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“Eliana, stop. You need to run. You need to leave this territory and don’t look back. My pack will try to come for you.” Sloan keeps her voice low, her shadow blocking out the light from outside. “This might be your only chance. If anyone catches you now, I will be forced to kill you for what you’ve done.”
I heave a couple deep breaths, my nerves completely shocked. “What I have done? You gave me the knife.” My voice shakes with my words.
“No, I dropped it. It was intended for...” She doesn’t finish the words out loud. I know she’s pretending she actually threw it for Sid when we both know that’s not the truth. She saw an opportunity and took it. Can I blame her? No. I need to thank her.
I slowly bob my head. “Which direction do I head? I need to get back to my pack. One of my mates was injured badly. He needs me.”
“Go east along the cliff side until you reach the pathway that leads down to the water. Once you run out of the glass pebbles, head southwest into the forest. If you keep heading in that direction, you will hit one of Sunset Pointe’s ally territories. They are obligated to return you to your alpha.” Sloan offers her hand to me and helps me to my feet. “I can give you a head start, but you need to move fast. I can’t distract the others forever. I must make my new position known. I’ll be tested. It will not be easy for Sea Glimmer to accept a woman as an alpha, nor will our current allies let this down easily. So, keep that in mind when we meet again. I might be in search of a new pack to form an alliance with, and I know it could be yours.”
She doesn’t say it as if it’s Ravi’s pack, but mine. Maybe she sees something in me, the same thing that I see in myself. I am destined to be an alpha of my own pack. I will not stand this life being beneath others.
I squeeze her hand. “Thank you. I won’t forget your act of mercy.”
I don’t wait for her to respond and dash out the door and head toward the cliff edge where she directed me to. Fear keeps me moving, my body working on adrenaline alone when all I want to do is lay down and curl in on myself. I need to tend to my wounds. The bite marks on my body sting, and I’m sure I’m bruised. There has to be something I can do.
My body shudders, my wolf breaking free, forcing me to transform again. It’s not that my wolf wants control. It’s my inner spirit begging to help me. I can navigate better as well. I’ll be able to see everything with new vision. Hopefully, I can make it out of here. I don’t doubt that if confronted, someone else will try to take me.
Too many people are after me. All because I’m a fucking woman. This needs to change. I’m going to figure out how to change it.
Getting out of here takes precedence.
I whimper with the completion of my transformation, and the world shifts around me, turning more vibrant. The ocean stretches into the horizon, sparkling in the prettiest shade of blue. It’s also unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The glass beach below looks as if a rainbow cast sparkling fractals of light everywhere, turning it magical. I wish I could enjoy such a view, but all I can think about is the fact that a man was going to rape me. I bit his fucking dick off and killed him. He deserved it. I just wish I never had to go through that. It’s as if I can never catch a break, and the universe constantly tests me against the most vile and disgusting beings in the world. It’s almost as if being homeless and doing whatever it took to survive prepared me for this. Who knew I would miss the life I had before? I barely had anything to my name, but at least I had power and control. I had clients wrapped around my finger by batting my eyelashes. They’d give me whatever I wanted. They’d pay for just a moment of my time.
I guess in the long run, such a life comes at a price because I became a target. My nomadic and unattached, under-the-table lifestyle set me up.
But I won’t fall. I won’t fail. I will prove that I’m more than what my body can offer.
Fifteen minutes pass before I hear the first howl. I don’t know how far away I am from Sea Glimmer, but I have just reached the forest edge, the beach now a smooth, white sandy shore.
I force my body to move faster, and all I think about is the world blurring around me until running becomes effortless. Giving into my wolf changes everything. I can push away the fear. I can dart through the trees without even thinking. My beastly nature will get me through. I will make it to the next territory.
If only I knew how to tell. Everything just looks the same here. So, I don’t stop. I keep running and running, mile after mile, ignoring the howls, growls, and other animalistic noises in the distance. I try not to think about the fact that I’m being chased. I know I am, but I still have a lead, thanks to Sloan.
Pushing my paws harder, I charge between trees and duck under low branches. The vegetation is thicker in this area as if it has created a wall. I think this is it. This might be ally territory.
Blue mist wafts through the air, and the temperature drops the deeper I head into the forest. I slow down when the fog grows too heavy to see things clearly. I have to rely on my other senses to get through.
And then my paws sink into snow. Fucking snow. I don’t think I’m on the island anymore. Or if I am, this island is different. I don’t know, and it freaks me out. What if I’m so far away from Sunset Pointe that I can never find my way back. What if this isn’t actually an ally’s territory?
Shit.
I break through the trees and into a glittering white, frosted meadow. It’s vast within a circle of trees, untouched and eerie. The blue sky above us looks lighter than it had in Sea Glimmer, but there’s not a cloud around. I don’t know where the fuck the snow even came from. There was no storm that I know of, yet it’s freezing here. Even my wolf can feel how cold it is with my thick coat.
Instead of traipsing my way into the meadow, I stick to the outskirts and stroll around, keeping my body low as to not be a dark spot within the white frozen tundra.
Snow clings to my dark fur, helping me blend in a bit better. I could roll around in it, but I don’t want to. I just want to keep going. I want to find Sunset Pointe. There has to be a way to know. Maybe I can find my way back to familiar lands.
“You are trespassing in my territory, pup.” A velvety voice circles through my mind, stiffening every muscle in my body. I knew of the risk of confronting another pack and had hoped I could avoid it.
I jerk my head and look around, searching the forest and the snow in the meadow, trying to pinpoint where the hell the voice came from. The wolf could’ve attacked me, but he doesn’t. He strolls somewhere out of view as if he only wants to talk to me.
“That’s right. I don’t want to scare you. You’re a young female in a foreign territory. You’re obviously on the run from someone. Is it your alpha?” He hears my thoughts. Fuck. A branch cracks, and I whip around in my wolf body and catch sight of another wolf. Its white coat looks similar to Ravi’s, but his sparkles with a silverish tinge. And his eyes. This wolf’s eyes are the most incredible shade of green I have ever seen. Like jade, light and sparkling.
“I heard about what happened, and how you were forced to bow in exchange to save an infraborne. Not many would’ve done that, Eliana.” The wolf strolls closer, still keeping his distance and remaining cautious.
My heart flutters at his words. How does he know? It’s like everybody on this island knows about me, and I know nothing about them, barely anything about this place, and it makes me feel weak. Ignorant. I just want to know everything as if I was born here. Like my grandmother didn’t escape. I wish she would’ve told my parents so they could’ve told me.
“You have a lot of questions. I can help you.” The wolf stalks another dozen feet in my direction, refusing to stay out of my head. “It’s because you’re letting me in. You can shut me out, pup.”
