“W—what?” I ask, trying my best to maintain my breathing. The pain in my leg is still there, but my healing is kicking in even more now. If I can keep them talking, I may escape with my life.
“We know there's more of you around here,” she says. “Just tell us how to get to them and we'll let you go. Easy as that.”
“How can I trust you?” I strain, readjusting my grip.
“We're talking to you right now, aren't we?” Jimmy says. “We could've killed you already, if we wanted to. Besides, if we kill you, we'll still find them ourselves.”
“What do you say?”
I pretend to consider it, but instead, I’m looking at the trees around me for my next best step. If I can maintain high ground somehow, then maybe I'll be able to avoid getting shot point-blank.
“Come on, we don't have all night,” Carrie says. The frown on her face scares me. “Are you going to talk or should we just send you flying?”
“Look at her,” Jimmy whispers to his partner. My wolf hearing is the only reason I can make out what they're saying. “She's so pathetic, just hanging up there. Let's just kill her, it'll be fun.”
“No, we'll lure her down and then we'll kill her. It'll be slow and painful.”
Jimmy is almost giddy at this prospect. He happily paces around while Carrie continues talking.
“I'll lead you to them,” I reply, bringing a smile to the woman's face.
“Good, good. You're making the right choice. Look.” She moves her gun away and shows me her hands. She turns to Jimmy, who's still holding his gun, and sends her elbow into his ribs.
“Damn it, Carrie,” he grumbles before returning his gun to his back.
“Alright, just come down nice and slow. We're not making any sudden moves, so you shouldn't either.”
“Okay…” I feel much better without the silver weighing me down, but the wound still isn't healing. My leg is better now, even though it's covered in blood, but my shoulder seems to have a mind of its own. “I'm coming down.”
“Yeah, yeah. Hurry up,” Carrie states.
I start climbing down slowly, watching my step as best as I can. The second I get close enough, I throw my body down, kicking both hunters as I land.
“Fucker!” Jimmy yells, scrambling to his feet. I leap up before he gets a chance to do anything.
I run as fast as my legs will carry me, but that's not enough. With how weak I am, only one thing can help me outrun the pair.
Once I feel like I'm far enough, I start the transformation. At first, I don't feel anything, but it starts gradually. I try not to scream, but the sheer agony I'm in proves to be much stronger than my willpower.
“Oh God! Ah!” Each crack echoes into the woods. If the hunters couldn't find me before, they can now.
By the time I fully recover, I still need another rest period to gather my strength. In the middle of the woods, I have no idea what direction I'm supposed to go. I've lived in this forest for days, but I've wandered too far. I may not even be on the Ironfang's land any longer.
I lie there under the covers of shrubs in my wolf form. My black fur blends into the night, giving me that extra bit of cover. I can only pray this is enough as I hear the hunters approaching.
“I'm going to kill her,” Jimmy growls. “When I catch her, I'm going to fucking kill her.”
“She's around here somewhere,” Carrie says. “You broke my fucking tooth, you bitch!” she yells out. “When I find you, it's going to be the worst night of your very short life.”
I keep my breathing steady, trying not to make any sound. They pass by just a couple of feet away from me, looking around.
The moon isn't anywhere near full enough to give them the light they need. While I can see them clearly, the hunters don't have my gift of night vision.
“Just come out, let's end this. You caused this in the first place, you know? You and that guy you were talking to. Pro tip, if you're ever going to discuss your kind in the middle of the woods, try not to be so loud next time.”
My eyes widen in realization. They must've heard Grant and me when we went to talk to the other pack. How could we be so careless? We'd been too lost in emotions to notice our surroundings.
I wonder if the other pack is okay.
