赤裸裸的滑稽故事

[Twenty minutes earlier]

Caleb left Ashleigh’s side reluctantly.

“What is it?” he asked Galen as he approached.

“We need a more private space,” Galen replied.

They made their way to the supply station not far from the party.

Galen checked inside before ushering Caleb in.

“What’s going on?” Caleb asked, realizing that Galen was acting even more severe than usual.

“We need to shut down the event,” Galen said.

“What?” Caleb asked.

“We got word from one of our teams watching the Rogues, a large movement, heading for us. The northern patrols have also seen suspicious movements in the area.”

“You think they are going to attack tonight?” Caleb asked.

“I’ve already doubled the patrol in the north and eastern borders. The west is closest, but the mountain range should provide some resistance to attack from that side,” Galen answered.

“Damn it!” Caleb shouted angrily. “What are the chances that–”

Caleb’s words were interrupted as the explosion rung in their ears. The world around him shifted as the impact of the blast sent him flying across the small room and crashing against a wall. He was strapped into his chair, and worse still, under the influence of the paralytic, he was stuck.

His body ached, and his mind was blurring from what he assumed was a concussion._.

He turned his head just enough to see Galen sprawled out on the floor not far from him.

“Galen… Galen…” Caleb managed to whisper.

Galen did not respond.

Caleb shook his head, trying to clear away the muffled ringing. He listened for the sounds of the party or of help coming. But he was confused by the popping sounds he heard. He looked back at the door that now hung off one hinge. He could see the sky and fireworks.

But he hadn’t arranged for fireworks.

He tried to move, tried to focus his eyes and his brain. He couldn’t even focus enough to reach out to her. Caleb had worked so hard on building up the walls between him and Ashleigh that tearing

them down required focus.

“Galen…” Caleb grunted, trying to move.

His hearing was slowly returning. He heard more explosions in the distance and the sounds of screams.

“Damn it!” he shouted angrily. The blood was rushing to his head. He needed to get free of his chair.

A low growl drew his attention to the door; a brown and black wolf stood with patchy fur. Its yellow eyes stared at him with hunger. Then, it slowly began to move towards Caleb.

Caleb growled back at him.

It snarled and bared its teeth. Then, just as it lunged towards Caleb, it was pulled backward.

Galen stood gasping for air as he held the wolf around its midsection. He squeezed tightly until a loud crack, and a whimper was heard. The wolf went limp in his arms, and he threw it out the door.

He quickly righted Caleb’s wheelchair.

“I need to get out of this chair!” Caleb growled angrily.

Galen pulled out a small case from his pocket. He opened it and pulled out a device no bigger than a pen cap. He pressed down on it, producing a small needle, and quickly stabbed it in Caleb’s thigh.

“The stimulant will take time to kick in,” Galen said, shaking his head and closing his eyes for a moment.

“Are you alright?” Caleb asked.

Galen took a breath.

“Guessing concussion, some bruised ribs. Nothing too crazy,” Galen replied. He looked back out the door, lifting his chin for a moment. “There are at minimum six coming.”

Caleb growled again.

“You need to lead them away,” Caleb said. “I need at least five more minutes before I can move on my own.”

Galen clenched his jaw.

“I can’t leave you alone.”

“I’m not a child, Galen,” Caleb said. “I can get by for five minutes.”

Galen growled.

Caleb could hear the rogues approaching now.

“They’re coming!” he said.

Galen clenched his jaw and let out a snarl before shifting into his wolf. The big blond and red wolf looked back down at his Alpha with sad green eyes.

“I’ll be fine, go!” Caleb shouted.

Galen ran out of the small building. Caleb heard the growls and the snarls. Soon enough, the sounds were retreating.

It was the longest three minutes of his life. He could hear shouts in the distance, explosions. Howls. Caleb was stuck in this room, in this chair.

The smoke was getting thicker, and the crackling sounded louder. It took him too long to realize that the fire had spread into the building. If he didn’t get moving soon, he would suffocate in here.

Caleb was desperate.

He looked up and saw a long rope hanging down from the crossbeam. He unhooked himself from the chair and reached up to the rope. After grabbing hold of it, he pulled himself up. If he could get to the ground, he would be able to at least crawl out of the room.

The rope and the crossbeam gave out under his weight, and he fell back into the chair, falling once more to the side. The items stored on top of the crossbeam also came tumbling down.

He hollered as a sudden pain burned into his side. He reached his hand up, surprised to find a large piece of metal sticking out of him. His hand came away red with his blood.

“Fuck!” he shouted.

He felt the strength returning to his legs. Caleb shuffled to a sitting position and pulled out the chunk of metal, tossing it into the fire.

He needed to move. The smell of his blood would draw more of the rogues here, and he wasn’t ready to face them yet.

Caleb got to his feet. He hurried out the door and ran for the trees.

***

“My men are being slaughtered!” a red-haired man shouted angrily at the dark-haired man that sat in the tree beside him.

“Then they should have been better at their job,” the man replied, with a smile that touched his eyes.

His pale blue eyes stared down at the carnage below. He smiled as she tore the wolves that attacked her, or even tried to run from her, limb from limb. It was a massacre.

He had never watched her in a frenzy. Never seen the blood splatter across her face as she moved between her enemies in a wild dance of rage and death.

He licked his lips; he had also never wanted her more.

His attention was drawn to the man approaching from almost directly below the tree on which he sat. He smiled.

“Send one after him,” he said. “Make sure she sees it.”

The red-haired man growled in frustration but howled out a command. Soon a rogue wolf appeared before the man below.

The rogue wolf growled and caught Caleb’s attention.

Not far from them, Ashleigh’s consciousness stirred. Her mind was clearing, her rage subsiding. She looked around her, the blood, the carnage. She gasped.

It had been years since she had lost control like that.

Ashleigh fell to her knees, vomiting up her dinner. Her entire body shook from the weight of her actions and the side effect of the rage.

She heard growls.

‘Damn it,’ she sighed.

She wasn’t sure if she had the energy to fight anymore. But it didn’t matter. She would need to find it somehow.

Ashleigh took a deep breath and forced herself back to her feet. She reached back and pulled out her karambit. Then, with one in each hand, she lumbered towards the sound.

She staggered and fell against a tree. She hugged it, barely able to hold her own weight. Ashleigh lifted her head, looking for the source of the growls. But instead, she saw two men fighting. One was

wearing the same type of basic leather armor as the rest of the rogues she had seen that night.

But the other…

Her vision was fading, and the darkness was threatening to swallow her mind.

‘It can’t be…’ she thought, ‘it can’t….’

But it was.

She watched in shock and confusion as the man she loved, the man confined to a wheelchair and unable to move his body from the waist down, fought this rogue wolf before her eyes.

As Caleb stood on two feet, he used his strong legs to slam his knee into the man’s gut and then threw him into a tree.

Ashleigh didn’t understand, and the darkness wouldn’t give her the time to process it. So the last thing she saw before everything faded away was Caleb shifting into his wolf and running back into the trees.

In the treetops above, Granger smiled brightly, and he blew her a kiss as she crumpled to the ground.

“Sweet dreams, my love,” he whispered. “See you soon.”

He nodded to the man beside him. The red-haired man let out a howl into the night, and the remaining rogues, few as they were, made their escape.