Chapter 7

Scarlett’s POV

I did not run, because I was too scared. I could not move, so my legs rather stayed in the same position and decided to make me a meal to the hungry prey. Lunaris was a very horrible place because of the girls, but nothing this evil happens.

“Thane, all you had to do was hear me out.” I said, close to tears.

“Why do I have to hear you out?” He snapped at me. “My life just needs to go back to normal, and for that to happen, I need you out of the fucking way!”

“Please, don't hurt me. I'll write the registrar to take me to another room, please.” I begged, hoping that they'd just let me be.

“It's too late for all of that.” Lincoln chuckled. “You would not even be able to retreat coming here.”

“ I have something to say, please.” I begged, hoping that they'd just leave me alone.

“Keep your fucking mouth shut!” He snapped at me.

“You have the chance to run and save yourself, or we can just finish the job here.” One of the boys growled.

I looked around, hoping that one of the guards would just show up and save me, but there was nothing.

“You really don't think anyone would save you, right?” Lincoln laughed. “No guard would come on duty tonight.”

“Please, I am a…” One of the boys punched me before I could reveal that I was a girl, and the thought of revealing my true gender even made me more scared.

Some of them looked like they had been horny for years. Goodness knows what they'd do to me if they found out that I was a girl.

“I said, run!!” Lincoln screamed again, and this time, I shifted into my wolf, and I bolted. They were chasing behind me.

It made me remember the first time I was told to run.

“Run like a girl!” Those were the exact words he used. It was during a war, and my father had just died. The enemies had a free entry into our home since my mother, the terror in every man's heart was off fighting somewhere else.

I ran till my legs gave out, and even when they did, I did not stop running until I just became stiff.

The cold night air hit my face as I ran through the trees. My paws were pounding against the hard forest floor. My heart was racing faster than my legs could carry me, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop.

Branches whipped my face. My sides ached from the sudden shift, but intense fear pushed me forward. I could hear them behind me. The growls, fast footsteps, snapping twigs, and the angry breath of wolves too close for comfort.

“Don’t let him escape!” one of them yelled.

I didn’t look back. I knew I was bleeding. One of them had clawed my side just before I shifted, and it stung like hell. The cold wind made it worse, like salt in a wound. My fur was sticky, matted with blood, but I forced my legs to keep moving.

I darted to the right, leaping over a fallen log, but a brown wolf slammed into my back leg, sending me crashing into a bush. I felt so much pain in my hind limbs, but I scrambled to my feet again and kept running. I could hear one of them panting right behind me, so close I could feel the heat of his breath on my tail.

I slid down a muddy slope, tumbling over leaves and wet earth, and landed with a thud in a shallow stream. The freezing water shocked my body, but it bought me a few seconds. My scent was covered for just a moment.

I bolted again, slipping in the mud, slipping between trees that grew tighter and closer together. I didn’t even know where I was going, I just knew I had to run.

What would happen if they caught me? What if they hand me back to my mom? What if they rape me? Several thoughts were going through my head, but I could not check how they'd react.

Every part of me hurt. My lungs burned. My leg throbbed. My eyes stung with tears, but I didn’t stop.

I kept running until I couldn’t hear them anymore. The voices faded. The pounding feet disappeared. Only the wind, the sound of my breath, and the thudding of my heart remained.

I looked back to see them all staring down at me like they finally had me where they wanted me to be the whole time.

I finally slowed down when I reached a part of the forest I’d never seen before. The trees were thicker, taller, and the ground was softer under my paws. A deep fog curled around the trunks, swallowing the moonlight.

I collapsed beside a large tree, shifting back into my human form. My cardigan was torn. My side was still bleeding, and my leg was scratched badly. I hugged my knees to my chest, shivering, trying to calm myself.

I was still trying to calm myself down when I started hearing growls. I was trying very hard to remain composed, but I never knew that maintaining composure would be so hard in the face of death.

The growls got louder, and the scent got so strong, that I knew that whatever was up there was definitely just not a normal wolf.

A few seconds later after I had tried to act dead, his spit dropped on my body. It was slimy and irritating, and I wanted to scream my lungs out, but I remained quiet, tilting my head slowly to look at what was on top of me.

His eyes were large like a normal human's, but he looked more like a wolf standing like a human, but like a cursed one. His fangs were longer, and his eyes were terrifying.

I released a scream at the same time the beast roared at me.

I am going to be eaten!

“AHHHHH!!!”