Chapter Four
1016 Words
Arielle's POV
The guards dragged me further into the darkness.
The sounds from the Blood Court grew fainter. The voices of my pack, the people who'd just condemned me, faded into nothing. Soon all I could hear was my own ragged breathing and the rustling of leaves in the wind.
The air changed. It grew colder, heavier, like something unnatural pressed down on us. The guards must have felt it too because their grips on my arms tightened slightly.
We'd reached the forest boundary.
I could feel it even with my eyes barely open. That invisible wall that separated the pack territory from the Haunted Forest. On one side was safety, civilization, and home. On the other side was death.
The guards stopped suddenly. I heard one of them mutter something under his breath, words I couldn't make out. Then, without warning, they threw me forward.
My body hit the ground hard. Pain exploded through me as I rolled several times before finally coming to a stop. I lay there gasping, tasting dirt and blood in my mouth.
"May the Moon Goddess have mercy on your cursed soul," one of the guards said. His voice was distant, muffled.
I tried to lift my head, tried to see them, but my body wouldn't obey. All I could do was lie there in the dirt, broken and bleeding.
I heard footsteps retreating. The guards were leaving me here, leaving me to die alone in the darkness.
"Wait," I tried to call out, but my voice was barely a whisper.
"Please don't leave me."
But they were already gone.
Silence fell around me. Complete, suffocating silence.
I lay there for what felt like hours, but was probably only minutes. My body throbbed with pain. The rejection mark on my collarbone burned constantly, pulsing with dark energy that made my heart skip beats.
Slowly, painfully, I managed to push myself up. My arms shook so badly I almost collapsed again. Blood dripped from my torn skin onto the dark ground beneath me.
I had to find shelter. Had to get somewhere safe before whatever lived in this forest found me.
But where could I go? I had no idea where I was. The darkness was so overwhelming that I couldn't see anything beyond a few feet.
I crawled forward slowly. Each movement sent agony shooting through my body, but I forced myself to keep going. My hands touched twisted roots and slimy plants.
The air smelled like decay. Like things rotting and dying. Like death.
Tears streamed down my face, but I didn't bother wiping them away. What was the point? I was going to die here anyway. Alone in the darkness, forgotten by everyone.
That's when I heard it.
A sound. Faint at first, like leaves rustling in the wind. But the air was completely still.
I froze, my heart hammering in my chest. The sound came again, closer this time. Not leaves. Footsteps. Something was moving through the forest toward me.
Fear, unlike anything I'd ever felt before, gripped me. I wanted to run, but my body was too weak. I wanted to shift into my wolf form, but I didn't have the strength for that either.
All I could do was stay completely still and pray that whatever was out there wouldn't find me.
The footsteps stopped.
Silence fell again. But it was worse this time. Heavy and waiting. Like something was watching me from the darkness.
Then I saw them.
Eyes.
Glowing in the shadows. Not the normal gold or amber of wolf eyes. These were different. White and hollow. They stared at me from between the twisted trees.
My breath caught in my throat. I couldn't move. Couldn't think. Terror froze every muscle in my body.
More eyes appeared. Dozens of them. Surrounding me. Some were high up in the trees. Others were low to the ground. All of them were watching me with that same hollow, hungry stare.
What were they? Wolves? Something else? Something worse?
I wanted to scream, but no sound would come out. My throat had closed up completely.
The eyes moved closer. I could hear breathing now, heavy and wet. Could smell rotten, like old meat left in the sun.
This was it. This was how I was going to die. Torn apart by whatever monsters lived in this cursed forest.
I closed my eyes, unable to look at those horrible glowing stares. Tears continued to stream down my face. My body trembled uncontrollably.
The breathing grew louder. The creatures were right next to me now. I could feel their presence, could sense them circling me like predators around wounded prey.
Any second now, they would attack. Any second now, teeth and claws would tear into my flesh.
I waited for death.
I opened my eyes slowly and gasped.
The rejection mark on my collarbone was glowing. Faint violet light, the same color as my wolf's eyes, pulsed from the black vines.
The creatures backed away. Whatever they were, they were afraid of the light.
But I didn't understand. The rejection mark was supposed to kill me. Why was it protecting me instead?
The glow faded slowly, the violet light dimming until only darkness remained. The creatures were gone now. But I could still feel them out there, watching, waiting.
My body couldn't take anymore. The brief surge of power from the mark had drained what little strength I had left. My arms gave out, and I collapsed face-first into the dirt.
Everything hurt. My skin, my bones, my heart. The physical pain from being dragged and thrown. The emotional pain from rejection. The agony of losing everything in a single night.
I wanted to get up. Wanted to find shelter before those creatures came back. But my body simply wouldn't move anymore.
This was it. I was going to die here after all.
My vision started to blur. Darkness crept in from the edges, not the darkness of the forest but the darkness of unconsciousness. Of death.
I closed my eyes slowly, and then I heard a sharp scream.
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