Cherry
Did I follow them to the pond with the plan to run away? No.
But did I seize the opportunity that presented itself to me? Absolutely.
This was the plan after all. Separate myself, then run.
It isn’t that I’m scared of them anymore, or worry about what they want with me, although I still don’t know the answer to that one since they’ve never told me why they’re here.
The problem is me.
Alphas deserve way better than what I can offer, and I can sense the alpha energy coming from all five of them. Although I’ve never met another alpha, my parents explained pack hierarchy to my sisters and me many times.
It often led to questions about why we lived the way we did, without a pack, just the five of us constantly moving around in a world full of humans.
But they always answered the same way. They said that we were special, that we couldn’t live with other wolves. Scarlet had asked how we would ever meet our fated mates if we weren’t allowed to meet any other wolves, and our parents just said it would happen when the time was right.
When I’m stuck in wolf form doesn’t seem like the right time to me. Besides, why would the fates burden anyone with me as their mate? That’d just be cruel, unless they planned to pair me with someone awful. That seemed more likely for the way my life had been going so far.
Meeting them wasn’t awful.
As I weave through the trees, my paws hitting the ground and feeling better than I have in years, thanks to actually eating over the past two weeks, I wonder for the tenth time if I’m doing the right thing.
If I had the choice, I’d stay with them. But none of them are my fated mate, and I’m only holding them back from going home and being with their family, finding their own mates.
No. Running is my only option.
A mighty, pain-filled howl reaches my ears, almost stopping me in my tracks.
Bain.
Something inside me tells me to turn around, to go to him, to make sure he’s okay, but my stubbornness wins out as I run faster. I need to do this for them. Being stuck with me is a burden they don’t need.
They’ll understand when I’m gone and they have time to think about it.
Several more howls join the first, and I start to worry. I think they’re howling because I’m gone, but what if something else has happened? What if they’re being attacked or one of them is injured?
How are you going to help if they are?
I growl at myself, hating it, but knowing it’s true.
I’m weak and broken. My wolf has no fight in her.
I almost wish I could say it was beaten out of me, but really, I was born this way.
I never knew why I was so different from my sisters, and I was too young to worry about why my wolf had no interest in hunting, why I couldn’t hear or smell things that my sisters could, and why I had no natural instinct to swim.
The howling stops, and I know that means one of two things. They’ve either given up or they’re too busy chasing my scent to howl. They don’t seem the type to give up so easily.
And yet here I am attempting to run from five strong, fast wolves. Why did I think running from them would work? I clearly did not think this through. I really haven’t thought of much beyond leaving them.
Idiot.
I guess I didn’t really expect them to chase me. I’d hoped that the small amount of separation I’d given them over the past day would make them realize I wanted to leave. I thought they might be a little upset but would just shrug their shoulders and head home.
I hear a wolf’s howl behind me, much closer now.
They’re tracking me.
The only way to get them off my scent is to go through water, but I don’t sense any around. I keep going, pushing my legs as fast as they can, hoping to gain some more ground.
Suddenly, I run into a small clearing and force my body to a sharp stop, almost losing my footing as dirt and leaves fly out from under my feet.
My eyes widen in fear as I take in the huge grizzly bear standing in front of me. Before I can run, it spots me and roars in anger.
I freeze. I try to tell myself to back up, but nothing happens. I tell myself to turn and run; I should be faster than a bear, but my body won’t respond. I’m frozen with fear.
The bear takes two slow steps toward me, snarling. I manage to lift a leg, and it responds by standing up on its hind legs and letting out another furious roar.
Oh shit! It must be at least nine feet tall. My body sinks into the ground on my belly, hoping that if I make myself small enough, it won’t see me as a threat or prey and will move on.
It lets out another massive roar, and I whimper in fear.
Suddenly, a dark blur passes me, and a wolf pounces on the bear's massive chest, quickly followed by a second, then a third. I gasp as I push to my feet, seeing Bain, Maddox, and Hunter attack the beast in wolf form.
They manage to push it back a few feet as it stumbles in surprise. It crashes down onto four legs and swings a paw at Hunter, knocking him backward. He tumbles once, but quickly jumps back to his feet, seemingly uninjured.
Suddenly, there are five angry wolves standing between the bear and me. My eyes bounce between them in shock. They came to help me. If one of them gets seriously hurt because of me… I’ll never forgive myself.
Bain slowly circles around and jumps on the bear’s back, trying to bite its neck, but it rears back on its hind legs and shakes, making Bain slide back to the ground.
Maddox tries to bite its softer underbelly, but it easily swats him away.
They surround the bear, then, in what must be a coordinated attack, they all jump on it at the same time and sink their teeth in.
It roars and rises to two feet again, shaking them all off.
Chase falls off right in front of it and only just rolls to the side in time, avoiding being crushed by the bear as it returns to all fours.
But the second the bear lands, it smacks Chase away with its giant paw, giving Chase no time to recover from his roll.
He flies backward and smacks into a tree, landing in a heap at the base.
I let out a whimper when I notice he isn’t getting up.
I can see his chest moving from where I am, but he appears unconscious.
What have I done?
The others continue fighting him, dodging the bear’s paws and going for its face, neck, and underbelly. It’s starting to get covered in claw and bite marks now, blood dripping from its brown coat, but it’s strong, and the wolves’ claws don’t seem to be doing much permanent damage to it.
The four of them manage to get on his back together, trying to sink their teeth into his neck, but the bear rolls, sending them all scattering off it again. That’s when it notices Chase’s unconscious body and charges toward him.
I gasp, realizing the others are on his other side and won’t get to Chase in time.
All the noise around me stops as my focus narrows in on Chase. My paws hit the ground hard as I run as fast as I can to intercept.
Everything happens so fast. The bear’s paw reaches up and I pounce, landing on top of Chase as his eyes fly open in shock. Then I feel a sharp bite of pain as the bear’s claws slash through my side.
I stare into Chase’s wolf’s pain-filled eyes, waiting for another slice of pain. Instead, sounds start to trickle back in. I hear vicious growls and the sound of fighting behind me. Chase shifts to his human form, holding me in his lap, his eyes wide and scared as he looks down at my body.
“Fuck! Gorgeous, what did you do? What did you do!” he yells frantically as his hands hover over my side, afraid to hurt me further.
I lift my head and glance at my side to see three very deep slashes. More than that, I can practically see my insides coming out. I turn back to Chase and see tears rolling down his cheeks.
Are those tears for me? Does he really care that much? He barely knows me.
He holds my face in his hands as he trembles. “Oh, pretty girl, why did you do that? I can’t lose you now, I’ve just found you.” I wish I could tell him that it’s okay, that death will be a relief for me, that it will end this pain. I lick his tears, which just makes more trail down his face.
Suddenly, the human faces of the other four surround me. They must have either killed the bear or run it off. Bain strokes my head, looking heartbroken. “Angel, what have you done?”
Blood fills my mouth and I cough as my breathing starts to get harder. I know I don’t have long left now.
Gage crouches beside Chase as he looks at my wounds.
“I… I don’t think that’s healable, darling.
I… I don’t know how to help you. Your wolf isn’t healing it.
” He sounds so sad, so desperate to fix me.
I wish I could comfort him. Tell him it’s better this way.
I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if it were the other way around, if one of them was dying instead of me.
I try to breathe in, but I cough up some more blood and start to take quick, short gasps.
Hunter kneels by my head, stroking behind my ear as he tells me, “Baby girl, you need to fight for us, okay? Ask your wolf to help heal you.” The look on his face is that of a man losing something vital.
I don’t know why I warrant such looks from them all.
They have known me for only two weeks. I’m nothing special.
Then again, I’d probably feel heartbroken if they died, too.
Suddenly, the pain stops, and I know from experience I have seconds left.
Maddox strokes my back near my tail as he fights the tears glistening in his eyes. “Little wolf. We never even got a chance to figure out this bond between us. We don’t even know your name. I’m so sorry I failed to protect you. Please know how much we all care about you. You’re our—”
That’s all I hear as my world goes black, and death takes me… again.