4. Left Behind

Mirabel sighed in frustration.

"I’m not helping you because I like you." She said flatly. "I’m helping because four bodies moving together make more noise and more scent than one, but four also means four pairs of eyes and ears."

Her gaze flicked into the dark trees, then back to us.

"And right now, even weak ones are better than nothing. Plus, if I’m stuck in this nightmare, I’d rather not die alone while listening to you three bitch about it. So make up your minds. Come with me or stay here. But choose fast. The howls are getting closer."

Another scream ripped through the trees. This one was much nearer than before. It cut off suddenly, followed by rough male laughter and a low growl that sounded way too satisfied. My stomach flipped.

"Fine," I said. "We’ll go with you. But if you start treating us like garbage again, we'll split. Deal?"

Mirabel didn’t answer right away. When she did, her voice was clipped. "Deal. Now move. Stay low, step where I step, and for the Moon Goddess’s sake, try not to sound like a herd of scared cows."

"Addie, your leg—" Teagan started.

​"It doesn't matter," I whispered.. "I’d rather it snap off entirely than let one of those bastards touch me."

We started moving again, this time following Mirabel’s lead through the undergrowth. She moved quickly, and I had to practically hop-skip to keep up, leaning heavily on Sam’s shoulder.

The woods felt alive in the worst way. Leaves rustled overhead even when there was no wind. Twigs snapped under our feet no matter how careful we tried to be. Every shadow looked like a man waiting to grab us. I kept expecting hot breath on the back of my neck or a hand closing around my arm.

My senses were useless here. All I could do was trust that Mirabel knew where she was going and pray my leg didn’t give out completely.

"Do you really think the water will hide our scent?" Teagan asked.

"It should help," Mirabel answered without turning around. "Running water messes with smells. Rocks too. But we can’t stay in one place long. They’ll sweep the area eventually."

"You really heard all this from your dad?" Teagan pressed.

"Some of it. The rest is common sense. You three have spent your lives hiding in the omega quarters. I paid attention to what the ranked wolves talked about. There’s a difference."

I bit my tongue. There it was again. That little reminder that she thought she was better than us. But right now I needed her help more than I needed to argue.

​"Down!" Mirabel hissed suddenly.

She dropped into the tall grass and we followed suit, falling into the damp earth. I pressed my face into the dirt, trying to stop my ragged breathing.

​A few dozen yards away, a massive dark shape leaped over a fallen log. It was a wolf, but larger than any I had ever seen back in my home pack. Its fur was midnight black, and its eyes burned like twin embers. It stopped, its snout hovering in the air, sniffing the wind.

​I held my breath until my lungs felt like they would burst. I prayed to whatever gods were listening that the wind would stay in our favor.

The wolf let out a low growl before turning and sprinting off in the opposite direction toward a group of girls who were screaming as they ran.

​As soon as it was gone, Mirabel got up again.

"Move. Now," she commanded. "That one was just a scout. There will be more."

Sam scrambled to her feet, reaching down to hoist Teagan up. I gritted my teeth, planting my good foot into the mud and pushing. I expected the familiar flare of agony to shoot up my left leg. I expected to feel the bone-grinding friction that had become my constant companion for the last seven months.

​Instead, I felt nothing.

Cold panic slid down my throat. I tried to wiggle my toes. Nothing. I tried to flex my calf. It was like my leg had turned into a heavy, dead piece of timber attached to my hip.

Of all the times for my body to fail me, of all the moments for my nervous system to shut down, it chose the one time I was being hunted for sport.

"Addie?" Sam whispered. "Addie, what’s wrong? Is it your leg?"

​I looked up at her, my eyes stinging with tears. I didn't want to say it. Saying it made it real.

"It’s gone numb, Sam. I can’t… I can't feel it at all." I managed to say.

"I’ll carry you," she said, already reaching for me. "Come on, get on my back."

"Are you stupid?" Mirabel snapped. "Do you actually think you have the strength to carry her while we’re running for our lives? Look at yourself, Samantha. You’re shaking so hard you can barely stand on your own two feet."

Sam snapped her head around. "Then help me! If you think you're so much stronger than the rest of us, stop standing there and grab her other side!"

​Mirabel snorted. "I don’t think I’m stronger, I know I am. But I’m not a pack mule. And even with my wolf, I’m not strong enough to carry her through this terrain at the speed we need to move. She probably weighs more than a cow anyway."

Ouch.

That one hit straight in the gut.

I knew I was a bit fat. My sickness had always made my body cling to weight no matter what I did. I had trained early in the mornings with the warriors for the past few years and that helped keep it in check.

But after I broke my legs seven months ago, everything stopped.

I couldn’t train anymore. I couldn’t run or push myself the way I used to. All I could do was sit and heal slowly while my body changed in ways I didn’t know how to control.

The weight came back, little by little and I didn’t know how to stop it. I tried eating less. At one point, I barely ate at all, thinking maybe that would fix something.

But nothing changed.

People back home had called me "Fat Addie" for so long that I eventually got used to hearing it. Not because it stopped hurting, but because I learned how to swallow the pain and keep walking anyway.

Hearing Mirabel say it out loud, though…

It pulled everything back up at once.

All the old shame. All the quiet humiliation. All the times I pretended it didn’t matter when it did.

"That wasn't really very nice, Mirabel," Teagan frowned.

Mirabel shrugged.

"I was being honest," she said coolly. "We don't have time for sugar-coated lies. Honesty is what keeps you alive. She can’t walk properly. And you can’t carry her through this terrain. If we stay here, we all get caught. It’s that simple."

​I looked at the ground, my vision blurring. I didn't want to be the reason they ended up in some Alpha’s cage. I didn't want to be the weight that dragged them down into the mud.

​"She’s right," I said. I looked at Sam, trying to put every ounce of strength I had left into my gaze. "Go. You three have to go."

"No," Sam said firmly, her grip tightening on my arm. "I am not leaving you here, Addie. We’ve come this far."

"Sam, listen to me," I begged, the first sob finally breaking through my throat. "The numbness... it won't go away for hours. I know how my body works. You can't carry me half a mile, let alone to the mountains. You’ll get caught within minutes. If you go now, you have a chance. You can run."

​"And what about you?" Teagan asked.

​"I’ll hide," I lied, looking toward a thick clump of ferns near a rotted log. "I’ll crawl in there and stay perfectly still. My scent is weak anyway because I don't have a wolf. They might pass me by. I’ll wait until I can feel my toes again and then I’ll follow the creek to find you. I promise."

"They’re coming." Mirabel muttered. "We have to go now. One minute. That’s all the time you have before I leave you all behind."

​"Addie, please," Sam whispered. "I can't abandon you like this."

"Go!" I shouted, as loud as I dared without drawing every alpha in the woods straight to us. "If you love me, if you want me to have any peace at all, just run! Don’t let them take you because of me. Please, Sam. Just give me this one thing."

Sam looked at Teagan who was sobbing quietly into her hands now. Then she looked at Mirabel, who was already halfway swallowed up by the shadows. With a strangled sound that sounded like her heart was breaking, she leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to my forehead. Her lips felt warm against my cold skin.

​"I'll come back for you," she whispered. "I swear it."

​"I know," I lied again, forcing a small smile.