Chapter 4 Second Chance

(Briana POV)

The cell they’re keeping me in is small, damp and dark. They feed me once per day, miscalculating how unused I am to solids. I easily eke out the food to last me all day.

I move as much as I can. Walking in tight circles, doing push-ups and sit-ups. Working and stretching my muscles to remind them how to operate.

I have no illusions. The likelihood of making it out of here alive is infinitesimal. 

Vesper didn’t bring me back here for a friendly little visit. I would die a warrior’s death and go down fighting. Hopefully taking one or two of them with me.

My sense of time is all out of whack and I’m not sure how many days have passed when the door to my prison is yanked open and a grinning man tells me, “You’re free to go.”

For the duration of a single heartbeat I believe that Raul negotiated my freedom, before I come to my senses and pay closer attention.

This isn’t mercy, it’s a game. One where I will be the prey. 

They’re giving me a head-start, because I’m weak and slow. They want this to be fun. After all, I’m the Beta who decimated their forces. I was Raul’s first mate and posed a threat to their princess’s happiness. At least in the eyes of her brother.

I could tell them Raul no longer cares about me at all. Just look at where I am.

Dread pools in my stomach as the reality surges through me in icy waves. They’re going to hunt me and kill me slowly. They won’t want to rush. 

My werewolf genes help me to heal fast, but it saps our energy, burning through the reserves of our metabolisms.

When a wolf is as depleted as I am, there’s nowhere to siphon that vitality from. I need a few weeks of proper feeding, fresh air and exercise to truly regain my strength. I’m out of time and options.

I don’t want to play into their hands, but the other option is to be killed on the spot. As long as there’s life in me I’ll fight for survival. Raul’s betrayal has wrecked me, but my will to live is still strong.

I’m not sure whether I should feel flattered by how quickly they set off in pursuit of me. Barely an hour has passed when I hear loud footfalls thundering across the ground.

Even in my weakened state I’m quick. For them to be this close already, they must have followed in less than 20 minutes. My chances of survival dwindle with each passing second. My paws barely touch the ground before pushing off again, but my strides are growing shorter, exhaustion threatening to topple me.

My sharp ears can pick up the sound of arrows being loosened. I zig and zag, further sapping my energy, hoping to escape their weapons, but there are too many. Far too many for one, solitary, weakened wolf to escape.

The first one grazes my shoulder, ripping open the flesh, blessedly falling to the ground. It burns like fire, but the arrow can cause no further damage.

The second hit is much worse, the arrow burying itself in the meatiest part of my thigh. Each forward propulsion pulls it deeper into my leg and my muscle is being torn to shreds. Adrenaline is the only thing keeping me on my feet.

I’m woozy from the loss of blood. My muscles are strained far beyond endurance. The pain is excruciating. I can’t keep going. With desperate determination I put on a final burst of speed, hoping to get out of sight for long enough to find somewhere to hide.

My heart plummets into my stomach when there’s suddenly no earth beneath my paws. I’ve been so busy looking over my shoulder, I didn’t see the ravine opening up in front of me.

Then I’m falling. Rolling uncontrollably down the rocky incline, each revolution bringing new areas of my body in contact with sharp rocks. The arrow pushes deeper into my flesh, until it hits bone and the fletching breaks off.

I come to rest in icy water, immediately going under. The powerful current pushes me downstream until I finally manage to dig my claws into a rocky section of the eroded bank and pull my heavy, soaking body out of the water.

I’m done. I can’t. Black spots swim in my vision. A bush. Thorns scratching and catching at my coat. My whole body is one big conglomeration of agony. Hide. Must hide. Must…

My dreams are full of terror. Screams and howls fill my head. They’re furious to have lost me. “I’ve picked up the bitch’s scent!” I’m about to die. I have nothing left. Not even enough for a warning growl.

The dream shifts. Red terror turns to blue quiet. A large wolf is staring down at me, whining anxiously. He makes me feel safe. Maybe this is the afterlife and he’s my spirit guide. He presses his head against mine and my agony eases.

When I come to, a strange man is holding me in his arms. I know I’ve never met him before, yet I have no urge to get away from him. His embrace makes me feel warm and valued. Something I haven’t felt since waking up from my coma.

He looks relieved when I tilt my head back to look at him and his emerald green eyes crinkle slightly at the corners when he smiles. “You’re awake,” he says in a husky voice and the world shrinks until only the two of us exist.

The wolf inside me howls and yips raucously when the bond snaps into place. I’ve found my second-chance mate.