I looked at his pale blue face, now almost completely devoid of color, as he yelled “Run!”
This time I listened. I took off in a sprint down the path we’d been following. Seconds later a loud shriek and a pained howl echoed through the forest. I looked over my shoulder to find Drelic on the ground and a wounded jagwa looming over him.
I should have kept running, but instead I stood there staring at my would-be mate looking for any signs of life. I kept waiting and watching, but his chest did not rise, his arms did not move, even his fingers did not twitch. As if in response to my desperate attempt to find any signs of life within the male I’d slept with last night, the jagwa drug its claws across Drelic’s neck. Blood spilledout like a waterfall, and I knew whatever chance my fiance had at living was gone.
Then the beast turned its eyes on me. I needed to get out of here. Drelic had wounded the jagwa, but I doubted that would be enough. My legs were short and I had no weapons on me.
I took off in another sprint. Unfortunately, the jagwa took off after me. The distance between us seemed to disappear within seconds. I’d trusted Drelic to keep me safe, and now he was dead. Soon, I’d be dead too.
“Fool,” I chastised myself, as if any criticism of my choices would help me now. There was no amount of regret or reflection that would save me from my fate.
The jagwa lunged and narrowly missed me as I darted to the side. I let out a high-pitched scream, hoping to scare it off, but it didn’t work. The beast just kept coming.
My legs were burning with the effort to keep up this punishing pace, and despite my best efforts my muscles were slowly giving out. I gritted my teeth and demanded my body keep going, but despite everything my pace began to slow.
The jagwa leapt into the air beside me and landed on my shoulders, using its full weight to bring me to the ground.
To avoid the jagwa’s fangs, I lay on my back with my hands pressed against its shoulders. The jagwa snapped its jaws in frustration as it tried and failed to bite me. Fear welled up in my chest as my arms began to burn. This animal was strong, and it wouldn’t take long for my arms to give out just as my legs had done. I’d fought at good fight, but this was most definitely the end.
Then a glowing yellow flame appeared behind the jagwa, and a tall male stood within the fire like an angel of death ready to take me home.
“I don’t want to die,” I cried,but the flames of death only drew closer. The warmth of the fire was pleasant against the cold winter air.
I always thought the chill of death would feel like a swift frostbite that would cover me from head to toe, but this was a pleasant feeling. The warmth of the fire brought me comfort and I decided that if this was what death felt like, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.
“I don’t want you to die either,” the angel whispered as his flaming hands pulled the jagwa off me in one quick movement. The beast yelped in pain and the smell of burnt flesh filled the air.
There was a wet cracking sound and I looked up to find the angel pulling the beast’s head to the side at an odd angle. Its legs went limp and it stopped breathing. The jagwa was dead. The angel of death had saved me.
I squinted my eyes as I tried to look past the flames that consumed him. He looked so familiar.
My savior dropped the animal to the ground then took a deep calming breath. His flames rescinded back into his flesh and his skin cooled into a deep blue.
“Zander?”
I’d seen him shift for the first time when Dameron’s men tried to lead us away from our mountain home. He’d joined the other’s in my dekes to fight against our kidnappers. He’d even protected me from the male who was trying to forcibly get me to walk.
I’d seen Zander again when fighting broke out against the two dekes’. I’d hoped he was safe and I was glad to see him now.
“If there is air in my lungs and a beat in my heart, I will keep you safe,” Zander vowed as he scooped me up from the ground into his arms. His skin still felt pleasantly warm and I gladly settled myself against him.
“Are you hurt? Did Drelic harm you?” He asked as he checked me over.
Drelic. A sudden wave of guilt flooded me as I realized that I wasn’t at all sad that he was dead. Then I felt doubly guilty that I didn’t feel anything but relief for the male who’d given his life to save mine.
He wouldn’t have had to save you if he’d just stayed his ass in the cave when you suggested it. A voice whispered inside me. I knew it was true. If we’d just stayed in the cave when we heard the jagwas, then he’d be alive right now.
“I’m fine. He didn’t harm me. He...he and I luminesed.”
Zander froze and every muscle in his body went rigid.
“I understand,” he tried to hide it, but I could hear the heavy sadness in his tone.
“Did he force himself on you?” he asked.
“No. We both welcomed luminescence.”I replied, and Zander let out a sigh of relief.
“Where is he?” he asked as he looked around trying to spot my failure of a mate.
