Chapter 4 hunted

EMILY'S POV

With a sting, I opened my eyes to see the light piercing through the dense canopy overhead. Pain shot through every vein as though I were being slowly burned from the inside out, and my body burned as if something inside me were tearing itself apart.

I struggled with every step as I dragged myself toward a nearby tree. I tried to steady my breathing while leaning against the rough bark. It was all spinning. My vision became hazy.

What on earth was going on with me?

I froze as I reached for a strand of my hair. The strands were almost silver in color. My heart was racing. My eyes hadn't they also changed color?

"Get up, Ana. "We must depart peril is imminent," Layla's strained, tense voice reverberated in the back of my mind.

"I'm dizzy, Layla... I feel broken. Hollow," I murmured. "Maybe this is it. Maybe this is how I'm supposed to die. I have nothing left. He rejected me. Said I was weak. That I wasn't enough to be his mate."

I swallowed the lump in my throat, my voice barely more than a breath as the sobs took hold.

Then I heard them.

"She ran this way I picked up her scent. The order was to kill her."

The words sent a jolt through me. Fear clawed its way back in, pushing aside my despair. I stumbled to my feet and began to run. My limbs screamed, but survival roared louder.

"There she is move!"

The crunch of feet behind me tore through the night.

"Didn't you want to die a second ago?" Layla snarked inside my head, her tone dry despite the situation.

"Yeah, well, I changed my mind," I gasped. "I want to live I want to show him what he threw away."

Suddenly, my speed surged. I was faster far faster than I had ever been.

"Layla, can we shift? My senses my abilities they're changing."

"Not yet. Shifting would be too risky. You're unstable and the pain could kill you. Just keep running, Ana."

Branches scraped my skin as I sprinted blindly through the forest. But I was losing steam. My breath hitched, my chest tight and lungs on fire.

That's when I saw it a hollow tree, wide enough to hide me.

I dove in.

My heart pounded like a war drum, blood roared in my ears, and I pressed a hand over my mouth to muffle my gasps. But I knew. I'd made a mistake.

They were here.

I didn't even have time to brace before something yanked my ankle. I hit the ground hard as I was dragged out and thrown at their feet.

Four men. Their faces were hard and cruel, and in their hands they held daggers laced with wolfsbane, glinting beneath the moonlight.

"Please..." My voice cracked. "Let me go. I swear I'll disappear. I won't come back to the pack. I won't cause trouble."

They exchanged looks before one of them stepped closer. He grabbed my chin, his grip bruising.

"If you want to live," he sneered, licking his lips, "maybe you should do something to please us first. Might change our minds."

My stomach turned. Disgust boiled into rage.

I shoved him hard. He slammed into a nearby tree with a grunt.

"You bitch," he growled, rising. "You just signed your death warrant."

He lunged, and pain exploded through me as his blade buried itself in my thigh. I screamed as he twisted it. Blood poured down my leg, the poison keeping it from healing.

They were enjoying this.

"You've got fire. I like that," he said, his voice dripping with sadistic glee as he struck me again.

A slap cracked across my face, blinding and sharp. I tasted blood. Another man yanked my hair, dragging my head back so hard I thought my scalp would tear.

And then something in me snapped.

I screamed.

The sound wasn't just pain it was power. A wave of energy burst from me, hurling the men backward. A gust of wind circled me, and I rose from the ground, weightless and burning with something primal.

My hair turned white before my eyes.

Water bubbled from the earth, gliding toward my wound. Wherever it touched, the pain faded, the skin mended.

What was happening to me?

I landed gently, my feet touching the ground as if gravity were still unsure of me. I picked up a fallen dagger, its edge heavy in my hand, and stepped forward, ready to fight

Then a high-pitched shriek sliced through the night. I dropped to my knees, clutching my ears.

I looked up.

Four shadows tall, unnatural emerged from the trees, blades gleaming like moonlight incarnate. They didn't walk they glided, silent and deadly.

What the hell were they?

Fear clawed through me again. I ran.

"They don't like moonlight," I realized, watching them flinch from its touch. I veered toward open ground, anywhere the moonlight could protect me.

But I was fading. My strength bled with every step.

Then a voice whispered in my mind.

"You are the child of the sea. Run, child ,run to the light."

My mother's voice.

"Mom?" I choked.

"Yes, Ana. It's me. Keep going, sweetheart. Run like your life depends on it because it does. You are the child of the sea, the healer of its heart. Keep going."

Her words carried me.

The shadow's claws brushed my back just as I reached the slope. I slipped and tumbled. Down, down, down. The world blurred until I hit soft snow at the bottom.

I blinked up at the moonlit sky. Safe at least for now.

At the edge of the woods, I saw them. Werewolves, watching. Silent.

And then the darkness pulled me under.