Chapter One
Kelly
Oh my God!
They’re getting close. I can hear them!
I let the tears fall, swiping angrily at my wet cheeks as my legs move faster, trees whipping past me in a blur.
My lungs burn and heart drums frantically against my ribs as terror courses through me.
The air is thick with the scent of pine and damp earth, but all I can smell is the metallic tang of fear.
The forest floor blurs beneath my feet, and once or twice, I stumble on exposed roots and rocks, nearly falling flat on my face.
But I can’t fall. They’ll catch me if I do.
Christ, what did I get myself into?
I glance back, and my breath hitches when I spot them a few paces behind me. Well, maybe it’s more than a few, but they’re closing in. There are three of them. Massive, and gaining ground with powerful strides that eat up the distance between us. I’m done for if they catch me.
Oh God. Oh God.
Adrenaline floods my veins, fueling my desperate energy, and my legs move faster than I ever thought possible.
They’re getting closer now, so I push myself harder, silently thanking my two best friends from back home for all the times they dragged me on their training runs.
Carrie and Jade will be so proud if I live to tell the story. God, will I ever see my friends again?
The thought sends hot tears clogging my raw throat, and I choke back a sob as I push harder. I don’t dare glance back. Doing so will only cause me to slow down, and every second counts if I’m to make it out alive.
Is there even a way out? Oh God, they’re going to kill me, aren’t they?
Go out and explore the world, they said.
It will be fun to go out into the world and photograph cute animals, they told me.
My family had been so proud of me when I decided to pursue my passion and study photography in college.
Hell, they were the ones who encouraged me to take a leap and get out of my comfort zone when the nature magazine I work for sent me out here to photograph a pack of gray wolves during whelping season.
“What if I get eaten by a bear?” I asked my mother that evening after I was given the assignment. “You know there are bears in the Northern Cascade Mountains of Washington.”
“That’s why you carry bear spray,” she’d responded with an eyeroll.
“And if I accidentally forget to pack the bear spray?”
“Then you get mauled by a bear, dear,” she’d said impatiently, passing me a plate of mashed potatoes. “You’re making it more complicated than it needs to be. This isn’t your first time in the woods. You’ve gone camping before.”
“This is different. I always went camping with you guys, and now my boss is sending me out there on my own,” I told her, sulking as I toyed with my dinner. “I’ll be all alone in the Northwest wilderness.”
“Hopefully with bear spray.”
“Mom!”
“Sweetheart, think of it this way,” Dad had chimed in, smoothly cutting into our argument.
“Your magazine is doing a feature on species recovery after being endangered, and they chose you for this important assignment. It means they trust you. If you don’t go, how are they ever going to trust you with another assignment? ”
“You think so?”
“I know so,” he’d assured me, reaching across the table to pat my hand. “You’ll be fine, Kelly.”
He lied.
The cold wind blows past my wet face as I try not to think of my parents and whether that dinner was the last I will ever share with them. I did pack the stupid bear spray, but it didn’t prove to be of much help now that it’s obvious that the most dangerous thing in this forest is not a bear.
I don’t want to die!
I did everything by the book. I rented a cabin nearby so I wouldn’t have to camp alone in the woods even if it meant hiking into the national park.
I consulted the park ranger on where I would find the wolves.
I even picked up the litter I found on the forest floor and properly disposed of it.
I was careful not to get off course and accidentally trample the plants and tree roots. I did everything right.
And then I ran into criminals.
There were three of them setting traps by the wolves’ den. I decided to take pictures to show the authorities, and now those same assholes are chasing me through the woods, forcing me away from the marked trails because they caught me spying on them.
No, I shouldn’t have come here.
“Stop right there, bitch!”
Don’t turn around. Kelly, don’t you dare…
I turn around, and of course it’s the wrong freaking move because I nearly slam into a tree.
My effort to evade it sends my foot catching on an exposed root, and then I’m flying in the air.
I scream as my world flips—or maybe it only happens in my head—but the next thing I know, I’m tumbling down a steep ravine.
Thorns tear at my clothes, branches whip at my face, and the scent of damp earth and decaying leaves fills my nostrils.
I have enough sense to cushion my head with my arms as I roll down the hard ground before stopping on a small landing.
I didn’t fallen all the way to the bottom.
I am wedged partway down the ravine, tangled between brush and loose rock.
Disoriented, I cough, trying to clear my head and the taste of dirt from my mouth.
Then I hear their voices, somewhere above me. Fear hammers back into my chest, leaving a painful ache behind.
With a quiet whimper, I try to push myself up, to scramble away, but a searing pain shoots through my ankle. I bite back a cry, collapsing onto the forest floor. Panic claws at my throat as I realize that they’re going to find me and then…
They’ll hurt me. Maybe worse.
Those men were setting traps at the den to capture the wolves. I’ve heard of trappers before, and they’re just as bad as poachers. There’s no way they’ll let me live when they find me.
If , I amend in my head. If they find me. I’ll be damned if I make it easy for them.
My ankle screams with the slightest twitch, but I force myself to assess the situation.
A large shrub immediately pulls my attention, and an idea pops into my mind.
I don’t let myself think about the distance between where I fell and where I need to hide, or the fact that animals and insects are probably crawling underneath.
No, I don’t let myself think at all as I begin to crawl on my side, dragging my injured foot as I go.
Each movement is a fresh wave of agony, so I bite hard on my bottom lip to stop myself from crying out.
My arms burn with effort, but somehow, I make it in time to crawl under the large bush just as rough voices cut through the quiet forest. They’re so close. Too close.
“Where the hell did she go?” One voice roars.
“Bitch can’t be that fast. You don’t think she’s hiding somewhere down there, do you?”
My heart stops.
“She went over the ravine,” the third voice mutters. “No way she made it far after that fall.”
“You think she’s dead?”
“If she isn’t, the cold will finish the job.”
I hold my breath, every muscle tense, and don’t let it go until I hear their footsteps and voices fade away. Even then, I don’t emerge from my hiding spot. I drop my forehead to the damp floor and let the tears come, battling the regret twisting in my chest.
I knew something would go wrong on this work trip.
Sure, I was convinced I would be mauled by a bear, but this isn’t exactly a better alternative.
Here I am, somewhere off the hiking trail.
It’s cold and getting late. The ranger warned me earlier about a late-season snowstorm moving in, but I brushed him off, convinced I was just going to scout the wolves’ den, familiarize myself with the location, then leave.
And then those trappers happened.
The thought of them doubling back and finding me here sends fear prickling through my chest. The only hope I have now is that someone will check in and raise the alarm when they don’t find me at my cabin. Maybe they’ll send out a search party for me.
And if they don’t, then…
Christ, I should never have come out here!