rying To Get Mer
Trying To Get Her
Xander POV
The moment I see her, I panic. She’s on a Silvermane hound’s back, and it’s running for the border. Calling out her name does nothing. She looks at me with an expression that says she’s done with me.
Something inside of me shifts and my wolf takes over. As I run, I shift and it feels different, but I’m too focused on stopping her and getting her back. I accept I’ve made mistakes, the biggest one is not believing her.
She’s not once lied to me, why did I believe Giddeon and other people over her? I see her getting closer to the border and I speed up, pushing myself faster. My eyes widen as the Silvermane hound throws my guards across the grass.
Panic builds, and I rush forward, but as I’m getting close, a Stoneback Guardian throws me back.
My wolf growls and lunges attacking it, but the moment my teeth sink into it, pain explodes through me and I howl. The pain rips through my entire side like fire that is tearing through my flesh.
My teeth barely pierce the Stoneback Guardian’s dense hide again before I stagger back from pain. Agony shoots down my spine and legs, making my knees buckle. My paws slide against the girl as I fight to stay upright.
The shock from it leaves me stunned and I shake my head, trying to clear the haze that’s clouding my vision.
It doesn’t advance, it just stands firm, calm and immovable. It’s blocking my path with a certainty like it knows it won’t fail in its duty to stop anyone from following her. I growl deep in my chest and get ready to lunge again, because I have to get past and I have to get to her and apologise.
The second stoneback drops from the trees with a heavy thud that shakes the ground under me, and my breath catches in my throat. There’s no way I can take them both, my wolf still surges forward with fury, and we launch ourselves forward, snapping at the second guardians. My claws slash, and I land a hit. My claws rake against it’s heavy plated side.
I instantly regret it. Pain detonates inside of me. It’s worse this time though, it’s sharp and suffocating. It’s like my chest is caving in and my ribs are breaking from the inside out. I collapse onto the grass, gasping and shaking so violently that I can barely breathe. It’s not just pain, it’s something darker. A bond, but how? I don’t understand it, but I can feel it twisting inside me. Binding me to these creatures, and I don’t understand why it’s happening.
My wolf fights to stand, and he pushes past the pain and snarls, furious and desperate. He knows what I know, she’s getting away and we’re losing her.
There’s no time to think. The sky splits with a piercing cry and a Hollowfang Raven drops from the shadows. I see its wings slice through the air as it dives, and I barely get my head lifted in time before its talons rake across my shoulders.
My fur tears, blood hot against my skin, and I snarl again, and snap my jaws toward it. It connects just enough to rip some feathers free. The moment I do, pain comes again, so savage and immediate that I almost black out. My body convulses, and my muscles lock and seize as if I’ve been struck by lightning. My front legs give out, and I hit the ground hard. We force ourselves back up, my wolf staggers to his feet but I know the truth before I even look.
The bond is strained between us, I can feel her getting too far away. I’ve never felt it this vividly, this painfully. It’s like being dragged through broken glass with every inch of distance that grows between us.
I can just make out the Silvermane Hound she’s riding as it barrels through the trees, and disappears into the heavy brush. The other Hollowfang Raven sweeps after them and vanishes into the dark like smoke in the wind.
I try to run again, but my legs shake, and the other Silvermane Hound knocks me back. Standing, I push myself harder, my paws dig into the soft earth, my claws biting deep, but I only get a few steps forward before the Silvermane Hound knocks me back again.
My chest burns with the effort it takes and the bond stretches tighter and tighter. It’s an invisible thread that is pulled so thin I know what’s coming before it does and my wolf feels it. He throws his head back and lets out a long, piercing howl. The sound echoes through the empty forest.
The answer never comes, but the thread snaps. It’s not just a feeling, it’s like a soft final crack of a rope breaking under too much weight. My wolf collapses inside of me with a low and agonized whine.
The pain within me grows heavier, and it’s not from the wounds that the guardians inflicted either, but from something far worse. The bond that tethered me to Serafine is stretched so much, it’s like it’s tearing. It’s worse than a rejection. It feels so deep, like it’s in my bones.
I push up, my body shaking as I do, and my chest heaves as blood and sweat mix and drip into the moss.
My wolf paces violently, slamming against the walls of my mind, snarling in frustration and loss. I begin to turn, staggering, and ready to force my legs to move back to the pack, even as they threaten to buckle beneath me. The trees blur around me, then I see him.
Jacob. He’s standing there at the border like nothing’s happening, like this isn’t his fault. He’s acting like he hasn’t betrayed
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Trying To Get Her
me, betrayed her, and betrayed everything we built. His shoulders square like a soldier waiting for orders, but the moment my eyes lock on him, he knows,
His scent carries his guilt and fear, and his heartbeat stutters when I shift into his direction. I don’t think, I let my wolf lunge forward into my mind and charge at him with a roar that splits the air..
He doesn’t have any time at all to defend himself. My jaws clamp onto his forearm, and I bite down hard. The bone cracks under the pressure, his screams rip through the trees as I tear his arm clean from his socket.
Blood sprays hot against my muzzle, and I fling the limp limb into the grass and slew him down onto his back. My paws press against his ribs and crush him, pinning him hard as I lower my head, my teeth bared inches from his face.
He’s shaking beneath me, and sobbing, his free hand scrambling uselessly against the ground. His legs are kicking in panic. Yeah, without all his limbs, he can’t shift into wolf, he’s weak and at my mercy.
My growl rumbles low and steady in my chest, vibrating against his skin. His blood is thick and sharp in my nose, and I lean closer, my lips pulling over my teeth. I’m going to rip his face off.
“Xander!” Killian’s voice crashes through the haze. “Xander, stand down!”
I don’t move, not even as I hear Garrick’s voice joining Killan’s as they burst through the trees. Both of them freeze when they see me standing over Jacob, with the blood dripping from my muzzle, my eyes wild and full of rage. Neither of them speaks for a beat too long.
“Xander,” Killian tries again, softer this time. “He’s finished. He can’t go anywhere. You’ve done enough.”
I’ve not done anywhere near enough. My claws dig deeper into Jacob’s chest, and he screams out. My wolf doesn’t care about mercy. The betrayal is too deep, and Jacob fed Giddeon information. He let Serafine be accused and punished. He twisted everything, and my wolf only knows one punishment for that.
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