I swallow. Devour? Prey? I hated the words, but at the same time, they stirred something inside me.
“Rules?”
“No shifting.”
“Fine,” I say snootily.
“Or you can admit you were wrong right here, and now and continue to be the good little bitch I tell you to be,” he adds.
Nothing has ever meant more to me than my freedom. I cross my arms. “Deal.”
A low growl of approval emits from his throat. Caleb unhooks the leash from the collar. Once he does, his eyes meet mine. His eyes darken.
“Five.”
“What?”
“Four.”
“Wait, I—”
“Three.”
My heart races.
“Two.”
I back away.
“One.”
I run.
An evil laugh rumbles deep in his chest. “Ready or not, here I come.”
***
Sprinting through the woods on pure adrenaline, my lungs struggle to keep up with my pace. My heart thumps out of mychest as I dodge branches and hurdle fallen trees. Caleb may have given me a head start, but I know he can’t be far. I’ve gotta find that arrow before he finds me.
It’s my only way out.
The full moon is my only light, and it’s not enough. I may know these woods, but that doesn’t help me if I can’t calm down enough to focus. It’s like when someone calls on you with a simple question, but you’re too busy panicking to answer.
I call my wolf forward and instantly my vision is amplified to make my surroundings clearer. The forest floor is covered in moss. There’s a lake in the distance that divides the land with trees in the water’s natural reflection. The water is so still, it makes it seem like there’s another world below us.
I glance behind to check and see if Caleb is close by, but I don’t see him. Yet.
Wind whips my hair at my skin. Each breath is a desperate fight in my lungs. I weave through the trees, jumping on fallen trees, ducking under branches. But whimsical strays still manage to hit me in the face. When I try to recover, one knicks my eye, causing me to trip and fall. I check behind and squint.
I catch movement, and my adrenaline reignites full throttle. My body screams at me to rest, but there’s no time.
He’s gaining on me—and fast.
I scramble to my feet and pump my arms. The stakes are high, and the odds are stacked against me. Every second is critical. One wrong turn, misstep, another fall—all have the potential to cost me my freedom. I can’t afford another mistake.
His boots pound against the forest floor behind me. He doesn’t bother being quiet. He lets every leaf crunch and every branch snap in his path as a deathly battle cry.
Fear joins my panic. He’s coming for me.
