The Beast Within Saga: Autumn's Moon (Published)

Autumn

CHAPTER III

Looking behind me, Ethan was hot on my heels. C'mon just a little further, we got this. My body was covered in sweat, heart racing while I kept my breathing steady.

As I got closer to the finish line, the smell of wood hit my nose. Seconds before a blurred figure jumps out of the woods. Shit, I thought. How did we not detect this sooner? Everything happened within the blink of an eye.

Next second, something grabbed my left ankle pulling my leg out from underneath me. I yelled as I came crashing down to the earth below.

Pain was shooting up my leg; I could feel a hot liquid running down it as the canines pierced my flesh. Catching a glimpse of a tri-colored wolf, I cursed, trying to free my leg to shift.

Unable to stand at this point, I growled at my attacker, as I kicked her with my free leg. She let out a gruesome growl before releasing me. Shifting into wolf-form, the pain got worse, and I bit down, fighting it back.

Then, I lunged at my attacker with as much strength as I could muster. With my surprise attack on the tri-colored wolf, I latched onto her shoulder, pressing my canines hard into the skin and ripping it away.

The taste of warm iron pooled in my mouth. After a quick release, I took a second to spit out the blood and fur before getting knocked back down. It was a dumb move on my end. Once again, I was able to stand up, but I could feel just how bad my leg was. It hurt to stand and put any amount of pressure on it.

Why the hell did my leg hurt so much? Healing should have started by now. I was getting confused but having to push aside for now. I just have to keep focusing on the battle before me and hope my leg doesn't get any worse.

Circling one another, I kept my eyes locked on her predicting another attack. Suddenly, a small brown wolf jumps in between us. Ethan! I cried out to him.

You all right princess? I can smell blood, he said concerned.

Nothing I can't handle, I said. He and the wolf danced for a few minutes, landing blows on each other. As I moved to grab the wolf's flank, my leg burned, causing me to fall to the ground. Having no choice but to step away from the fray to assess the damage done.

Suddenly, a second wolf appeared in front of me. Shit! Clearing my thoughts, I sent out a message for help through mind-link. I began fighting the second wolf. The wolf charged. I dodged to the left, restraining to put weight on my leg. We each landed a few hits on one another.

After a few moves I started slowing down. Whatever happened wasn't healing and it felt like it was my entire leg now. Worst pain unimageable ever, can someone just cut the damn thing off. I collapsed to the ground, black spots danced across my vision. I was prepared for the end until Beta Cameron came running onto the scene, charging the tri colored wolf. A.K.A my dad thank Goddess. I thought to myself.

Then four more wolves charged out of the woods and into the scene, taking on Cameron. Pushing the pain aside, I charged back onto the gray and white wolf.

Rushing forward, I made my next attack, biting my canines into his sides. The wolf took a step forward then rammed into me, burying his teeth into my neck. Crying out from the pain, he had me pinned good between his teeth. Crap I was in trouble.

He was about to make a killing blow when a red wolf slammed into him, knocking him off; Asher was now facing off with the gray and white wolf. With blurry vision, I barely made out four more figures coming onto the screen. Blinking to focus, I saw my dad, Ann, Heather, and Isaac come into view.