3. Into the Woods

For a second, no one moved.

Then the crowd exploded.

Everyone surged toward the trees in a blind panic, shoving and stumbling over one another in their desperation to get away. Someone crashed into my shoulder. Another girl fell to the ground and immediately disappeared beneath the swarm of bodies rushing past her.

I grabbed Sam's hand with my right and Teagan's with my left and pulled them after me. My bad leg screamed the moment I started running.

A sharp pain shot up my ankle, nearly making me stumble. I gritted my teeth and kept going anyway. There was no point slowing down now. I could complain about it later. Assuming I survived long enough to complain.

I fixed my gaze on the dark wall of trees ahead and focused on putting one foot in front of the other. The forest seemed impossibly far away, even though it couldn't have been more than a few hundred yards.

Ten minutes.

That was all we had.

Ten minutes before the hunt began.

"Stay close," I said as we crossed into the tree line. Branches immediately slapped against my face and snagged in my hair. "And stay away from any obvious paths. If it looks easy to follow, they'll check it first."

The forest swallowed us whole.

Within seconds, the moonlight all but vanished behind a thick canopy of branches, leaving us stumbling through shifting shadows. I could barely see more than a few feet ahead of me, which was just fantastic considering my leg was already threatening to give out.

A root caught my foot.

I lurched forward with a curse, but Sam grabbed my arm before I could crash face-first into the dirt.

"Thanks," I muttered, steadying myself.

She gave my arm a quick squeeze before letting go.

I hated this.

I hated how helpless I felt.

A normal wolf could probably navigate this forest with their eyes closed. They could track scents, hear movement from impossible distances and see perfectly well in the dark.

I couldn't do any of that.

We veered away from the main trail, heading deeper into the thickest part of the forest. Most of the girls had gone the other way, choosing the wider paths where running was easier.

I couldn't blame them.

Panic had a way of making people choose the quickest route instead of the smartest one. If I were hunting dozens of terrified women, the obvious paths would be the first places I'd check.

"Addie," Teagan panted. Her voice was thick with tears. "I can’t... I can’t run anymore. My legs... they’re already shaking. I'm going to fall."

I squeezed her hand tighter and slowed us down just a little. My leg screamed with every step, but I tried not to show it.

"We’ll go slowly for now," I whispered, pulling her closer to me and Sam. "We just need to get out of the open. We’ll find a place to hide together. A hollow log, a cave... anything."

"Hide? That’s your brilliant plan, Adeline?"

A sharp voice cut through the dark from just behind us. Even though I couldn’t see her face clearly, I knew it was Mirabel. I would recognize that sneering tone anywhere.

Was she following us? Why?

She stepped closer and the moonlight caught just enough of her expression to show the curl of her lip.

"Goddess, no wonder our pack is a joke." Her voice dripped with disgust. "Do you honestly think hiding is going to save you? You do realize we're being hunted by alphas, right? Not blind old men stumbling through the woods with walking sticks. They'll smell you long before they see you."

I felt heat crawl up my neck. Not because she was wrong but because she was being a bitch about it.

"If the three of you had a single wolf between you, maybe I'd understand the optimism. But let's be honest here." She let out a harsh laugh. "You can barely make it through the forest without tripping over your own feet."

"Hey, why don't you shut the hell up?" Sam snapped. The venom in her voice surprised me. ​It was the first time she’d spoken since we were brought here from our pack. She was finally starting to come out of the shock she’d been in.

Mirabel laughed.

"What? Did I hurt your feelings?"

"No," Sam shot back. "You're just annoying as fuck."

That wiped the amusement off Mirabel's face.

"You know what your problem is?" Sam continued. "You spend so much time talking down to people that you've forgotten nobody actually likes you."

"You think I care whether people like me?"

"You’ve spent your whole life looking down on us like we’re filth beneath your boots. The Gamma’s precious daughter, with your perfect wolf and your perfect rank. So tell me, why the hell are you here with the rest of the trash? Why did your father hand you over as tribute like the rest of us worthless wolfless rejects? What did you do to piss them off so badly that even your precious status couldn’t save you?"

Something flickered across Mirabel's face.

"Careful."

"Or what?" Sam challenged. "You'll beat me to death? Go run your own race, Mirabel. Nobody asked for your advice. Nobody asked for your opinion. And nobody gives a shit what you think about our chances."

Mirabel scoffed.

"You should. Your chances are terrible."

"Then why are you still here?" Sam fired back. "You keep talking like you're so much better than us, but look around. You're running through the same woods. Wearing the same stupid nightgown. About to be hunted by the same Alphas."

Mirabel’s silhouette stiffened. For a second, I thought she might lunge at us.

"Fine." She took a step backward. "Get caught then. See if I care."

Then she disappeared into the darkness between the trees.

For a moment, nobody said anything. The silence gave me a chance to pay attention to everything else.

The forest was alive with sound.

I could hear hundreds of footsteps crashing through the woods all around us. I caught the terrified screams from somewhere off to the left followed by deep, triumphant howls that made my skin crawl.

The monsters were already in the trees.

"We have to move," Sam whispered. "They're here."

"My leg," I groaned, leaning heavily against a rough tree trunk. "I just… I need a minute. If we hide for a second, I can catch my breath. I can’t keep this pace, Sam. I’ll slow you both down and they’ll catch all of us."

I hated how weak I sounded. I didn’t want to be the reason my friends ended up as prizes for those monsters. Just five minutes. That was all I needed for the fire in my muscles to dull.

"Where will we hide?" Sam asked, scanning the darkness.

"Over here," I said, tugging them toward a thick clump of bushes and low-hanging branches. "We can crouch down, just long enough to breathe. Then we keep going."

"Addie, we can’t stay here," Teagan whispered, though she looked every bit as drained as I felt. "It's not safe."

"She’s right for once." Mirabel’s voice drifted from the shadows. She hadn’t gone far. "Hiding here is a death sentence. The further we get from that hall, the better our odds."

"What’s your genius plan then, huh?" Sam hissed, whirling on her. "Since you know everything and the rest of us are just stupid. Go on. Enlighten us, Gamma’s daughter."

There was a short pause. I could hear Mirabel breathing steadily like she wasn’t even tired. Of course she wasn’t. She had a wolf. She could probably run all night without breaking a sweat.

She stepped forward and looked toward a ridge where the trees seemed even thicker.

"The Alphas will follow the easiest scent trails first," She said in a low voice. "They’ll go for the girls running in straight lines toward the markers. They want a chase, but they’re also lazy. There’s an old creek bed about half a mile that way. The water will mask our scent and the terrain is too rough for them to run at full speed in their wolf forms. If you want to live, come with me. Or stay here and let them pick you up like discarded toys. Your choice."

I looked at Sam, then at Teagan. I didn't trust Mirabel as far as I could throw her, but she was right about the scent. My lack of a wolf meant I couldn't smell them, but I knew they could smell the salt of our sweat and the iron of our blood from miles away.

Part of me still wanted to tell Mirabel to get lost. But another part knew we were already at a disadvantage. We weren’t built for this the way Mirabel was.

"Why would you help us? You’ve never given a damn about any of us before tonight." Sam spoke before I could.