Chapter 4

Sara's POV

Then I ran.

I ran past the pack boundary, feeling the barely there bond I had with the pack break within me, and I felt free. Cynthia howled in happiness as her paws hit the ground, and she charged forward at full speed.

I heard distant howling and knew Richardson  had sent his men after me. Cynthia charged on wildly, feeling the wind in her fur; I'm sure she's not even bothered about the fact that warriors could have been sent after us. She'd never felt such freedom before and was just basking in it. 

We were on unclaimed lands, which means rogues could be around. I've heard about rogues even though I don't know what they looked like. Memories from when Mom and Dad died seemed to have vanished, but I do know rogues are dangerous wolves who have lost their touch with their human sides. They're said to look wild, have red eyes, and will kill anything in their sight.

I heard howls get closer and knew we had company. Richardson  must be so desperate to have sent men after me. I don't even mean anything to him. He shouldn't have bothered himself with things as trivial as me. 

Cynthia did not falter for once or show any signs of weakness as she charged on, dodging branches and jumping over trees. I know we had to lose the wolf on our tail, and also, no one could find out about us, so we had to conceal our fur color.

We passed muddy water, and Cynthia rolled in it, making our fur brown and dirty. I knew that was not enough to mask our scent, but it sure helped conceal our color. 

"Cynthia, we can't get caught now. We need to mask our scent so we can buy enough time to get us into another pack," I said to her through our mindlink.

"I know, Sara. We have to find a lake or large body of water and drench ourselves in it or find a pile of waste to mask our scent. I don't know how far we have to go till we reach a pack that we can crash in," she said, not once stopping to catch her breath.

We saw a lake ahead and dived into it. It was freezing, and I felt at home even though I wasn't in human form. Cynthia growled lowly and slowly laid down in the part of the water that wasn't too deep but deep enough to conceal us if anybody passed by.

We saw about five wolves come into view and stayed as still as we could. I prayed to the moon goddess that I'd not be discovered. I don't know what will be done to me if I go back, and I never want to find out. I'd rather die out here alone than go back to that evil, fucked up pack.

I felt one of the wolves sniff the air around us, and Cynthia held her breath. The wolf came up with nothing and they lurked around for a while before they turned back the way they came.

We waited a while before leaving the lake and running into the forest as far as our limbs would take us. We ran into the early morning before stopping by a tree to catch our breath.

"Cynthia, let me shift back so you can rest a bit before we continue," I said through the mindlink. She looked tired, and our limbs were already brown from running all night.

"I can't allow you to shift back, human. We did not bring a change of clothes, and it's so cold out here. We need to stay in this form to conserve energy and body heat," she said, and I had to agree with her.

We did not think this through. We just wanted to escape without knowing where to go or how to go about it. I did not know our pack was so far from other packs as I've never been outside that pack for 8 years.

Cynthia saw a rabbit and killed it. She ate part of it and left the remaining beside her as we drifted off to sleep. The sun was high up by this time. I hope we won't be captured in our sleep, was my thought as Cynthia rested her head on her forelimbs and closed her eyes.

We woke up when the sun had almost set and began running again. We needed to find a pack that would take us in; we did not escape Richardson  just to live in this place forever.

We continued this way for two days, sleeping when the sun was up and running when the sun went down. We have been in wolf form since we left the Moonlit pack. Our speed has reduced drastically, and our fur is already brown from sleeping on the forest floor.

On the third day, rain started falling, and we could not stop to sleep. Cynthia was about to lay down under a big shaded tree when a smell filled our nose. It smelled like a dead rat but ten times worse. Cynthia rolled in the muddy floor to really conceal our fur colour, seeing as we had company.

Through the heavy rain, we saw glowing red eyes. Rogue. The wolf looked wild and feral, and the rotten smell came from it despite the heavy rainfall.

It snarled at us, and our survival instincts kicked in, making us growl back too. The wolf eyed us hungrily, and we snapped at him, daring him to come closer.

He growled loudly and charged at us, trying to get ahold of our neck. She instinctively moved to the side and the rogue wolf missed. This seemed to annoy him, and he made a move to snap at our left hindlimb. We did not see that coming, and he bit a chunk off our hindlimb. We howled in pain and limped to the side when the wolf tried to attack us again.

We instinctively slashed at his chest, and he fell backward. We started circling each other, and the rogue moved to bite the left side of our stomach. He grabbed us unexpectedly and bit off a bit of our stomach, making blood stain our fur.

Suddenly, a surge of electricity ran through us, and the rogue was thrown back, hitting his back on a tree. He charged towards us again, and we moved to the right, biting into his neck when he came close enough. He struggled to release himself, but we held him down, making blood spill everywhere, including our fur.

We dropped him to the ground and stood on top of him, clawing at him blindly, making him howl out in pain. Right before his life ended, his eyes shone with something I could not quite place. I think it was fear, and I wondered what he saw in our eyes that made him afraid.

Once he was dead, I ran. I ran until I came across a claimed territory. I ran into the land and heard howls around me. They thought I was a rogue. I ran into the middle of the pack and felt myself surrounded by big wolves.

They snarled at me, and I snarled back. I'm not going to get treated like trash again. I'm not going to be imprisoned again. I was about to attack one of them when I felt a needle in my side; I got dizzy and fell to the ground, changing into my human form. Naked.

"Take her to the dungeon and await the Alpha's order," I heard as I was picked off the ground by rough hands.

I thought I had escaped this. I was going to really die now, were my thoughts as I lost consciousness.