Mated to my Victim

Chapter Fifteen

Trae

I stare shocked at the dust clouds kicked up by Kynas car while on my ass. My thoughts race inside my skull about what I should've done- could've done.

'What happened in there? What happened to her? What could I have possibly done?!' My thoughts rage on as I get up from the side of the road walk to my car and get in. I chuckle and shake my head then start the car and drive to my apartment.

Jess

'Oh my gods! They're right on my tail! I have to get away, I have to!' I think as my eyes burst into tears as branches of trees slam, and scratch against my bare flesh. Whistles from behind me are getting louder while gaining on me, and then an arrow whizzes past my left bicep which gives me a burst of adrenaline and speed.

My right foot slams down into a rudimentary old-school bear trap and its teeth dig into my ankle flesh and I instantly fall crying out at the pain of the teeth in my ankle.

"Fuck!" I yell drawing out the word while looking at my mangled ankle. My mangled ankle in the bear trap is a gruesome sight. The jagged, steel jaws of the trap have clamped down with ruthless force, tearing through flesh, muscle, and sinew. Blood oozes and spurts from the gaping wounds, pooling on the ground and staining the surrounding dirt a deep crimson. The skin is shredded, with ragged, uneven edges flayed open, revealing the white gleam of shattered bone and crushed tendon.

The ankle itself is twisted at an unnatural angle, a grotesque testament to the violence of the trap's grip. Fragments of bone jut out through the torn skin, while bits of muscle hang in tatters. The foot is discolored, a sickly mix of purple, blue, and black, indicating severe bruising and possible necrosis from the interrupted blood flow. The surrounding area is swollen and inflamed, with the flesh around the trap's bite marks already beginning to bloat and discolor from the trauma.

Patches of dirt, leaves, and other debris clings to the exposed flesh, mixing with the blood and creating a grisly, mud-like substance that clings to the wound. The overall sight is one of brutal damage, the ankle, and foot reduced to a mangled mess of tissue, bone, and blood by the bear trap's unyielding bite.

I feel bile rise in my throat while looking at my fucked up ankle and I quickly look away before I make the bloody mud mixture even more gross.

"Well, well, well look at what we have here," someone pridefully brags at the sight of their snagged wolf and I let out a low growl as they step forward. "If it isn't a little helpless wolf, little Jessika Saunders," said person crouches down and whistles looking at the bloody raw wound. I could tell that the person was a woman, but I couldn't smell her, which is weird unless she is an elf and uses a concealment spell.

"Fuck you elven bitch!" I snarl through gritted teeth and she just chuckles softly and pokes a finger into the wound making me cry out in pain.

"You need to mind your place you mangy mutt!" A man's voice snaps at me from the darkness and a growl erupts deep within my throat.

"Fuck you too punk!" I snarl once again at the directions the man's voice came from then the woman smashes a fist into the shattered bone and raw tissue of my ankle making me howl in agony.

"K'Lukis remove the trap, their elders will want her unharmed," the man tells the woman and she does as she's told.

"Now Jessika be a good girl and make our lives easier and come with us peacefully," the man steps into the moonlight and I recognize him immediately. Raiden S'Kaler, one of the leaders of the elves, is the most uptight political prick in all of the elven settlements.

"I will never come with you Raiden! So piss off asshole!" I shout at him trying to get up, but my ankle wouldn't let me. Every time I tried my ankle would explode in agony.

"Carry her," Raiden tells the woman and she picks me up with a grunt a slings me over her shoulder despite all my protesting. With all the blood loss I feel woozy and the jolting of my body up and down doesn't help any. My vision finally goes black and my consciousness fades.

Kyna

With tears streaking down my face, I drive as fast and far as I can until my gas tank is three-fourths empty. Then, I turn around and head towards the national forest. Rain pours down in heavy sheets of gray, and I turn on my high beams and windshield wipers, trying to see through the downpour. I wipe away my tears for a moment, but suddenly, something smashes headfirst into my car. My head thumps hard against the steering wheel as the airbag deploys.

A loud crash echoes through the storm as my Maxima smashes into the metal barrier, crumpling the front end like a tin can. The airbags deploy with a deafening bang, cushioning me but adding to the chaos inside the vehicle. The force of the collision sends the car rebounding into the traffic lane, where it is struck broadside by an oncoming Toyota, which has no time to react.

The Toyota skids and spins, its tires struggling for grip on the wet pavement, before coming to a stop in the middle of the road, steam hissing from its crumpled hood. My vision swims, my head throbbing from the impact and the deployment of the airbag. The rain continues to hammer down, relentless and unforgiving, drumming on the roof and pooling inside the car where the windows have shattered.

Emergency responders arrive within ten minutes, their flashing lights casting eerie reflections in the rain-soaked scene. Paramedics work swiftly to extricate me from my car, their movements precise despite the adverse conditions. Firefighters use the Jaws of Life to pry open the mangled door, while police officers redirect traffic around the wreckage, their voices barely audible over the storm.

Carefully placed on a stretcher, I am loaded into the waiting ambulance. My injuries are assessed and stabilized en route to the hospital. The highway is littered with debris—shards of glass, twisted metal, and the remnants of what had once been two vehicles. Tow trucks arrive to clear the wreckage, their powerful engines straining as they haul the broken cars onto flatbeds.

Consciousness slips away as the shock leaves my body. My last thought is of Trae.

"I'm sorry, Traeger... I love you..."