All Chapters of She Runs with Wolves: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

I balled my hands into fists, stuffed deep inside my pockets. I’d forgotten what the cold truly felt like: the shuddering, uncomfortable chill that bit at the tip of my nose and made the ends of my fingers ache. Yet still I relished in it, thinking with excitement of how pleasant the warmth of my bed and blankets would feel later. Perhaps I could have another shower when I got in; I could let the hot water stream down my skin, heating me from the outside in. It was a luxury to feel the cold; so much so that I kept missing what Falmer was saying to me. “You took the time to dig out a scarf?” He was tutting, his hands in his pockets out of habit rather than to keep them out of the bitter cold. “You know me,” I teased, “I always want to look my best.” “For school, maybe. But for a night-long patrol?” He raised one quizzical eyebrow. 

The stars suddenly felt distant and cold up above. The warmth of their embers was gone, replaced by a white light that offered no heat. “Why?” I asked. “What happened?” “After I turned Nettie, I didn’t see her for a very long time. I finished my studies at Oxford, and I was accepted into the clergy.” He smirked. “I was different, back then. I was bored. I had no goals in life, no purpose. So I travelled around, searching for something – anything – and then, over a century later, I found Nettie again.” The forest was thickening around us, the path shrinking yet further as it took us beneath the arching boughs of the trees. They blocked out even the cold light of the stars, and I had to rely on my enhanced, supernatural vision to see. It was colder in the woods, too, shaded and quiet. I wriggled my numb toes desperately inside my boots. Though I’d not

My head pounded as I rounded the corridor, the fluorescent lighting too white, too bright, as I broke into a jog. There was someone behind me, inching closer and closer – I turned around. Nothing. The hallway was empty, lined with lockers on either side and devoid of anyone or anything that wasn’t supposed to be there. With that, the creeping sensation disappeared, and I breathed out a heavy sigh of relief. I must have been imagining it. But, imagined stalker or not, I was still late for the assembly. With another, frustrated sigh, I sped off down the hall towards the assembly room. Everyone turned to look at me as I entered. I shot the head teacher an apologetic smile, shutting the door quietly behind me. It creaked, and, for one everlasting, aching moment, I thought it may never stop. But eventually it did, and I slipped silently into a seat at the back of the room. “We’ll w

“Wait,” I said, pulling back. “That’s – that’s a good thing, surely?” “No,” Kathrena choked, stepping out of the hug too. Her eyes were back on the ground, and her hands twitched anxiously at her sides. “Oh, God, I just – I panicked. I said no to him.” “But why?” Rowan asked, frowning, her red lips pulled into a pout. “He’s cute.” “Look, I – I don’t want to talk about this right now,” Kathrena said, running a shaking hand through her hair, pushing her fringe out of her face only for it to fall down again seconds later, messier than it was before. “We have enough to deal with already.” Skye touched her forearm for a moment, his eyes gentle as they met hers. “Okay. But we’re here for you, whenever you’re ready.” “Tha

I took a deep breath. My hand trembled as I raised it to knock on Aradia and Ezrand’s office door. I held it there for a moment, my knuckles barely brushing the wood as I hovered, uncertain. Then I steeled myself, and I knocked. “Come in!” Ezrand called out. I tried to picture him before I stepped through the doorway, which would effectively seal my fate: slightly rounded belly, brightly patterned shirt, white-blonde hair mussed from running his hands through it excitedly. I pictured him sipping microwaved blood from his favourite mug, clattering around the kitchen and dancing to anything, all the way from Fleetwood Mac to The Beatles to Mozart. It made me feel slightly better, but only for a second. As soon as I saw his cheerful face and his friendly dark eyes, my heart sank. But not because of Ezrand – because of the lean-faced, purple-eyed woman next to him.  Aradia wa