Slaved By The Moon God

21

Not my mate though. He wanted me to suffer.

I gasped in another breath as I tried to get away from him. I could hardly see, eyes blurred with tears as I crawled toward the woods. The forest was within reach, and it gave me the last burst of strength my exhausted body needed to move forward.

“You really think you can escape?” Jordan asked, as his foot fell again. I heard the crunch of my bones, so loud it seemed to echo around the clearing, and I let out a ragged scream. My knee felt like it was on fire. I didn’t know what exactly he’d done to it, but I suspected it wouldn’t hold my weight. Not for very long anyway. The pain cleared my head of any remaining pull toward Jordan, and it gave me the push I need to kick out with my good leg, catching him completely off guard. It wasn’t strong enough to ground him, but it unbalanced him enough to give me a split second of extra time. That was all I needed.

With adrenaline fueling me, I pulled myself to my feet, pain lancing through my injured leg. It held me, barely, and I ground my teeth through the agony. I wasn't about to let this asshole win.

“Don't f*****g touch me,” I said, low and sure. Jordan looked almost surprised by my words as if he expected me to cower before him. He was just like the other bullies, but I always got up again.

With some effort, I shifted into my wolf form. I wasn't really sure how to do it on my own, but I let my instincts take over, and they told me I'd be better off on four legs than two. Once the white fur covered me, I snapped at Jordan, but instead of staying to fight like every cell in my body was screaming at me to do, I turned tail and ran. Or rather, limped away. I couldn't take him on, not injured like this, especially with the mate bond making everything so difficult. Which meant I had to escape.

I rushed toward the forest, hoping it would provide me some cover and safety. I'd hiked through it earlier, and I bet I knew it better than Jordan did. Four legs made it easier for me to ignore my injured knee, and once I succumbed to my animal instincts I started loping along at a decent pace. I could feel the healing power trying to mend my leg, but I was so exhausted, I knew it wouldn’t be able to do much until after I’d rested. I was tapped out.

I reached the cover of the forest, but I wasn’t fast enough. Jordan was right behind me, hot on my tail. He wasn’t injured, and he would catch up to me easily. Something in my gut told me he wouldn’t let me get away this time. I’d caught him off guard, and he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

I glanced around, wolf’s eyes taking in sharper details than my human ones could. The moon was high, casting enough light that the whole forest was practically illuminated to my enhanced senses. I heard the rustle of the wind in the trees and the distant sound of the waterfall. I’d need to hide somewhere, but where?

I headed deeper into the forest, intent on finding the perfect place. My wolf nose smelled something like an old fire, and I chased after it and found a cave. I was about to head inside when I realized Jordan would be able to smell it too—and probably me as well. f**k. There was nowhere to hide.

I had to keep running.

With panic racing through my veins, I headed deeper into the forest, with no thought for anything except escape. Behind me, the screams, snarls, and moans from the clearing faded away, and I wondered if any of my former pack was still alive.

I glanced over my shoulder as I bounded up a set of boulders, almost missing a step with my injured leg. For a moment, I thought I’d finally escaped Jordan, but then a large red wolf burst through the brush with a growl and leaped into the air behind me.

I scrambled up, trying to outrun him, but he was faster, stronger, and had the advantage. He slammed into my side, knocking me clean off the rocks and back onto the forest floor. I fell on my back, breath leaving me in a huge whuff. I was stunned enough to not move for a few moments as Jordan leaped back down to me, his sharp fangs snapping at my neck.

In his wolf form, he was much larger than me, but I rolled out of the way at the last moment, defying those powerful jaws. He might have been strong, but I was quick, even when injured. And I'd had a lot of practice escaping bullies before.

When he turned on me again, he opened his jaws and used his Leo roar to make me cower. It was like my limbs defied my brain, making me crouch down, my head lowering in submission while I whimpered. In my mind, I was fighting as hard as I could to stand tall and fight, but my body refused to listen to me.

Jordan shifted back to his human form, and his naked, muscular body gleamed under the moonlight. “You can’t even get away in your wolf form,” he said, as he loomed over me. “Pitiful. This is why we don’t breed with humans. You’re Cancer’s biggest failure, and trust me, the list is long.”

My limbs unlocked, allowing me to stand once more on four legs and shake off some of his control. I was in full panic mode, heart pounding with the need to flee, but he was really pissing me off too, the way he was laying on the half-breed talk so thick I could choke on it. It wasn’t my fault I'd been born half-human. All I’d ever wanted was a better life—and he'd taken that chance from me.