Chapter 3 ***

Seraphine

Dawn arrived in its soft calm way, lighting up my curled form under a fallen pine. I heard the first howls pierce through my haze of cold and exhaustion as the sky turned gray.

Hunting howls reverberated throughout the thick forest.

They were patrols but they didn’t sound like the usual. Their howls sounded too coordinated, too fast; and it felt like they were closing in from all four directions. They were probably the sort Cassian kept under leash for dirty work.

My heart slammed into my ribs, and then I quickly scrambled to my knees, shifting mid stride. Silver white furs exploded across my skin. The pain of the change was still fresh, but fear made it more potent.

The forest blurred as I ran. Some branches tore at my back. Behind me, the howls became louder. It was so obvious that I had been traded. They intentionally let me get comfortable just to swoop in on me when I least expected..

They were brutal and they knew their stuff well.

It became certain to me that they were not trying to capture me, no, not with the haunting howls hollering some meters away.

They were trying to kill me. I’d gone against their Alpha, fled my home, abandoned my family and became a rogue. It was only natural for death to follow suit.

To be frank, I wasn’t surprised. I was only shocked it took this long. Long enough I’d say, if you brought Alpha Cassian’s cruel personality into the equation.

Soon enough, a black wolf burst from the bush at my right side. I almost got cut up in the snap of its jaws. A lanky brown one came at me from the left. I felt its teeth graze my right leg. It sprayed blood across the snow like a water sprinkler.

I snarled and kept running. My lungs burned. Although my new wolf was strong, it was nothing compared to these seasoned warriors.

The third attacker slammed into my side, sending me flying into the trunk of one amongst several huge pines. Bolts of pain lanced through me. I rolled, snapped at the nearest flesh, tasted blood and then staggered back up.

Too many.

They were too many, I thought.

They were now circling me; six wolves in total. I saw through the furs and claws and into the cruel glaze of satisfaction glowing through their eyes. At the center was the largest, a scarred gray hued wolf who in a blink turned back to human and spoke;

“Alpha’s orders, he growled, the vale girl dies tonight. Her whole bloodline ends tonight.”

My blood turned cold.

The whole bloodline.

My family!

In desperation I threw myself at the nearest wolf, instead of breaking free, I felt a sharp jaw latch onto my shoulder and another on my tail. I screamed hard and loud.

Out of the blues something odd happened, yet again, just as during my transition the silver mark on my collarbone flared up with white light. My attackers yelped and staggered back, temporarily blinded. I didn’t question it, I only broke free and picked up pace. A tangible amount of blood oozed from my wounds, but it didn’t halt my flight. I fled deeper into the wildlands with severely battered body.

I didn’t dare stop.

Behind me, the scarred wolfs voice bellowed through the trees;

“Find her! Burn the vale house to the ground! Leave no survivors.”

My heart shattered. I was too far. Too late. Too weak.

Yet, I kept running anyway, toward the the dark border of blackthorn territory, toward anything that wasn’t Silvercrest. Maybe it was my mind playing tricks on me, because it was almost as if I began to hear faint chaotic screams throughout the night.

After some time had passed, somewhere far ahead, I saw a shed behind a fortress of black stone. On its high walls was a towering male figure.

I was far away, but could still feel the brutality in his gaze.

Besides that, there was something else. I noticed the sudden change in the weather around me at the site of him. There was this unexplainable magnetic pull, a faint scent, a mixture of pine and rust and smoke and…power, enveloping the air around me.

It slammed into my lungs, my brain, my blood and my soul, leaving me no route of escape. As if in tow with my feelings the male form on the wall, let out a bellowing animalistic growl, before tearing into the night sky in his big bad shadowy wolf, changing toward me.

I noticed myself slowly drifting into unconsciousness as he neared. Bit by bit, crescendo by crescendo, I started getting a whiff of his overpowering presence. He must be an Alpha, I thought.

I let off a weak scoff, at how unlucky my fate had quickly turned in just a day.

It was ok, at least I could feel my being gradually slipping away. Even if he doesn’t kill me now, I would soon die, joining my family.

My eyes closed, and I found myself drifting into that strange place that was neither here nor there. Then, his voice cut through the darkness, shouting the word:

‘‘Mate."

I lost consciousness.