Being chased

DYLAN’S POV  

“Damn it. How the hell am I supposed to get out of here?”

It was cold. I felt my pulse accelerate as my bare feet pressed against the cold ground. Stones bit into my soles, twigs snapped but I had nothing to do. Stopping meant death and slowing meant capture.

Shifting was now hard. My wolf was now tired, his presence faint and trembling inside me, no longer surging with strength but dragging at my limbs like a dying flame. Each attempt to call him closer ended in pain, my body refusing to obey. I was trapped in this fragile skin, too weak to become what I needed to survive.

The air burned my lungs each time I breathed, carrying the scent of pine and rot but I still had nothing to do. I only ran faster. They were behind me, hunting me in their wild forms.

I had been a rogue for a long time. Years spent moving from territory to territory, surviving with others. We learned how to disappear, how to hunt quietly and most years, we were successful. We outran patrols, avoided borders, vanished before Alphas could catch our scent.

But now I crossed into the wrong territory, the feared pack where the moon above me looked crimson. It begged for blood and I knew that soon I was going to be killed.

The warriors hunting me were stronger than any I had faced before. I already saw the aftermath of their hunt, bodies torn apart, rogues who hadn’t been fast enough, clever enough, lucky enough. The others were already dead.

Shallow breaths made their way out of my lungs. My limbs were sore along with the rest of my body. I was unaware of how much longer I could run.

Where are the goddamn roads? I groaned to myself, kicking mud off my feet as my wolf stirred weakly, claws barely surfacing before retreating again. I needed an exit. A border. Anything. Because I could no longer hold them off.

Branches cracked somewhere to my left and it scared me immediately. My head snapped in that direction .Between the trees, a pair of golden eyes stared back at me.

My heart sank.They had found me.

My body reacted before my mind could even think. I turned and ran.

“There he is!”A rough voice exploded behind me.“The damn rogue! He’s in our territory! Catch him!”

A furious howl ripped through the night. The next second, the ground shook beneath the thunder of paws chasing after me. Closer.

They were getting closer.

No. No. No.

 I can’t get caught. Not here. Not by them.I prayed silently as my legs carried me forward, even though every muscle in my body screamed for me to stop.

Without warning, my foot caught on a hidden root, and I went down hard.The impact knocked the breath from my lungs, forcing a strangled gasp from my throat. Pain exploded through my knee, sharp and sickening, and I cried out before I could stop myself. Mud coated my hands as I scrambled, my claws tearing uselessly at the ground as I tried to push myself up.

I was too slow.

A pair of massive boots appeared in my vision. I froze.

Then another. And another. They circled me with ease. I quickly backed away until my shoulders hit a tree trunk. There was nowhere left to run. My wolf whimpered inside me, weak and broken, curling in on himself as if he already knew the end was near.

“Look at that,” one of them sneered. “The little rogue finally ran out of places to hide.”

Another warrior laughed coldly.“After trespassing into SilverStone territory, did you really think you’d walk away alive?”

My fingers tightened against the bark behind me, trying to hide the tremble running through my body.

Damn it.

I hated that they could see my weakness.I hated that my body was betraying me.

“Pathetic,” one of the wolves spat. “All that running, and this is where you end up?”

He stepped closer, his golden eyes filled with disgust.

“Rogues are all the same. No pack. No loyalty. No honor.”

His lips curled into a cruel smile,“You crawl into another pack’s territory and still expect mercy?”

I swallowed hard, forcing myself to meet his gaze despite the fear twisting in my chest.“I don’t belong to any pack,” I said through clenched teeth. “And I don’t need one.”

The warriors laughed.

“Listen to him. Still pretending he has pride.”One of them crouched down, grabbing my chin roughly and forcing me to look up.

“You’re just a rogue,” one of the warriors sneered, looking me over with disgust. “And you’ll die just like every other rogue who crosses our borders.”

My wolf growled weakly inside me, but even he knew we were outmatched.“Kill me then,” I spat, refusing to lower my eyes. “Isn’t that what you want?”

The warrior stared at me for a moment, then laughed.“Trust me, rogue. That would be too easy.”

He released me with disgust and stood up.

“Take him to the Alpha.”

The moment those words left his mouth, every bit of warmth drained from my body.

No. Anyone but him.

Alpha Asher. The same infamous Alpha who was feared across every territory. The same Alpha who had destroyed my pack and taken my family from me.

That single sentence sealed my fate. Strong hands closed around my arms before I could react. I tensed, instinct screaming at me to fight, but my body betrayed me again. My legs buckled, weakness crashing over me in a brutal wave. My wolf growled faintly inside me, furious and helpless, his claws scraping uselessly against the cage of my exhaustion.

“Don’t touch me,” I hissed, struggling weakly.

“Save your strength. You’ll need it.” Steve tightened his grip then they dragged me away from the tree, deeper into the forest. Every step sent fresh pain shooting through my knee, my lungs burning with each shallow breath I forced in. Blood and mud clung to my skin, the cold seeping deeper now that I had stopped running.

Killed on the spot would’ve been mercy. Meeting the Alpha was a sentence far worse than death.