Chapter 99

Aria

All my life, I always thought that if I found myself in a dangerous situation, my fight or flight instincts would kick in and I would somehow, one way or another, save myself. But the truth was, I was frozen in my place as the three wolves closed in on me.

Like a mouse in a trap. Only instead of a cat, it was three enormous wolves who had cornered me.

How could I have been so stupid?

Forcing out an incredulous laugh, as if that would help any, I took a shaky step back as the wolves slowly began to circle me—not that I had anywhere to go, seeing as how I was surrounded.

“Alright, you got me,” I chuckled, although the waver in my voice betrayed my true terror. “But it’s not funny anymore. I’d like to go back to the village now.”

There was no answer. The wolves just continued to close in, snouts wrinkled and fangs bared. I swallowed hard as I watched a long trail of saliva drip off the hungry maw of one of the wolves, its tongue darting out menacingly.

My heart was pounding like a jackhammer in my chest by now. I took another step back, only to shriek and lurch forward as I felt my back collide with the furry haunch of one of the wolves. I whirled around, eyes wide, and stammered out, “I-I don’t know who you are, but I’m your Luna! You can’t hurt me!”

However, my words sounded hollow, even to my own ears.

The truth was, I didn’t know who these wolves were or if they were even a part of the pack. For all I knew, they were strays—rogues, I think Darren had called them—and could harm me. Only members of the pack were the ones who couldn’t hurt me.

Whether that was true or not, I didn’t know. But it didn’t matter, because I hardly had time to think before one of the wolves—the smallest one, deep brown with raging yellow eyes—suddenly lunged, jaws snapping.

I screamed, staggering backwards and falling to the snowy ground as the wolf leapt over me. It just barely cleared the top of my head, its body so close to mine that I could feel thick, wiry fur brush my skin.

That was the moment that I began to move.

One moment I was on the ground, and the next I was scrambling to my feet, taking the brief opening left by the brown wolf to bolt further into the forest. I ducked beneath branches and wove around trees as I ran, hardly even daring to glance back over my shoulder.

Not that I needed to. I could hear the wolves behind me, their paws pounding on the forest floor, their growls low and menacing as they reached my ears.

“Help!” I cried out, my voice rising to a fever pitch as I saw one of the wolves pull up on my left side. “Help! Darren! Anyone!”

My cries went unanswered. I was too deep into the forest now, too far from the village. God, how stupid I had been to follow that voice; but I didn’t have time to dwell on that. All that mattered was getting away.

Small branches and thickets whipped at me as I ran, scratching the skin of my face and hands. I kept crying out for help, but it was no use; if anyone could hear me at this point, there was a more than likely chance that they wanted me gone, and the wolves just kept chasing me further and further into the dark forest.

At one point, my foot caught on an exposed root and I pitched forward, catching myself on my hands. Pain barked up my palms and wrists, shooting all the way through my elbows and shoulders, but I was on my feet again in an instant.

Surprisingly, despite the fact that the wolves kept pace quite easily with me—hardly even loping along beside me even though I was running as fast as I could—they didn’t attack me.

I knew, then, that they had to be a part of the pack. They weren’t trying to hurt me; not directly, at least. Because they couldn’t.

They were just trying to push me away from the village. They were trying to do exactly what they’d said they would do: take me out to the forest and let the elements get me.

I wasn’t about to let that happen.

Skidding around a tree, dirt and snow kicking up around me, I began to veer back the way I had come. My voice was raw now from screaming, my lungs burning and my legs aching, but I didn’t stop. If I could just get close enough to the village, then someone might hear me and come to help. Darren would come for me. He had to.

But I didn’t make it far before the wolves closed in again, blocking my path. Every which way I turned, I was met with dripping fangs and gleaming eyes, and no matter how I tried to escape, I just couldn’t.

The wolves won in the end. I found myself pushed back once again, and there was no way to get around them. And no matter how much I screamed, it was no use.

No one was coming.

Suddenly, as I was careening through the woods, I nearly stumbled again. Thankfully, I managed to catch myself on a tree, and I was glad for it.

Because I had nearly fallen into a steep ravine.

I gasped, cursing, and shoved backwards just in time. Rocks tumbled down the impossible drop, a drop that would have most certainly killed me. With my heart pounding, I staggered to my feet and turned, cold realization washing over me like a tidal wave.

The wolves were surrounding me on all sides except the ravine. I had nowhere to go.

And they knew that very well.

Somehow, I managed to pull my shoulders back, gasping out between breaths, “Charles, I know it’s you. Why do you want to hurt me?”

The small brown wolf stepped forward, but when it shifted, it wasn’t Charles who stood before me.

It was Tracy.

“Jump,” she said simply, jerking her chin toward the ravine. “Jump and save us all the trouble, Aria. You won’t feel it when you go, I promise; it’ll just be ‘lights out’.”

I swallowed hard and took a step back as she advanced on me. My shoes sent pebbles skittering down into the ravine, but I didn’t dare to look. If I did, I feared I might collapse from the sheer terror of the steep drop.

“Tracy,” I managed. “Why? Why do you keep doing this?”

She shrugged, as if this were just as mundane as typing a report on her computer back at the office.

“Your people have tortured our kind for centuries. You simply can’t be trusted, Aria. Sure, perhaps you’re Darren’s favorite now, and he’s gone blind because of it—but soon, you’ll certainly prove yourself to be the traitorous snake that all humans are. And it’s best for all of us if you die before that can happen.”

I dared to take another tiny step back, but my stomach jolted inside of me. I was on the edge of the ravine now. One more step, and I’d be a goner.

My eyes darted to the other two wolves, who were still blocking any chances of an escape.

If I’m a white wolf, I thought bitterly, then now would be the fucking time to learn how to shift!

But of course, there was nothing. Just me, the sheer drop, and three werewolves who had every intention of seeing my neck snap.

“Except… I’m not human,” I ground out. “I’m a fully-fledged werewolf. A white wolf. I just don’t have a—”

“You might as well be a human,” Tracy interrupted. “You were raised by them. Even now, you still side with—”

Suddenly, a low and guttural growl cut Tracy off. She whirled—we all did—to see an enormous black mass hurtle out of the trees, mismatched eyes glowing with the intensity of the sun.

A grin stretched across my face as I saw my mate come for me. He had heard me after all. And he hadn’t come alone; four other wolves, each as large and menacing as he was, barreled out of the treeline behind him.

At that moment, the world turned into a blur.

Somewhere through the frenzy of fur and fangs and shouts, I began to fall to my knees, relief flooding through me and drowning out the lingering remnants of my adrenaline. Before I could fall, warm arms caught me, wrapping around my waist and tugging me flush against a warm, solid, familiar form.

I looked up to see Darren staring down at me, his eyes wide and filled with a sea of emotions that I couldn’t quite name.

But it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that he was here, and when I looked up, I saw that Tracy and the two other wolves now in their human forms—two warriors who I didn’t know by name but recognized as two of the warriors who had sided with Charles in the ceremony chamber—had been apprehended.

“Call the elders,” Darren commanded coldly, his arms wrapped like iron around me. “I officially declare Tracy and her cohorts as enemies of the pack.”