Surrogate for My Brother-in-law - Chapter 93: Chapter 93

I lunged for Eva, and knocked her flat on her back. I'd barely ever fought in wolf form before, but I still had more experience fighting as a wolf than I did as a human.
Luckily for me, my wolf had all the instincts I needed. Just like with healing, she knew what to do.
Eva did not expect me to fight her. I never had before. So my first lunge took her completely by surprise.
A human or a werewolf in human shape was at an automatic disadvantage against a werewolf in wolf form. Humans had no claws, blunt teeth, and were comparatively as weak as kittens. Eva knew that, so she tried to scramble away from me to shift into her wolf form.
My wolf wasn't about to let her do that. She jumped for Eva again just as she managed to crawl to her feet. Eva and I went tumbling down a short hill together, head over tail over feet.
The struggle carried us several feet away from the Rogues who had accompanied Eva. They looked from us, to the non-combatants I'd been leading, and back. It was clear the Rogues weren't sure whether they should help Eva or attack the people I'd been trying to save.
I had to protect them. I needed to end my fight with Eva, and I needed to do it quickly. But I honestly had no idea how to do that.
Even after everything she had done to me, I didn't want to kill my sister. I just had to stop her.
Let me, my wolf suggested.
I hesitated. Would my wolf show mercy to Eva, or would she snap her neck with one swift bite?
Trust, my wolf instructed.
I didn't really have much of a choice. I settled back and let the wolf lead.
Eva got her feet under her and lashed out. She had pulled a knife from somewhere. I would have hesitated, maybe given her a chance to get a strike in. My wolf did not hesitate.
My wolf knocked Eva over with a shoulder to her chest. Eva tumbled, and knocked herself silly against a low hanging tree branch. Before she could recover, my wolf was on her.
One paw raised and came down, and Eva was out cold. She was alive, I could smell it, but she wasn't going anywhere.
Funny, I'd expected that to be harder. My whole life, Eva had dominated any struggle between us. But now that I had a wolf, and now that I was allowed to really fight, she folded like a pile of laundry.
Not done, my wolf reminded me.
Right, Eva hadn't been alone. And the Rogues with her had had time to shift to wolf form. There were four Rogues. There was one of me. Those were not good odds.
My wolf lowered her head and growled. I was not going to let these Rogues hurt my people. I just didn't know how I was going to stop them.
The first Rogue snapped his fangs at me. I dodged, and my wolf snapped back, catching his leg. She yanked and bit, and the Rogue yelped and retreated.
The others hesitated. They could overpower me, but I'd hurt them and they knew it. And while they were dealing with me, the people I was protecting could just run.
Chase, my wolf suggested.
I understood immediately. I looked at the head archivist. Would he be able to lead the others to safety? I hoped so.
It was the only plan I had. So I was going to go with it.
I crouched, and nipped at the nearest Rogue, and then I jumped and twisted mid air. The moment my paws hit the ground I dove, bolting deep into the woods.
Wolf instinct was to chase. We all did it. Even those of us born wolf-less would chase anything that ran. We just weren't very good at catching things.
The Rogues were still wolves. They saw me run, and they chased. I tossed a glance over my shoulder to check. All four were after me. It worked.
I discovered something interesting about my wolf form. I could flat out run. It was a bit of a shock to learn just how fast I really was.
The last time, when I'd run to the woods after Eva imprisoned me, I'd been weakened from giving birth. This time, I was in peak health. The difference was notable.
I actually had to slow down a few times so that the Rogues could keep chasing me. If I left them too far behind, they might double back and go after the others. So I sped up a little, let them fall back, and then slowed down so they could catch my scent again.
I jumped fallen logs and creeks so cleanly I might as well have been flying. I needed to run more. I decided that if we all lived through this attack, I was going to go running every day.
I could keep running for a while. At least that's how it felt. But I still needed my strength to heal later. So I couldn't exhaust myself.
I needed to lead the Rogues far away from my charges, and then I needed to lose them. I had done the first part already. They were not going to be able to double back before the others could find a place to hide.
But how was I going to lose four Rogues and get back to the manor? I could outrun them, but they could figure out where I was heading. They'd just have to wait and they could ambush me.
Help, my wolf informed me.
Huh? I tried to see what my wolf had noticed, and then realized she hadn't seen anything, she'd smelled something familiar.
Oh. My wolf had caught the scent of one of Ethan's scouts, the one who'd led us out of the Rouge's compound. I ran towards the scent. Surely an experienced scout would know what to do about the wolves chasing me.
“Tessa?” a voice hissed from the trees above.
I skidded to a stop and looked up.
“No, keep running. Lead them here, I'll handle it,” the scout ordered.
I nodded and circled around before running right under the tree. The Rogues followed, never noticing the danger above.
Four soft thumps, and four wolves fell to the forest floor. I spun around and spotted darts sprouting from their flanks. The scout had tagged them with drugged darts.
Ethan's scout dropped down to the forest floor and approached me slowly.
“Tess, you okay?” she asked.
I nodded.
“We need to teach you wolf sign,” the scout muttered. “Okay, good, what happened, no, need a yes or no question. Did you mean to be out here alone?”
I nodded slowly.
“Did something happen at the manor?” the scout asked.
I nodded again. This was frustrating. I moved to shift back, but the scout lifted both hands and shoved me back to all fours.
“No, stay wolf. You're more mobile and better able to defend yourself. I'll figure things out as we go. Is there someplace you need to be?”
Yes. I needed to go back to the manor. I needed to find Leo. I also needed to figure out where the archivist had hidden the rest but I figured that could wait until everyone was safe. I nodded.
“Okay. Lead on, I'll follow you.”
I nodded and turned back towards the manor. Just as we reached the border between garden and forest, there was a loud whoosh of air, and every window in sight shattered outwards. The scout yanked me backwards just as smoke and flame roared into the sky.
The manor was on fire.