บท 19: Eventful night
Esme jumped up and ducked in time for a fist flying towards her face.
"Ack!" She missed the second man who punched her in the gut, and she flew backwards off the rooftop and crash-landed in the alleyway. She skilfully flipped back onto her feet, her hand holding her body up, her eyes glowing as her upper lip pulled back in a snarl, revealing part of her canines at the two men who jumped down from the roof.
"I don't want to fight," She growled while observing their large bodies and the way they sauntered towards her like she was something tasty to eat.
Ugh, were they not mated?
"Neither do we. What's a she-wolf like you doing here?" The man with the bloodied neck asked. While his brother, whose eyes were dark and cold, scrutinised her body and smelled the air.
"I'm just passing through. What are you doing here?" She replied, glancing between the pair warily, her stance tense, her right fingers twitching, anticipating their next move.
"Same-"
The man who attacked his brother leapt forwards, mid-air shifting into his wolf and pushed her to the ground. Her hand wrapped around the blade, and she stabbed him in the neck before his jaws went for her throat. The brown wolf yelped, and she pushed him to the side, leaving the silver knife in him. Once on her feet again, she grew her claws, walking towards the man with the bloodied neck.
He charged towards her, ready to tackle her to the ground, but she spun around, ran towards the building, and after three steps up the wall, she backflipped over the man, landing just behind him. He swiped his elbow towards her, but she grabbed his bicep and used his weight to swing around him and punch him straight in the face. He growled and yanked her by the hood and hair, striking her face multiple times before grabbing her by the neck, lifting her above the ground.
Esme froze for a fraction, the image of Ethan replacing this randomer before her, squeezing her neck, but she glared at the memory and simultaneously smacked her hands on his forearms and kicked him in the gut. He flew back, and she instantly jumped on him, punching his face, her eyes glowing furiously, but he phased beneath her, his clothes ripped to shreds and brown fur sprouted from his face, a snout growing out that tried to chomp her face. She moved back, but he swiped his claw out and smacked her into the bins.
"Ugh." She felt the sting of his scratch on her face and the bruises already forming on her body. But hey ho, this was nothing.
Esme jumped up and rolled to the side out of the wolf's leaping form. "Let's shift!" Isana shouted; she was pumped for a fight.
Esme smirked, "Fine. Take the lead." She threw her bag and leather jacket to the side, stepped out of her shoes and growled at the approaching wolf. It leapt towards her, mouth widening going for her neck, but Isana came to the forefront of her mind, and she jumped to the side in a roly-poly, flinging her hoody off simultaneously.
"Sorry, Es!"
Isana shifted, her dark fur bursting through her clothes, ripping them to shreds as she grew in size. She instantly charged towards the wolf, and they were in a heated battle.
Pfft, jokes. Isana was just playing with him. Her wolf was either cautious and timid, or she became vicious.
The other wolf yelped for the third time after she nipped at his ankles. "Is, I don't like torture. Kill him already." Esme ordered her. She couldn't do anything right now but just watch her body as a wolf attacked this other rogue.
Isana sunk her teeth into his neck and ripped away. Instantly the large wolf flopped to the ground. The taste of blood was strong on her tongue, and she shook her head. Isana sighed from expending her energy and released the reins for Esme to take control of her body once more. She shifted, moaning from the mess in front of her wiping away the blood from her mouth and redressed into new clothes.
"That was such a waste," Esme murmured aloud, staring at the two wolves left on the ground. She pulled her hood overhead again before grabbing her knife and pulling it out of the wolf's neck. "Do you think they felt threatened, and that's why they attacked?" She asked Isana as she pulled her phone out, flipping it open.
"Hmm, it's weird. I don't think our lovely mate sent them," Isana replied.
Esme's thumb hovered over the green phone button. "No, these guys were too sloppy," She muttered aloud and glanced at her surroundings again. She wondered where the other two went, but they had no plans to stay from the way they fled.
Esme pressed the call button and put the phone to her ear as she started to casually walk down the street, staring at her bloodied hand. While she waited and listened, Esme reached down to a puddle and rinsed off the blood.
"Esme," Niko breathed down the phone. "Is everything okay?" His voice was filled with curiosity; she checked the time and realised why. It was 3am.
"Erm.." She trailed off and glanced back at the far end of the alley. "There was a little scrap with some rogues that got out of hand.." She looked up at the sky, waiting to be scolded.
He didn't respond, so she released her breath and continued. "There are two dead wolves in an alleyway. It was an eventful night. Reckon you could send your clean up crew?"
Niko sighed and spoke to someone else in another language. "Where are you?"
Esme flipped the phone shut after telling Niko her location. He told her to leave the scene in case any humans arrived, and she happily did. Though she climbed back onto the rooftops of buildings. There were still two rogues somewhere, and she didn't want to run into them.
But after cautiously climbing over buildings, she jumped down into another alley. Someone was following her. She wondered if they were really a threat because they had followed her for at least twenty minutes and missed many opportunities to attack her. She turned the corner and reached for her knife.
Spinning around, she threw the knife that stuck into the wall, holding a small woman's jacket pressed against it. She held her hands up in front of her, sheepishly grinning. She was the rogue she-wolf from earlier. Esme narrowed her eyes and started to slowly approach her while observing her surroundings. She felt like someone was watching them, but she couldn't find them.
"Why were you following me?" She demanded. The small woman had chin length brown hair, her frame just as small as Esme's, and big round blue eyes.
"I-I er, I didn't mean to startle you," She stuttered. Oh, honey, it looks like I startled you more. "I thought.. maybe.. we could partner up?"
Esme's brows rose in surprise, but she quickly composed herself and narrowed her eyes again. "I don't do partners, and from what I saw. Neither do you.." She stepped closer to her, still not removing the knife from her coat. She still didn't trust her; even though she seemed weak, there was something quite sneaky about her. "What do you know of the Hellhounds?"
"The Hellhounds?" She asked, baffled.
"Don't look at me like that. You were discussing them earlier," Esme snapped, making her face look a little menacing to scare her. The woman's eyes rounded, and she flinched.
"I-I don't know! Are they a pack!?" She started to sob.
Esme sighed and pinned some of her loose hair behind her ear. "You mentioned the name but don't know who they are?"
She shook her head, "N-no! Honestly, Zain and Dan never told us anything. That was the first time I heard the name!"
Esme scrutinised her face, finding no deceit from her, so she pulled the knife away and sheathed it behind her back again, feeling guilty at her flinching from removing the blade by her face. "Who was your friend?" She asked, turning away, testing her to see if she would jump her. But she didn't.
"I don't know. We never revealed our names."
Interesting. They hadn't long banded together then. That was why she and the hooded guy fled so quickly when the brothers started to argue.
"Why are you in Chester?" Esme asked over her shoulder as she started to walk further down the alley.
"Why are you?" Esme spun around at the girl's question.
She smirked, "I'm just passing through."
"Same, that's why I thought we could-"
"There's no WE," Esme stopped and looked at her, which made her take a step back. She continued to walk, stopping when she was nearing ONYX through the back alleys. It also reminded her of the rogues on the outskirts. Were these those rogues Luther mentioned?
"Hey, do you know of any other rogues on the outskirts of Chester?"
"Look, I don't know. I don't know why you are asking me.. there's a Hub like ten minutes away from Chester," The girl responded and started to walk in the opposite direction towards the high street. It seemed she was using Esme as a bodyguard. She didn't mind; it was a city full of vampires.
"A Hub?" She muttered under her breath. "Thanks for the info."
The rogue she-wolf waved at her. It was strange her timid demeanour suddenly changed at the end there. "That's very suss," Isana said dubiously.
"Hmm."
Usually, speaking to other rogues when they didn't want to attack her would provide her with the latest gossip or movements of packs nearby. She hadn't seen another rogue in ages, but that was because she'd stayed in small vampire towns over the last four places she resided in. But, she couldn't believe there was a Hub so close by.
A Hub was a place for rogues to go to acquire information. It was a little dangerous because of werewolves' temperaments, but they were beneficial. She'd been to a few Hubs in disguise before, which helped her avoid running into her ex pack.
"Do you think we should really risk going to the Hub?" Isana asked doubtfully, her voice filled with angst.
"I need to know why the Hellhounds were mentioned. That's not a name many know, Is." Her wolf sighed in defeat, knowing well Esme was right. She continued walking past the parking lot to ONYX, finally making her way back 'home'.
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