7

Dravina POV

I ran like my life depended on it because it did. Every muscle in my legs burned with the effort, but I didn’t let up. Blue, my wolf, surged forward, her strength and determination pouring through me with each bound. The pain Cassian had left behind was there, yes, but distant now a shadow dulled by adrenaline and sheer will. I couldn't feel it, not truly. There was no time for pain. No room for weakness.

Each pounding stride through the dense forest echoed the same desperate mantra: go, go, go.

His voice still echoed in my head, cruel and venomous, but it only pushed me harder. The sting of his punishments, the bruises hidden beneath my skin, the way my breath rasped painfully in my chest none of it mattered anymore. I had to get away. I had to be free.

This was it. My moment. My only chance to reclaim what little of myself remained.

With every step, I whispered silent prayers into the wind.

Please… don’t let him find me this time. Please, not again.

My heart was already battered from years of torment. Another failure would break what was left of me. And Blue… she wouldn’t survive another encounter with Cassian’s fury. Neither of us would.

I didn’t have a destination. There was no grand plan waiting for me beyond the trees. I just ran. Trusted my instincts to guide us somewhere safe. The scents of Firestone grew fainter with every mile, replaced by the wilder, cleaner smells of unclaimed land. That was all I needed right now distance. A border between me and the monster I once called mate.

Still, paranoia dug its claws into me.

Cassian might not have been home when I left, but Firestone was full of loyalists wolves eager to earn his favor, to sniff out rebellion and report back for praise. What if someone had seen me? What if a patrol was already closing in?

I could almost hear them. The howls tearing through the trees. The thunder of paws chasing mine. I pushed harder, lungs screaming for air, fear tightening around my chest.

Andariel’s face flickered in my memory.

She’d helped me. Risked everything. My stomach twisted with guilt, but I forced it down. Maelor might protect her, but there were no guarantees. I couldn't go back. Her sacrifice would mean nothing if I failed. I had to make it for her, and for myself.

As I tore through the forest, the heavy familiarity of Firestone began to fade behind me. The air shifted. No longer weighed down with pack hierarchy and Cassian’s control, it smelled of wildflowers and untamed earth. Something inside me loosened a flicker of relief. It was small, but it was there.

I had no idea how far I'd gone, but I knew it was far enough that I could finally stop.

When my body could take no more, I slowed, staggering to a halt beneath a massive oak tree. My limbs trembled with exhaustion. The shift back to human form was slow, each movement draining what little energy I had left. Naked and shaking, I sank against the tree’s trunk and closed my eyes.

Its bark was rough against my back, but grounding. Above me, thick branches filtered the sunlight, casting me in soft shadow. The air was still and cool, broken only by distant birdsong and rustling leaves.

For the first time in years, I let myself breathe. Really breathe.

I wasn’t free not yet. But I was further than I’d ever made it before. That had to count for something.

For three days, I pressed forward in bursts running until my legs gave out, resting just long enough to recover, then doing it all again. The forest became a haven, thick enough to hide me, quiet enough to listen for danger. The farther east I went, the more the scent of Firestone vanished. The air here was different crisper, cleaner. Untouched.

By the end of the third day, something shifted in me.

Cassian’s presence, always lingering like smoke on the skin, no longer felt near. The fear of him was still there, but his shadow didn’t stretch this far. I felt it peel away, inch by inch, like shedding a second skin.

Resting under another wide oak, I allowed myself the smallest of smiles. Hope it still existed. I hadn’t felt it in so long, I’d nearly forgotten what it was like.

Firestone felt like a distant nightmare. Cassian, a monster from another life.

The farther I went, the fainter they became.

But I wasn’t foolish. I knew he was searching for me. That much was inevitable. By now, he’d have realized I was gone and sent scouts to the places I’d run to before. But this time, I was smarter. I hadn’t followed the same paths. I hadn’t gone where he might expect. This time, I vanished into the places even he didn’t dare roam.

Still, I couldn’t grow complacent.

Beneath the canopy of the oak, I allowed myself to fully relax for the first time since escaping. My muscles eased. My eyelids grew heavy. I told myself it would be just a moment. Just one breath.

That was my first mistake.

The sound came quietly barely more than a whisper on the wind. The faintest shuffle of paws against underbrush.

Blue stirred inside me instantly, a warning rumbling in my chest. But it was too late.

Panic erupted. I scrambled to my feet, ready to shift, to run again but the shadows around me moved with purpose.

Not animals.

Not chance.

I was surrounded.