Chapter 5 He had found me

XIMENA

I didn't stop running when I left the hall.

The moment I burst out of the grand hall, I ran past the servants' quarters, past the training grounds and straight into the forest.

My feet pounded against the forest floor as branches whipped across my arms and face. Twigs snapped beneath my shoes while my lungs burned with every desperate breath.

The second those glasses had crashed onto the floor, my fate had been sealed. I had caused a commotion not only in front of the entire pack and my father but also in front of the Supreme Alpha. A hysterical laugh almost escaped me.

I was dead. Absolutely dead.

My father wouldn't spare me for this. The marks on my back from the last time I had stepped out of line hadn't even fully healed yet. I could still feel them pulling when I moved, and that had been for something considerably smaller.

This punishment would be much worse.

My father would never forgive me for humiliating him in front of the most powerful man in the supernatural world. And even if my father didn't kill me, the Supreme Alpha would. 

The Supreme Alpha. I pressed my eyes shut; even the title made my stomach drop. There was a reason people feared him. A reason Alphas twice his age lowered their heads when he entered a room. Everyone knew his story. 

The man had killed his own father and taken his place. If he could do that to his blood, what chance would I have? I was a nobody.

My foot caught on a root, and I stumbled forward before grabbing the nearest tree to steady myself. I bent over, gasping for air.

My chest rose and fell rapidly. I didn't know how long I had been running. Ten minutes? Twenty?

Maybe longer. It didn't matter. I hadn't gone far enough; I never could, not against shifters. The strongest werewolves in the pack could track a scent for miles.

I squeezed my eyes shut once more, and I immediately regretted it. Because the moment I did, I remembered the second his hand closed around my waist.

The feeling returned so vividly that it made my stomach twist. Even now, I could still feel it, that strange explosion beneath my ribs and overwhelming rush that had swept through my entire body.

I'd never felt anything like it before. For one single, humiliating second, I hadn't wanted to move until I met his eyes, his dark, cold eyes. He seemed completely unaffected. Whatever strange thing had happened to me… It clearly hadn't happened to him.

I exhaled slowly and pressed harder against the tree. It didn't matter what I had felt. It didn't matter because he was the Supreme Alpha, and I was a wolfless omega who had just made a spectacle of herself, and whatever strange reaction my body had decided to have was irrelevant to my current situation. It meant nothing.

SNAP!

A twig snapped. Every muscle in my body locked as my head jerked up.

For one terrifying moment, I didn't even breathe. Slowly, I pressed myself against the tree trunk, desperately trying to disappear into the shadows as my heart hammered violently against my ribs.

Maybe it was an animal. Maybe—

Another snap and it was closer this time. This was the part where I hated what I was most. Or rather, what I wasn't. 

A shifter would have heard them coming from twice the distance and would have been able to run fast enough to actually matter. A shifter would have had a wolf telling her which direction was safe and which wasn't. I had nothing—just human instincts and human senses in a world that was built to destroy both.

"There."

I ran. However, I made it exactly four steps before hands closed around my arms from two directions at once, and I was wrenched backwards so violently that I cried out. Three of my father's warriors surrounded me.

"You little piece of shit." The one gripping my left arm shook me hard enough to make my head swirl. "Did you really think you could run? After the commotion you caused?" 

"Let go of me—"

"Settle down." The second man's grip tightened painfully. "You've got nowhere to go." However, he did let me go.

My pulse thundered. "I didn't mean—"

"Save it." The largest of them grabbed my arm once again, causing pain to shoot through my shoulder. I cried out as he jerked me forward.

"Please!" I struggled, but it was pointless as his grip only tightened.

"I don't know why Alpha Blackthorn hasn't gotten rid of you already," another warrior said with a snort.

The third laughed. "Maybe tonight will finally change that." My heart sank as he confirmed what I had been dreading. You've really done it this time," the warrior smirked.

"The Supreme Alpha wants you."

I stopped struggling for a second, not because I wanted to but because fear had stolen my strength. One of the guards smirked. "Looks like she finally understands."

"Please," I begged. "Please just let me go." They laughed. "I'll leave," I rushed out desperately. "I'll run away. Nobody will ever see me again."

The warrior dragging me rolled his eyes. “Come on!”

"Please."

The warrior suddenly shoved me—hard. I stumbled and hit the ground. Sharp pain tore through my palms as a gasp escaped me. Before I could get up, another hand tangled in my hair and yanked, causing tears to well in my eyes.

I noticed the warriors exchange a look, then one of them smiled, one that made my stomach twist. "You know, boys, we've got time."

My blood ran cold. "What?"

The grin widened as he looked at his colleagues. "We could have a little fun first."

Fear exploded through me as I realized what they wanted to do. "No. Please."

The second man laughed. "No one's going to miss a useless mutt."

I scrambled backwards immediately as panic took over. They advanced regardless, like wolves cornering wounded prey. I kept backing away until my back slammed into a tree. I had nowhere left to go.

The first man came to stand in front of me, and he reached for his belt when suddenly—

Something massive exploded from the darkness. It moved faster than anything I had ever seen. A streak of white that hit the man with enough force to take him entirely off his feet. The sound that followed was brief and terrible, and then it was over. 

One second the warrior was standing in front of me, and in the next…

His head wasn't attached to his body. Blood sprayed across the forest, some of it splashing on my face as the corpse collapsed.

Silence, absolute silence, followed as the remaining warriors froze, and so did I. Then a low growl rumbled through the forest. The sound vibrated through my bones as I slowly lifted my head.

My breath stopped when I came face to face with a giant wolf that stood between me and the warriors. White fur, gold markings and eyes that glowed like molten sunlight in the darkness?

Every single person in the supernatural world knew that wolf. There was only one, only one wolf that looked like that. 

He had found me.