Chapter 6 The Chase
six
The Chase
*GWENDOLYN*
One moment passes, and then another, in which I just try to gather my thoughts. It’s as if everything around me is in slow motion all of a sudden, my thoughts and I, included. It just feels dull and like this isn’t reality.
Then, the first wolf emerges.
This startles me from my ‘trance’ instantly.
Wolves shouldn’t stress me. This is a pack for fuck’s sake, I have run into them before while riding Tulip. It’s nothing new.
Just that it is different this time.
I immediately urge Tulip to go faster, falling into a faster trot, trying to get some distance between them and us, but one look behind tells me they are not going to leave us alone.
It’s a group of them now – five, maybe even six.
And I know them!
I fucking know them!
I recognize Brandon’s wolf, and Josie’s. As for the others, I am not sure, but they are certainly some of their friends.
Brandon growls, startling Tulip once again. As if it’s some sick joke to them, they all growl, probably laughing at the way Tulip starts running faster, more uncontrolled. He is not really afraid of wolves; he grew up with them, but this is a different situation.
He is scared, and it doesn’t help that I am scared too. I try to will the feeling down, focusing on my horse, and on keeping him calm, but a wolf runs past us like a shadow, circles around us and runs back.
Tulip rears up, and it’s only thanks to being an experienced rider that I don’t fall off right then and there.
Another stagger from Tulip, another growl, and then he dashes off.
Fuck, fuck, fuck! There is a reason I don’t gallop through this area.
The path is not made for it, either for Tulip or for me.
Branches slap into my face as I try my best to keep in the saddle and calm Tulip.
There are growls all around us, and when I glance behind me, I see the wolves chasing us.
They are hunting us.
Why? Why would they do that?
My stomach starts to do backflips in panic, my breath going so fast I am scared I might start hyperventilating soon. I have no idea what to do. Nothing has ever prepared me for this. I know I am shunned in this pack, but they never went as far as to physically harm me.
Tulip dashes out of the forest, just running in any direction, his fight or flight response clearly set off. There is no stopping him when he is like this, so all I can do is cling to him, hoping Brandon and his friends will come to their senses and stop the chase.
But they don’t.
Even now that Tulip runs over the field ahead of us aimlessly, they keep running after him, sometimes even snapping at his legs, making him run even faster.
Their group has also become bigger, with two more wolves having joined them. I don’t know them, or maybe I do but am too stressed to tell.
And then, far to my left, I suddenly see Maddox’s dark-brown wolf.
He is not alone, and he clearly stands out from the others, due to his size.
I don’t know the wolf next to him, but it must be one of his close friends.
Both of them are running parallel to us and stop abruptly when they spot our group.
I have no idea what the fuck Maddox will do. Will he join Brandon and the others?
If an alpha wolf starts hunting me, I’ll have no chance!
To my relief, he doesn’t seem like he is going to involve himself in the chase, though; he is still rooted in place as if he is just watching.
Why is he always just watching?
“Stop it!” I yell, the shock having subsided into sheer panic and fear. My breathing is shallow, while I keep clenching and unclenching my fists on Tulip’s reins. My body doesn’t seem to listen to me, though; my arms tremble, and my lungs feel so tight I can’t breathe properly.
I start to scream at the top of my lungs, my heart beating so fast now that my head gets dizzy. When nothing helps, I just resolve to beg. “Please, please stop it.”
I spot Maddox and his friend suddenly beginning to move, running towards us. Two of the wolves chasing us suddenly fall back the moment they spot Maddox. Did he link them and tell them to stop?
We are almost at the back of my cottage now. Tulip must have subconsciously targeted his safe space.
“Please!” I blurt out.
One more of the wolves halts and falls back as well, joining Maddox, but my vision is starting to get blurred, little black dots appearing in front of them.
Then there is a crack, and another one.
A rumble goes through Tulip’s body as he crashes to the ground, rolling over several times. The fall has tossed me to the side, or I would have probably been crushed to death with Tulip on top of me.
My heart is hammering in my chest as I scramble up on my feet and run to where Tulip has come to a halt. I stumble and fall more than once, my legs not listening to me. My shoulder and knee hurt, but I don’t care.
“Tulip,” I whisper, finally reaching my horse, my friend. He is panting heavily, foam in front of his mouth, his eyes still wide in panic. He struggles but can’t get up.
Our pursuers have all stopped. Just one of them shifts and comes running towards me. “Gwen!” Brandon yells. “Goddess, Gwen, did you get hurt? This-“
“Go away,” I scream. “Don’t come closer, you monster.”
He stumbles backwards, while I turn away from him, wrapping my arms around Tulip. “Please calm down,” I whisper. “Everything is going to be okay, it’s going to be alright.”
I should get up and get help. I need to do something, but my legs don’t seem to listen to me. Eventually, I manage to stand and grab a blanket from the fence and put it over Tulip. I try to pull myself up again, only to almost fall over.
“Gwen!” Someone grabs me before I can drop to the ground again.
My eyes shoot up to a familiar face, tears suddenly flowing. “Daniel.”
“It’s okay, I am here,” he says, leading me to the bench nearby and forcing me to sit down.
“How,” I pause. “They… Tulip.”
“I know,” Daniel says quietly. “Maddox linked me and told me to come here immediately.” His expression grows darker. “You don’t need to explain yourself.”
I grab him by his coat. “Please,” I beg. “Tulip.”
“I got you. That’s why I am here,” he reassures.
He grabs his bag, which I hadn’t noticed before, carefully approaching Tulip.
He makes sure not to make any rushed movements and instead talks to him calmly while starting to look him over.
The gentleness with which he treats Tulip finally makes my body calm down from its panic, but instead, I am gripped by cold fear.
Tulip has stopped his erratic breathing, but now his breaths are shallow. His eyes don’t look panicked anymore, but just… dull.
“No,” I mutter, finally managing to get up and wobble towards him. I fall down on my knees next to him and rest my hands on his neck. He seems to notice me, snorting shortly, but otherwise, he doesn’t move.
The minutes drip by in which Daniel doesn’t utter a word.
That’s bad.
It’s bad, isn’t it?
Daniel checks Tulip over another time, before pulling back and taking my hand.
“Two of his legs are broken,” Daniel says quietly. “There is extensive damage. With one broken leg, I could maybe… I could try to help him, but with two…” he pauses. “He is old, and the extensive stress from tonight probably wasn’t good for his heart.”
He doesn’t need to say more. One broken leg could easily be a death sentence for a horse, but there is no recovery from two broken legs.
I cried before, but now new tears fill my eyes.
I put Tulip’s head in my lap, gently stroking it.
My oldest friend and I have to let him go because I hurt the guy’s ego.
The minutes pass by, with me just holding him while one of Daniel’s assistants arrives.
She brings more equipment and talks with Daniel, but I don’t quite hear them.
I just notice how she checks Tulip over as well.
Then someone else on his team arrives, but stays in the background. They inject Tulip with an anesthetic.
Dad got him for me when I was just a little kid.
He was supposed to be a racing horse, but didn’t have the correct anatomy for it.
He had a weak heart and, overall, not the right mindset.
Dad saved him, and I fell in love with him at first sight.
Pets on pack grounds are unusual, but the alpha made an exception for Dad because of the many ways he helped the pack.
I learned so much from Tulip.
I was hoping for some more years with him, in which he could enjoy his last days with me, but now he has to leave like this, after a cruel chase that terrified him to his core.
Daniel takes my hand again. “Gwen,” he says quietly. “We can wait a bit longer, if you need more time.”
By now, the sun has risen and is far up in the sky. What’s the time? I don’t know, but hours must have passed without me noticing.
“No,” I mutter, resting my forehead against Tulip’s neck. “I don’t want him to suffer any longer.”
I keep whispering goodbyes to him while Daniel injects him with a lethal dose of the anesthetic. Tulip’s breathing becomes slower, as if he is just sleeping, then his whole body is completely still all of a sudden.
Deafening silence engulfs me. Tulip is gone, and I can’t grasp why or how it happened. It seems my mind can’t catch up. All because a group of arrogant little shits wanted to teach me a lesson?
Just because they wanted to hurt me? Did they plan on an accident, or did they just want to terrify me to prove to me that I am a wolfless, little lowlife?
Why did my innocent, gentle giant need to get pulled into this? He died because of them!
My body starts shaking again as the realization settles in that my oldest friend just passed away, and that he will never again greet me with his neighing or grunt at me when he wants an apple or a carrot. He will never rub his nose against my shoulder and huff into my hair.
I will never feel the wind in my face again, and that sense of freedom, while riding on his back.
Daniel gently moves me away from Tulip while his assistant pulls a larger blanket over him. “They are going to take him away,” he says quietly. “I am so sorry, Gwen, so sorry. I wish I could have done something to help him.”
My lips tremble, my throat burns.
“Come here, Gwen.” He pulls me into a hug, holding me while I cry into his chest.