Surviving in the woods

EVE’s POV

I thought being kicked out of Redhood was the most traumatizing moment of my life, but surviving in the wilderness topped everything. 

I’d been wandering through the woods for days, moving in circles, my throat burning relentlessly at the unavailability of water. 

My dress kept sliding off my arm with each step I took. Fatigue burned deep in my bones, a silent plea for my body to slow down and rest—but this was rouge territory. If I sat down for a minute, I wouldn’t last a few hours. 

In days, I’d been through hell—soaked in the rain, starved, wounded on my foot, and even haunted with memories of Kade. 

Tears burned my eyes at the thought of him, my heart twisting with regret. 

A stupid part of me kept clinging to hope. Kade would come and find me. He still loved me. He was only trying to prove a point. 

And that was stupid. 

Because Kade never came. 

In the werewolf world, news travelled fast. In one way or the other, packs—no matter how small—would have heard the news of my banishment. My name would have been dragged in the mud, cursed, shamed. Wife of the almighty Kade Fang was caught fucking another man. 

That title made my stomach twist. 

I couldn’t face that. 

I couldn’t face the humiliation, hate, anger, and especially the thought of meeting Kade again. So I wanted to start over. A fresh start at some place that wouldn’t demand explanations. The human world. 

When I finally found the round portal glowing faintly before me, I sucked in a deep breath. This was it. Goodbye, Kade. Goodbye, Clawstone. Goodbye, past. Clenching my jaw, I lifted a leg and jumped into the portal. 

~~~

My body slammed into the ground with a sickening thud. I bit back a groan, struggling to drag my weak body off some dirt, and I ended up falling face down into some shitty mud. 

I cursed out loud. 

First day, and the heavens were already cursing me. Pressing each hand on the ground, I pushed myself up, biting my lips when the pain I felt nearly drove me insane. I wiped the mud off my lips, then took in my surroundings. 

The air here smelled different. 

And the woods, it wasn’t as thick as the one in werewolf territory. Swallowing hard, I brushed some dirt off my palm, then marched ahead, hoping I’d stumble across someone who could help me. 

I had no idea how long I walked for, but heat radiated through my chest when I saw a tarred road. I jogged to the side, then started waving my hands in the air to catch someone’s attention. 

A blue truck was coming from afar. 

I jumped, screaming so loud my lungs hurt. “Stop! Stop, please!”

“Get out of the road, bitch.” He cursed, driving past me like I was some piece of shit. Yeah, great. The heavens were definitely against me. 

Moments later, there was another car, and hope surged in my chest. Rather than jumping, I pressed my back against the ground, then closed my eyes. I learned from somewhere that it was the fastest way to get people’s attention. 

The engine came to a stop. 

“Is everything okay, miss?” A panicked voice shattered the silence as footsteps echoed. 

My eyes fluttered open, clashing with rich, honey brown eyes. He tilted his head, taking in my ripped and bloody dress, face covered in dirt, then back to my eyes. “You look like a mess. Need some help?”

I nodded quickly. 

“Can you stand?”

“I think so.” I said, but my legs swayed the moment they touched the ground. He held my elbow before I could stumble and fall, then guided me toward his car. 

He opened the passenger door. “Bad things happen to women who are stranded here.” He told me. “Some are raped, murdered, or even worse.”

If only he knew. 

A werewolf compared to a weak human was a terrible match. 

They’d be the ones ending up murdered. 

When I didn’t reply, he hopped in and started the engine. “So where are you headed?”

My heart skipped a beat. “I…I..I don’t have anywhere to go.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“I really have nowhere to go.”

He said nothing after. He just drove me to a small apartment, then told me I could stay with him until I got back on my feet. He also told me he owned a cafe, and I had to earn my stay at his home—which meant working. 

And that wasn’t a problem for me. 

As long as I could earn, I’d do anything. 

~~~

A month later, my hands trembled as I stared down at the two lines on a pregnancy test strip. I was pregnant... pregnant for someone whose name I didn't even know, all because of Kade and Seraphina's selfishness. Cold sweat trickled down my spine. I could barely breathe. 

I've been living with Mr. Cole for a month now. 

And pregnancy was the deal breaker for him. He’d told me “If I find out you’re pregnant, I’ll assume you’ve found your own footing already. I can’t accommodate a grown woman with kids.” 

But I worked at his cafe. 

He’d sack me if he found out about this. 

So for weeks, I tried hiding my morning sickness. Fatigue. Fever. I wore bigger clothes to hide the fact that I was pregnant.

“Eve!” Mr. Cole yelled my name from downstairs. I didn’t want to get out of bed. My stomach twisted violently as the urge to puke kicked in again. I slammed my palm over my mouth, hurrying to the bathroom, holding my hair up as I puked in the sink. 

The door to my room creaked open. “Eve?”

I tensed, rinsing up my mouth. “Yes? I’ll be there in a minute.” 

Then he suddenly went quiet. I wiped my mouth with a white towel, then stepped out to meet him. I’d told him I’d be taking today off because I felt tired to the bones, so I had no idea why he was here. 

He looked up at me. “I thought I warned you about getting pregnant.” 

I nearly fainted when I saw my pregnancy test strip in his hands. I had disposed that, where did he get it from? He took a step forward, his voice so harsh, I instinctively took a step back. “Who got you pregnant? Why didn’t you tell me? How long has it been?”

I didn’t know the father. 

I was raped. 

But how could I tell him that? 

I panicked. “Mr. Cole…” 

He threw the pregnancy strip away, then raked his eyes over me. I tried to ignore the nasty look in his eyes, but it made me insanely uneasy. 

“Let’s forget that,” he said. “I came here for something else.” His fingers fondled with the belt around his jeans, and I grimaced. “You’ve been in my house for way too long, Eve. From today, you need to earn your stay.”

“But I work at your cafe.”

“That’s not enough.” He closed the space between us, then tried to reach for my face, but I jerked away as humiliation burned in my chest. 

“What is wrong with you, Mr. Cole?”

“You.” He barked. “I can’t keep letting you stay here for free.”

Anger flared through me. “ I work for you. I help around the house, and sometimes I even do farming. ”

“Like I said,” he stroked my cheek. My skin tightened with irritation. “It isn’t enough,” he continued. “You’re lonely. I am, too. We can keep each other company, I’ll take care of you.”

I slapped his palm away. “I never said I was lonely. And I don’t want your company.”

“But you can spread your legs wide to get fucking pregnant?” He snapped. “Get out. Now! Drag your filthy, slutty body out of here. Whore.”

“But it’s pouring outside.” A bitter taste settled in my mouth as I swallowed my pride. “Let me stay for one more night. Please.”

“Get the hell out.”

Tears threatened to spill, but I held it in. “Okay, I’ll just go ahead and pack my things from the closet.” 

“What things?” His brows were slightly raised. “I got those clothes for you, but you don’t get to take them out of this house. You can have the one you’re wearing, but the others are mine.”

My lips trembled, my heart twisting with pain. “Mr. Cole…” 

He opened up the door for me. “Don’t make me drag you.” 

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I walked out of his apartment. Someone told me humans were less selfish, brutal, heartless compared to wolves but Mr. Cole was different. Rain splashed on me, soaking my thin shirt and pants, my legs leading me to nowhere. 

I roamed the streets for hours, nearly dying of cold. Night came too quickly, so I stopped at a bus station and laid down on a bench. Curling my arm around myself, I closed my eyes, hoping the next day would be better. 

~~~

The next day was worse. 

Not just that, the next few months that followed. I was slowly approaching my due date, and I still didn’t have a roof to my head. I’d been sleeping around on streets, doing degrading menial jobs for people, but what broke me even more was when I stumbled upon a young lady watching a video.

It wasn’t just any video. 

It was the wedding ceremony of Kade and Seraphina. My wolf itched to claw her way out, but we were in public. A damn supermarket. I could feel the hurricane coming, my emotions spiraling out of control. Some people couldn’t even walk next to me. 

My stomach tightened painfully as tears poured down my cheeks. I couldn’t explain how I felt, but it was driving me insane. I let out a sharp cry as pain ripped through me in brutal waves, and breathing became a struggle. 

It then hit me. 

Labour. 

I’m in labour. 

I grabbed a rack, clutching it like my life depended on it. Sweat trickled down my face. I sucked in a breath and released it. One. Two. Three. It didn’t calm me down at all. 

“Take me to a hospital.” I rushed out, struggling to keep myself standing. “I’m in labour, please help me.”

No one looked at my side due to how shabbily I was dressed, or perhaps, they just didn’t want to help me. 

“Honey, oh God.” A granny dropped her bag of groceries, making a beeline for me. “You shouldn’t do that here, you’re scaring people away. Your canines and nails are elongated, try to control them.”

Despite my pain, I was stunned. “You know?”

“Of course.” She smiled at me. “I was banished too, it’s easy to recognize a pack member. Besides, I could sense your pups are no ordinary ones. I’ll help you birth them.”

“You will?” My voice came out breathless. “Thank…thank you. Thank you so much.” 

~~~

The granny smiled at me as she laid me down on a bed. “Ready?”

I nodded. 

Pain hit me in waves, and I screamed, gasping for air when each contraction brought me closer to hell. 

“The first one’s here.” She told me, and relief washed over me. I’d been going for antenatal regularly, so I knew I was expecting two babies. 

I pushed again, using everything in me, and this scream was louder. Another sharp cry pierced the air, and I laughed despite the pain. “They’re here,” a tear slid down my cheeks. “I didn’t fail them.”

“There’s one more.”

The granny said to my greatest surprise. 

“There’s one more, you need to keep pushing.” 

I don’t understand. How is there a third baby? I don’t think I can push anymore, I’ve got no strength left. With breath, I felt life slipping out of me, but there was a third baby?

I shook my head, whimpering. “I can’t. I really can’t.”

“Don’t you want to see your little girl?” She 

asked with a soft voice. “She’s counting on you to bring her into your world, you can’t let her down.”

Yes, I can’t let my girl down. 

So I inhaled a deep breath, then summoned every little strength I could find. A scream crawled out of my throat, loud, ugly, raw, but I didn’t care. I pushed harder, imagining my sweet girl in my arms, and then I heard her cry. 

“You did it!”

A faint smile grazed my lips. 

“Two boys and a girl,” I heard the granny say. “What would you like to name them?”

“Ashton, Adrian, and Aria.” I smiled. They were my family now, and I’d do anything—absolutely anything—to keep them safe.