Rain lashed against my skin like shards of ice, soaking through my tattered clothes, but I didn't stop running. My breath came in sharp gasps as branches whipped across my arms and face. The storm was merciless, but so were the people chasing me.
This wasn't my first attempt to escape but this time was different. This time, my life depended on it.
I could already hear the distant hum of human voices beyond the barrier. Hope flickered in my chest like a fragile flame. I was close. So close.
Almost there, Elena. I told myself.
"We can do this,"my wolf whispered, her voice steady despite the chaos.
But before I could take another step, something heavy slammed into me from behind. The impact sent me sprawling into the mud, air punched out of my lungs. I screamed, thrashing, clawing but the weight above me didn't budge.
"Let me go, you bastard!" I screeched over the roar of the rain.
"In your dreams, sweetheart." That voice, familiar, venomous.
"Mark." His name fell from my lips like a curse. "You should let me escape! You've always wanted me gone."
He chuckled darkly, pressing my wrists into the ground. "Seems you're confused, darling. That's my sister you're thinking of. I enjoy your pain far too much to let you go."
"You're sick," I spat. "I'll never be yours. Haven't you heard? I'm being sent to replace your sister in the coming trial."
He smirked, eyes glinting with something dangerous. "Like I'll let that happen."
"What do you mean?"
Mark lifted me as if I weighed nothing, slinging me over his shoulder like a sack of grain. I pounded his back with my fists, kicked, bit but he only laughed.
"I've got her!" he barked to the enforcers waiting nearby. "Let's go."
Mud splashed beneath their boots as they dragged me back through the clearing, straight into the heart of the Creed faction. They threw me at the feet of Beta Ethan Creed and his daughter, Monica the people I hated most in the world.
"Where do you think you're going, pup?" Beta Ethan's voice was sharp as a whip.
I met his gaze with defiance. I didn't answer.
The blow came fast his hand across my face, the sound cracking through the storm. My right ear rang. My wolf growled inside me, but I swallowed her rage, forcing her back.
"Know your place, mutt," he sneered. "You disgust me. That girl who calls you friend will pay dearly tonight for helping you. How many times must I remind you that you're my property?"
Tears burned behind my eyes, but I bowed my head to hide the glow of my wolf's anger. "Please," I said softly. "I forced her to help me. It wasn't her fault. I promise never to escape again. I'll do whatever you want, Beta Ethan."
"You'll still learn your lesson," he growled.
"Father," Monica said sweetly. "Let's spare her tonight. She'll need to look flawless for the trials. We wouldn't want bruises ruining her last chance at life."
I glared up. That woman lived to make me suffer.
"Monica, shut up," Mark snapped. "She's not going anywhere."
The twins disgusted me, opposites in every way but one: cruelty.
Beta Ethan's patience broke. "Mark, are you defying me?" he thundered.
Mark's bravado faltered. "Of course not, sir. I only mean she's more useful here than dead."
Ethan's growl deepened. "Useful for who? One day your obsession will be your end. Enforcers, take this thing back to her cage. Next time she runs, it'll be one of your heads on a platter."
Monica bent close as they grabbed me again, her perfume nauseatingly sweet. "I can't wait to watch you die, Elena," she whispered, smiling.
I met her gaze, letting my wolf rise just enough to flash in my eyes. Her smirk faltered for half a second. Then they dragged me away through the mud, back to my cell my cage.
When they locked me inside, exhaustion slammed into me. My body trembled from pain and fury, but eventually, I collapsed and drifted into uneasy sleep.
Darkness swallowed me whole.
I stood in a ruined temple, its walls cracked and overgrown with vines. A still pond shimmered in the center, drawing me closer. When I looked into the water, my reflection rippled and another woman appeared. Her hair was black as night, her eyes swirling with the four elements.
"Who are you?" I whispered.
She didn't answer. Instead, she reached out from the water, grabbed my wrist, and yanked me under. I couldn't breathe. My scream bubbled uselessly through the depths. Her voice echoed in my skull, my name over and over until I jolted awake, slamming my head into the iron bars of my cage.
"Elena!" a voice hissed. "Are you okay? I've been calling you for ages!"
Blinking through the haze, I saw Amilia crouched outside the bars, worry etched on her face.
"I'm fine," I muttered, rubbing my aching head. "Just a dream. You shouldn't be here, Amilia. You'll get punished again."
"As if that's ever stopped me," she said, eyes scanning my bruised face. "Who hit you? The banshee or her father?"
"Her father."
Her lips pressed into a thin line. "I hate this place. I wish there was something more I could do." She hesitated. "Before the trials, I'll find a way to get you out. I swear it."
I sighed. "Amilia, I am tired of running. Maybe this is it. Maybe it's time I stop fighting fate."
"Don't say that." She cupped my face, her touch warm, glowing faintly blue with her Signa the mark of the Moon Goddess of Water. "You are not dying, Elena. You're stronger than any of them."
Her healing light soothed my bruises and eased the pounding in my heart. For a moment, I could almost believe her.
"Thank you," I whispered.
"Anything for you," she said with a small smile. "I brought food. Your favorite." She slid a small tin through the bars. "Apple pie."
My stomach growled despite everything. "You do know me." I tried to smile. "Did I ever tell you I love you?"
"You just did." She grinned. "Now eat. I'll be back soon."
When she left, silence filled the room. The scent of the apple pie cut through the damp air. I ate slowly, savoring every bite, letting its sweetness dull the bitterness of my reality.
But even as exhaustion pulled me back into sleep, I couldn't shake the image of the woman from the pond and the sound of her voice echoing through the darkness.
Calling my name.