“Come back here, you bitch!” Ember’s enraged voice echoes behind me as she gives chase, her footsteps closing in fast. I grit my teeth, forcing myself to focus on the path ahead and resist the urge to glance back. Every wasted second could mean the difference between escape and capture.
I push my human legs to their limits, the branches and underbrush whipping past me in a blur as I race through the woods. Though the temptation to shift into my wolf form tugs at me, I know the risks outweigh the benefits. Shifting would only make me easier to track, and I can’t afford to take that chance.
As I continue my desperate flight through the woods, the thought of unmasking my scent to throw off my pursuers crosses my mind. However, the memory of the spell Nickolas cast to stop my heart should I unmask gives me pause. I can’t afford to take the risk of checking if it was still there, especially now with danger hot on my heels.
With a heavy heart, I resign myself to maintaining my human form despite the inherent disadvantages it presents in terms of speed and agility. Though it’s far from ideal, it’s the safest option available to me at the moment.
I press on, my lungs burning and my legs aching from exertion. I cling to the hope that I can outmaneuver Ember and Adam. Determined to avoid getting kidnapped at all costs.
I recoil from the smell of him, his foul breath assaulting my senses as he tackles me to the ground. Adam wastes no time in getting to his feet, dragging me up with him by my hair.
“You thought you could run away, didn’t you, bitch?” he snarls into my ear, his grip on my hair tightening. Despite his aggression, I try to ignore him and focus on connecting with Marie. It’s been a while since we last shifted, so it’s taking longer than usual, especially considering she’s still sobering up. My concentration shatters as a sharp slap across my face, slicing open my bottom lip. A sting of pain shoots through my lip.
“You stupid bitch. I can’t believe you made me fucking run,” Ember snaps, panting as she stands before Adam and me. I feel fury coursing through me, urging me to strike back at her. But I resist the urge, knowing it will only escalate the situation further and distract me from my current task. Right now, I need to stay focused.
“Look at me when I’m fucking talking to you, bitch!” Ember’s growl reverberates through the air as she grabs my chin, her nails digging into my skin. I bite down on my bruised lip to stifle the pain, shooting her a glare for a moment before deliberately ignoring her presence, focusing instead on reconnecting with Marie. I’ll deal with her later, once I have the chance.
“I suggest we kill her now and be done with it,” Adam suggests, his hand trailing across my face, sending shivers of disgust down my spine.
“No, she needs to suffer more before she dies,” Ember counters, her voice dripping with malice.
Adam and Ember begin to bicker over my fate. I seize the opportunity and deliver a swift kick to Adam’s balls. He recoils in pain, releasing his grip on my hair as I make a desperate bid for freedom.
But my escape is short-lived. Before I can get more than a few steps away, something tackles me to the ground with brutal force. Agony courses through me as Adam stands over me, seething with rage.
“You fucking bitch!” he snarls, delivering a vicious kick to my abdomen. I curl into a ball, clutching my stomach in pain as he continues his onslaught. “To think I wanted to give you a quick death,” Adam sneers, his words dripping with malice as he delivers another round of merciless blows. The pain is unbearable, but it’s not what has me screaming at the top of my lungs. Ember digs her heels into my thighs, and a searing pain shoots through me, eliciting an agonized cry, and blood pours out.
“I told you the bitch doesn’t deserve the easy way out,” Ember’s cruel words cut through the air, punctuated by another wave of pain as she withdraws her heels from my thighs. I can feel warm blood oozing from the wounds, adding to the agony that already courses through my battered body.
Adam grabs me by the hair and begins to drag me across the ground. Fresh wounds open up on my skin, tearing open with each sharp object we pass. With tears filling my eyes, I push past the agony and desperation, reaching out with all my strength in a final attempt to connect with Marie. But as the moments tick by, it becomes increasingly clear that my efforts are in vain. Gosh! I feel like I’m 14 all over and trying to shift for the first time, and even then, it wasn’t as hard as this.
“Marie, if you can hear me, shit, shift. I need you to shift right now,” I plead with her, tears streaming down my face as Adam continues to drag me mercilessly across the harsh ground.
Marie might have emerged from her coma, but to my dismay, the part of my brain responsible for controlling shifting remained inactive. It was a baffling and frustrating situation. The prolonged trauma and coma seemed to have rendered that part of my brain dormant. Now, I faced the daunting task of forcing it awake.
The castle fades from view with each passing second, and a sense of desperation grips me. I realize that I can no longer rely on shifting to gain the upper hand in this situation. It’s time to change course and take a different approach.
With a deep breath, I make a split-second decision to unmask my scent, knowing full well the risks involved. If I fail to escape, Ember will exploit me, but I can’t afford to be captured again. I’ve endured enough suffering already.
As I slowly unmask my scent, something unexpected happens. Tears of joy fill my eyes as I realize I might not need to do. Despite the odds and danger, I’ve managed to awaken the dormant part of my brain responsible for shifting.
“Hello, Amelia, I believe we have some heads to chop off,” Marie’s voice echoes in my mind as my body slowly shifts into my wolf form. With each passing moment, the pain and fear begin to fade, replaced by a primal sense of power and determination.
As my transformation completes, Adam releases his grip on my hair, his eyes widening in fear at the sight of the wolf before him. It’s a foolish mistake on their part not to have injected me with silver as soon as they captured me.
With a loud growl, I bare my teeth in a wolfish grin, relishing the fear in Adam’s eyes.
“Let’s begin,” we say in unison before launching ourselves at Adam with ferocious determination.