Elena's POV
I didn't decide to run. My body simply did it, some animal instinct older than thought taking over the second those gold eyes fixed on me, and I was moving before I'd fully processed the decision, feet pounding against cracked pavement, breath tearing ragged in my throat.
Branches whipped at my arms as I cut back toward the warehouses, toward the last stretch of city lights I'd left behind, and I didn't dare look back to see if whatever those eyes belonged to was following. I could hear something behind me, low and fast, closing the distance with an ease that made my chest seize with pure animal terror.
Then, abruptly, the sound behind me stopped.
I didn't slow down to question it. I kept running, lungs burning, until the industrial sprawl gave way to actual streetlights ag
