Lara's POV
The stick snapped from the tree with a sharp cry that was swallowed by the whistle of the blade coming for my neck.
I ducked with a sharp, calculated swerve to my right. I whipped the first guard on the neck with the stick, with all the strength in my arm.
He tethered to the side like a leaf in the wind. That opened a path for me, a little space between the force of more than fifteen men charging for me. I seized it without wasting time on thought.
I dashed through the trees with every speed I could gather from my legs.
Father taught me how to fight, and he'd also taught me how to run. With over fifteen men and a stronger, seasoned fighter like Riven, the odds were starkly against me.
"How did you let her escape?" Riven screamed at his men. "Get her."
I didn't wait to be gotten. I ran like prey. Branches whipped my face, tore at my arms.
Fabric ripped from my dress, the branches clawing at it, as if the forest itself was desperate for a piece of me.
My lungs burned, sharp and raw, every breath scraping my throat like broken glass. Behind me, the forest echoed with shouts—orders barked low and precise, boots pounding the earth in ruthless rhythm.
"Get her, fools," Riven kept screaming. "Don't you dare let her escape, don't."
The ground vibrated beneath me the nearer they came to me.
I veered sharply to the left, ducking beneath a fallen tree as a blade sliced the air where my head had been a second earlier. The metal hissed past, close enough for me to feel its cold kiss against my hair.
I kept running. My mind veered towards Kaelen. I still refused to believe a man who held me in his arms just last night, whispered sweet nothings to my ears, could not only betray me but also seek my life.
A rattle of crushed leaves alerted me, and I spun to the left to find an approaching blade, crying for my neck.
I threw my upper body out of the way as fast as I could. The guard grunted as the blade cut into the nearest tree instead.
I huffed a sigh of relief as I kept on. Thoughts of Kaelen trailed into my head again, but I shoved them away before they could cost me my concentration, hence my neck.
I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of killing me.
A growl sounded behind me—wolf-deep, and furious. "Spread out!" Riven's voice rang through the trees. "Don't let her reach the road!"
The road. The word struck through my mind like lightning. Yeah. The road. How the hell did I let adrenaline make me forget that?
I didn't know where the road was exactly, only that it existed somewhere beyond the forest, beyond the pack's borders.
I changed direction immediately, letting my wolf's instinct guide me, though it would expose me to my attackers. It was a necessary risk. I threw my nostrils in the air, hunting for the whiff of tar.
The stones had chewed away my thin-soled shoes, and pain flared like a parasite in my bones as my bare feet came down wrong on another jagged stone.
I stumbled, a sharp squeal escaping my throat, despite myself. I bit down hard on my lip until I tasted blood. Still, I couldn't afford to slow down, though agony jarred up my legs with each step against the ground.
A shadow lunged from my right.
I twisted just in time, crashing shoulder-first into a tree trunk as a sword embedded itself where my ribs would've been. I gasped, stars exploding behind my eyes.
I drove my elbow back blindly.
It connected with a face, and a sharp yell blared out like a trumpet, a trail of curses following fast.
I didn't wait to see who I'd hit. I tore free and ran again, heart hammering so violently I thought it might burst out of my chest.
I burst through a thicket and nearly fell flat on my face as the terrain suddenly changed.
The forest thinned out into more fields of grass. The air smelled different—less earth, more dust, oil, and tar.
Road. I have found it. Hope flared in my chest.
Shouts erupted louder behind me. "There!"
"She's heading out!"
"After her!" Riven screamed, his voice the loudest and most furious.
I sprinted harder, ignoring the screaming protest of my body. My dress was shredded now, skin stinging with cuts and scrapes, my vision blurring at the edges. The trees were breaking apart, giving way to open space.
Finally, moonlight spilled over the asphalt. The road stretched before me, winding low and up like a snake.
I didn't stop.
I burst out of the tree line and ran blindly across…
A blinding light exploded in front of me, stealing my sight.
A horn screamed with an intensity that burrowed through my eardrums. I winced, my teeth shattering in pain.
I turned, just as a car barreled toward me, headlights burning white-hot, tires shrieking as it swerved.
It felt like the world slammed into me.
Pain detonated everywhere at once—bone, muscle, skin, soul. I felt myself lift, weightless for a terrifying second, then everything spun like a wheel, sky, road, light, darkness, and the ground rushed up to meet me.
The last thing I heard was the screech of brakes and distant shouting fading into nothing before the night swallowed me whole.