Dangling Prey
SCARLETT
We ran.
Kane carried Lily, her blood soaking through his shirt as he sprinted toward the second bus. I stayed right beside him, clutching her hand, my heart hammering so hard it hurt.
“Hang on, Lily,” I gasped, tears blurring my vision. “We’re almost there. Just stay awake, okay? Please…”
A tentacle shot out of nowhere.
Thick, slimy, and impossibly fast.
It wrapped around my waist like a steel cable and yanked me upward with brutal force.
“SCARLETT!” Kane roared, skidding to a stop.
I screamed as my feet left the ground. The tentacle squeezed so tightly I couldn’t breathe. My ribs creaked under the pressure as it lifted me higher and higher into the air. I thrashed wildly, clawing at the slick flesh with my small claws, tearing into it desperately.
“Let me go!” I screamed, voice raw.
Below me, Kane had set Lily down and was staring up in horror. Saint’s massive wolf let out a deafening roar and leapt toward the tentacle. Rhys was already moving like death itself, golden eyes blazing as he sprinted forward.
The creature roared in fury.
The tentacle tightened even more, crushing the air out of my lungs. I clawed harder, ripping chunks of foul-smelling flesh, but it only made it angrier.
Then it flung me.
The world spun violently as I was hurled through the air like a ragdoll. I screamed the entire way until I slammed into the upper branches of a tall pine tree with bone-jarring force.
Pain exploded across my back and ribs.
I barely managed to grab onto a thick branch before I could fall, clinging desperately as the tree shook. My claws dug into the bark, legs dangling. Below me, the battle raged, wolves attacking the monster, tentacles smashing everything, screams filling the air.
“Scarlett!” Kane’s roar shook the forest below.
I looked down, gasping, my ribs screaming with every breath. The creature’s sickly yellow eyes were all locked on me now, glowing with pure hunger.
Then three more tentacles shot toward me, thick, whipping nightmares moving at terrifying speed.
I didn’t think. I just reacted.
The fastest one came straight at me. At the last second, I twisted my body, using every bit of flexibility I had and I flipped backward off the branch like a gymnast, the tentacle slamming into the tree where my head had been a split second earlier.
I landed shakily on a lower, thicker branch, knees buckling, barely catching myself before I fell.
The other two tentacles adjusted instantly, coming from different angles, one from above, one curling around the side.
*Think, Scarlett. Think.*
My eyes darted around. The tentacles were long, flexible, and clearly controlled by the main body. If I could make them work against each other…
I waited until both were almost on me, then leapt sideways to another branch, forcing them to change direction sharply. The moment they crossed paths in mid-air, I grabbed a broken, jagged piece of branch and slashed it across the base of one tentacle, making it thrash wildly in pain.
The injured tentacle lashed out uncontrollably, straight into the path of the second one.
They tangled.
I didn’t waste the chance.
I jumped to a higher branch, grabbed another sharp piece of wood, and stabbed it into the knot where the two tentacles had crossed, pinning them together like a makeshift needle through fabric.
The two tentacles jerked violently, trying to pull apart, but only succeeded in tightening the knot around each other. They started thrashing and slamming into the tree, fighting their own bodies.
I was panting, covered in sweat and sap, my arms shaking from the effort.
“Yes!” I hissed under my breath.
But my victory was short-lived.
The third tentacle, the one I’d avoided earlier came back with a vengeance, faster than before. It wrapped around my ankle before I could dodge and yanked me off the branch.
I screamed as I was ripped into the air again, dangling upside down, blood rushing to my head.
Below me, Kane was rushing towards me in fury, Saint’s massive wolf was leaping from tree to tree trying to reach me, and Rhys was a blur of lethal movement, climbing the creature itself like a deadly shadow.
I was swinging helplessly, the world spinning, as the tentacle began dragging me toward the monster’s gaping maw.
I screamed, twisting and clawing at the slimy flesh, but it only tightened, cutting off my air even more. The monster’s jaws unhinged wider, rows of jagged teeth dripping with acidic saliva that hissed where it fell. The stench was unbearable, rot, blood, and something ancient and evil.
In a blur of movement, Rhys launched himself from Saint’s back, soaring through the air like a fallen angel. His claws extended fully as he landed directly on the tentacle wrapped around me. With a vicious snarl, he slashed downward, golden eyes blazing with anger.
The tentacle screeched, a wet, horrifying sound and loosened just enough.
I fell.
“RHYS!” I screamed as the ground rushed up to meet me.
Two powerful bodies collided with me mid-air.
Kane and Rhys caught me at the same time, Kane’s massive arms wrapping around my waist, Rhys shielding my head and back. We slammed into the forest floor hard. Kane took the brunt of the impact, rolling so his body covered mine completely, protecting me from the worst of the fall.
Pain exploded across my ribs, but I was alive.
Saint’s massive wolf form barreled toward us like a freight train. He skidded to a stop and immediately started rubbing all over me, frantic, worried licks across my face, neck, and arms, whining loudly like a distressed papa wolf checking his pup.
“I’m fine Saint, I’m okay,” I gasped, coughing as I tried to sit up. My hands buried in his thick fur, trying to calm him.
But from the corner of my eye, I saw it.
Another thick tentacle whipping toward Lily, who was still lying on the ground in the middle of all the wreckage, too weak to move.
“LILY!” I yelled.
Before the tentacle could reach her, a blur of extremely fast movement shot across the battlefield.
Kaiden.
He appeared out of nowhere, grabbing Lily and yanking her out of the way with inhuman speed. In the same fluid motion, he spun and delivered a powerful roundhouse kick straight into the tentacle. The impact was so strong it sent the massive limb reeling backward, slithering away with an angry hiss.
Kaiden stood over Lily protectively, hazel eyes glowing faintly red
as he scanned the area for more threats.
I let out a soft sob of relief.
Kane was still hovering over me, hands frantically checking for injuries. “You hurt anywhere, princess? Ribs? Head?”
“I’m okay,” I whispered, even as tears streamed down my face. “Lily… is she going to be…”
“She’s a wolf darling, she will be fine,” Rhys said, appearing beside us, blood on his cheek but otherwise unharmed. His golden eyes were still locked on the monster. “But we need to end this thing. Now.”
Saint pressed his huge wolf head against my chest, still whining softly, refusing to leave my side.
The creature roared again, tentacles thrashing wildly as more wolves attacked it from all sides.