4. By The Cliff

CHAPTER 4

PYRA’s POV:

I rushed out of the alpha's wing, feeling the tears flow freely down my cheeks.

I thought for a second that he had finally come through, that everything would be fine. The way he held me so closely convinced me, although I could smell the alcohol on him.

The mate bond tricked me and my delusional mind into thinking that he wanted me. He didn't; it was all a mistake, and none of it was real.

With my clothes in my hand and only my underwear for cover, I raced back to my room. It was still dark out, and everyone should have still been in bed. It was easier to run back to my room without being seen, and it would be easier for me to leave in the cover of darkness.

I was never even going to stay after what had happened; I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing that we had sex, and I later found out he never wanted me to begin with.

I had been banished. Where I would go was the question I would figure out when I was out of the pack.

I stuffed my belongings in a duffel bag. Tear droplets fell on it as I packed the little things I owned, which weren't much as I never really had the money to get other things for myself. The one I did think looked remotely expensive was a necklace; it had been with me for as long as I could remember. I was going to sell it and get myself as far away from the pack as possible.

I zipped my bag and ran out of the basement and out of the pack house into the woods. There wasn't anyone I was going to miss; there was nothing I left behind other than the pain and suffering that was inflicted on me.

I had no destination in mind and so I continued to walk through the woods. I was so consumed and wrapped up in my head that I failed to realize someone was in front of me.

"Going somewhere ginger?" Natalie came out from behind the trees, the moonlight casting a soft glow, making her blond hair glisten in the dark.

I wiped my tears and took a careful step away from her. I've lived with her long enough to know not to be within her arms length.

My silence must have ticked something in her as she drew closer to me. "You slept with him, didn’t you? You thought I wouldn't find out before you snuck away at the break of dawn?" She chuckled, but there was a hint of jealousy in her tone.

“I knew there was something dangerous about you and how you'd threaten my ascent to the Luna position. You know, I’m glad you disgust him.” She snickered and leaned closer to me.

“Maverick is mine, and you dare sleep with him?” she growled.

I shook my head, wanting her to understand my point of view. "I didn't mean to… I'm sorry, he..."

I wanted to confess and say that he came onto me, but that wouldn't help either one of us. If anything, it would only piss her off more. I decided to keep quiet since there was nothing for me to say.

"You know how to play, you little vixen," she chuckled as she drew closer to me. With every step she took forward, I took two steps backward, but I didn't get far as my back hit against the tree.

"Nowhere left to go," she taunted.

The smirk on her face disappeared, her eyes glowed, and her claws extended close to my face. “You wanted to leave your slave position, and you planned to take my Maverick from me?”

"Please just let me go," I shivered as I pleaded. "I would be out of this pack, and you'd never have to hear from me again."

She smiled, which made my stomach turn, but not in a good way. "You’ve charmed him with your witchery for him to believe you were his mate. The only way to destroy the spell is to... kill you.” She ran a single claw down my face, and I flinched in fear, turning away from her as she grabbed a strand of my hair.

I shivered from the cold, lingering feeling of her claw on my face and broke out in a cold sweat, even though the night was chilly.

With enough strength, I broke out of the cage she had held me in with both her hands and pushed her. I tried to run, but I wasn't fast enough as she grabbed my hair and drew me back against the tree, knocking the breath out of me.

When I glanced back up at her, her eyes still glowed, but they were hooded over in anger. Her nose flared, and her fangs appeared. "You know what? Before I kill you, I’d like a little chase, so I'm going to give you a headstart before I rip you to shreds.”

"Run, Pyra, run.”

I stumbled to my feet with pain all over my body, I didn't notice I had sprained my ankle until I tried to run and fell back down.

"This is why you can never be next to him."

I stood up once again and limped, trying to get away from her as possible, which proved impossible on one leg as I could still feel her closely behind me.

"You are so pathetic. If you were ever Luna, you'd have run this pack to the ground with only your stench."

"I don't want to be Luna… I never wanted to be Luna!" I shouted back at her as I hid behind a tree, my breathing elevating as my chest heaved up and down.

I didn't know she had reached me until I felt her claw graze the side of my shoulder and, in the process, destroy the bark of the tree.

I screamed out in pain. But she didn't stop there, as she went on an angry rampage on my back, my chest, and anywhere in particular she could get her claws into until she reached my face.

She kept spewing curses and profanities, and as she designed my body with her claws, she let me go, and I fell to the ground. I didn't have any more strength, this was the end for me.

My vision was gone, but I could still hear when a deep, manly voice asked, "Are you going to kill her?"

Kill me? I was already dead, what more did they want to do to me?

"No,” I heard Natalie say. “If I did, Maverick would know it was me, we'll let the wolves finish the job."

Just then, a howl echoed in the night, footsteps fade away, and I knew Natalie and her group were gone.

I wasn't ready to die, at least not in the hands of wolves. I began to drag and crawl my way forward, bearing the pain with every move I made.

I didn't know how far I had gotten, but I felt an edge, and I knew where I was—by the cliffside.

I heard the sounds of growls behind me, and I knew the wolves were ready to feast, but that wasn't the last thing I wanted to remember on earth.

With the last energy I had left, I said goodbye to the world and pushed myself over the cliff.