CHAPTER 5

​SERAPHINA

​I don't know how long I laid face-down in the freezing mud. My head was pounding like crazy. Every part of my body hurt from months of torture and hunger. I managed to push myself up on my hands and knees, wiping the wet dirt and rain out of my eyes. 

My eyes watered with tears, but I didn't let it fall. “I was finally free.” But that word left a sour taste on my lips. I was free from that hellhole, but my mother was nowhere to be found. 

Before I could stop myself, tears began to roll down my cheeks. I had vowed never to cry, but I just couldn't help it. My poor mother has died, and it’s all because of me. 

If only I had listened to my wolf and gone back home that day, none of this would have happened. I wouldn't have seen Beta Harold, he wouldn't have framed me, and my mom would still be alive.

“It's all my fault, Mother.” I cried in a loud voice. “I'm so sorry.”

I didn't know how long I stood in the rain, crying for my dead mother, who had died because of my curiosity. 

​Through the heavy rain, I heard the sound of heavy footsteps approaching and I forced my eyes open. Three men came out from between the tall trees. I squinted my eyes, trying to see who they were. ​

Did Beta Harold send guards to finish me off? I thought as I continued to stare at them. Thankfully, they weren't guards from my pack. 

Their clothes were dirty and torn, and they looked hungry and dangerous. My nose caught a whiff of their scent. That suffocating rotten smell could only belong to….

​Rogues.

​My heart jumped into my throat. Rogues didn't care about anything. If they caught me out here alone, weak and helpless, they would kill me or do whatever they wanted before leaving my body to rot. 

They're deadly. The only thought running through my head was to run. But I couldn't move my legs no matter how much I wanted to.

They took slow steps toward me, like predators stalking their weak prey.

​"Look what we have here," one of them said, his voice deep and raspy. "A little runaway Omega."

​"She smells like blood and wolfsbane," another one added, stepping closer with a bad grin. "Meaning she won't be able to fight back. Jackpot!" They burst into laughter. 

“As your boss, I'll go first, Flame. And you'll both hold her down,” he said after their laughter had died down.

​Fear hit me hard. I couldn't die here. Not after surviving that dungeon. Not after promising my mom I would get revenge for us. I didn't survive that dungeon for nothing.

“Run,” Lara screamed in my head. I forced my shaky legs to stand and just took off running into the dark bush. 

My whole body protested the movement, but I didn't care. ​I didn't care one bit about the sharp pain in my back. I ignored the cuts on my bare feet as sharp stones cut into my skin. I just kept running without looking back. 

Tree branches slapped my face, but I didn't slow down. I'd rather die than let them have their ways with me. 

​Behind me, I could hear them laughing and running after me. They weren't even rushing after me like I expected. They were just taking their time, knowing I was weak and wouldn't be able to hold up for long. 

“Run all you want, bitch. But bear this in mind, you can't run away from us!" one of them yelled from behind.

​Up ahead, I saw a wide dirt path, and just past it, was a big wooden border post painted in red. The pack border.  

​Adrenaline was the only thing keeping me moving. I pushed myself with the last bit of strength I had left and, without thinking it through, I threw myself across that line, falling hard onto the muddy ground on the other side.

​I scrambled back on my elbows, shaking and waiting for them to grab me. ​But they stopped right at the red mark.

​They growled and stomped their feet, glaring at me with so much hatred, but not a single one of them stepped across. 

One of them spat on the ground and finally turned around, walking back into the bush. His friend followed suit.

​I lay in the rain, gasping for air, wondering why they just gave up like that.

​All of a sudden, a strange, empty feeling hit me right in my chest. It felt like something inside me had been snatched away forcefully. I felt unusually empty. 

I tried to reach into my mind to call my wolf; to feel that warm connection I had possessed since I was a child. But there was nothing. 

“Lara?” I called, patiently waiting for her response, but I was met with dead silence. “Are you there, Lara?” I called sternly this time.

No response either. ​Panic seized me. I slapped my hand against my chest, trying over and over to feel her. "No... please, no," I choked out.

​That was when I realized what had happened.

​I had crossed into human territory. ​That was why those rogues stopped. They didn't want to lose their strength out here.

Everybody in the pack knew the rule: werewolf powers don't work in the human world. In fact, the moment you step onto their land, your wolf goes completely extinct. You become just a normal, weak human being. Most people are lucky enough to get their wolf back. But that's a rare case. It almost never happens. 

“Lara!” I screamed at the top of my voice. “Please,” I wouldn't survive alone in this cruel world. The one reason I was able to survive those times in that damp dungeon was because of her. She had helped me heal even though we were being injected with wolfsbane. She had taken away some of my pain until she couldn't go on anymore.

But now she's no more. She's gone!

​Tears mixed with the rain on my face. My wolf was gone. The only bit of power I had left to fight back was gone. I was just a broken girl with a ruined body. How will I survive in this world, get my revenge on Beta Harold?

​"With or without my wolf,”" I muttered, wiping my nose with the back of my hand. "I'll get my revenge on Beta Harold. I'll clear our names.”

​I forced myself up. I couldn't stay near the bush anymore. ​I dragged my feet step by step until I got out of the woods and saw a big tarred road stretching out in front of me. 

​My head started spinning again. The adrenaline was completely gone, leaving me dizzy and shivering with fever. But I kept walking along the edge of the road, hoping and praying somebody would pass by.

​After walking for what felt like forever, I heard the noise of a car engine coming down the road.

​An old, beat-up blue car was driving slowly toward me, making loud sputtering sounds.

​I stopped and raised one weak hand, trying to get the driver's attention.

​"Please..." I tried to speak, but my throat was so dry that the words only came out as a tiny whisper.

​The car slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road. Through the dirty glass, I saw an old man with grey hair looking at me like he had just seen a ghost.

​He opened his door and stepped out quickly. "Jesus! Young lady, what happened to you?"

​Before I could even say a word or ask him for help, my vision went completely black, and my legs gave out. I collapsed right there on the hard road.