Stay With Me
SCARLETT
The battlefield had become a slaughterhouse.
I watched in frozen horror as a massive tentacle whipped through the air and snatched a Beta wolf mid-leap. The large gray male didn’t even have time to scream. The tentacle squeezed lonce, violently, and ripped him apart like wet paper.
Blood and entrails exploded outward in a gruesome spray. Intestines spilled onto the dirt in wet, steaming loops. The creature flung the torn body aside like garbage. The sickening thud of it hitting the ground made my stomach revolt.
I dropped to my knees and vomited hard, acid burning my throat as my whole body shook.
“Scarlett!” Rhys’s voice cracked like a whip. “Saint, get her somewhere safe—now!”
Saint’s massive wolf form pressed against me, trying to herd me backward, but I fought him, still wiping my mouth with a trembling hand.
“No—wait! We can’t just leave them!”
But Rhys and Kane were already gone, charging the monster like avenging demons.
Kane launched himself off a thick tree trunk with a savage roar.
A small white Omega wolf dangled helplessly in one of the tentacles, crying out as it squeezed.
Kane grabbed the limb mid-air and ripped it open with brutal strength.
The creature shrieked. The wolf fell. Another Alpha leapt up and caught her just before she hit the ground.
I scanned the chaos frantically, heart hammering.
“Where’s Milo?” My voice cracked. “Saint, where is he?”
Saint nudged me harder toward the rocks, but I spotted him.
A tentacle had wrapped around Milo’s leg. I heard the sickening **crack** of bone from across the clearing. He screamed, shifting back to human form from the agony.
“No!” I tried to run toward him.
Saint growled and blocked me with his huge body, pushing me back. *No. Stay.* Then he charged to help.
More tentacles rained down. The ground was littered with blood, torn flesh, and broken bodies. Students—some dead, some still twitching—lay scattered everywhere. The screams never stopped.
And then the worst realization hit me.
Professor Ryan was nowhere to be seen.
Captain Elias Rowe. Mr. Halloway. All the adult supervisors… gone.
No orders. No healers. No backup.
*They left us here to die.*
My stomach twisted violently. This couldn’t be a setup… could it?
“SCARLETT!”
I turned too late.
A thick tentacle slammed into me like a freight train, wrapping around my throat with crushing force. It lifted me off my feet and hurled me backward. I hit the ground hard, skidding across dirt and jagged rocks. Skin tore open. Pain exploded across my neck and back.
I gasped, clawing desperately at my throat. Hot blood poured between my fingers from a deep, ragged gash. I couldn’t breathe. Wet, gurgling sounds escaped me as I choked, vision blurring.
“SCARLETT!”
Kaiden appeared in a blur. He dropped Lily and fell to his knees beside me, pressing both hands hard against the wound.
“Breathe, Scarlett. Stay with me—don’t close your eyes!”
His hands were already soaked red. Blood kept pouring out, warm and terrifying, soaking my clothes and the ground beneath me. The wound burned like silver, refusing to heal. Venom. Acid. Something cursed.
Lily crawled closer, face pale and streaked with tears. “Scar… please… just breathe…”
I tried. Every inhale felt like fire ripping through torn flesh. My fingers twisted desperately in Kaiden’s shirt as the world started to tilt.
*This wasn’t supposed to happen.*
Kaiden’s voice cracked, his eyes flashing violent red. “You can’t leave me. Scarlett—no, stay with me!”
He pressed harder, but the blood wouldn’t stop. With a desperate curse, he ripped off his own shirt and wrapped it tightly around my neck as a makeshift bandage. His hands were shaking.
“Stay awake,” he begged, voice breaking. “Don’t you dare close your eyes. I won’t let you.”
A massive roar shook the ground.
Saint’s huge silver-black wolf burst through the chaos, carrying a badly injured Milo on his back. He skidded to a stop beside us, red eyes wild with panic. He shifted mid-motion—bones cracking, fur receding—until he was human again, naked and covered in blood and dirt.
“Scarlett…” Saint’s voice was raw, broken, as he dropped to his knees beside me.
That was the last thing I saw clearly.
The world spun violently. My grip on Kaiden’s shirt loosened.
“Nooo!” Kaiden’s scream tore through the battlefield, raw and shattered. “Scarlett! Stay with me… please!”
Darkness swallowed everything.