Capture (Book 1 in the Wolfen Brethren Series)

Hunted

This has been edited but there may still be mistakes.

Pushing branches out of the way Neema sprinted through the foliage of the forest as the trees became more and more dense. At the realisation that they were soon approaching the river, she prompted Caillum to run ahead. The weight of Jana had begun to take a toll on Neema's already weak body, as she found she could no longer run as fast. Her mouth was dry and her throat burned, but she was faring better than a lot of other people.

Slowing to a fast walk, Neema's heart swelled when she saw the boats waiting at the shores edge. Walking towards the boats with her hand on her heart and trying to suck in large gulps full of air. Neema found her brother and ushered him onto one of the boats, sighing as she adjusted herself in the seat. There weren't many people who were on her boat, just two of the village hunters and another five or six other people. Even though she wasn't bothered to count she knew that half the village population wasn't present. Letting out another sigh she peered down at the bundle in her arms, realising that all the motion must have woken the little one from her deep slumber.

Believing that she was safe for now Neema took in the sight of the world outside the caves. It had been years since she had last seen the rich green of trees, or the clear blue of rushing water. Tears welled in her eyes at the thought of swimming in a stream on a summer's day like humans used to do back when they were free. She could only imagine what it would be like to laugh freely with the sun beating down on her back. She could almost visualise the sight of her little brother kicking at the water with that troublesome look on his face. The one she rarely saw anymore. Little Jana would be on the bank with her probably picking at the grass and flowers, too cautious to venture near the water by herself.

The sounds of raised voices shook Neema out of her musings. Stephen stood by the edge of the shore arguing with what appeared to be his wife, her hands waving in quick, angry gestures.

"We can't afford to wait any longer! Why make us all suffer the possibility of being caught cause we have to wait! It's not fair Stephen!!" She cried.

"Mary, do you hear yourself? You're asking me to leave innocent people to the fate of being caught! I never thought you to be so selfish and cruel" Stephen bellowed in outrage his face scrunching up in anger and disgust at the notion. Stephen seemed to have had a change of heart about leaving people behind and Neema couldn't fathom what the reason could have been.

"Cruel?" she whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks as her face turned pink "CRUEL? No what you're doing is cruel, this wait is unbearable. We have freedom in our grasp and you make us wait like... Like sitting ducks". Mary had become frantic in her bid to get him to leave.

"What do you expect us to do when the wolves come, how are YOU going to help us, huh? Are you going to fight? You in your old age won't stand a chance and neither will we!! Don't be foolish Stephen, let us go" she pleaded to her husband, but Neema could see from where she was that Stephen was set in his ways.

"Please Stephen" Mary pleaded "We'll leave some boats for them if they make it, please be reasonable" she continued to rant in an attempt to dissuade her husband from staying.

Neema whole heartedly agreed with what Mary was saying, why make them all suffer when they had nearly made it to safety. She knew it was selfish of her to not care about the other people, but she feared what would happen to her siblings if they were caught more. She figured it was survival of the fittest when it came to these things, some people weren't just as adaptive as the others. Though she wanted to wait for Victus she knew that he would probably be one of the last people to leave the cave. It was in his nature to care for people, to place people before himself. Neema couldn't be so selfless, she had her siblings to think of.