Enzo moved Doris behind him and tried to position her out of sight without making it seem obvious. She noticed a bit of his own panic seep through his gaze. This all happened because of her. If she hadn't come on this trip, she couldn't have been kidnapped and Enzo wouldn't have been in trouble with his own people for letting William stay. Always her fault, wasn't it? "Don't think you need to be a hero for me today, Doris. You being here is enough and I know how to handle them when they're like this. Don't worry for me, promise?." Enzo whispered.
Doris didn't get a chance to respond before he turned to face the arriving carriages with the rest of the villagers. As it was, none of them wanted to leave Enzo's side. They cared too much about their kind leader and Doris was glad of that at least. He was a great man to be loyal to. She almost thought the same of William before he left. But now wasn't a time to dwell on that, she should have known better.
At the front of the crowd was a man with grey and black hair that was tied back in a bun on his head. He looked a bit older than Enzo and a bit shorter too. Was this the man that Doris had heard in his office earlier? It had to be.
"Enzo, you look like you're ready for a fight." The man said with a bit of false kindness. He flashed his sharp teeth at his leader and Doris instantly placed the voice to who she thought it was.
"I suppose it's a good thing I am. I didn't expect a large portion of my pack to show up in the middle of the night." Enzo placed his hands behind his back calmly and kept a light air to his words. "What brings you all here tonight? Our next full moon party isn't for another week."
The man looked through the crowd with a sharpness that felt like a blade across her skin when his sight stopped on her before continuing on. He hadn't seen her at Life Pharmacy, that was a small relief on its own but it wasn't enough to convince her it would all be fine. "I heard you had a few interesting visitors in your village recently. It's been said that you're keeping the prince here nice and safe. That couldn't be true, could it? Our leader would never let that happen."
"He was here, he left a while ago." Enzo said easily. "He came through for a chat and asked to wait out a storm. I didn't see the harm in it, I allowed it."
"How could you let our enemies sleep among us? How could you offer them safety and protection when they've killed so many of our people just trying to live? Don't our lives mean anything to you?"
"The prince wished no harm on me or my villagers, he came for peace and I chose to hear him out as your leader since your lives are my top priority." Enzo said with an edge to his voice. Doris tried to stay blended in the crowd but she swore she felt eyes on her. "I know you don't agree with my take at leadership, but it doesn't excuse unnecessary violence to anyone. Even the prince."
"No harm? I heard how many of our rogues he killed looking for some girl. How is that peaceful?" The man roared.
"He was trying to protect someone he cared about that was taken by rogues who refused to listen. They tried to torture her for no reason and almost killed her because of it. If any of you had your wife or child taken, you would do the same." Enzo said.
"All I hear is you excusing him killing our wolves! A true leader would want revenge, not let him sweet talk his way in their favor! Why was he here, Enzo? To get information out of you?"
"He wanted to unite the rogues back with the kingdom." Enzo said. The man laughed bitterly.
"That's rich. You believe a prince who has one of the worst reputations?"
"He didn't give me a reason not to." Enzo smoothed out the arms of his coat. "Are we done here? The prince is long gone from here and you can check every cabin if you insist but it is quite late. My people don't like to miss out on their sleep for ridicules matters."
Someone stepped out of the crowd and spoke in the man's ear, Doris felt her insides freeze over when she recognized him. It was the guard that caught William kissing her in the halls. He was looking right at her and she knew there was no chance that he didn't see her.
The man turned his gaze on her as well and Doris wished she could disappear. Enzo must have noticed because he moved a bit in front of her but the damage had already been done. They knew who she was.
"You still protect them over your own people. Did you send her to spy on us, Enzo?" The man asked with his voice seeped in betrayal. Doris wondered if William was right, perhaps she shouldn't have stayed despite her best intentions.
"She has nothing to do with their politics, she was sold to the palace at a young age and has come here for freedom herself."
"Don't lie!" The man roared again. Enzo looked unbothered. "She was seen at Life Pharmacy just hours ago with a man! Was it the prince you let in with her? Why Enzo? They're not part of your pack, we are! We deserve your loyalty!"
Enzo said nothing for a moment. "You have my loyalty, but I don't appreciate liars. It seems I'm not the only one who has spoken with someone from the palace. I have on good word that you've taken bribes from one of the royal members to hunt down the prince. Why would you take their orders over mine? You're working directly with someone from the palace while I have only given them an ear for their offers."
The man swallowed and glanced at the uneasy faces behind him. Clearly they didn't know about the bribe, was he pocketing it all for himself? Doris silently hoped it set off a bit of untrustworthiness for him as much as he did for Enzo.
"Why don't we settle this like men, Enzo? Wolf to wolf." He said with his chest puffed out. Doris would have laughed if he didn't look absolutely deranged.
Enzo laughed for her. "And what? Fight to the death for leadership? You know you would never win."
The man snarled. "Fight me, you coward!" He shouted with his fists clenched.
Enzo sighed and removed his nice coat to hand to someone nearby. "I hope you told your family you weren't coming home, I would hate to be the one to explain your own bad choices to them." He glanced at everyone around them. "No one else is to be involved or risk instant death. This is our match, everyone else back up and stay out of the way!"
Doris quickly backed away with the rest of the crowd and watched as Enzo transformed into his magnificent wolf. The man transformed a minute later into a brown wolf that looked more than a little deadly. Enzo snapped his jaws at the other wolf before he led him off into the bushes to be dealt with privately. A match to the death? That was the last thing she expected Enzo to say.
Doris lost sight of them instantly, but she heard their cries and bites start up a few moments later. The rest of the crowd went to follow them but Doris stayed behind by the fire with her arms crossed over her chest. She didn't want to see what happened, she could only pray to the moon goddess that Enzo would be fine. He deserved to be fine. He was stronger and faster than most wolves, that's why he was the leader of the rogues. She could only wait for it to be settled so she could leave-
A hand closed over her mouth and dragged her back behind the cabins towards the waiting carriages as she tried to kick and hit the man. Doris struggled more violently and went to change into her wolf, but felt a needle stab in the side of her neck before she could allow Cordelia to take over.
"Don't worry." The voice said. She stumbled forward a little and fell right back into their arms when her world shifted all at once, fear crept into her bones when she saw flickers of darkness at the edge of her vision. The ground looked as if it was about to open up and swallow her whole but her head felt as if it was about to roll off her shoulders. "I've got you now."
Doris was barely able to move her head to see a masked man lift her into one of the rogues carriages. She saw nothing more the second the door closed behind them.