Her tongue hung out of her mouth as she panted, her breath hanging like clouds in the chilly air of the late autumn night.  She was definitely not going to maintain this speed much longer.  She had to change tactics before she completely exhausted herself.  As she judged it, she was perpendicular to the direction she’d initially run, so if she could just turn towards home now, she’d be in the clear!

She stopped short, whirling on the three males.  Rannulf dodged to the side to avoid her as she lunged towards him with jaws ready.  Gunnolf and Channing crashed into each other, the smaller of the two falling down, as they stopped short to avoid running into Rannulf or Calista.

Snarling and growling, with ears back, hackles raised, and tail straight out behind her, Calista held her ground.  The three males circled her warily, and she turned to prevent any one of them from getting behind her.

Rannulf charged her!

Calista stood up on her back legs briefly to bring her forepaws up to his face level to block him.  With a high pitched wail, she snapped her teeth in his face, almost catching his cheek, had he not pulled back to avoid her in time.

Calista ducked her head and rammed into his chest and throat, forcing him back.  He yelped, surprised, and backed off.

The healer turned and charged Gunnolf, snarling.  She jumped as she reached him, to bring her weight down on him with the help of gravity as she attacked.  He turned away, and her teeth caught the side of his scruff.  The skin there was thick, and her teeth were unable to draw blood, though the force of the bite was definitely bruising.  The black and gray lycan let out a high pitched yelp.  Calista released him and ran past him while he was still recovering from his surprise.

She ran, but didn’t get far.  Channing had opted to circle back the way they came while she was busy with the other two, and he stood in her way.  She charged the younger lycan, and he let out a whine and jumped back, avoiding her.  He growled at her.

Rannulf and Gunnolf caught up and the three males moved to hem her in from three directions.  She didn’t have room to run by any of them and avoid an attack.

The four lycans stood at an impasse for a moment.  All of them growled and snarled through their panting.

Gunnolf moved first, charging at her.  He slammed into her, rolling her over.  Calista got to her feet quickly, before any of them could take advantage of the stumble.  She lunged at Gunnolf, snapping.  She caught his foreleg in her teeth as he attempted to jerk back.  The coppery taste of blood filled her mouth, and she yanked on the trapped limb, trying to throw the larger lycan off-balance.

Something heavy slammed into Calista’s flank, knocking her off-balance.  She rolled on the ground, Gunnolf’s leg ripped from her mouth, leaving deep gashes.  The dark male yelped and then growled at his brother, disgruntled at the other’s lack of care for him.

This time, Calista couldn’t recover her feet fast enough, and Rannulf was on top of her, snarling.  He took her throat in his mouth, but it was clear from his hold he didn’t intend to hurt her.  He was trying to restrain her, and confirmed it by issuing a command.

«Be still!»

Calista’s response was to yelp and whine and continue struggling.  Her hind feet found Rannulf’s belly, and she rabbit-kicked him, raking her claws down the sensitive flesh.

With a shocked yelp, the brown and gray male released her and fell back.  He eyed her with newfound wariness.  She was putting up much more of a fight than any of them had expected!

Calista found her feet and tried to run.  Gunnolf pounced, landing on her back and forcing her to the ground.  His teeth found her scruff, and he used the grip to hold her down.  Calista’s yelping, whining and snarling increased in volume as her panic rose within her.

No, no!  This can’t happen! She thought in horror.  She thrashed wildly, trying to buck off her attacker and free herself.

Suddenly, Gunnolf’s weight on her vanished, and his teeth scraped over her ruff as he was unexpectedly ripped away.  Calista sprang to her feet and turned around in time to see the black and gray lycan hit a tree off to the side where he was thrown.

Her hazel eyes searched the area for the cause, and settled on what appeared at first glance to be a very large, black bear, with its back to her.  Rannulf snarled at it, standing between the attacker and his brother.  Channing darted back and forth on the other side of the creature from Calista, yipping and whining.

The black beast rose up from its crouch, and Calista was hit by a sudden sense of wrongness.  This beast was no bear.  Its limbs were too long, too sleek.  With its rear lifted off the ground, Calista could see a long, thick tail.  She began backing up, head lifting as her nostrils flared, trying to catch the scent of the newcomer.

The creature turned its head and roared, and to the four lycans’ shock, the roar formed rough words in their language!

«Intruders!  Get out!»

The beast was huge, almost double Rannulf’s size, and he was already larger than the average lycan.  It was no wonder Calista first thought it was a bear!  Adding to that impression was the upright nature of the beast as it stood, or crouched on its haunches.  Yet, unlike a bottom-heavy bear, the creature’s waist and hips were trim and sleekly muscled.  It stretched out long arms to swipe at Rannulf with bear-like claws, but its ears were pointed like a fox or wolf’s ears.  Calista saw the flash of pale, luminous eyes that reminded her of smoky quartz, and a long snout full of long, sharp white teeth.  The smell was very odd.  A bit like human, a bit like lycan, with a strong scent of blood, and most oddly, spring flowers like lavender and rose.

Rannulf’s yelp snapped her out of her trance, and Calista turned and fled towards home.  She wasn’t going to let the strange beast’s distracting presence go to waste, not to mention she didn’t want to stick around to see if it would attack her when it was done with the three troublesome males.

«Get out!  GET OUT!» she heard the beast’s crude roar behind her as she fled.  Rannulf, Gunnolf and Channing’s answering yelps and whimpers as they tried to stand their ground against the creature echoed through the trees.

Calista got home and ran in through the special door in the clinic that allowed lycans unable to shift to enter the clinic without help.  She shifted into human form and locked the special door behind her.  She then went and locked every door and window in the house, and then locked herself in her bedroom.

She didn’t bother to dress herself as she burrowed into her thick down quilt.  She stayed wrapped up in her blankets, in the darkness, until her breathing steadied and her heart slowed back to a more normal rate.

She slowly left the warmth and comfort of her bed and dressed herself in a proper nightdress.  She wouldn’t have cared about sleeping in the nude, but it would cause problems with the humans if she had to leave the house for emergencies while in such a state.

Once dressed, she walked through the house and lit the fireplaces in the occupied bedrooms so they would be warm when her family got back.  She hoped Bardoul wouldn’t worry when he returned to where they’d stashed their clothes and found her bag still there.  She wasn’t sure if he would leave it there thinking she was still out, or if he would bring it home for her.  The latter would be more convenient for her, but he wouldn’t know that.

Calista sighed.  Those three nuisances had really made a mess of the evening.

The healer’s thoughts turned back to the strange beast that had intervened in the nick of time.  She doubted very much that it had deliberately rescued her.  It was apparent to her that the four of them had intruded on its territory.  Rannulf, Gunnolf and Channing must have had some idea of that fact, given their moment of hesitation in the woods.  That must’ve been the edge of its territory.  Yet, she couldn’t regret trespassing, as that was likely the only reason she’d made it home relatively unscathed.

As much as she disliked her three tormentors, she did hope they got away from the beast safely.  She anticipated having to see them tomorrow to treat their injuries.  Hopefully they wouldn’t be too severe.  As long as they weren’t in danger of death or limb loss, Calista felt any damage they sustained was well-earned.  They would have no injuries at all if they had left her alone!  She doubted they would see it that way, though.

Calista finished with the fires and returned to her room.  Her family knew where the spare keys were, so she wouldn’t need to unlock the door for them when they got home.