Chapter Ten

I’ve been traveling through the woods for a full day, yet I’m no closer to home than I was when I first started this journey. But this is the life I'm going to have to get used to.

I'm not sure I'll ever get used to it though. I doubt I’ll have the luxury of living like this for long anyway. Not once the rest of the pack learns about what happened to Brandon.

I’m terrified of Brandon and his pack. I know they’ll find me and I don’t even want to think about what they’ll do to me once they do.

I'm not sure what to do. I'm not sure what direction to go in. I'm not sure how to escape them.

A stranger gave up his life for me though. I’ve made it this far, so I can’t give up now. I have to at least try.

The sounds of the forest become my companion as I listen carefully to any random shifts. I scan the shadows for any sign of Brandon or the rest of his pack, still unsure if he’s dead or not.

And I try to figure out where to go. With my whole pack demolished, there's no home for me to return to. There's no help in this world.

I keep going because I know I have to get away from them. But as night falls, I hear them.

"Katia!" a male's voice calls out. "You know you can't run from us forever."

They're right. I can't run. I can't fight them. I have to find a place to hide.

I look everywhere as I run. I don't see anything though. Just trees they could easily spot me behind.

"Katia!" the voice cries out again. "Your pack is gone. We can still offer you a place with us. You just need to come out."

Of course, they’re lying. If they get a hold of me, they’ll kill me after what happened with Brandon. I wouldn’t want to go back with them anyway.

I don't want to belong to anyone. I want to be my own person. I don't want to transform into awful creatures like them.

"Katia!" he screams. "You can't run forever!"

The words turn into background noises in the dark as I look past them to find an escape.

Crickets play their music in a crescendo that raises with the tension. My feet slip, sending me pitching forward.

I catch my balance. I try to catch my breath.

Then, I see it. Among the trees, I find a cave.

I rush inside and fall to the hard, slippery ground. My knees bleed, but I’m here. It’s the first step.

"Katia!" they yell. "You can't hide forever!

“We will find you. And things will go a lot easier if you just come out. If we have to grab you ourselves…. You will pay for the time you’ve wasted. You’ll pay for it with your tears. You’ll pay for it with your blood.”

I close the entrance as much as I can with whatever big boulders I can find as I melt into the back wall. Though I realize as they grow closer that moving things will only draw more attention to myself.

So, I lean against the wall and close my eyes. I try to think about what to do. Where to go. Where to live. Where to hide. Where to survive.

If I can only get through this moment. That’s all there is right now. Me and this precious moment where my fate will be decided.

I hear something outside the entrance to the cave.

Suddenly, the entrance opens and snarls, growls, and the sound of claws against rock bring terror to my heart.

They found me.

I won't accept this though, so I travel deeper in the cave as they taunt me. I hope my scent won't linger on the stones. There are so many tunnels, so many passages. At least one of them has to hold some sort of safety for me.

“Katia! We will torture you,” an ominous threat echoes around me. “We’re growing more impatient by the moment. Just come out so we can finish this.”

They have the advantage. They outnumber me, so they travel through more of the passages than I can.

I hear them closing in behind me, their footsteps echoing through the cave walls. Their claws on the stones.

It becomes so dark that even my superior wolf vision can’t see. There’s not a single source of light and they could do anything they want to me here. They could do anything and they wouldn’t leave even a trace of me behind.

They're near. This is my last chance.

I walk deeper in the darkness, hoping to lose myself in this labyrinth.

The pack growls as they gain ground, frustrated they haven’t found me yet. I’m surprised they haven’t found me yet.

I hear their snarls as they search for me. Their voices as they try to intimidate me.

I listen as they pass through this tunnel.

I listen as their voices fade, going right past me through another passageway. I know I’m not out of danger yet, but at least here I can breathe.

I keep going deeper into the darkness.

It’s difficult to see, still I search every inch of the darkness in front of me. I know it's a lost cause. There's no light, no sign of an exit, no sign of anything.

So, I have to rely on my other senses. I feel the cold stones on my hands as my body becomes weighed down with exhaustion.

It's terrifying, but I'm alone. There's safety in being alone. As long as they don't find me here, I can find a way out in the morning.

Hopefully.

Too tired to run anymore, I stay where I am. I sit there as my skin grows cold and my eyes heavier with each blink.

I lean up against the rock and my eyes close.