~BENITA'S POV~
The very moment the moon touched its peak, Lucas came grabbing my hands as promised.
"Faster," Lucas said, panting, his hand gripping mine tightly. "We are almost there Benita!" He added.
My cheeks widened with a smile, "we will make it!"
Behind us, wolf howls, one that indicated anger and danger. It was too close.
The sounds drained the smile off my face.
"Oh no! Bloodfang warriors."
I stumbled over a root, holding back a cry. Lucas caught me before I hit the ground.
"Careful." His voice was low but urgent. "Do not panic, they trace fear. "
I tried to steady my breathing, "I'm not afraid," I lied.
"I can tell you are Benita, you can't hide anything from me!" he said with a bitter smile on his face.
"I guess I can't," I whispered, forcing a weak laugh.
He squeezed my hand once before pulling me forward again. "You'll be fine, Benita. We'll both be fine."
But I knew within me that was true.
I reached up to my neck holding tightly the small silver pendant that dangled around, a wolf carved in a crescent moon. My sister's pendant. The only thing I had left of her after she went into hiding due to the chaos caused by the Bloodfang.
"I'll come back for you," I murmured, pressing the charm to my lips as branches whipped past. "I promise."
"Talk later," Lucas muttered. "Run now."
My legs refused to obey, but I kept running. For my father. For my pack and for the very boy who refused to give up on me.
On reaching the edge of the ridge, the air changed.
"The border," Lucas breathed. "Just down that slope and across the river."
I slowed, heart racing faster than my feet. My body almost busted from excitement. "We really made it Lucas! But if we cross.."
"They can't follow without breaking the truce," he said quickly. "Fred may be ruthless, but he's not stupid enough to start a war with the Council watching."
I wanted to believe him. But the sound that followed made me feel it was a lie. The sounds grew closer by minutes.
Lucas froze. His hand tightened around mine.
"Lucas?"
He turned his head slowly, his amber eyes glowing brighter. "Run. Now."
The next sound was the snap of branches. Then came the scent, iron, ash, and dominance so heavy it made my wolf cower.
Fred.
He emerged from the shadows like death in motion, his wolf form massive white fur stained crimson from the fires he'd lit, eyes glacial blue and burning with possession.
He didn't growl again. He didn't need to. The forest itself seemed to bow to him.
Lucas shifted immediately, his wolf form emerging as his body was stretching, bones cracking, fur spilling across his skin. His wolf was smaller but fast built for running, not fighting.
He stepped in front of me, hackles raised. "Benita, go."
"I'm not leaving you…"
"GO!" he roared.
Just before I could move, Fred's paw hit him loudly, the impact sending Lucas flying across the trees, his body crashing into a tree with a louder sound.
"NO!" I screamed, running toward him.
Fred's voice, when it came, was low and human again twisted through the half-shift of his monstrous form. "You were warned, little wolf."
I dropped to my knees beside Lucas. His amber eyes dimming, blood surrounding him like a pool.
"Lucas, please," I whispered, pressing my hands to his wound. "You promised we'd make it."
He smiled faintly, blood at the corner of his lips. "Guess I lied."
"Don't say that…"
He reached up, fingers brushing my cheek. "Run, Benita…"
Before I could answer, Fred's claws pierced through Lucas's chest.
The sound of it made me shake.
"STOP!" I screamed, immediately grabbing Fred's arm, trying to pull him back. "STOP IT!"
Fred didn't even look at me. He withdrew his claws slowly, letting Lucas collapse in a heap. The light in his eyes faded completely.
Then Fred turned to me. His eyes burned like ice under the red moon.
"Now you understand," he said, his voice calm, too calm. "You can run from me. But no one runs with you."
I stared at Lucas's body, shaking my head. "You didn't have to…"
"Didn't I?" Fred stepped closer, his breath hot against my skin. "You thought you could defy me and live?"
I backed away, trembling. "You're a monster."
He smiled faintly. "And you belong to me now."
I spat at him. "I'll die before I…"
Before I could look away, he grabbed my face fiercely, his rough grip enough to bruise. My breath hitched as he tilted my face upward, forcing my eyes to meet his. His gaze, cold, steady and cruelly calm.
"You'll live, you aren't permitted to die unless I say so," he said softly, almost tenderly, like it was mercy. But there was no mercy in his voice, only poison. "That's your punishment."
The words went deep inside me, overtaking the pain I felt within me. Tears threatened to fall, as they gathered in my eyes but I refused to blink them away. I wanted him to see. I wanted him to know what he had done to me, to see the hate that was already taking root in my chest, raw and alive.
Fred's eyes remained glued on me longer than I had expected, like he was searching for something inside of me. And the next second, he shoved me back with enough force to make me stumble. My knees hit the dirt, and I gasped.
"Take her," he barked, his voice snapping through the silence.
Two wolves that almost blended with the darkness came forward, their eyes the only thing that gave them visibility.They moved without hesitation, one gripping my arm, the other my shoulder, pulling me upright. My legs barely obeyed me as I tried to stiffen my body.
"Let me go!" I shouted, my nails digging into their fur and flesh as I resisted. "You'll regret this!"
My voice was very audible, but the wolves didn't slow down; instead they kept dragging me with full force.
Fred's smile deepened, slow and deliberate, a cruel reminder that he was still in absolute control.
"Perhaps," he said. "But not tonight." he added as he let out a loud laugh.
Everything else didn't move the words left his mouth. No insects. No birds. Just the sound of my uneven breathing.
The moon became a witness to what I had lost.
They dragged me through bushes, my nails digging holes into the ground, resisting their pull. Every step took me farther from him, from the wreckage, from the body that lay motionless at Fred's feet.
Lucas.
A sharp pain spread across my heart at the sight of him. He lay there motionless like he was sleeping peacefully but I knew better. Memories of his smile came flooding in my mind.The air still carried the faint smell of his blood, thick and final.
I tried to reach for him, even as they pulled me back. "Lucas…" His name tore from my throat, broken and useless.
My vision wavered. As something inside me hardened and all I was left with was the dark.
And that night, marked the night the seed of my hatred toward Fred bloomed and breathed.
And in that breath, in that single, trembling heartbeat something new was born.
Something that would never forgive him.