Callie's POV...
I could hear the sounds of the twigs snapping grow louder. They were getting closer. I needed to move, but my body was tired. I had been running non-stop for what felt like hours. Even in wolf form, my strength was fading.
But I couldn't let them catch me. I was a lone wolf and, if I had learned anything in the past eight years of running, it was that a lone wolf was a dead wolf. Wolves ran in packs for a reason.
I pushed my legs faster, but my mind was becoming clouded. I could hear the snapping getting closer. If they found me, I wouldn't stand a chance against one, let alone two or three. I needed to keep going.
I repeated the chant in my head like I always did.
'Run, Callie, run, and never look back.'
I had been so careful. I found a place to lay low for a bit and rest. Over the years, I got good at finding shelter. With the torrential rains that this area sometimes experienced, the shelter was a necessity for me. But I had always been so careful. I made sure I was out of sight and my scent was well concealed under the strong pungent smell of the damp forest floor. Still, somehow, they found me. I had done everything right; yet, still, I failed.
I caught the scent when they were still quite far away, but I could tell that there was more than one of them. Years of being on the run taught me to always be aware of my surroundings, even in my sleep. I was never at ease because, for me, danger never slept. I was always one slip-up away from disaster-and this was the disaster.
I didn't need to keep running forever. I just needed to outrun them; then, I would rest. But no matter how hard I pushed my legs, the sound of paws beating the ground just seemed to grow closer and closer.
It didn't make any sense as to why they were even following me. I made sure I was clear of any borders. Most other wolves never took notice of lone wolves, especially if they were minding their own business. But it was as if these wolves were coming after me. It was then that I realized that these wolves were tracking me, they had to be.
The dread spread through my veins like wildfire and settled in my chest. Was it him? Had he sent them to come and find me?
'F*ck,' I cursed internally. How had I let this happen? I had always been careful enough to teeter along the border lines to steer clear of danger. My fatigue had made me careless, and here I was.
I wove through the grove of closely-growing trees. My wolf was small, but she was agile. She moved through the undergrowth with ease. Suddenly, the winds changed direction and my nose was hit with an entirely different scent. There were more of them. Their scents didn't match the ones who first started chasing me but to me, they were all the same. In my mind, they were all after me and thereby all classified as dangerous. I just needed to get away from them all. They were coming, and they were coming fast.
The scent was coming from ahead. They were trying to box me in. I didn't know if they were working together, but I didn't have time to care. I needed to think of a plan and I needed to think fast. I changed direction and started heading east.
I pushed my legs, my paws kicking up the soil as I manoeuvred around the trees.
But as I cleared through a line of trees, I was hit by a scent of more wolves in front of me. This time, not only could I smell them, but I saw them, too. Dammit. I took a wrong turn. I dug my paws into the soil and circled back where I came from.
Their scents were surrounding me. If couldn't avoid them then I had to try to at least weave through them. That was my only hope. I took a sharp left and came face to face with the wolves who I had been previously trying to avoid.
I was outnumbered eight to one. They were omegas- warrior wolves, to be exact. I was not only outnumbered but I was overpowered. The wolves seemed to all be male. They were charging in my direction at full speed. I turned to my left and saw the very first group going right for me.
Their eyes were narrowed as they locked in on their target-me.
I was surrounded and trapped. I had little to no options left. My body was spent and tired. I was weak from a lack of water and nutrition. There was no way I could fight my way through this, and none of them looked like they wanted to negotiate terms of peace.
I had no way out.
Death seemed inevitable. I spent years running and now fate finally caught up to me. I cheated death one too many times.
'Callie, run!' Her voice permeated through my fear.
'Run Callie,' I said to myself digging my paw into the soil. If I was going to go down, then I would go down trying.
As the lead omega neared me, I turned and dodged his attack swiftly. I pushed my legs and darted through the forest. I knew that they were hot on my heels.
Just when I thought I made it, a flash of white appeared before me. The moonlight bounced off the fangs of my attacker as they tried to clamp down on my fur. I dodged the move successfully, but the fear in me had me feeling paralyzed. I backed away from my attacker, only to hit a wall of muscle and fur.
I looked above me and saw the leader of the omegas baring his teeth at me. He growled at me, causing me to cower away from him. He wanted to know why I was on his land. I didn't need to share a mind link with him to know what he was trying to say.
His growls became more forceful as he demanded answers to his questions. I could feel another wave of exhaustion hit me. The adrenaline was wearing off and my wolf was growing weaker and weaker by the second. The world around me was beginning to slowly fade away. The wolves in front of me became fuzzier,
The bodies blurring.
Then, I felt my body go limp and before I could stop it, I was tumbling to the ground in a big fury heap.
Everything became hazy after that. I felt hands come around my wolf form, and then I was lifted into the air. I fought against my eyelids, trying to see what was happening around me. I saw the blurred silhouettes of humans and heard soft, muffled voices. I fought to keep my eyes open, but, eventually, the fatigue won and I plummeted into darkness once more.
...
When I finally came around again, my nose was hit by the scent of antiseptic and bleach. These were scents I remembered from childhood, but they were not scents I was used to now. I noticed I was still in my wolf form as I felt a stinging sensation in my front paw, Something was wrong. The panic surged through my body. I tried to push against the weight of my eyes but I was too weak. Shifting into a human would make things easier for me, as it would make communicating easier, but I couldn't.
Too much time passed since I last shifted. I was more accustomed to my wolf self than my human self. It required a lot of energy on my part to become human, which was something I did not have a lot of.
The room I was in was silent for a moment. The only sound that could be heard was the gentle beeping in the background.
Then, I heard him.
"Where did you find her?" The voice hit my ears and I was immediately attuned to it. The man's words demanded respect and attention. I did not recognize the voice but, from his tone, I knew he was someone of importance.
"On the southeast border of our territory," another male voice said; his voice not as authoritative. "She'd just crossed over into our lands."
"What was she doing?" the authoritative male asked.
"Running. We think she was being followed." I fought against my eyelids, desperately trying to get them open. I was only able to crack them open halfway. The wolf that was speaking was a tall, muscular man with dark hair.
"By who?"
I tried to turn my head, but that required energy I did not have. I needed to get a better look at this man, but my body was not responding. It was an urge I could not describe.
"We don't know. Whoever it was backed off when they smelled us," the other person said.
"She looks rather sickly. I don't think she is much of a threat to any of us but she still needs to be watched at all times. Let me know when she is awake. I will want to speak with her."
I knew I was a little thin for a wolf, but I never thought I was sickly looking. But, then again, I barely ate. I spent all my time running.
"Yes, Alpha Kameron," the omega responded to his alpha.
It made sense that the authoritative wolf was the alpha. But why had the alpha come in to see me?
Usually, alpha's never bothered with issues like this unless I was of immediate threat. Unless, of course, I did something that warranted his presence. Great. I had not only triggered their border -patrol, but I was on their alpha's radar now.
I heard the footsteps of the other speaker growing faint as they walked away from where I lay, and the alpha turning as if to follow. A sense of longing filled my chest which confused me. I should have been glad the one man who could have potentially sentenced me to death was leaving. But I found myself wanting to hear him speak again. I found myself longing for his voice.
I didn't understand it. I had not even seen this man's face, yet I was swooning over him like a little schoolgirl.
My eyelids finally won their ongoing battle, and, before I knew it, I was plummeting back into darkness.
Then it hit me. The most irresistible scent I ever smelled in my entire life. My eyes opened slightly, my nose searching for the source of the scent.
When my vision cleared, I came face to face with the most handsome man I ever laid my eyes on His bright green eyes reminded me of the whispering pine trees in the forest. His caramel-blonde hair was cut short, only adding to the beauty of his sculpted face. How was he so beautiful?
His scent was all around me, and his face was only a few inches from my own. My heart rate picked up due to our proximity.
Alpha Kameron's expression grew concerned.
Then, as quickly as it had come, the emotion was erased from his face. He stood to his full length and walked away from me.
As his body moved further away from me, my eyelids grew heavier and heavier. And for the last time, I was pulled into the darkness once more.
The last thought I had before all the silence consumed me was: mine.