Claiming Dias (book 1 of Alpha claiming series)

Run

Chapter 9

Ana

His scent is carried in the wind straight to me, it hits me like a hammer to my chest. I have never smelt anyone like him. I feel like I am floating in the air being pulled towards him, but my feet are planted firmly on the ground. Flame licked earth mixed with a heavy musk assaults my nostrils, making my stomach knot up. My back becomes slick with sweat as if I just got done trekking through the forest. Anticipation is killing me. I keep waiting for him to walk around the next tree, but he seemed just out of reach.

I decided to follow his scent. If he is not coming to me then I will just go to him. I have never been one to wait around for anything unless it was killing, but this kind of waiting for this heady-scented man to reach me was torture. Ablaze spreads out from my core, igniting my skin along the path to my fingers and toes. I have never felt such a way just from the scent of a being and I cannot deny that it's intoxicating to me. Walking further through the woods I hear voices, but I cannot make out exactly what they are saying. I can hear it is a deep sultry sound that forces my eyes to roll back into my skull and goosebumps to rise on my flesh. Such a voice should not exist in the world.

Regaining my purpose, I opened my eyes and began forward again. No matter how far I walk, I feel like I am not going anywhere. The trees never change. In fact, the forest floor makes no sounds as I walk along it. Slowly, my awareness starts to return as I pay attention to my surroundings. I notice the sky is pitch black and there seems to be a haze around me, I notice that I have not moved an inch since I started walking. I turn about trying to get my bearings, but nothing is making sense to me anymore.

How did I get here?

I search my memory, thinking back, and nothing comes up. I do not remember a darn thing, not how I got here, where I came from, or what I was doing. Turning around looking I cannot find anything that even looks familiar to me. I grimace remembering that delicious, scented male I was looking for. Raising my chin, I could no longer scent him. Confusion sets in as I try not to panic. Scanning my memories, I focus on the last thing I can remember. It's hazy like a dense fog set over me. A bright white room comes racing back, and a guard, and the scientist!

Oh, f**k! The pile was of the dead!

That thought is enough to startle me, jumping myself awake, grasping my chest as something wet pours from my mouth, panic rises in my chest as I struggle to breathe in air. Coughing, I opened my eyes, rolling onto my side, I gasped in a breath, coughing out more water. I close my eyes as I just simply breathe, my throat feeling like a fire has been lit inside, burning up my vocals. I rest my head against the mud underneath me and gather myself. My limbs feel so weak like they are stuck in the mud. I managed to roll completely over and rise up on my hands and knees. I started to crawl, remembering I was running away from the scientist and the guard, and then I stopped to look around. The fog started to lift as I looked around me.

I am kneeling on the shore of a lake, and I have no clue how I got here. My eyes scan the distance looking for anything that would seem familiar or give me an idea as to where I am. I realize I have never been to this lake before, I have no clue where I am. Pushing myself up I wobble on unsteady feet as they shift in the sand causing me to collapse landing on my hands and knees, hissing in pain. I take a long steadying breath and try again managing to stay standing this time I slowly put one foot in front of the other and walk across the scorching sand to the tree line.

Placing my hand against the tree, I rested for the briefest of moments. My body feels like it was ran over by a herd of Punos. Sliding my hands down my legs, I genially message the aches, letting out a low groan. The tension just below the surface causes sharp tendrils of pain to shoot up my legs. Standing straight, I stretched my limbs, feeling a pull and sharp jolt of pain in my abdomen. I hesitate for the briefest of moments before looking, the sight has me sucking in a deep breath and holding it. The taste of vomit rises in my throat as I lower my hands, gently running my shaking fingers over the puckered skin just below my belly button. Something happened and skin had been sewn closed while I was out….

Just as panic starts to set in, the most unearthly screeching sound comes screaming out of the clouds above. Raising my head, blocking the sun from momentarily making me blind, I scan the clouds wondering what creature is descending upon me now. In the distance, I see something large and metallic shooting across the sky towards me. Flame and smoke stained the sky black behind it.

I will take my chances far away from here.

I ran into the forest without looking back, only moments passed by until I heard whatever it was crashing into the ground sliding towards the lake. I do not process what is happening, I just run in one constant direction to get as far away from it as possible. The screeching and snapping of the trees let me know that if I am in the way too, I will be broken to bits by this monster made of metal. The forest grows dense the further I run, not caring about the noise I make as I carelessly run. The metal flying beast hisses, sending a wave of water flying into the forest directly towards me. There is so much water that it propels me forward, stumbling into a tree, hitting it with enough force to send pain shooting throughout my body. Several smaller creatures came scurrying past me; birds flying through the treetops and up into the sky calling out shrill warnings. Clutching my abdomen, I shoved off the tree, running for my life.

Do not look back, do not look back…

I keep running well until the sky reaches mid-point in the sky and exhaustion pulls the last of my energy out of my wary body. Pain grips my muscles, causing me to stumble towards a large rock, I gulp in mouthfuls of fresh air. Turning my back to a large boulder, I rest panting as I wipe sweat from my forehead, leaning into it. Looking around and realize I am more lost than before. I know I cannot be but a few miles from the lake, but I have no clue where I have ended up.

My breathing settles as I glance around, making mental notes of everything around and searching for things I can eat, or use. Noticing a large crack in the small rock hill gives me newfound hope. Hope that it can provide some form of shelter and security to rest. Scenting the air, a light sweet smell hangs in the air. This is a scent I am familiar with; fresh Kanu berries ripe for the picking, and with enough luck, I can scrounge up enough roots to fill my stomach for the night. With a plan in place, I start searching for roots and berries, popping them into my mouth as soon as I find them. The earthy taste of the roots and sweetness of the Kanu berries fill my mouth with a bitter tang coated in sweetness. The berries are the only thing I have eaten in who knows how long. try to eat as much as I can find. I am only able to find barely enough to stake off my hunger. This will have to do, at least, till I have had proper rest and can attempt to hunt tomorrow. Then, hopefully, I can get moving again. I do not want to stick around close to that metal beast that came out of the sky.

As I shift towards the crack feeling my way around and poking inside it, I hear a large screech and growling coming from the distance. My heart stops. I know that screeching noises, the mutated are nearby. If they are nearby, then I am in trouble if I do not hide and quickly. I stuff myself into the small crack, slipping far enough in to be secure enough to relax. The crevasse opens ever too slightly to allow me to sit on the floor wrapping my arms around my legs, resting my chin on my knees. I listened, waiting for the Mutated creatures to pass by me. Silently, I slipped back into the darkness of sleep.