CHAPTER THREE

~Elara's POV~

I'M GOING WITH them?

The thought had barely formed before instinct took over, and I broke into a frantic run in the darkness. I heard a snarl behind me. Then the thunder of paws.

I pushed harder. My lungs burned, but I was faster than I looked, and for a moment, I thought I might actually make it, then something hit me from the side.

A body slammed into me and sent me crashing to the ground. Blinding pain shot from my shoulder.

The wolf pinned me with his paws, his teeth snapping inches from my throat.

I twisted, sank my teeth into his foreleg, and bit down until I tasted blood. He yelped and jerked back, and I scrambled to my feet, but the others were already there.

The second greywolf hit me from the left. The third came from the right, and I was surrounded again.

I lunged at the one on my right, catching him off guard. My teeth found his ear and ripped. He howled in pain and staggered back. I spun, raking my claws across the black wolf's muzzle, spraying his blood in the air.

For another breathless moment, I thought I might win.

Then the brown brute slammed into me again. I hit the ground hard. My already-injured shoulder took the brunt of the impact, and I felt something snap. A sharp, grinding pain that radiated down my entire right side took the will to fight out of my being.

The grey wolf was on me before I could recover. His jaws closed around my throat, pinning me down with a warning that he could tear out my jugular at any random movement..

I'm sorry, I whispered to Freya. I'm sorry.

Don't be, she whispered back. At least, we tried.

The wolves held me there against the cold earth. I could barely breathe. The pain in my shoulder was unbearable. Then i heard the crunch of boots on dead leaves. The wolves parted, and the crimson-eyed stranger stepped into view.

He looked down at me and at his bloodied guard. Something flickered in his expression. Annoyance, maybe. Or amusement.

“You are not as weak as I thought,” he said softly. "The little Luna has teeth."

I bared them at him. It was all I could do.

He crouched beside me, his crimson eyes boring into mine. "You broke your arm," he observed. "And you're bleeding in at least four places." He tilted his head and continued. "You should have stayed still."

He stood and nodded to the wolves. "We're done here. Move."

I was herded by the wolves to follow, and without much of a choice anymore, I followed my abductors deeper into the woods. With each step away from my pack, the more forlorn I grew.

Silas would never care to look for me. I had just given them the perfect freedom to marry Iris as he wanted. How was I ever going to get my revenge on them? An involuntary whimper escaped my lips.

The man looked back with anger written all over his face. "Keep quiet!" he snarled. He crouched beside me and popped the dislocated shoulder joint t back in order. I could not ignore the warmth that spread all over my insides as he touched me.

Freya, what is this? I snarled. Why are we reacting to him?

I do not know, she replied, sounding as confused as I was.

Were we this desperate for physical touch, that I felt something for a dangerous stranger who was abducting me?

"We won't be long now," he said, his voice grew soft. "Try not to put pressure on the leg, and don't make any noise are deep in rogue territory now. It would be a shame if we had to leave you at their mercy." He stood up, and we continued our journey to the unknown.

*****

WE WALKED FOR hours, and the sun was starting to rise when we finally made it to the pack. I could tell by the appearances of small houses scattered all over the place and the sound of voices in the distance. Soon, we got to the heart of the pack where people were already awake.

"Welcome back, Alpha," people greeted, bowing deeply. The tattooed man grunted in acknowledgment.

"Call for Jane," he said to a passerby.

"Jane is here!" A redhead, smallish woman that bore a striking resemblance to my captor, said, walking to join us.

"I want you to look at the prisoner's foot. She broke it on our journey here." He said.

"Hello to you too, brother," Jane snorted, pushing past him and walking closer to me. Out of reflex, I growled, warning her to stay back. She flashed me a smile and raised her hands, unafraid. "Tell your goons to release her. It's not as if she can run away…"

The man turned and looked at me. Then he gave a curt nod to the huge wolves that still guarded me, and they immediately left us. "Fix her, put her in the dungeon, and then join me in my study." He snarled and walked away.

Jane stood, watching her brother's back, then she sighed and shrugged. "Let go." She said to me. I looked around, considering my options to run away, but I was in a place I did not know, and one of my legs was broken. I would not get far before I was caught, or some rogues would get to me… I resigned to my fate and followed her.

When we got to the clinic, she examined the joint. It was swollen and hurt as a bitch.

"Strange," she muttered under her breath. "You have a weak wolf spirit," she said, but unlike everyone who had said that to me, she did not sound insulting. "This should have healed already… I'm going to need you to shift back to human. You might have to be in a cast for a while… this looks bad. Shifting back to human is going to hurt worse than usual."

I took in a deep breath and shifted back to human. My right arm immediately hung useless by my side, sending waves of pain up my skull with every breath I took. Jane's eyes were wide-eyed and pinned on me.

"You are… beautiful," she whispered under her breath before she gave me something for the pain and put my arm in a cast for support. The pain dulled into a mild ache, and I was suddenly light headed. She gave me a sorry look as she added, "I have to follow my alpha's request and take you to the dungeon." She gave me some oversized clothes and led me out of the clinic.

As she locked me in my cell, she smiled and said, "I am Jane."

I nodded without offering my name to her. I did not trust any of them yet.

"I don't know under what circumstance my brother found you, or where he found you, but I'm sure it won't be that bad," she said. "I will speak to him about getting you out of here, but in the meantime, I will have some food brought for you. Eat, and sleep, you must be tired."

"Thank you."

She flashed me another tight smile before she left. I looked around my "cell." It was nothing like a prison cell, it was more like a cheap motel room. A maid brought me a tray of food, which I immediately wolfed down.

Then I laid on the bed, finally alone with my thoughts. "Freya? Are you there?"

"Always." Came the reassuring voice.

"How is our pup?" I asked.

"There is nothing wrong, she replied and I sighed in relief.

I wondered where I was. Who were my captors? I wondered if Silas or Iris had even noticed that I was missing…

Would they even announce that I was missing? Or would they just push my disappearance under the rug.

These thoughts plagued my mind as I slowly drifted off to sleep.