SINDY
The rough strip of filthy cloth pressed deep between my teeth, tasting of mold and metal, muffled every scream I tried to let out. I struggled, clawing at the earth beneath me with bound hands, but every attempt to stand only ended with me dragged back down, yanked by my hair like I was nothing more than prey.
The soil was wet, cold, and it smeared across my skin as I stumbled. I tried to resist, tried to find footing, but he was too strong—unnaturally so. Stronger than any wolf I had ever faced, stronger than even the fiercest alpha. He hauled me through the forest as if I were a doll, my body swaying uselessly with each jarring tug.
The stench of him filled my lungs. Not rot, not decay—something far stranger. It was a hollow, lifeless scent, like the breath of an abandoned well,
