5. Caught

I watched them turn and run.

For a few seconds, I could still see their shapes moving between the trees. Every step they took put more distance between us, and with it, any hope that I'd see them again.

A part of me wanted to call out—to beg them not to leave me—but I swallowed the words.

If they came back, we'd all get caught.

Sam stayed at the back, constantly glancing over her shoulder as if she was trying to memorize where I was. Every time she looked back, it hurt a little more. I didn’t want her to go, but I knew she wasn’t leaving because she wanted to. She was leaving because she had no choice.

She looked back one last time, and our eyes met in the dark. I forced a smile, even though it felt like my heart was being ripped from my chest. I needed her to believe I was okay. I needed her to keep running instead of turning back for me.

It was the last gift I could give her. A lie.

The lie that I’d find a way out of this. That someday, we’d laugh about tonight. That this wasn’t goodbye.

But deep down, I already knew the truth.

This was the last time I would ever see her.

A few seconds later, the forest swallowed them whole. The last sound of their footsteps faded into the night.

Then there was nothing.

Only the wind moving through the trees and the distant pounding of paws getting closer from every direction.

If I had even the smallest chance of surviving the night, I had to move.

I dragged myself backward on my elbows and good knee, scraping through the dirt and leaves until I reached a thick patch of bushes. Beneath the twisted roots of a fallen oak was a small hollow, just big enough for me to squeeze into.

I pulled myself inside and quickly covered my body with handfuls of dead leaves and damp moss until almost nothing was visible. My nightgown was already torn and covered in dirt, so it blended into the forest floor.

I lay completely still.

Every instinct screamed at me to follow my friends, but I couldn't risk making a single careless move. The moment I left my hiding place, the hunters would find me.

Here, I had a chance of surviving.

Out there, I had none.

I pressed a trembling hand against my chest and forced myself to breathe slowly, counting each breath in my head as I fought to keep the panic from taking over.

One… two… three...

A branch snapped somewhere just beyond the bushes, and every muscle in my body went rigid.

Through the gaps in the ferns, I caught a glimpse of movement.

It wasn’t a wolf this time.

It was a man.

He was massive. Even from where I was hiding, I could make out his broad shoulders and the way his muscles moved beneath his clothes as he walked.

"You can come out now. I know you're here."

My pulse jumped.

He was talking to someone else. He had to be.

There had to be another girl hiding nearby, someone who hadn’t made it out. Maybe he’d caught her scent. There was no reason to think he was talking about me.

I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed my face into the ground, praying he would walk past. But after a few seconds, I forced my eyes open again. I couldn’t afford to look away. I needed to watch his movements.

He inhaled deeply, and a slow, satisfied smile spread across his face.

"There it is," he murmured. "That sweet scent. You can hide from my eyes for a while, little rabbit, but you can’t hide from my nose. So come out while I’m still asking nicely. You really don’t want to make me come looking for you."

He turned his head slowly and scanned the area. Then his eyes locked onto the exact spot where I was hiding. A terrifying smirk spread across his face.

Had he already seen me?

No.

He couldn't have.

I had covered myself. I hadn’t made a sound. Maybe he was looking at something behind me. Maybe he was bluffing, waiting for whoever was hiding to panic and give themselves away.

I wasn't going to move.

My fingers dug into the dirt as I tried to make myself smaller, willing my body to disappear into the ground.

Please don't see me.

Please don't—

His shadow suddenly covered the opening of the hollow. Before I could react, a rough hand shot through the leaves and closed around my ankle.

I cried out as he yanked me forward.

My body slid out of the hollow, and I hit the ground hard at his feet.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" he said with a grin. "A little rabbit hiding in the brambles. You didn’t run very far, did you?"

His hand closed around my jaw before I could scramble away. He forced my face upward until I had no choice but to meet his eyes. I tried to jerk my face away, but the movement only made his grip tighten until I thought my jaw might crack.

"Let go of me, you bastard," I hissed.

His smile widened, revealing teeth that were just a little too sharp to be entirely human.

"No. I don’t think I will." His other hand slid into the hair at the back of my neck and gave it a sharp tug. "The bell rang and I caught you. That means you’re mine now. You’re my prize."

He tilted his head, studying my face with detached fascination.

"And until I decide otherwise..." A cruel smile spread across his lips. "...you belong exactly where I say you do."

Disgust turned my stomach. I hated the feel of his hands on me, and every place he touched felt like it was crawling beneath my skin. I wanted to tear away every place his fingers had been and scrub myself until I could no longer feel him on me.

"I don't belong to you," I choked out in a trembling voice. "I never will."

Pain shot across my scalp as he yanked my head back. I bit down hard on my lip to keep from crying out.

"You don’t have to belong to me willingly," he said, almost casually. "I caught you. That’s all that matters."

He grabbed the front of my already torn nightgown and ripped it open in one hard pull. The fabric tore easily, leaving me completely naked on the cold ground.

I shoved at his chest with both hands, but he barely moved. The tears in my eyes blurred his face, and my whole body shook beneath me. I was terrified, but I forced myself to keep looking at him. I refused to let him see just how badly he had scared me.

"Get the fuck off me!" I hissed through clenched teeth. "If you touch me again I'll kill you."

"Kill me?" He let out an amused laugh. "Little rabbit, I'm an Alpha. I’m the one who does the killing."

He leaned back slightly, his eyes dragging over my body with a possessive hunger that made my stomach turn.

I wanted to look away, but his hand was still locked around my jaw, forcing me to meet his eyes.

"You should count yourself lucky I found you before the others," he said, almost gently. "Most of them just fuck the girl for an hour or two and then snap her neck so they don’t have to deal with her. I’m different. I keep mine even after. Giving you that instead of a quick death… it’s a kindness, if you think about it."

Kindness.

The word made my stomach twist. He actually believed this was kindness. That keeping me alive instead of killing me somehow made him a good man.

His words slowly drained the fight out of me. How could I reason with someone who genuinely believed he was being kind to me? He wasn't going to listen, and I wasn't going to change his mind.

My body went still.

I stopped struggling and let my arms fall to my sides. I hated giving up, but I was exhausted, terrified, and out of options.

Maybe this was it.

This was how I was going to die.