AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Could he tell how my heartbeat was hammering?
The way a cold sweat had broken out across my skin?
How my stomach was tangling into tighter knots with each passing second?
Behind me, twigs and underbrush crunched under his feet as he seemed to keep effortless pace, regardless of how hard I pushed myself to move forward.
I cursed my aversion to gyms.
Why were long walks my chosen form of exercise? When, clearly, cardio was of the utmost importance.
Stupid.
If I lived through this, I was going to take up long distance running, sprinting, Krav Maga.
I never wanted to feel this helpless again.
My thighs were on fire, and my lungs felt like someone was slowly twisting all of the air out of them as I kept running, feeling branches slap me in the face, some of them scratching hard enough for the skin to break open, a slow trickle of blood coursing down my cheeks.
Sensing we were getting close to the hill coming up, and knowing I was never going to keep an advantage trying to go up a steep incline, I took a sharp turn to the side, finding myself running in the general direction of the road.
There would be no help there, of course. This place was too rural. I could scream until my throat bled. No one would come running to save me.
I had to save myself.
Beside me, I could hear Storm’s ragged breathing. And through the terror, the pain radiating through my own body, I felt a stab of guilt for putting him through this.
Not sure what else to do, I dropped his leash.
If I survived, I could find him.
But he didn’t slow, didn’t stop, he just kept running at my side as I tried to mentally calculate how far it was to the next house.
Too far.
I couldn’t breathe as it was.
My legs were feeling wobbly like they were going to choose not to carry me further at any moment.
Behind me, it seemed like the steady huff of breathing was only gaining on me, like this was no workout for him.
Tears pricked my eyes, and I didn’t even have the strength to blink them away as I kept pushing forward.
Just as the hopelessness of the situation was starting to crash down on me, I felt hands slam into my shoulders, catching me off-guard, sending me sailing forward, free-falling, my stomach plummeting.
I barely had the good sense to throw out my arms to catch my fall in time.
But I landed weird on my left hand, the crack and the pain screaming up through my arm, making me cry out and try to yank my weight off of it.
The momentary distraction gave him all the advantage he needed, though, and I felt him moving in behind me.
No
No, damnit.
I scrambled forward on my knees and good arm, the twigs biting into my flesh, but I barely registered the pain.
And it was immediately dwarfed by a different pain as a blow landed to the back of my head. Then my side, just under my ribs, stealing what was left of my breath.
