chapter 2

CELLA’S POV

The moment my feet touched the muddy ground, I ran.

Mud splashed up my legs as I moved, but I didn’t slow down. My heart raced, loud in my chest, and it felt like the nightmare again, except this time nothing was chasing me.

This time, I was running because I chose to.

After a few steps, my breath gave out, my chest burned, and my legs felt weak. I stopped in front of the big oak tree and leaned against it with one hand, bending forward as I tried to breathe.

I had watched this tree from my window for as long as I could remember, as it had stood strong through rain, wind, and harsh weather. I had always wondered how it managed to survive when everything around seemed to suffer.

Now I stood right in front of it.

I pressed my forehead against the rough bark. It was cold and damp, but I didn’t pull away. A small sound slipped out of me, it was a shaky laugh that broke halfway through and sounded more like a cry.

“How are you so strong?” I whispered. My fingers curled into the bark. “Please teach me.”

This time, I wasn’t just asking out of curiosity. I needed the answer more than ever.

“What do you mean you can’t find her?” my father’s voice rang out.

I sucked in a sharp breath, my chest tightening as I pressed myself harder against the tree.

“She isn’t in her room,” one of the guards replied.

Silence followed, then my father spoke again, his voice colder than before. “I don’t care if you turn this entire den upside down. I want her brought back alive.”

My mother’s voice cut in, it was firm and sharp. “And if she fights back, you have our permission to do what you must. Just don’t kill her.”

My hands began to shake and I hadn’t realized I was holding my breath until it rushed out of me in a shaky exhale. Fear flooded my body and it was overwhelming.

I tried to move but my foot caught on a root, and I slammed into the tree trunk.

Pain shot through my side as I lost my balance, letting out a scream that ripped out of my throat before I could stop it.

I tumbled to the ground, rolling through damp leaves and dirt, my heart pounding wildly in my ears.

“Did you hear that?” someone shouted.

A pause, then another voice, loud and certain. “She’s in the woods.”

I could hear multiple footsteps hitting the cold floor in rapid strides —they were running, and soon they would be here.

"You need to get up," Sable finally said.

"Sable?" I called out.

“You need to get up,” she urged, her claws pressing against my chest as her presence surged through me. “We have to move. They’re coming.”

"I can't," I cried out, gasping for breath.

"Yes, you can." Her claws pressed harder. "I am not letting you go back to that den."

"How did they know?"

I could hear Sable groan before she let out a soft sigh. "If we’d bonded, you’d understand but there’s no time for that. I’m not letting them take you back.”

I tried to get up, but my legs wobbled. Instead of falling to the ground, I found myself moving faster than I used to, as the trees all became a shadow as I ran past them. Roots snagged my feet, and every snap of a twig behind me made me jump, nearly losing balance again.

"What's going on?" I said, my voice barely a whisper as it shook.

“I had no choice,” Sable said inside my head, calm but sharp. “I’m guiding you, so just keep running.”

“No! Stop me!” I screamed, but my body ignored me as it kept steady in motion.

“She’s headed for the cliff!” a voice barked. The pounding of boots, the sharp barking of dogs, and the snapping of branches made my heart leap into my throat.

Cliff? I was running as fast as I could and yet it didn’t even occur to me that I had no idea where I was going. I didn’t know these woods, I didn’t know which way was safe, which way led forward, or even if I was moving in the right direction at all. I was running blind, following nothing but the sound of my own panicked heartbeat and Sable’s voice in my head, and now… now someone was yelling that I was heading for a cliff.

“Faster, Cella!” Sable urged in my mind, claws scraping along my ribs. Panic surged, but so did a strange sense of clarity. I leaned into her guidance, letting her strength push me forward.

“Keep moving, Cella!” Sable’s voice surged through me, calm but insistent.

The yelling from behind grew louder. They were getting really close. Too close.

I stumbled over a thick root, barely catching myself against a tree. My side burned from the fall, my chest heaving, but I forced my legs to move again. I didn’t dare look behind me as I quickly got up and ran.

“Almost there,” Sable murmured in my head. “Just a little further. Trust me.”

I clenched my fists, teeth tightened against the fear, and pushed my body faster than I ever thought possible. My heart was a drum in my chest, my lungs screamed for air, but I didn’t slow. I had no choice, I had to keep running, even if I had no idea what waited ahead. But there was one thing I did know-- I would not go back.

A sudden change in the air brought me to an abrupt stop. The cliff.

It was as wide as anything I had ever seen and beautiful but terrifying. I felt the cold air as I tried to peek down, but it stretched so far below that the ground couldn't be seen.

"You need to jump," Sable's voice came out, sharper than it was before.

A gasp tore from my chest before I could stop it. “Jump?” I whispered, panic washing over me. “Are you crazy?”

“There is no other way,” she said, firm now. “It's only a matter of time before they catch on to us.”

I shook my head hard as I backed away from the edge, pebbles fell over the side and disappeared into nothing.

“I’ll die,” I said, my voice breaking. “I don’t even know how far down it is.”

“You won’t,” Sable replied, but even she sounded strained. “You have to trust me.”

Behind me, the forest had become a place of unrest, with noise as the shouts grew louder; they had forced their way through the forest.

“There!” someone yelled. “She’s at the cliff!”

My heart dropped as I could feel my hands tremble but I tried keeping them steady. I turned just in time to see shadows moving between the trees, torches flickering through the dark. They were close enough now that I could hear their breathing.

My father’s voice cut through the chaos. “Cella! Stop right there!”

My whole body froze at the sound of his voice. For half a second, doubt wrapped around my chest as it was squeezing tight.

“Don’t listen to him,” Sable snapped. Her claws dug into me, grounding me. “If you turn back, they will never let you go.”

I swallowed hard, tears burning my eyes as I looked behind me once more— at the forest, the guards, the life I was running from, then I looked back at the cliff.

My legs felt weak, my knees threatening to give way as fear crawled through every part of me.

“They’re almost on you,” Sable urged. “Now, Cella. You have to choose.”

I took a deep breath as the thought of being locked in that tower all over again would be worse than dying.

I stood on the edge of everything between the past and whatever waited below as I closed my eyes and stepped forward before taking a huge leap.

I opened my eyes and saw that I was infloating in the air. Everything felt slow, like time had stopped. The other side of the cliff looked close, so close that I thought I could reach it, but then I started to fall.

I stretched out my hands, reaching as far as I could. My fingers almost touched the edge, but I missed it by just an inch.

I let out a scream.

My hands brushed the cliff, close enough to feel it, but not close enough to hold on.

Was this how I was going to die?

Was this how my story ended?

My thoughts became a mess as fear filled my head. I shut my eyes, ready for whatever would happen next.

"Got you.”