Lilac’s P.O.V:
‘Run, little wolf…run!’
The words kept reverberating inside my head as I dashed past the forest giants, going deeper and deeper into the forest with each step I took.
It was dark, and with each step further into the forest, it kept getting darker. The canopy provided no scope for light and the only thing keeping me from turning insane was this insatiable urge to just ‘run’!
‘Run, little wolf…run!’
Who was it? Whose voice did I keep hearing? That daunting, sardonic voice that kept running through my mind on repeat despite me not wanting to hear it. It was scary, that voice, and yet, I had no idea why I was scared of it.
I had woken up in the middle of these dark woods, with no idea what time it was or how I even reached there. All I could remember was fire and smoke and screams…so many painful screams that made a shiver of fear run down my spine.
Something had happened to my pack…something terrible…and yet, I couldn’t remember what.
I remembered running, my parents sending me out of the packhouse through the secret underground tunnel and then running through the darkness to end up in the middle of the woods before I had fainted from exhaustion. And when I had woken up…that voice had appeared in my head and it just wouldn’t go away.
Suddenly…I heard rustling in the woods around me; the sound of soft foot falls in the grass that was barely audible. If I hadn't been a wolf, I might have never heard it in the first place, but now, the sudden noise made me halt in my steps and look around the darkness to find whatever had made the noise.
My hair was plastered to my face as perspiration dripped from my forehead and my clothes were plastered to my body as if I had just taken a shower. I was exhausted beyond words and hungry. My entire body ached from the constant run and even now, the words kept telling me to just ‘run’!
A movement from behind caught my attention and my head snapped in that direction to judge the danger even as my heart thrashed against my chest in fear.
Glistening white teeth came into view first, followed by two pairs of deep golden eyes. I heard a sound come from one of the creatures and it sounded oddly like a ‘giggle’…but it wasn’t a happy giggle…in fact, the sound made my blood freeze in my veins as my hands turned cold from terror.
Hyenas…
Without thinking twice, I turned and I ran. Faster than I had before.
The giggling sound came again, before the sound of paws on the wet grass became louder…drew closer.
Dear goddess! If the Hyenas caught up to me, I was going to die. They weren’t shifters, but the wild ones that were known to ferociously tear apart its victims before devouring them whole. And I wasn’t a grown wolf. I was a pup of thirteen, a perfect prey for the wild ones.
A half-broken log of wood suddenly came into view. I had failed to notice it while I had been too distracted while trying to run from the predators that had almost caught up to me. At the rate I was going, I had no way of stopping myself in time before my foot collided with the log. My legs were too short to jump over the log anyway. There was no escaping it and there was no stopping either if I wanted to live.
Just when the huge log was only a foot or two away, I made a feeble attempt to jump over the log…failed miserably.
As expected, my leg hit the log and I went flying forwards to hit a tree in front of me.
Pain exploded all over my body as I yelped out while falling to the ground with a loud thud. My breathing was heavy and my heart threatened to burst out of my chest with just how fast it was beating.
When I was finally able to open my eyes and look down, I saw blood gushing out of my leg. There was so much blood that the white pants I was wearing was completely stained a dark red. But my leg wasn’t my primary concern right now…being eaten alive was. And as I watched, the two spotted Hyenas came to a stop a few feet in front of me; their jaws open as if in a smile as saliva dripped off the gap between their teeth.
I managed to stand up on trembling feet despite the pain. But I was trapped. There was nowhere to run and I couldn’t climb trees.
This was it…and even the predators knew that. They stood at ease, circling me to find the best way to jump. They had me trapped, right where they wanted me and with the scent of my blood in the air, I was doomed without a doubt.
My vision blurred at the edges, telling me that I was at my limit.
I was out of breath, hungry and so, so exhausted. My mind was a jumbled mess of thoughts and overwhelming emotions that I had no way of controlling. Fear and panic and hopelessness. And if I tried to run once again…this was going to be the end of me. And besides…where would I go? There was no route left for escape…
No…I didn’t want it…I didn’t want to die…
‘Run, little wolf…run!’
A scream of frustration tore through my lips as that voice came to haunt me once again. I couldn’t! I just couldn’t run anymore!
What was wrong with me? I needed help! I needed someone to save me from this madness! I wanted to live!
The sound of a twig snapping reached my ears and I instantly became alert.
The night was quiet; too quiet for my liking. There was no moon, no starts and the darkness felt like it was trying to swallow me whole. All of this was making my chest tighten to the point where it hurt to even breathe. Clutching a hand to my chest, I dropped to my knees.
The hyenas must have heard the sound too, because they momentarily looked alert as they began sniffing the air.
I was going to die, wasn’t I? Either from a panic attack or by whatever was out there in the bushes aside from the hyenas. Because I could definitely hear the sound of leaves rustling, like something was making its way to me right now.
And that was when I looked up…and met blood red eyes.
It was glowing in the dark, only a few meters in front of me.
A scream got stuck in my throat.
I opened my mouth but nothing came out. No scream…no breath…
I was frozen still.
Because red eyes meant only one thing. A rogue wolf. The most ferocious of our kind.
But just as fear started to claw at my heart…my wolf stirred inside my mind. A sudden sense of calm descended upon me as my jumbled thoughts untangled themselves to leave me with…nothing. Only a sense of peace and tranquility.
Even the voice in my head stopped telling me to ‘run’.
Was this how it felt to die? Calm and peaceful until I got devoured?
And then the creature of the night walked out into the clearing and away from the shadows, just as the blurriness of my vision spread all over my gaze.
It was a pitch black rogue with red eyes. And yet, I felt no danger towards it…no more fear.
The hyenas took one look at the stronger, larger predator and started running away in the opposite direction, without so much as a look my way. Even the ferocious predators of the wild knew not to mess with a rogue wolf.
But as the back rogue turned towards me, completely unfazed by the hyenas…I felt electricity zap through my entire body, startling me even further. I was no longer afraid of this wolf…and I knew that it wouldn’t kill me…it was a feeling so deep in my gut that I couldn’t even explain why I felt it.
It wasn’t until I spoke the words out loud that I realized exactly why I felt safe with this gigantic beast the color of darkness.
“Mate…” I whispered, giving voice to the knowledge that my wolf was already aware of the second my eyes locked with his.
And then I found myself falling back as all the energy drained out of me…and everything went black.