His Reluctant Luna

Ch 22 - My Saviour

ATTENTION RADISH READERS! Please don't leave any spoilers in here or you'll be getting a spanking from Iona. Or Kole. Or Konnor. Whoever you'd prefer. 😘

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This chapter contains themes that some readers may find distressing.

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I sprinted, putting all my energy into getting as far away as quick as possible. I could set a steady pace later, for now, I needed distance. Wolves could run up to around 35 miles per hour and these were no ordinary wolves. They were fast, but I was fast too. My long legs and lean, muscled body from years of running, hiking and climbing, sped me through the woods. I had near limitless energy. I could run for hours without tiring.

I had always had a good sense of direction, especially in the outdoors. When I'd told fellow hikers I was doing the PCT alone I'd been asked often if I was scared being a woman out there by myself. But I was always more at home in the wild than I was in the city. North was never lost to me and by instinct I seemed to know what could be foraged and what couldn't.

I turned up the gas on the burning rage at my captivity that had been at a low simmer for the last ten days. I would need that fire to get me through the gruelling journey ahead.

At one hour, I paused for a water break but I couldn't relax. I was surprised I'd made it this far. Where was Kole? Where was the army of wolves I'd expected to come pounding after me?

Something wasn't right...but I could do nothing but press on now. I picked up the pace, fast but steady.

North.

North could be a trap but North was the only way I could go. I could make it. If they didn't catch up to me first, I could make it.

Dread set in. Dread of the unknown. I had no way of knowing whether they were on my trail. I had know way of knowing if they were alive. Perhaps the Gulf's had won and all the Maclay's were lying dead and bloody somewhere. I thought of Kole, eyes open and unseeing, his body cold. The thought of it gagged me but I pushed it away. He was going to hurt me, they all were. I had no choice.

It was also possible that I had a hundred warrior wolves gaining on me right now. I had to act as if that was the case. I couldn't rely on hopefully's. Whoever was after me, Maclays', Gulf's or both, they would expect me to go to the road but if I could get there first, maybe I could find help. My other option was getting lost in Yellowstone and as much as I was at home in the outdoors, I wasn't stupid. Between everything that could kill me out here, I wouldn't give myself more than a few days, and that's without the giant wolves on my tail.

Just keep running.

The branches whipped at my face, the scent of the woods changed, suddenly it was less dense and there...just up ahead I could see the break in the treeline. I made for it and burst free onto the road.

I'd made it!

Now what?

Now I kept to the treeline and watched for headlights. I headed north-west on the road keeping a steady pace. Thirty minutes went by, an hour when suddenly...Headlights!

I paused, hidden by the trees. It could be one of them patrolling for me. If I stepped out I would be frogmarched back to those jail cells, but I had to take the risk. There was nothing for it. I jumped out, waving my arms. The flat bed truck pulled to a stop in front of me and immediately I knew this man was human. He was too overweight to be a wolf, his eyes too dull, but his face was kind and he had a set of wheels so I didn't give a damn what he looked like.