Chapter 6
Chapter Six
EVANTHE
The forest waits for me, vast and silver under the moon. My footsteps gain speed the closer I draw until I reach its edges and sink into its embrace.
The mark beneath my skin throbs softly, guiding me through the dark. I run on, leaving the lights of the town behind, until the path opens onto a clearing I recognize—and the ancient oak tree I once rested beneath, seeking sanctuary.
Above, its bare branches stretch wide and black against the sky, touched here and there by frost.
I sink down to my knees before the great trunk, breath clouding the air. The cold seeps into me, and I shiver.
Mine.
My eyelids flutter. It feels like I succumb to the pull of exhaustion and darkness for only a moment, to blink and find many hours have passed by.
Quiet is stirred by creaking branches, and a soft crunch like footsteps upon frozen leaves.
My pulse quickens.
From between the trees steps the black wolf. Steam rises from his flanks, his panting breath a mist. His eyes catch the moonlight, clear and blue.
He stops a few paces away, watching me.
He isn’t alone. Behind him, two more shapes hang back, giving me nothing but the blink of their blue eyes.