A Werewolf Fantasy
Chapter 13

Erin allowed the beast to land on her and then she immediately jump off Danshak's back and landed on the ground with it. The creature hadn't expected that move from her, so it was momentarily thrown off-balance, giving her time to get into her battle stance.

Once the beast was back on its feet, it came at her with such speed that she almost didn't see it coming. These creatures were so fast that if you are not attentive, you might not see them coming.

Erin dodged the attack by moving out of the beast's way and it crashed headlong into Zanisck and another beast as they wrestled each other to the ground. She jumped on her attacker, catching it from behind, and sank her teeth into its neck. The beast shook her off like a pesky tick bird and she flew off from it, landing on the ground with a heavy thud.

"Edvana!"

Before she could even regain her composure enough to respond to Danshak's call, the monstrous creature came after her again, neck dripping blood from where Erin had bitten it. It jumped on her with teeth clashing and claws thrashing, trying to tear her hide to pieces.

She did her best to fight it off but it stayed on top of her, looking for a way to bite her. This was singularly the scariest experience of her life and she wasn't sure she would survive it because her limbs were already aching from battling with this strange animal.

To her immense relief, Danshak showed up and shoved the beast off of her, giving her time to roll away and run from safety but there was really nowhere to go. All around her, werewolves were clashing with the unknown beasts. There were more of them this time around and it looked as if the Smallchief clan was outnumbered. The evil creatures had even attacked some of their horses and she could see that a few servants were injured and at least two were lying dead on the ground.

"Do not just stand there. Hide!" yelled Danshak. He had succeeded in killing the beast that she had been tussling with.

"There's nowhere to hide!" she yelled back.

"Stay with me," he ordered her just as one of the black creatures jumped on him, wrestling him to the ground.

Fear made Erin fast on her legs and she ran towards the beast, attacking it from behind. She bit it mercilessly and dug into its skin with her sharp claws. Danshak ripped its neck open and the creature fell to the ground, lifeless. "I see we make a formidable team," he said, panting.

"I agree," said Erin. "Look out!"

Danshak dropped to his rump in time to dodge the blow from his next attacker. As before, Erin joined him in wrestling with the attacker and together, they killed it and moved on to the next.

The battle raged on for what seemed like hours until the surviving creatures began to run off into the woods, badly injured and eager to escape with their lives. The werewolves have succeeded in defeating them once again but they knew that the evil creatures would surely return.

"These attacks will not stop until I am dead," said Vak Smallchief. He was covered in blood and multiple bite marks. Those nasty beasts had ganged up on him and injured him before his warriors could come to his rescue.

"I had expected Nikjin to join them in this attack, but it appears he is the coward that I have always suspected him to be," said Olna Raven. She too was covered in blood but her injuries were minor compared to that of her husband.

"My brother is a very devious creature," said Vak disdainfully. "He will never do the dirty work by himself, but he will show up in time to take the credit for the outcome if it is favorable to him."

"What now?" asked Weruona. "Do we continue our journey home, or are we to rest a little and recover from this onslaught?"

"I say we rest for now and continue the journey when we have all recovered from this horrible experience," said Olna Raven. "Or do you have any objections, my love?"

Vak sighed. "I have a feeling that those creatures may regroup and come back to attack us now that they know we are weak. But by the same token, it does not seem wise for us to continue our trip when many of us are badly injured." He was right. Many of the guards were seriously injured with gaping wounds and mangled limbs. The number of dead werewolves had also increased since the last time Erin checked.

The morale of the group had dropped greatly and it was as if they were now caught between the devil and the deep blue sea - if they stayed here, they could be attacked again, and if they proceeded on their trip home, they could be attacked on the way too.

"I think Mother is right," said Zanisck. "Let us wait here and catch our breath, rather than running off as we are now, injured and weak, and even more vulnerable. At least, now we know what we are up against."

"It is settled then," Vak conceded. "We shall remain here to rest and recover and continue our journey tomorrow."

"At this point, I will suggest that we send word to our allies in other clans including Quandagh, to come to our aid as soon as they can," said Monah. "If those creatures return with more of their friends, we will be dead within an hour." Erin felt cold chills running down her spine. What had she gotten herself into? When she decided to sleep on the dream stone two nights ago, she had done it out of curiosity to replace out if truly her boss, Devon Grey, was her mate as he had claimed.

She hadn't signed up to land in precolonial Alaska in the middle of a werewolf war involving beastly creatures that could not be sufficiently described with words. What if those things came back right now and one of them succeeded in killing her? Would she die in the future if she died here?

How does this whole time travel thing work? She should have asked more questions and digested the terms and conditions properly before using the dream stone. Could she go back to the future tonight if she used the stone now? Where was the damned thing anyway?

"You look distressed," said Danshak beside her.

"You think?" replied Erin sardonically.

"This is not my fault, you know," he said, indicating her harsh tone.

"I know. I'm sorry. I just didn't expect to run into this kind of nightmare. I only used the dream stone out of curiosity, I didn't know I would show up in this era and have to face a legion of deadly beasts in the middle of nowhere!" "What are you talking about, Edvana?"

"I'm not Edvana. My name is Erin, Erin Brown, and I do not belong here. I want to go home!"

She was in such a state of panic that she couldn't keep her voice down. The others looked at her sympathetically as she had hysterics but they did not try to shush her because they understood her reaction.

"I know you are afraid, but I promise to keep you safe," said Danshak softly. "As long as you are beside me, you will be out of harm's way. I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Danshak. What if you get killed? What happens to me then?"

"I will not be killed," he said confidently.

"You don't know that," Erin countered.

"I do," he insisted stubbornly. "I believe in destiny and it is not my destiny to be killed by a horde of strange beasts. I know that deep in my heart. We will survive this, Edvana. We will."

His words comforted her and like magic, her panic disappeared. She didn't know why he was so sure that he would survive this war, but she believed him nonetheless. He had said he would protect her and she knew he would because, despite his gruff manner and intimidating nature, he was loyal and something inside of her knew for certain that he meant every promise he had just made to her.

"Edvana, I am going to ask you a question now and I want you to tell me the truth," said Danshak.

"What is it?" Erin asked, already dreading his question.

"What was that you said earlier about the dream stone? And why did you call yourself by a strange name?"

Erin had been afraid that these would be his questions and that it was all her fault. She had opened her big mouth and blabbed about something that shouldn't be known to anyone around here, most of all, Danshak.

Would he believe her if she told him that she had come here from the future through the power of the dream stone? Would he see her as an imposter when she told him that she wasn't his mate in this lifetime?

Or was she? The whole time travel thing had her so messed up and she couldn't even tell what is what anymore.

With a sigh of resignation, Erin decided it was best to come clean and face the consequences. "Always choose honesty, no matter what," her mother had always said.

"I am going to tell you the truth, but it has to be after all of this is over," she said.

"Fair enough. You may give me the details later but I want to know one thing first. Who are you?"