Chapter 9
I had only ran a few metres from the village when I heard the pitiful cries of a wolf in distress.
For a second I hesitated, for a second a challenging thought ran through my mind. Was this wolf's life more valuable than saving my own? Was risking my own life worth saving his?
Hearing the wolf cry out again I knew I only had one option. I slowed my pace and spun abruptly to my left, launching over fallen trees and large rocks as I ran in the direction of the distressed cries.
I had only gone a few metres when I stumbled across the wolf as he scrambled away from his attacker.
His dark brown eyes were filled with a look I was sure I wore whenever Colby's eyes flashed that unearthly red. Defeat.
This wolf was only moments away from conceding his life, from allowing the more powerful, more intimidating grey haired wolf to take it away from him. Watching as he stalked towards the small brown wolf I wanted nothing more than to step in and save him but what use was I?
Colby couldn't be too far off now, even with me remaining in my human form he would still be able to track my scent, no matter how weak it was. I needed to keep running. I needed to reach the borders of his territory and I had no idea how long that would take me.
I was about to take a step away from the scene and continue my escape when the brown wolf spotted me, his defenceless eyes pleading with me, begging me to be his last hope.
With that look I knew I couldn't turn my back on him even if it cost me my own life. How many times had I prayed that someone would be my last hope, that someone would be the the one to save me from Colby and his senseless temper?
The grey wolf let out a sharp bark drawing the attention of the brown wolf and I used the distraction to search for something, anything that I could use as a weapon. I spotted a thick branch lying several steps away from me and I knew it was going to be my only option. As silently as I could I started to move towards it, knowing with each step I was trapping myself into even more danger but the fear in the brown wolfs eyes kept me moving forward.
I kept one eye on the grey wolf as he continued to move towards his prey whilst watching carefully where I put my every footstep. I held my sigh of relief as I was finally able to reach the branch and slowly crouched down to pick it up, keeping my eyes trained on the grey wolf who still by some miracle hadn't seemed to notice me. For a moment the brown wolf's eyes darted to mine and I pleaded with him to look away but it was too late. The grey wolf froze mid step and stuck his nose in the air immediately catching my scent. In an instant he had spun to face me and I had only seconds to react.
The wolf launched himself across the remaining distance between us and I reacted the only way I could think of. I felt my arms swing the branch until it struck the wolf hard in the side of the head sending him careening into one of the trees around us. I had hit him with all my strength but still he staggered back to his feet. The initial shock of the hit wearing off quickly as he turned his anger on me.
My mind was screaming for my body to run but it seemed there was no unity between mind and body, rendering me frozen, terror replacing the blood in my veins. He was mere steps from me now and I knew it would take nothing but a single movement from the grey wolf to end my life and he knew it too.
He bared his teeth threateningly, moving closer with ever step until I could feel his hot, sticky breath against my cold face. My hands trembled and my legs shook as I stumbled back until I was met with the harsh bark of one of the many trees. I only had moments now, moments before I would have a different kind of freedom than the one I had been seeking.
He poised himself in his fighting pose and instinctively my hands came up to defend my face anticipating the blow. I don't remember when I dropped the branch I hit him with but it would have been useless to me now anyway.
I waited for the hit, for the blood and the pain but instead I heard an angry growl before the clashing of bodies.
My eyes snapped up to find another grey-brown wolf wrestling with my would be murderer. In an instant the small brown wolf was up and helping the new wolf as it struggled to outmatch the far bigger grey one.
They struggled for several seconds until finally the grey wolf fell still under the attack of the two wolves. The grey-brown one barked loudly at the brown one egging him to move on but instead he remained still and slowly his eyes moved to settle on me. The grey-brown wolf ignored the small ones protests and nudged him to get him moving, nipping at his tail angrily. I watched as they disappeared into the woods, the brown wolf's eyes finding me one last time before they were out of sight, an unspoken apology.
I started when I heard a sudden shift from beside me and I looked over to see that the grey wolf was moving. They hadn't killed him, only knocked him unconscious.
I needed to move. My tired body was reluctant to begin running again but I didn't have time to rest or contemplate how close Colby might be to me now, all I could do was wipe my mind and focus on running. It didn't matter where I ran to as long as it was as far away from here as possible.
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I glanced over my shoulder for what felt like the hundredth time but still I couldn't see Colby and it frightened my more than if he was bearing down on me, threatening to catch me.
He couldn't have given up and I could never dream of outrunning him, so he had to be near. With those thoughts running through my mind I looked over my shoulder again but still the forest was empty.
I couldn't even make a guess at how long I had been running but the forest was growing darker and I knew I only had an hour or two, at best, then the world would be completely black and it would be impossible for me to keep going. I wanted to shift, I wanted to run with four legs instead of two but Michael's warning rang loudly in my mind so I remained in my weaker human form.
My speed had almost slowed to a walk now but I didn't stop pushing because even if I couldn't see him I knew he wouldn't stop.
I froze suddenly when I heard a sound, but instead of it coming from behind me it came from somewhere up ahead. I squinted in the growing darkness and saw movement as I heard the sound of what I thought was footsteps against the forest floor. There were people ahead of me. I almost rejoiced at the thought. If there were people, did that mean I had finally reached the border of his territory?
I felt renewed energy surge through my veins and I used it to run with all I had in their direction. My breathing was ragged and my eyes almost blurred as I pushed myself to the point just past exhaustion but even then I couldn't stop. I needed to reach them.
When I was almost upon them I heard a troubling thought make itself known in my head. It sent all the blood rushing from my body, taking my hope with it. What if they didn't help me? What if they hurt me too? I stopped dead as the thought circulated my mind but it was too late because they had already heard me and there were seven pairs of eyes staring at me and they were anything but welcoming.
'Who are you?' One of them shouted but I couldn't make out who said it. They were all men, all shirtless and all obviously werewolves. After where I had just been they couldn't be any worse but they might not be much better either. I may have just walked myself into another trap and there was nothing I could do to get out of it. If I ran back there was pain and if I walked forward there was the unknown. I could only imagine the pain and suffering that could be waiting for me if I crossed the distance to the men all watching me with calculating eyes.
'I need your help,' I shouted across the still considerable distance but I knew they could cross it in the time it took me to turn around and take my first step. 'Please.'
'You are on Red Curse territory,' the same man answered simply and I felt my heart splutter in my chest.
'Please, you have to help me. I-I can't go back, please,' I begged, taking a brave step forward and I saw the seven men tense, their eyes flashing yellow as they all threatened to shift.
'What is your name?' The man asked tensely, as all the other men kept their eyes trained on me.
'Leora Haynes.'
'And why are you on Red Curse pack territory?'
'I was captured, I am-I was a prisoner,' I explained, I couldn't reveal the truth. They couldn't know the secrets kept deep within me. They would never harbour the mate of the Red Alpha. They would never trust me, no matter what I said or did.
'Did anyone follow you?' He interrogated and I looked nervously over my shoulder but I saw nothing. The forest was still, yet still I felt there was something amiss. I felt the overwhelming sense that there were eyes on me, waiting in the darkness but I put the thought aside. Colby wouldn't wait, he wouldn't hesitate to take me.
'No,' I replied, looking back at the men.
'Are you certain?' The man asked skeptically.
'Yes, please, please you have help me,' I begged impatiently, feeling an itch start to creep up my back.
'How do we know you are trustworthy?'
'You don't,' came a deep, threatening, familiar voice. 'You should learn, like I have, to never trust a word this girl says.' I felt sick, as if all my insides were liquified. He had found me. I vaguely heard the terrified whispers of the other wolves but they were the least of my worries now.
Slowly, I turned my back on them to face him and the stillness of his expression only caused the terror inside me to intensify. He was still several trees away from me but I felt as if he was right there beside me.
'Leora, sweet girl,' he began and I started to slowly shake my head, my eyes never leaving his. 'Why do you keep running from me?'
'Please Colby, please don't...I just...please,' I stumbled on an expose root as I tried to back away from him and I met the forest floor with an ungraceful thump.
'You promised,' he continued softly but I knew the other men could hear him. 'And you broke that promise. It seems only fair that I shall break one of my own.'
'No,' I breathed, struggling to get my feet under me as I used the nearest tree to pull me upright. I felt as if my entire body was turning numb.
'You need to learn Leora,' he threatened. 'I don't want to hurt you, but you always leave me with no other choice.'
'No,' I shouted as he started to move towards me and again I felt the weird sensation start to stir within me, as if my soul were moving, awakening.
'Don't run baby girl,' he taunted but I ignored him and ran anyway. In a breath his hand was wrapped so tightly around my wrist that I heard something snap and it went limp in his hold as I let out a guttural scream as tears started to stream down my face.
'Let me go,' I shouted, trying to loosen his hold but he was barely even struggling as I tried to free myself.
'I will never let you go,' he promised and I continued to struggled, shouting and whimpering as he tried to pull me away but I couldn't ignore the pressure building inside of me.
'Please,' I begged, looking to the men who stood by where I assumed the boundary of the two packs was but they didn't cross it. 'Please help me.'
'No one is going to help you. You are mine Leora. I am the one person in this world who can protect you but instead you reject me, you run from me,' he hissed, leaning down so his face was close to my own.
'Let me go,' I shouted again, tugging desperately at the arm he still held, the pain sending sparks of light across my vision and still he dragged me through the forest.
'Be quiet,' he growled, turning his back on me. I felt my skin begin to heat and ripple but I didn't feel the sensation of shifting, it was something I had never felt before. I could only assume my desperation to escape was controlling my body and it was doing something to the wolf inside of me.
All I could think about was being free of him, everything faded away until all I saw was him, until all I could think about was ruining him. Everything in me started to overheat and cool at the same time, a force pressing just behind my eyes, rumbling just beneath my skin until suddenly the pressure was gone.
I felt an explosion inside of me as something within burst free. My eyes were blinded by a white light but still I could see him, his eyes wide and his mouth ajar as his hand released me and he was blown back by the explosion of light.
I felt weightless, as if I wasn't even in my body anymore but then something was thrown back at me, the light retreating and I was left stumbling slightly under the force of it.
I took a deep breath as my body started to move back towards an equilibrium but lights still danced at the edge of my vision and I closed my eyes tightly trying to clear them and thats when I saw it. The silhouette of the woman surrounded by moonlight and she was reaching for me but again my eyes opened, then she was gone.
Feeling frustration wash over me I looked over at where Colby lay unconscious on the forest floor and I felt shock and confusion start to build inside me. What happened?
I stared at him with my eyebrows drawn, uncertain of anything anymore until finally the shouting behind me registered. I quickly spun to see the men by the boarder in a frantic state. All except one.
There were eight now and I realised even from a distance that I knew this man. I saw his green eyes flash through my memory and I tentatively started to walk towards him, casting a single glance behind me to see that Colby wouldn't be getting up anytime soon. Whatever had happened here had knocked him out cold.
'Leora,' the man nodded as I approach. 'It seems there are many secrets you have yet to tell.'
'All I want is to be free of him,' I answered, not daring to look back to where the powerful alpha lay.
'You do seem important to him, after all, he chased you all this way, ignoring all the others who were escaping.' He mused and I remained silent as he continued to regard me with calculating eyes. The other men were shifting uncomfortably by his side and I could only assume that he held a position of power among them. Not quite an alpha but not far off.
'So, will you help me?' I asked hopefully.
'Oh little wolf,' he smirked dangerously and I felt confusion drift across my face.'You are going to be a lot of help.' He nodded to someone behind me and I realised, without me noticing two of his men had moved behind me. I looked back to see their stone faces just before one of them hit me hard across the back of the head, plunging my world into darkness but just before it fell away completely I heard him speak again, right beside my ear,
'You are going to be our greatest weapon.'