DESERTED TOWN

I shuddered at the ungodly sight of the coachman lying dead on the ground, his blood coating his wide-open eyeballs. Uncountable bullet holes riddled his clothes, creating gruesome wounds that were soaked with blood. The metallic scent of blood mingled with the acrid smell of gunsmoke, turning my stomach.

His lifeless eyes seemed to stare into nothingness, reminding me of the chaos that just went down, and my pulse quickened. I looked away almost immediately at the traumatic sight and ran towards Alexander.

The sun was beginning to set, the sole of my feet throbbing from keeping up with Alexander's slow, yet fast pace. I'd never felt bad about my body build until now.

We'd been walking for what seemed like an eternity. I couldn't tell how long, since I was so focused on keeping up my pace. When Alexander finally stopped in the midst of the abandoned, worn out houses, from the deserted place we just walked into, I felt a rush of relief.

I watched him look around the unusually quiet place that gave me an eerie feeling which was hard to shake off.

"Uhm, Alexander," I breathed, "Where are we? You said a town was up close." I took a look around the shabby street. There was no sign of life, whatsoever, and this put me on edge.

When I turned back to look at Alexander, my wolf became alert, and I felt something come at a fast pace toward me. Just as it was about to hit me, Alexander pulled me to himself. The bullet whizzed past, narrowly missing us.

With wide eyes, I clung to Alexander, my fingers digging into his arm as fear coursed through me.

"Stay close," he growled, his eyes scanning our surroundings, and his fangs bared.

My legs trembled as I looked at the hole the bullet made at the wall beside us. I would've been dead if Alexander hadn't pushed me to the side. I forced myself to stay upright. "Who are they? Why are they attacking us?" The trembles in my voice made it sound foreign to my ears. It was barely audible over the pounding in my ears, but I was sure Alexander heard it.

He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he crouched down, inspecting the trajectory of the bullet, his expression darkening. "I don't know," he finally said, "But they chose the worse day to attack."

Another shot rang out, and the only thing I felt was Alexander's body on mine, shielding me. I opened my eyes, gasping to the silver bullet on his hand before he dragged me behind a dilapidated wall.

"Stay down," he commanded, his tone leaving no room for argument. I nodded, pressing myself against the cold, crumbling bricks.

The sun had almost disappeared below the horizon, casting long shadows that danced eerily in the fading light. I felt exposed, vulnerable. My wolf instincts screamed at me to run, to hide, but there was no safe place here.

Suddenly, the sounds of footsteps crunching on gravel reached my ears, and my wolf growled. I looked ahead to see a silhouette appearing from the shadows that divided into multiple figures.

"You finally show yourselves, you peasants," Alexander snarled and I turned to a pair of golden eyes with elongated claws.

My wolf calmed at the sight.