CHAPTER 4

I woke up in the daylight surrounded by beta werewolves and snarled as threateningly as I could, grabbing one of them by the leg and sinking my fangs into his calf. The others leaped back, grabbing the one I'd injured and pulling him to a safe distance as he screeched in pain. I forced myself to stand up.

I ran. Shit shit shit, I was gonna die. I curled in the air to hopefully land in a roll. My breath was knocked out of me in a painful crunch and my head throbbed where I'd hit it. My lungs burned and I knew I'd at least cracked a rib. I slid a few feet and managed to roll over, letting myself slide down the roof. A few tiles near me shattered as bullets rained down from above, and I fell to the street absolutely gracelessly, landing within a crumpled heap with an audible thump. Sirens were rapidly approaching from my left, louder every second. 

I dragged myself to my feet, fueled by pure panic, and raced down the road. I needed to hide, I couldn't keep running like this. The thunderous pounding of my heart all but drowned out my footsteps now, my body struggling to keep going. The few people left in the streets scattered. The alerts must have gone out as soon as I was sighted and reported. I was slowing down, in too much pain to keep the pace up, and I panicked, even more, sucking in a wheezing breath and fighting away the spots in my vision. If I didn't hide I'd either get shot or my heart would burst. My feet were burning, soles in fiery agony. I had to have ripped them to shreds by now. My breath came in harsh gasps, much too fast to be remotely normal.

I was lost, and I couldn't tell what direction I was going anymore. I had to hide, I had to hide! I felt the bullet hit my shoulder before I heard the shot, and I fell to the ground, rolling over and over. I screamed when I registered the pain. Shit shit shit. It was a wolfsbane bullet, I could smell it, and who knew where the sniper was. He could shoot me again if I didn't move. I managed to stand up enough to stumble around the corner of the nearest building, gripping my shoulder and trying to stop the blood. They could track a blood trail too easily.

I was in one of the low-income districts now, I could find a place to hide. Things would be fine, I thought sarcastically, and briefly wondered how I had the presence of mind for sarcasm when my shoulder was pouring blood and my ribs were broken and my legs were shaking from overexertion. I was going to die. Tears blurred my vision, brought on by panic and pain, and who knew what else, I didn't have time to think about it.

There was a dumpster ahead of me. If I could make it there without being seen, I might make it. At least I could die in peace. Did I really want to bleed out in a dumpster, though? Wasn't it better to just be shot and have done with it? But some survival instinct was too strong to let me stop and surrender to death, and I stumbled to the dumpster, hauling myself under the lid to fall about a foot onto extremely uncomfortable garbage. 

I panted for air, my sense of smell overwhelmed by the sudden wash of scents. I had to get my breathing under control or they'd hear me. I hadn't been seen since I got shot, and they might go right by me if they couldn't hear me. I clamped a hand over my mouth, pinching my nose when I heard running footsteps, forcing myself not to breathe even though it made my vision swim and my heart pound even harder.

"Shit, where'd she go?"

"I know I hit her! I know I did," someone shouted. "She can't make it far."

"This way!"

They were gone. I could've cried with relief if I hadn't been in so much shock. I took a few gasping breaths and managed to calm down a little, though I still trembled violently in the cramped, dark space. The lid to the dumpster suddenly swung open and someone grabbed me. I yelped, thrashing to free myself as I was dragged roughly up and out of the dumpster. I lashed out uselessly, but whoever it was holding me was too tightly for me to twist and get hold of them. My shoulder throbbed and my vision went dark for a second. I forced myself back to full consciousness.

"We've got to go before they realize you went to the ground," someone hissed in my ear, and I was planted firmly on my feet. "They're going to double back soon, we've got to get out of here."

I barely got a look at the man before he was running, pulling me behind him. I cried out, nearly falling. I couldn't run, I couldn't, I thought, but I forced my feet to keep moving, pain overwhelming me to the point I wished I'd just drop dead. He looked back over his shoulder past me, and his face hardened. I was startled, confused, and frightened by the fact that his eyes were brown. He was human. He yanked me sideways, into a tiny gap between buildings, and shoved me through. 

I started to go right, wanting to get as far away as possible from where I'd hidden, but he went left, toward a car. I followed, body starting to give out, legs refusing to move as fast as I demanded they did.

"Backseat, get down in the floorboard," he ordered, yanking both driver's side doors open and diving into the front seat. I did as he said, barely managing to get the door closed before he was taking off, swerving hard to the right. My breath came in harsh wheezes and just wouldn't slow down. "Shit," he hissed, hitting the gas harder.

I couldn't breathe.

"Wake up! Come on, wake up!" someone was yelling, and I felt a dull pain in my cheek. "Wake up!"

My eyes opened, ears ringing so loudly I didn't know which way was up or down. Someone was standing over me. No... no, that wasn't right. I blinked, trying to focus my vision. I was sitting in a car. They were in front of me, and they looked kinda familiar. Huh. A daze of pain made me tense suddenly, and my eyes rolled back.