UNCLAIMED MATE

Chapter 5— Lost, Found and Broken

••Diane••

I woke up to a cold that didn’t just touch my skin but seemed to settle deep inside my bones, making it difficult to move, or think, and almost impossible to even open my eyes.

For a while, I didn’t try.

I stayed there, lying on the damp ground, letting the silence wrap around me as my body struggled to catch up with whatever had happened. My head throbbed painfully, each pulse sending sharp waves through my skull, while my throat felt so dry that even swallowing became a struggle.

Then, slowly, the memories began to return, not in broken flashes, but in a heavy, suffocating wave that made my chest tighten.

I remembered being with them at the restroom, the way everything had spiraled out of control, and the moment my hand had pushed her harder than I intended, followed by the sickening sound of her head hitting the wall. I remembered the blood, too much of it, and the way it spread across the surface behind her, making it impossible to pretend that what had happened wasn’t real, and then came us running into the woods.

The darkness, the running, the fear that refused to leave no matter how far we went, and finally… the wolf.

Selene.

My eyes flew open immediately, my body reacting before my mind could fully process anything.

“Selene…”

My voice came out weak, hoarse, barely audible, but the panic behind it was real.

I pushed myself up too quickly, and the world tilted violently around me, forcing me to steady myself with trembling hands pressed against the ground. The earth beneath me was cold and damp, and for a moment, I just stayed there, breathing unevenly as I tried to focus.

Trees surrounded me on all sides, tall and unmoving, their shadows stretching across the ground in a way that made everything feel smaller.

“Selene?” I called again, louder this time, my voice echoing slightly through the quiet forest.

There was no response. Not even the faintest sound to suggest that someone else was nearby.

A sharp fear settled in my chest as I forced myself to stand, ignoring the ache that spread through my body as soon as I put weight on my legs. My balance was unsteady, but I didn’t care.

“Selene!” I shouted, turning in a slow circle as I searched through the trees, hoping and praying, that she would answer, but she didn’t.

The last thing I remembered was her voice calling my name, filled with urgency and fear as everything fell apart around us.

So where was she now?

Why wasn’t she here?

“No… no, she wouldn’t just leave me,” I whispered to myself, shaking my head as if that alone could make it true. “She wouldn’t…”

Selene had always stayed. She had always been there. Even when everyone else turned away, even when things got worse, she never left me behind. So this didn’t make sense.

I started walking, even though my legs protested with every step, even though my body felt like it was barely holding itself together. At first, it was slow, cautious, like I was afraid of what I might find. Then it became faster, and more desperate.

“Selene!” I called again, my voice breaking as the fear inside me grew stronger.

The forest gave me nothing in return. No sign that she had ever been there.

Time passed, though I couldn’t tell how much.

The trees all looked the same, the paths blending into one another in a way that made it impossible to know where I had come from or where I was going. I tried to remember the way we had run, tried to trace back every step in my mind, but everything felt blurred and distant.

The more I walked, the more I realized the truth. I am lost.

By the time the sun began to rise, casting faint light through the thick trees, my body was already starting to give in. My legs felt weak, my movements slower, and the hunger that had been quietly building now made itself known in a sharp, painful way that twisted my stomach.

I hadn’t eaten, and I can't find Selene.

“Think, Diane… just think,” I muttered under my breath, pressing my hand against my head as if that would somehow force everything into place, but there was nothing to guide me, only the memory of that wolf came to my head.

A shiver ran through me instantly.

“No… she’s fine,” I said quickly, though there was no one there to hear it. “She has to be fine.”

But even as the words left my mouth, doubt settled in my chest, heavy and impossible to ignore.

The day dragged on slowly, each hour blending into the next as I continued moving without direction. I tried to find water, tried to find anything that could help me stay on my feet, but the forest offered nothing.

It was as if it was swallowing me whole. By the time night fell again, I had nothing left.

Every step felt like a struggle, every breath heavier than the last, and my vision had started to blur, which made it difficult to focus on anything around me.

“I can’t…” I whispered weakly, my voice barely there as my body finally reached its limit.

My legs gave out beneath me before I could stop it. I hit the ground hard, but I didn’t feel it, because everything else was already fading.

The last thing I expected to hear were voices.

“Wait—someone’s there!”

“Is that… a girl?”

“She’s not moving.”

Strong hands turned me over carefully, lifting me just enough to check if I was still alive. I felt it, distantly, like I was floating somewhere far away from my own body.

“Her pulse is weak,” one voice said, serious now.

“Well, look at her,” another replied. “She’s been out here for days.”

“Days?” the others exclaimed.

I tried to open my eyes, tried to see who they were, but everything remained blurred, their faces nothing more than shifting shadows above me.

“Can you hear me?” one of them asked, his voice closer now, calmer than the others.

I tried to respond, but my lips barely moved.

“…Selene…”

That was all that came out, because she is all that mattered to me.

There was a brief silence after that. Then someone spoke again, quieter this time.

“There’s no one else here.”

Something inside me broke at those words, even in my half-conscious state.

“We can’t leave her,” another voice said firmly. “She won’t make it through the night.”

“Grandma is not going to like this.”

“I don’t care. We’re taking her,” the one holding me said strongly.

I felt myself being lifted, strong arms supporting my weight as they carried me away from the place I had collapsed.

I didn’t fight it, I just let go of my body and my eyes shut itself.

****

Far away under the darkness…

A wolf stood still beneath the night sky, his body tense as he lifted his head, inhaling slowly, searching for something only he could sense.

The faintest trace of her scent lingered in the air, weaker now, fragile in a way that stirred something dangerous inside him.

“She’s getting weaker,” he muttered, his voice low, almost a growl.

This time, there was no doubt.

“She’s close.”