60. Riley
Riley
The trail through the trees plunged into darkness as the moon slid behind a cloud.
Even with my shifter night vision, I could barely see two feet ahead.
Thorns tore at me as I ran, shredding both my skin and the clothes I wore.
A branch snagged the red wig Kasia had given me, yanking it off my head.
There wasn’t time to pick it up. I hoped she’d forgive me for losing it. Assuming I survived.
The creature chasing me roared as it crashed through the trees. I couldn’t tell what it was. Only that it was massive and definitely wanted to kill me.
It could be a wolf, but it sounded bigger than a wolf. More feral.
My beast pushed against my skin, but I forced her back. She stood even less chance of surviving this. At least in human form, I could climb a tree to escape.
I ran faster, swinging left when the trail diverged. Being chased by a predator had completely messed with my sense of direction, and now that the moon had disappeared, I had no clue which way the campus lay.
For all I knew, I was running in ever-decreasing circles.
“Goddess, please save me,” I gasped. “I can’t die wearing white latex!”
My toe stubbed on a thick root as the trail widened. I lost my footing, yelping as I stumbled and fell on the hard ground.
My wolf whimpered. She recognized how much danger we were in. Not even shifting could save us from the predator chasing us.
Before I could drag myself into a thicket of thorns as a last resort, a bear crashed through the trees on my left. It stood at least twelve feet tall, with dark fur and glowing amber eyes. This deranged beast was a shifter, not a wild bear.
There were a few bear shifters on campus, but not this large. Or this feral.
The bear snarled and drooled, its eyes unfocused. The creature acted as if it had lost all reason. When the moon finally reappeared from behind a cloud, the dim glow highlighted the beast’s protruding ribs and matted, bloody coat. Was the shifter stuck in animal form?
I’d heard stories of feral shifters, struck down by a hideous affliction that sent them mad, and wondered whether this bear was one of them.
Being eaten by a feral bear was not how I wanted to die. I much preferred the idea of passing beyond the veil in old age, having lived a long and happy life. But that future seemed unlikely now.
The drooling bear scraped its paw in the dirt and snarled at me. A stringy chunk of flesh dropped from its jaws. I nearly vomited at the stench of rot wafting my way.
“Please don’t kill me,” I whispered, trying to squeeze further into the thorn bush. Sharp spines dug into my flesh, but I barely registered the pain.
I trembled with adrenaline and fear, frantically trying to figure a way out of this mess. Then I spotted my bag. I’d stashed my phone in there, and if I could reach it, perhaps I could call the felines. Kasia’s tiger was powerful. She would protect me from this feral bear.
A distant howl distracted the bear for a split second, and my wolf took advantage. She surged forward, shredding the stupid white dress as we shifted. Before the bear could attack, my beast ran, using her speed and agility to escape its claws.
Unlike me, my wolf was incapable of making rational decisions, and since she’d taken over, I couldn’t do much other than let her follow her instincts. I quickly realized her only aim was to find a hiding place, one where the bear couldn’t reach us.
She sprinted hard, panting with exertion as she followed a faint trail. Behind us, the bear roared in anger, crashing wildly through the undergrowth. The faster we ran, the fainter the bear’s roars became. His size made him far slower than my agile wolf.
In wolf form, I could see much better, and it wasn’t long before a building came into view.
What was this place? It looked like a small chapel, but from the crumbling stonework and cracked windows, not one that saw much use. Had we reached the edge of campus?
Shift back, I implored my beast, but she ignored me. Instead, she ran into the chapel and sniffed.
Rubble littered the space, along with dead leaves and twigs. It was dry in here, despite the air of neglect that hung over the place.
Moonlight shone down through a stained-glass window of an angel flying above what looked like demons. I shuddered. Talk about creepy.
An altar sat at one end, and a few broken chairs lay scattered around. The walls were bare. Nothing of value remained, not even a candle, but I spotted several suspicious brown stains on the stone floor. Definitely bloodstains, which added to the creepy factor.
I also detected the scents of wolves and other creatures. One wolf in particular.
Mate.
It quickly became apparent my stupid wolf thought Tate Montes would come and rescue us. Too late, I realized she’d been following his scent. We were dead.
You’re insane! He’s miles away! We need to get out of here or the bear will trap us inside this chapel!
My wolf took no notice. Instead she looked around and then trotted through a doorway into a smaller side room, where Tate’s scent was much stronger. Oh my goddess, was this where the wolf hooked up with females?
I didn’t get the chance to search for female undergarments or used condoms. The bear roared as it barreled through the doorway into the main chapel.
And this is where we die, I told my wolf, resigned to my fate. This time, she had nothing to offer because we both knew I was right. In following Tate’s scent, she’d led us straight into a trap. There was no way out of this room other than back through the main chapel.
A desperate whimper escaped as my wolf released her hold on me. The frigid air cooled my clammy skin, but I barely felt it as I squeezed my body into the gap behind a pile of old crates, back in my human female form because the pendant had been spelled to shift with me.
The weathered wooden crates blocking my view offered very little protection, but I prayed the bear would give up and leave if I hid out of sight.
Something with way too many legs skittered over my head, adding to the trauma. I swallowed a scream and closed my eyes, concentrating on breathing to stop my imminent panic attack. In and out. In and out. Spiders were the least of my problems right now. I could handle a few bugs.
The bear roared his anger inside the chapel. Then I heard a second furious snarl. My heart nearly seized in my chest when I realized another predator had joined the bear, and if there were two bears…
Just when I thought my situation couldn’t get any worse, I realized how wrong I was.
Having run out of options, I closed my eyes and prayed to the goddess for a miracle.