CHAPTER 6: THE WILDLANDS SPARES NO ONE

Elysia’s POV

I didn’t know where I was going.

I just walked.

One foot in front of the other, stumbling through trees I didn’t recognize, over ground that felt like it was trying to swallow me whole. My bare feet were already torn and bleeding, leaving a trail of red behind me, but I couldn’t feel it. I couldn’t feel anything except the throbbing in my ribs and the sharp, relentless ache in my chest where the bond used to be.

Gone. It’s gone.

I’d severed it. Cut the thread that tied me to Killian, and now there was just… emptiness. A hollow space that echoed with every breath I took.

The forest pressed in around me, dense and suffocating. The trees were twisted things, their branches reaching down like skeletal fingers. No birds sang here. No insects buzzed. Just silence, broken only by the crunch of leaves under my feet and my own ragged breathing.

The sun was setting.

I watched the light fade through the canopy, watched the shadows grow longer and darker, and panic clawed at my throat.

Night. It’s going to be night soon.

I had no shelter. No food. No water. Nothing but the blood-stained dress clinging to my body and the bruises Killian had left on my skin.

One hundred days.

The words echoed in my head, mocking me.

I wouldn’t last one.

My wolf stirred weakly in the back of my mind, a faint presence I could barely feel. *We can’t stop. We have to keep moving.*

“Where?” I whispered, my voice cracking. “Where are we supposed to go?”

She didn’t answer. She was as lost as I was.

I pressed a hand to my ribs, wincing as pain shot through my side. Something was broken. Maybe more than one thing. Every breath felt like glass scraping against my lungs, and my left eye was still swollen shut from where Killian had hit me.

He did this. My own mate did this.

No. Not my mate. Not anymore.

I stumbled over a root and caught myself against a tree, gasping. My hands were shaking. My whole body was shaking.

*You’re going to die out here.*

The thought should have scared me. But all I felt was tired.

So, so tired.

I closed my eyes, leaning my forehead against the rough bark, and let myself remember.

Killian’s face when I walked into that tent. The way he didn’t even stop. The way he looked at me like…like I was nothing.

*“You think that means I owe you something?”*

My throat burned. I wanted to cry, but I had nothing left. I’d cried myself dry in the hours after they’d thrown me out of the pack. Now there was just this hollow, aching numbness.

*You rejected him*, my wolf whispered. *You did the right thing.*

“Did I?” I asked bitterly. “Because it doesn’t feel right. It feels like I just signed my own death sentence.”

*He was killing us slowly. At least this way, we have a chance.*

“A chance at what? Starving? Freezing? Being torn apart by rogues?”

She didn’t answer.

Because we both knew the truth.

There was no chance. Not for someone like me. Scentless. Weak. And allone.

The darkness was thicker now, pressing in from all sides. I could barely see five feet in front of me. Every shadow looked like something crouched and waiting. Every rustle of leaves sounded like footsteps.

*Move*, my wolf urged. *We can’t stay here.*

I pushed away from the tree, forcing my legs to keep going. My feet caught on rocks and roots, and I fell twice, scraping my palms raw. But I got up. I kept moving.

Because what else was I supposed to do? Lay down and die?

Maybe that would be easier.

*No,*my wolf snarled, stronger this time. *No. We don’t give up. We survive.*

“How?” I choked out. “How are we supposed to survive this?”

*I don’t know. But we figure it out. We have to.*

I wanted to believe her. I wanted to feel that fire, that determination. But all I felt was cold.

So cold.

I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to trap what little warmth I had left. My dress felt damp from the wine Sabrina had poured on me—God, was that only last night? It felt like a lifetime ago.

The wind picked up, cutting through the thin fabric, and I shivered so hard my teeth chattered.

I’m going to freeze to death before anything else gets me.

A branch snapped somewhere behind me.

I froze, my heart slamming against my broken ribs.

What was that?

I turned slowly, scanning the darkness. I couldn’t see anything. But I felt it. Something was watching.

*Move,* my wolf whispered urgently. *Now.*

I took a step backward, then another, my eyes locked on the shadows. My foot caught on something, and I stumbled, catching myself at the last second.

Then another snap. Closer this time.

*Run….Run.*

I ran.

My body screamed in protest—my ribs, my feet, my lungs—but I didn’t stop. I crashed through the undergrowth, branches whipping at my face, thorns tearing at my arms.

Behind me, I heard it. Footsteps. Heavy and Fast.

Not human.

Rogues. Definitely Rogues.

Panic flooded my veins, sharp and electric. I pushed harder, my legs burning, my vision blurring.

I can’t outrun them. I can’t…

A howl split the air, low and guttural, and every hair on my body stood on end.

Oh God. Oh God, oh God—

My foot caught on a root, and I went down hard, slamming into the ground. Pain exploded through my side, and I tasted blood.

*Get up,* my wolf screamed. *GET UP.*

I tried. I shoved myself to my hands and knees, gasping, and looked up.

Something moved between the trees.

A shadow. Low to the ground. Eyes glowing yellow in the darkness.

My breath caught in my throat.

It stepped closer, and I saw the outline of it—massive, hunched, its lips pulled back in a snarl that showed too many teeth.

Rogue.

I scrambled backward, my hands slipping in the mud, and my back hit a tree.

No. No, no, no…

The rogue circled me slowly, its eyes locked on mine. I could smell it now—rot and blood and something feral that made my stomach turn.

We’re going to die.

*No,* my wolf snarled. *We fight.*

“With what?” I whispered, my voice shaking. “I have nothing.”

Then we use teeth. Claws. Whatever we have.

The rogue lunged.

I threw my arms up instinctively, and pain tore through my forearm as its teeth sank into my flesh. I screamed, trying to pull away, but it yanked me forward, shaking its head like I was prey.

*Shift,* my wolf roared. *SHIFT.*

I tried. I reached for her, reached for that place inside me where she lived, but there was nothing. Just emptiness.

I can’t. I can’t shift. I’m too weak.

The rogue released my arm and lunged again, this time for my throat.

I rolled to the side, and its jaws snapped shut an inch from my face. I kicked out blindly, my foot connecting with something solid, and it yelped.

I scrambled to my feet, clutching my bleeding arm, and ran.

I didn’t get far.

Something slammed into me from the side, knocking me off my feet. I hit the ground hard, the air rushing out of my lungs.

No. Please. I don’t want to die like this.

I lay there, gasping, my body trembling, and tried to push myself up.

Get up. Whoever’s coming, you need to…

Something hard hit the back of my head.

Pain exploded through my skull, white-hot and blinding, and the world tilted sideways.

I tried to stay conscious. Tried to fight it.

But my vision was fading, the darkness swallowing me whole.

And then….Nothing.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​