Vixen

Chapter Eighteen

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Chapter Eighteen  - Unedited

Fear, cold, blood chilling fear consumed me. Everything happened so fast that I couldn't barely comprehend what was going on. Raphael had swung the glass door open and demanded me to run in a thickly coated voice. I didn't hesitate taking off into a adrenaline fueled sprint. The cold, brisk air was whipping my fragile human skin, and goosebumps formed. My teeth began to chatter as the onset of the cold began hindering my ability to trek forward. I didn't spare at glance behind me and instead kept concentrated on my foot work to keep me going forward.

My pace slowed dramatically until I finally came to a halt. I had circled around to the opposite side of the lake, and continued hiding in the brush. I took this moment to finally shift into my more suitable skin. A pale pelt of fur rippled over me until I was standing on all fours.

Silence. Dead silence greeted my sensitive ears which only gave more fuel to the fear. Raphael wasn't trailing behind me, he stood his ground and fought, I knew that much. I couldn't shake the feeling that neither him nor the hunter had survived. The fresh mark on my neck burned startlingly. After everything we had been through, this wasn't how I had imagined our end.

What worried me the most was the lack of feeling on the other end of our bond as I tried weaving my way through our mental link to find him. Nothing but a static silence was lurking in the darkness of my mind. Involuntarily, I felt tremors roll down my spine. The stark silence was consuming me; engulfing me whole.

Slowly, I emerged from behind the sheltered walls of trees and stared across the lake. The glowing reflection on the lake blinded me, but I could make out that the lake house was still in tact. My heart swelled in my chest dramatically. 

Where was Raphael? I couldn't find his fresh rain scent anywhere in the mix. Panic began to rise and caused my heart to be erratically in my chest; I was sure that my rib cage was going to burst. 

He's not dead, my wolf replied stiffly. If he was dead and gone we would definitely have been fallen due to the crippling pain. Our heart would quite literally break as we felt the anguish of our mate's last dying breath. He wasn't hurt either, because I distinctly remember when he had gotten branded. I felt the searing pain too. 

I let me wall down completely in an attempt to find Raphael's inner voice through the sea of them, but his distinct deep voice was no where to be heard. I had to bite back a howl in fear of the Hunter tracking me down. It probably wasn't wise of me to stop moving completely. 

I began to trot South. I didn't know where the wodden path would take me. Away, far away, that's all I knew. I was traveling as a lone wolf, which wasn't my best decision, but I couldn't find my other half and couldn't risk standing alone against a Hunter. I barely recognized their existence a few months ago, and now here they were, live in the flesh. 

The wind whistled against the thin tree branches, and I looked up at the sky. The sky was beginning to dim into pink, orange, and yellow hues as the son was settling down for the evening. I whimpered to myself as separation anxiety began to consume my mind. This definitely wasn't a usual circumstance for newly mated wolves; for the first few weeks newly mated wolves tended to be attached to the hip, and here I was completely separated from my entire other half. It was doing my body any justice to be apart from him. 

Thinking back, I knew I was holding back mating with him for many reasons, but I'm glad I did. Something natural clicked that made me attached to him. I needed him like the air I breathe, and wasn't ready to lose him just yet.