Taming the Wolf Prince (Re-uploading Edited Chapters)

Chapter 28 Sunlight

As he awoke, Tamer's lungs were constricting - each breath wore him down like a dagger was stuck in his chest. A hacking cough of blood splattered upon the earth. His vision wavered as he watched the blood pour on his dirt-riden hands - he was almost collapsing unconscious again, not sure how he'd even managed to awaken in the first place. His head pounded. His muscles screamed with protest each time he moved. He could feel the blood that had poured down his neck stick to his skin as he moved. His eyes were dazed and unfocused, vision going double. There was something he needed to protect.

"Win...ter..." he rasped. His voice came out like sandpaper. Red's bite had appeared to restrict his healing. Frankly, he wasn't sure how he was even awake at all. His willpower to protect her was the only thing keeping him moving. He reached a trembling hand forward. Moving hurt like his bones were now swords. His trembling nails dug through the dirt. He attempted to crawl, leaving a trail of blood behind him. His bones wrattled with agony. He cried out as he pulled himself forward.

Can't stop. Can't rest.

He coughed, smoke battering his lungs.

Got to find her.

He attempted to reach out to Winter mentally. No response came. She was either unconscious or they were too out of range. He touched his hand to his face in anguish, feeling the gaping hole where his eye once was. That was something he'd completely forgotten about. He'd assumed the darkness was just him about to pass out. He was no longer the same since this night.

He gnashed his teeth as he attempted to pull himself through the dirt. The blackness quivering before his eyes grew more frequent. Every movement made it grow more seductive. He just wanted to rest.

No. You can't. Got to keep moving. Got to protect.

A ghostly apparition appeared before him. A white wolf glowed in the dark before him, fangs bared.

"You're giving up?" it asked.

"N-no, I ..." Tamer cried out. Even talking was agony. "Just two minutes rest, please..."

"Pathetic," the wolf snarled. "You're giving up on our mate."

Tamer shook his head. "No, I-"

He didn't finish his sentence. The wolf lunged at him and sank it's fangs into his flesh. He screamed. He screamed as if he really was being torn apart, but in reality, there was nothing there. He curled up into a ball, crying out. No. He could not let Winter be captured. Whatever Red would do to her was a fate he could not allow. But it was so hard to move. The pressure to keep fighting weighed him down like a boulder crushing his body. But he had to keep fighting. Just a little more, then he could rest. Dirt seeped under his nails as they tore through the earth.

Just a little more. Just a little more and...

Tamer felt something warm ignite across his flesh. He felt a sudden lull of the pain. He looked up. There was a shimmering golden light.

His initial reaction was fear. Shit, am I dying?

He shook his head. No, I can't leave her. I'll break her soul.

And then the golden light fully bathed his skin. His eyes glittered, widening in awe. The warmth was so enticing compared to cold, hard earth - it melted all his anguish away. Incandescent, luminous, purely aureate: the sight was so beautifully soothing it called out to him like a siren's song.

He was tired. So very tired. The light sang of words of rest. He wanted nothing more than to shut his mind off completely and submit to its lullaby. But his wilting willpower said otherwise. Part of him knew that if he went to sleep, he would never wake. Thus, he couldn't. He had to move, he had to find his strength. He'd made her a promise: simply to live. He had to aid Winter, even if it meant somehow moving with all his limbs torn off.