ENCHANTED WORLD SERIES BOOK 4: MOON CHILD'S WAR
Chapter 6.5

Corleen.....

Corleen knew there was trouble in paradise that evening and she was dressed up for the occasion. She wore her working suit which consisted of her black tight leather pants, disappearing in her high boots and her black tank top covered by her favourite jacket. She was armed to the tooth because she knew she wasn’t only going to be confronted by maniacal wolves but hunters as well.

Just a few days ago, one of her men assured her that six more hunters had arrived in town. They were closely watched and Corleen knew they were up to no good because she had them followed to their hotel where five were spotted hefting heavy bags to the back of their bikes that night.

Corleen was ready for a confrontation as she turned to her hand-picked team consisting of ten honed hunters. Manny would have been one of them but unfortunately his health was still bad, thanks to the crazed mountain wolf he had encountered with Titus and the girls the other evening.

Just the thought of what could have happened that night made Corleen’s bowels quiver. She had never seen such a monstrous wolf before. Titus had told her the night before, that a wolf had been injured at the bottom of Devil’s peak. Corleen didn’t have time to go animal rescuing because she had Ghost Runners to look for so Titus decided upon himself to go and make sure the wolf wasn’t causing trouble.

Corleen had seen the body of the dead wolf when it was brought into the fortress for investigation and that was not a normal mountain wolf. The gaping throat wound told her that he had met his death at a Ghost Runner’s jaws.

The wolf looked mutated with his body enlarged and strange engravings on its skin underneath its matted fur.

Corleen had one of the doctors shave the fur off and what they found underneath made Corleen terrified just thinking of what they were dealing with. The entire greying skin of the dead wolf was covered in inscribed patterns that looked otherworldly.

Corleen was positive they were enchanted, which meant whoever did that to the wolf was someone from the other side. Corleen was no fool and neither did she want to be blinded by Faelen when he told her she was taking a fool’s journey by going after ghosts.

Corleen was positive that the beings from the other side walked among them. She had come across a night walker like no other one time but the way he reacted to her told her just how ancient he must have been.

He inclined his head to her as if she were a queen and told her that though the war between the species was over, hostility and loathing was still there and that he didn’t want trouble. He believed she could harm him but Corleen was positive if he wanted, he could have just mesmerized her and snapped her neck.

Alli was positive she met the Ghost Runners’ leader and Corleen couldn’t doubt it because it was impossible to have power that allowed you to push thoughts into another being if you were not connected to them.

For wolves, when they marked their mates with the claiming bite on the neck, the Luna energies allowed their minds to connect. Corleen once bore Xavier’s mark on her neck but it disappeared when he died. Wolves had the ability to connect psychically through a common connection used only when they transformed into wolves or when they were trying to communicate without the immediate audience knowing. This channel of communication could be directed to one specific wolf or a larger group but the abilities were hindered with the power of the bloodline.

Corleen gave her team a small nod. “The hunters are already in the woods. We don’t want missing wolves by the end of this night. Let’s move out.”

The males nodded and followed Corleen out.

“HOS!” One of the males came charging towards them before they could leave.

Most of Corleen’s security team called her HOS which was the abbreviation for Head of Security. She turned to him and frowned.

“The trackers on duty did some scouting around the common wolves hangouts during full moon and it seems the area up north close to the fringe of the north road is the one that the hunters have in target.”

Corleen looked down at the coordinates and if she wasn’t wrong, that was precisely where Louise would take his sister for her first run in the woods. She needed to warn him first before tracking down where Tyson was hosting his full moon party that night. Lord Faelen was out of town for some official business and Tyson thought it was the best time to go against his father once more.

It looked like Lord Faelen was not going to be present for the debut party as well. It was all well and good because it gave her time to snoop around.

Corleen was convinced Lord Faelen was playing foul and there was something he was hiding. She was positive Xavier’s death in the Varga’s jaws was not accidental. She had known Xavier for a long time and he was always careful. They said they found high levels of alcohol in his blood meaning he was intoxicated when he went out hunting but Corleen knew Xavier lived for his work, he would never jeopardise his life as well as his team’s lives ever. Xavier had never taken alcohol when he knew he was on duty.

When Corleen asked to check his body, she was refused with the reason that it was too personal and that it could cloud her judgement. Xavier was cremated four days later. It tore Corleen apart that her mate didn’t even have a decent funeral. She remembered just before he went out on the night of his death, he had called her and he told her that there was something urgent he needed to speak to her about, that she was the only one he could trust.

When Corleen challenged Louise for the HOS position, she knew without a doubt if Louise gave his all, he would have taken the position. But somehow he must have read the desperation in her and that was why he gave up easily. This was right after Alli assured Corleen that Xavier was poisoned before he was killed by the Varga. The Varga was later on hunted down and killed.

Though Corleen felt that she was in Lord Faelen’s security because of her determination, sometimes it felt as if she was there because he wanted her there. It was as if Lord Faelen accepted her there because he wanted to keep an eye on her to see if she knew anything.

A lot of suspicious things occurred ever since Corleen became the Head of Security but she couldn’t link the activities together. She knew she was close to replaceing out something and it was getting pretty dangerous for both her and Alli. She needed to get her sister out before all hell broke loose!

Just as Corleen and her team came out, Corleen noticed the black Mercedes parked at the entrance of the fortress. A young woman with platinum blond hair came out from the residence and stopped just in front of the car.

Charissa!

Charissa’s eyes dotted around her then up at the full moon hiding behind a veil of clouds. Her beauty was like no other but she was as beautiful as she was deadly. She had a powerful mind and through the years, the Academy had taught her to become more powerful than any other known telepath.

Corleen feared the same fate to befall on her sister. She didn’t want Alli to become Lord Faelen’s object. She wanted Alli to have a choice on what she wanted to do with her life. Somehow, Corleen had a feeling Alli’s abilities were even stronger than even their mother because even though she had not yet gone through her transformation she was already tapping into it.

Suddenly she felt eyes burning into her and a sudden discomfort go through her body. When she turned to the black Mercedes, Charissa was staring right at her. Her piercing black eyes were fathomless and her pale complexion gave her the look of some mystic temptress. One side of her mouth went up with a knowing look gleaming in her eyes.

Did she pick up something from her? Corleen wondered softly.

Charissa disappeared into the car and the Mercedes drove out.

“HOS, we better get going!” Someone called out.

Corleen nodded and jumped in the passenger side of the truck.

The driver killed the lights at the outskirts of their location and checked his guns before exiting the truck. Corleen followed her team making sure her guns were loaded and her concealed blades were in place. They were bound to have a confrontation because Corleen wanted to make sure that none of the hunters made it out of those woods alive.

Funny enough, no matter how many they got rid of, more always showed up. She was not sure where they came from or who sent them. They were able to catch one for interrogation, but they later found that he hanged himself in his cell to avoid answering any questions.

“Be very careful. These hunters mean business and they are not afraid to off you if you stand in their way.” She told her team.

They nodded and started forward, their guns in hand. Corleen felt it would have been better if they were attacking in their wolf forms but it made it a little difficult to use their weapons at that form. Obviously the hunters were carrying around silver bullets so they had to dispose them quickly and carefully. There was nothing worse than silver poisoning for a wolf, and removing it from the body was one of the most painful procedure.

The scents of the wolves was mingled with the dangers of the night as Corleen breathed in the air, and let her wolf process it. The night activities were more than usual because there were several newly transformed wolves in company of their families.

Louise had asked for a leave of absence three days ago because he was the strongest wolf in his family making him the leader. For a strong male, he was surely taking his time claiming a mate.

“HOS.” A wolf named California called to her.

“What is it?” Corleen turned to him.

“Hans just sent me a message. They are about twenty minutes from here. They have come across the human hunters and...” He sounded a little hesitant.

Corleen rolled her eyes in impatience. “And what, California?”

“Two of the Ghost Runners are there.”

That caught Corleen’s attention. She was almost sure that the Ghost Runners’ leader was there. This was her chance to replace out exactly who he was and where his team was hiding. “Everyone move out! California, lead the way.”

California nodded and took lead while Corleen protected her team from behind.

She lied to Alli that she needed to replace the Ghost Runners because she needed to eradicate them, but the truth was she knew they were the only ones who could help her figure out what was happening in Ashwick. Unfortunately, she hadn’t been in their presence long enough to get a hearing. They were always gone when she arrived at a scene, and it was kind of hard to get a secret message to them in a town full of Lord Faelen’s loyal bunch.

They seemed to have been walking for hours and in circles for that matter. Corleen thought they were given the wrong coordinates until she came across the bikes hidden underneath the camouflaged nets. The hunters were on foot and given the already cooled engines, it must have been a while ago.

Thanks to her acute wolf sight, Corleen made out the set of paw prints following the hunters deeper into the woods. She signed for her team to follow her quietly towards the paw prints.

It was awfully quiet for a full-moon night, she thought.

Usually wolves would dare to enter the mountains wolves’ territory all the way up to the peak of the mountain and howl at the moon. The mountain wolves were very shy but curious. They only attacked when they felt threatened.

Corleen was too busy processing the sounds around her that she missed the deadly trap consisting of a tightly pulled silver thread with deadly silver dripping from it.

“Corleen! Watch out!” Someone screamed but it was too late.

Corleen felt the thread painfully wrap around her and cut into her skin like a hot knife that just wouldn’t stop burning! A cry of agony escaped her throat as she collapsed causing the thread to tangle and tighten itself around her.

Hot doses of silver oozed into her body, suppressing her wolf, causing her to retreat deep into Corleen’s mind where she couldn’t reach her.

“Good God!” California breathed in hard as a gigantic, pale wolf jumped from the bushes and stood between them and Corleen.

Stand down! There are too many traps that have been littered around. He used the common wolf channel to communicate with all the wolves.

Corleen’s team had their guns pointed at the beast, ready to pepper him with bullets at her command but she knew who he was.

“Stand down!” She managed to cry, trying with all her might not to move because it only caused the thread to cut deeper.

The thread had managed to wrap around her legs, hips, her waist and her chest. She had to make sure the silver did make it to her heart or she was as good as dead.

You over there, get something to cut the thread out of her body. Hurry up because the hunters are on their way back.

The spoken-to wolf was Pierce. He quickly rushed forward, putting on gloves before pulling out a pair of altered pliers and started cutting the wire away.

The pain was excruciating to the point that Corleen thought she was going to pass out. Her entire body trembled and spasmed in pain as the silver corroded through her body.

Hurry! The pale wolf snarled. Do any of you have unicorn tears? Or blood for that matter?

That shit actually exists? California asked in bafflement.

The long pause told Corleen that the Ghost Runner was utterly shocked.

What do you use to push the silver out? He asked, his voice thick and full of authority.

Stifler’s solution. The affected body is placed in this solution which enables it to push out the silver. We need to get her back to the fortress. Pierce turned to the pale wolf.

Too late, the hunters are here. The pale wolf announced.

Before anyone could act, a bullet whizzed beside Pierce and dislodged itself in the back tree. Pierce jumped out of the way before he could finish cutting Corleen loose as more bullets flew all over the place.

Corleen couldn’t shield herself because of the situation she was in. She watched helplessly as a stray bullet hit one of her men right on the chest. The male howled in pain and fell back before his body went limp.

The bushes parted and a fat hunter came out, holding a gun and shooting aimlessly at everything that was moving in front of him. He did not see her on the ground so when he moved closer, she was able to tangle her legs around his and bring him down.

“What the!” He yelled as he dropped down like a heavy sac of goods.

The action caused the thread to cut deeper into Corleen’s skin. She watched in agony as the pale wolf charged forward and sank his sharp teeth on the hunter’s throat and rip it off.

The gurgling sound of the hunter choking in his own blood was sickening but soon enough it stopped.

Two more hunters jumped out of the bushes, one eyeing Corleen and the pale wolf while the other shooting at Corleen’s team.

The pale wolf snarled and the hunter shot at him but Corleen was utterly shocked by how fast such a large beast could move! Bullets sang past him as his lunged himself up at the hunter, bringing him down with his heavy body. There was a loud thud and a cracking sound before the hunter cried in pain. One more hunter appeared from the woods and shot the pale wolf at point blank.

Corleen screamed but the bullet only grazed the pale wolf’s face. He clawed the new hunter, sending him across the woods with four deep grooves on his cheek and neck while the other one was still under him.

Corleen watched as her team embraced the change and ambushed the one hunter still standing. The pale wolf finished off the one underneath him and looked around.

What is it? Corleen managed to ask past her pain.

There were five hunters. One is missing.

There was a pop sound behind them before a black capsule flew in front of them. It let out a hissing sound, spraying something in the air. Corleen felt it burn down her throat. It was more silver.

The wolves choked and whined trying to get away. Even the pale wolf staggered as the last hunter appeared with a gas mask over his head and a large gun in his hands.

“You must be an enchanted beast.” He said, his voice slightly muted behind the gas mask. “Pleasure to meet you, and is she your girlfriend?” He shook his head sympathetically. “It’s a shame that I will have to kill her since I have you.”

The pale wolf staggered onto the ground.

Corleen tasted blood in her mouth and smelled it in her nose. Her eyes burnt so she couldn’t keep them open. What a terrible way to die, she thought to herself as her body slowly drifted into unconsciousness.....but not after she heard several loud thuds and growls coming from all around her. A human screamed then gurgled, and finally there was a silence like no other.....just peaceful and blissful silence...