabbed his wrist, using it to hold herself up as she brought her feet back to the floor.

"Thanks." She mumbled awkwardly, stepping away from the bars as he slipped through the gap. His eyes never left her face, and she felt a myriad of mixed and jumbled emotions swirl together inside of her chest. Questions began to grow withing her mind, fed by the strange feelings that she didn't have time to process.

"We have other cells to open." She said at long last, turning away from him and going back to one of the other cells. With more and more warriors freed, it was easier to break bars or doors.

There were eleven in total, twelve counting Ariel, that were now crouched in the floor. She had gone and received the button down shirt, now working out a plan with the warriors.

"They all have wolvesbane in their blood. It's not a lot, but the more you end up swallowing from biting the more you injest." She pointed out, explaining how the wolves had lost the fight for their home.

"They use the poison and guns with silver bullets to take down packs. No matter how strong a wolf is, you can't survive a bullet to the head." She told them. All of then looked upset or defeated.

"But we can beat them. They are used to fill force frontal attacks. Wolves are stronger and so you often go at them immediately. They are just humans, so they are weak and easy to kill." She told them, pushing away the queasy feeling that crept into her ar the mention of killing.

She'd killed before, but it was in defence of herself or others. She had not killed in a manner like this before, but she knew she had to. They had to taken down these hunters.

"Why didn't they just kill us all?" He asked, Ariel gritting her teeth.

"Experiments. In order to find the best and most effective methods to torture and kill wolves, they need live wolves." She pointed out, the horrified looks on the faces around her telling her they had not considered the possibility.

"I saw it when I escaped the hunter town. While they take the children to use to breed the wolf out of future generations, they experiment on anyone older than five. Liquid silver, different poisons, torture. Everything and anything to help them learn more about how to kill us." She explained to them, watching the different expressions on their faces. She took in a deep breath before continuing.

"We need to take out their scouts first. The more space we have to move, the better. We can't let them call for help." She stated, drawing out a rough map of the area.

"We are here. The best way to get to town is a straight shot. In our wolf forms we can move faster and easier, but we have to go in low and quiet. We have no idea what time of day it will be outside, but it wont matter." She stated before telling them in detail everything they had to know.

Because Ariel didn't expect the humans to come back for at least another day, they all took some time to sleep before setting out. It was important that they were as well rested and healed as possible. In that time, she learned that the male that often occupied her mind was named Cole, and his father was Samuel. Having a name to put to the face was nice, but it did not help with her mind being unable to let him go.

They moved as a group in human shape up the stairs and into the nicer part of the prison and to the door. They waited there for a few long moments while they listened for movement or talking on the other side of the door. When it was clear there was no one outside, Ariel pushed it open and she walked through first. She was not injured, so if there is an ambush it was better if she was the one attacked than the others.

She gave a quiet whistle to the others and they crept out with her, all of them forming up in front of the door as it was pushed closed. The other were safer there in the prison for now, until they could clear the town of the hunters. After a moment to make sure everyone was ready, they all shifted. Ariel took note of the strange looks she got in her wolf form, but paid it no mind for now. They had a job to do.

Seeing Cole in his wolf form, she realized that he was the wolf she had saved from this pack before, the one that almost stepped into the trap. No wonder the whole pack was up in arms. If he was the son of an important figure, it could have been seen as a personal attack. With the coming fight, though, she pushed the thoughts from her head. As one they all darted into the forest, the sky just lightening with the rising of the sun.