Chapter 3: Red on the White Snow

The freezing winter wind bit into my bare skin, but it was nothing compared to the sharp, suffocating terror of knowing the pack guards were tracking me down like an animal. 

My bare feet sank deep into the freezing drifts, the sharp ice cutting into my toes with every single step I took. I couldn't feel my fingers anymore. I clutched my arms tightly around my waist, trying to keep the tiny bit of warmth left in my body close to my stomach.

Just a little further, I told myself, my breath coming in ragged, painful gasps that burned my throat. We have to get away. I have to keep you safe.

"Spread out! She couldn't have gone far in this dress!"

Marcus’s loud, rough voice boomed through the dark trees, making my heart jump straight into my throat. The sound of shifting snow and snapping branches came from every direction. I tried to run faster, but my long blue dress kept getting tangled around my legs, tripping me. I stumbled, my knee hitting a hidden rock beneath the white drifts. A sharp cry escaped my lips as I fell forward, my face burying into the freezing ground.

Before I could even push myself back up, a harsh grip clamped down on the collar of my dress and yanked me backward. I was thrown onto my back, staring up into the cold, scarred face of Marcus. Five other Zenith pack guards stepped out from the shadows of the trees, completely surrounding me.

"Look what we have here," Marcus sneered, looking down at me with zero pity in his eyes. "The little basement mouse tried to run away."

"Marcus, please," I choked out, tears mixing with the melting snow on my face as I pushed myself up on my elbows. "Liam already banished me. I am leaving. I am going far away and I will never come back, I swear."

"Oh, we know you aren't coming back," Marcus said, a cruel smile spreading across his lips. He leaned down slightly, lowering his voice so only I could hear. "But this isn't about Liam's orders, Maya. Seraphina paid us a very handsome bonus to make sure the thief never actually survives the night. She wants you gone for good."

My eyes widened in pure horror. "No... please, Marcus, don't do this."

"Hold her down," Marcus ordered the other men.

Two large guards stepped forward and grabbed my shoulders, pinning my arms to the frozen ground. I kicked and thrashed with every single bit of strength I had left, but I was too weak, too cold, and completely outnumbered.

"Stop! Please stop!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as Marcus raised his foot.

He didn't hesitate. His foot came down hard, slamming directly into my stomach.

A sharp, blinding agony exploded through my entire body. The air left my lungs in a loud gasp, and my eyes rolled back from the sheer force of the blow. I curled my body inward as much as the guards would let me, desperately trying to wrap my arms around my midsection to shield the tiny life growing inside me.

"Please, no! Not my stomach! Please, I am pregnant!" I shrieked, my voice cracking and breaking as I begged for the life of my unborn baby. "Liam’s baby is inside me! Please don't do this!"

"Lying bitch," Marcus spat, his face twisting in disgust. "You think we would believe an ugly thief like you could carry the Alpha's child? Finish her."

Another foot slammed into my ribs, and then another hit my lower back. I cried out, a sobbing, broken sound that echoed through the empty forest. 

I stopped trying to fight them off and just focused entirely on covering my belly, using my own hands and arms as a shield, but the heavy blows kept coming. Every hit felt like a burning iron touching my skin, tearing away my strength bit by bit.

"That's enough," Marcus finally called out, waving his hand after what felt like an eternity of torture. The guards stepped back, leaving me curled up on my side in the red-stained snow. My nose was bleeding, and my mouth tasted like copper.

"Are we leaving her like this?" one of the guards asked, his voice shaking slightly as he looked at my broken form.

"No," Marcus replied coldly. "We don't leave any loose ends. Let the local residents have their dinner."

Marcus threw his head back and let out a loud, piercing howl into the night sky. A few seconds later, answering howls echoed from the deep darkness of the woods. My heart squeezed in terror. Rogues. He was calling the feral, packless wolves that lived in the wild.

"Good luck, Maya," Marcus scoffed. He turned around, and the guards followed him, running back toward the estate bounds and leaving me entirely alone.

I lay there in the freezing mud, my body shaking so violently I could barely keep my eyes open. A warm, terrifying sensation started to spread between my thighs, soaking through my blue dress. 

The absolute agony inside my womb was eating me raw. I felt my life force, the beautiful secret treasure I had carried for three weeks, slipping away into the freezing dark.

"No, no, no," I wept, my fingers clawing into the wet snow as I tried to hold onto the fading connection. "Please stay. Don't leave me. Mommy is sorry. Please..."

A deep, menacing growl cut through my sobs.

Three massive, snarling rogue wolves stepped out from the thick brush. Their eyes were wild, yellow, and completely bloodthirsty. They smelled the fresh blood in the air and started moving toward me, their teeth bared. One of them lunged forward, its sharp claws tearing into my shoulder. I didn't even have the strength to scream anymore. I just wept silently, closing my eyes and waiting for the final blow to take me away from this living nightmare.

Suddenly, a massive black shape crashed into the rogue wolf, sending it flying across the clearing. Loud, ferocious roars erupted all around me, followed by the sounds of bones snapping and bodies hitting the ground. A violent fight was happening right over my head, but I couldn't even lift my chin to see.

Everything was turning gray. The white snow beneath me was completely stained a deep, tragic red.

Through the heavy contrast of the blinding white storm and my fading vision, I felt the ground vibrate. Footsteps hurried toward me, and someone knelt down in the bloody snow right beside my head. I felt a large, warm hand gently touch my freezing cheek.

"Maya? Maya, stay with us!" a deep, commanding voice called out into the dark. It sounded frantic, desperate, and filled with a strange panic.

I couldn't answer. The dark warmth of unconsciousness finally rushed over me, taking away the pain as my eyes closed completely.