Kora looked at the man before with curiosity brimming in her eyes. She did not know him and she had never seen him before. His dark eyes bored into hers but her gaze did not falter. She liked his scent. It was different from every other scent and it was soothing. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

She moved closer to him now standing a few steps away from him and tilted her head so she could look at his face while Darren bent a bit forward. They looked at each other wordlessly for a while forgetting that there was a fight going on around them.

This scene of Darren looking at the little girl with so much interest caught the attention of his companions. It looked as if they were trying to recall where they might have met before from the outsider’s point of view. Seeing as more and more of the Rogues and Abominations were heading their way, Mateo linked, Darren.

"Alpha, What should we do? Should help them?" He asked and looked at Darren who still haven’t averted his gaze from the little girl.

"Get rid of them," Darren said through the mind link, linking everyone with him at the same time.

Just then Kora spoke. "Who are you?" She asked out of pure curiosity.

"I am Darren." He said bending on one knee to meet her height. "You shouldn’t be here, it’s dangerous for you to be out here now. Shift so you can run faster, I will keep them away from you."

Kora shook her head and he frowned a little. "I can’t shift, I have no wolf." She said looking sullen. When Darren heard that he felt a pang in his heart. He remembered himself when he was just like her. Without a beast form.

"Come with me I will get you out of here." He said and took her hand in his determined to protect her. She pulled away and shook her head again. "What is it?"

"My friends are there, I don’t want to leave them," Kora said pointing at the schoolhouse. "Lazarus and Dana are here too, they will be worried if they don’t see me."

Hearing her call the pack Alpha and Luna by their names piqued his interest. It appears that she was the one who gave the distress signal. But then what was her relationship with them? A member of a pack shouldn’t address his or her alpha by their name unless granted permission or maybe they are closely related, like family or close friends.

They heard a growl behind them and turned only to see a rogue ready to launch at Kora. Instead of feeling scared, the girl glared daggers at it as if trying to kill it with her eyes.

"Stand behind me," Darren said and move in front of her. Kora said nothing and stood where she was.

In front of her, Darren’s eyes turned onyx, fur sprouted from his body and his claws elongated as he shifts into his lycan. Kora looked at him with an open mouth. She has never seen a wolf as huge as him before not even Lazarus’ wolf was as big as his.

Darren let his alpha aura roll off him and filled the school premises when he saw that he and Kora had been surrounded. He was surprisingly calm. He should have lost control by now and started wreaking havoc after being surrounded like this. His beast sought chaos and he loved shedding blood but he was calm without an ounce of blood lust in him. Now that he was shifted, the scent of earth after the rain had become stronger. He took a glance at the girl behind him, he didn’t need confirmation from anyone, she was the one he has been looking for. She was just too young right now.

Darren took his focus back to their attackers and lunged at the closest one. He made sure he was not too close to her to hurt her by accident and also not too far from her to protect them if anyone gets past him. Another black beast which they both recognized as Lazarus joined the fight.

The school was filled with these creatures and they could only wonder what they were after. From the looks of it, they were here for Kora but no one could understand what they wanted with a girl without a beast form.

The two beasts took the fight head-on, making sure that no one got close enough to Kora to hurt her. Suddenly they heard an explosion inside the school as a group of spell casters joined in on the fight.

****

Inside the school,

Dana who was in her beast form shifts back to her human skin. It was best to fight magic with magic. Lucy and Lucinda had found her and stood beside them on both sides with her in the middle.

"Do you know what they want?" Lucy asked facing the three spell casters in front of them.

"No," Dana answered curtly. She had a hunch it was Kora whom they were after but she was not going to tell them that.

"You are lying," Lucinda said giving a glance at her. Dana did not respond. Her eyes glowed purple as she used a spell to clothe herself.

"Believe me if you want." She said. The purple glow spread from her eyes to the rest of her body. A strong aura rolled off her and she gathered it in her hands making fireballs out of her very unusual purple aura. Aura should not be seen but hers could be seen and she was using it in a fight. Lucy and Lucinda including the other witches watched everything that she did with rapt attention.

When she felt it was enough, she pointed her hand to the three witches who were distracted by what she was doing aiming the fireballs at them. Before they could react it was too late as it has already connected. It exploded like a bomb destroying a significant part of the school building.

Lucy and Lucinda regained their sense and capitalized on the damage that Dana had caused by killing the three witches. Dana seemed out of breath. It seems whatever she did had drained her dry as she staggered a bit and fell to her knees clutching her stomach and taking deep breaths.