He comes closer, and my heartbeat speeds up for a different reason entirely when he nuzzles into my neck, as if he's smelling me, and I wonder if this is my destiny.
To be eaten by a wolf.
I guess it’s better than to be killed by these men.
“Shoot the damn thing,” one of them shouts. “We need the bitch alive.”
The wolf throws his head back and howls into the night, combined with thunder and lightning, it almost scares me.
Then he taps my shoulder with his paw and stands in front of me, hunching down as if to protect me from the men, who all draw their guns, though their hands tremble when the wolf growls. “Just shoot!” the one with the chain yells again, and it turns into a scream when the wolf jumps on him, going right for his throat, and blood pours from him.
The other three men start to retreat, but he jumps on them as well, biting off someone’s hand, and if it weren’t for my aching ankle, I’d think I’m in some kind of fucked-up dream, because what the hell is going on here?
I turn away from all the bloody gore, though I don’t feel sorry for these men, and once again try to get up because Jonathan knows about my whereabouts. I have to move.
The adrenaline rush must be doing its job because I finally manage to get up and resume my run, ignoring the broken ankle and looking around, choosing to go farther into the forest.
Survival, that’s all that matters.
Any pain is bearable as long as it means I survive and the monsters die.
“No!” one of the men yells, and I focus only on my breathing, moving as fast as I can through the forest and groaning when the wind intensifies and a drizzle starts.
Gunshots and wolves’ howls follow me the deeper into the forest I get, and complete darkness seems to surround me, growing my desperation and exhaustion because it seems there is no escape from here.
“You can’t give up,” I whisper to myself, and continue to race blind and cry out when a brawny arm wraps around my waist, lifting me. “Let go of me.” I hit the hard chest until familiarscents penetrate my lungs, and a sob slips past my lips. “Levi.” I clung to him for dear life, strength leaving me all at once when I hug him.
He found me. I knew he would.
“I’m here, Lavender,” he says, and leans back, cupping my cheeks. “I’m here.”
“He’s… Robert… He’s Jonathan.”
His body grows cold, and he nods. “I know. I’ll handle it, Lavender. Are you hurt?”
“Yes. Levi, he has these men and…” He kisses me hard, swallowing all my protests, but quickly ends it. “It’s too dangerous.”
“Everything is going to be okay. Don’t worry.” He steps back, and calls over his shoulder, “Take her to the hospital. Now.”
“No, Levi! Don’t go alone.” I shout as he disappears into the forest as more howls ring in the air. I try to dart after him, but freeze when someone grabs me from behind. “Let go.” I struggle in the strong grip, fear enveloping me whole at the prospect of losing Levi to this madman. “Let go!”
“He has to do it on his own, Lavender.” I recognize Wyatt’s voice just as a sudden sharp pain pierces my scalp as if something has burst inside it, and the world slowly starts to get dizzy around me until it becomes black.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“As long as you breathe,moy lvenochek, you win.”
Anastasia
Levi
Through the years, I’ve tried my best to remember this damned forest that became my own prison.
I knew finding it would mean finally locating him.
No matter how much I forced myself to do it, though, I couldn’t, and I hated myself for it.
Until the tracker I inserted inside Lavender led me here, a place located three fucking hours away from my home. The idea of him being so close to me all these years sends me into a different spiral of madness.
