I felt their hot breath panting on my ankles and flung myself at a huge tree, putting my back to it and trying to kick away those slavering jaws.
“Avery!” The man who had been running up behind the pack shouted at me. I snapped my head up to look at him.
It was Tegan. Gideon’s Beta.
“I can’t get to you!” He shouted, “I’m going to go get help!”
“Wait!” I shrieked but he was already gone, dashing in the opposite direction. I heard a howl go up in the distance.
I tried to scale the tree behind me but the lowest branches were far above my head. There was no escape here.
I stood and faced the half dozen wolves that encircled me.
“Well?” I yelled. “What are you waiting for?”
They all lunged at once.
Fur whirled and teeth snapped. I screamed and tried to divert the oncoming attacks. One wolf grabbed my boot and yanked me off balance, as another soared for where my throat had just been.
They were really trying to kill me!
I didn’t recognize these wolves. Were they rogues? Or were these people I had once known from Silvermoon?
I kicked off my boot and rolled away under a bush, hoping the quick maneuver would confuse them for a second as they tried to figure out where I had gone.
I crawled on my stomach through the brambles and out the other side. Behind me I heard a wolf whine as it tried to fit through the narrow space.
On the other side I hauled myself to my feet and took off running again. It didn’t take the wolves long to catch up with me around the tree, but this time I leaped for another tree with lower branches and pulled myself up.
At the base of the tree the wolves leaped and snarled, then transformed.
I wasn’t sure if I should feel relieved that I didn’t recognize any of them. I was still in danger, but at least I knew I hadn’t been betrayed by my former pack… just my former family.
“Come down, little girl.” a man’s voice called up to me.
“Absolutely not.” I scoffed, pulling myself further up into the foliage. Truthfully, I was terrified. Could I really hold off these rogues until help arrived?
“If you don’t come down, we’ll shoot you down.” The voice came again, along with a rattle of equipment. These are silver arrows.”
(C
“Did you save up your allowance to buy those?” I yelled down, while I tried to put more branches between me and them. I heard some scattered laughter below.
Then with a loud thunk, an arrow embedded in the tree next to my bare foot. I shrieked and my foot slipped an fell.
My hands scrambled to try and stop my descent, but I was moving too fast, my body rotating away from the trunk.
I screamed as I fell, then hit the ground with a sickening crash.
For a moment all went black. My vision cut out and all the air was knocked out of me. The rogues had scattered but I heard the crunching of leaves as they moved towards me.
away,
Then I heard the primal roar of an Alpha wolf.
“Get him!” Someone screamed. I heard the twang of the bow again, and then one more time.
Then there was a lot of screaming.
Then silence.
Someone landed hard on the ground next to me. I groaned and tried to roll away. I blinked as my vision slowly cleared.
I turned my head to look, and met the vacant stare of a dead man.
One of the rogues, his throat ripped out.
I rolled painfully to hands and knees and looked around. There were bodies scattered across the ground. Blood gleamed black in the moonlight.
Someone was breathing heavily. I moved towards the sound.
A massive wolf stood over the last stirring rogue, who breathed a final gasp as they bled out into the dirt. The wolf growled and shook his blood-stained muzzle, then leaned back and howled.
It was a long, terrifying declaration of victory, and a warning. I didn’t need to be in wolf-form to understand the visceral threat and fury in that ancient sound.
The wolf turned its golden gaze towards me. I realized with a start that I knew those eyes, those burning coals that bored straight through me into my soul.
This was Gideon’s wolf.
I gasped with relief and inhaled a breath that was half sob. I sank back to the forest floor and let the terror release from my body.
Then I hauled myself to my feet and limped to the wolf. He watched me approach silently, but snapped at warning when I got close.
“What’s wrong?” I whispered, confused. I looked around quickly, but I didn’t see any more rogues.
So why wasn’t Gideon changing back?
Then I saw it.
The silver arrow protruding from the wolf’s leg.
I gasped, remembering the sound of the bow being fired.
“Oh shit.” I exhaled, falling to my knees in front of Gideon’s wolf. He huffed the air and made a low sound.
“That’s gotta hurt like a bitch.” I said, my hands reaching out towards the arrow shaft. It was buried deep near his shoulder. I couldn’t even see the flared backward points at the base of the broadhead triangle.
The wolf gave a warning growl as I touched his leg. I ignored him.
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