To Be Claimed

✙ Chapter 16 ✙

My chest tightened at his nickname for me. For years, he had called me that, despite my hatred for nicknames. Apparently, to him, I ate like a bird - I didn't eat much. I approached him and placed my hand on his shoulder, hoping he would've turned and looked at me. But, he didn't; he couldn't feel me. A quiet sob came from him as his shoulders hunched forward. "Em, I don't know if you can hear me or not, but t-things have changed. I'm here for you, okay? I'll always be here."

"I hear you," I whispered, before biting my bottom lip. And, as the beeping suddenly increased, creating a wavering line on the screen near me, I was sucked away from the hospital and found myself staring at a blue sky.

I was freezing with my skin prickling; goose bumps danced on my skin. I coughed and water spurted from my mouth, rolling down my face. Slowly, I sat forward, flinching at the pain in my thigh. Was I shot? I was drenched with my wet hair sticking to my face and the splashing of water caught my attention. I whipped my head around, seeing a large, beautiful waterfall. Did I fall down a waterfall? And, survived? I took a glance around, wondering how I was out of the water. Did I float to shore? Or, was I pulled out? Though, I didn't see anybody near me.

Hesitantly, I stumbled to my feet, moaning at the pain in my body. My neck still ached from flipping over my head when I tumbled down the slope. A cool breeze smacked me and I shivered, moving off the rocks. I rubbed my upper arms, squinting through the surrounding trees. Something felt off - something wasn't right. With my teeth chattering, I started into the trees, listening to my surroundings. I continued limping through the trees, taking some breaks for the sake of my injured leg. Turned out, the bullet grazed my skin, thankfully not remaining inside my thigh. I prayed the bleeding eventually stopped, though with as much movement as I was going, it wasn't going to anytime soon. Limping, I thought about Ryker - was he alright? Could he find me with his mark?

Was everybody okay?

The sudden attack by the humans startled all us. I assumed they trailed Brody and Laura back from McDonalds. But, I still was in shock; I could've died. I guess it hadn't sunk in yet on how dangerous my life had become since I met Ryker.

I exhaled loudly and moved away a few strands of my wet hair from my face. I walked and walked - or limped - until my feet began to ache and the sun started settling down behind the hills. A part of me was worried since Ryker hadn't found me yet. I came to a stop and glanced around, wondering where to sleep. The ground wasn't safe - I knew venomous snakes and bears came out during the night from my brother's stories. I squinted up, seeing a large branch of the nearest oak tree. It wasn't too high nor too low. It was going to have to do for the night, but it was going to be hell getting up there.

I grabbed onto the bark and swung myself up onto the first branch, wincing. Shakily, I hopped onto the next branch, followed by the one I was going to settle on for the night. With a moan of pain, I dangled my legs on either side of the branch for better balance. I took a deep breath and prayed Ryker was going to find me soon. Keeping my hand placed over my shoulder, I closed my eyes and relaxed. My brother appeared in my head - I hadn't seen or spoke to him since Daniel attacked at the motel. He couldn't still be angry about his Alpha's death, could he? How did that leave his pack? Daniel's Beta was dead, along with himself - did that mean Ethan was the new Alpha? There were so many unanswered questions that had concern twisting in my chest. My life had gotten complicated.

I groaned, allowing my head to rest back against the trunk of the tree. I wanted Ryker next to me; it was already starting to hurt without him near me. He wasn't kidding about the mate-pull being strong. I was feeling the need to be around him and to be honest, it was frustrating that he wasn't by me. I wanted to rip my hair out because I couldn't feel him. But, the mystery question was, was if he wanted me around him? Not because of the mate-pull, but because he wanted me to be?