Running [On Hold - See 'The Holding Cell' For More Info]

Chapter One

Chapter One

I was running again.

Running for my life.

Not that it was much of a life, but I’ll be damned if I let it end in that hellhole.

This would be so much easier if I had the energy to shift—but one of the reasons they didn’t feed us was so that we didn’t have enough carbs in our systems to make it through the transformation.

I wasn’t bothering to be quiet anymore; they knew where I was and they could get me whenever they felt like it.

I wasn’t stupid enough to think that I actually had any chance of escaping, but I sure as hell was going to keep trying.

My muscles were aching. My lungs felt like they were on fire. All I could hear was the pounding of my feet against the forest floor and the jagged gasping of my breath.

They were slower today—waiting a few months after my last escape attempt had caught them off-guard. Good.

But they would still catch up to me. They always did.

I wondered briefly what the punishment would be this time. The same as last time perhaps? Or maybe they’d finally take me to him. Maybe I would finally die at his hands after all this time.

Whether a death like that would be merciful, I don’t know.

Movement sounded behind me—the steady thump of running paws, the deep panting breaths of a dozen odd wolves on the hunt.

Fuck. They were close.

I could feel myself slowing down as my energy levels dwindled and my vision started to go hazy.

Got to keep going. Got to get away. Got to keep going. Got to—

My foot caught on an upturned tree root and my ankle twisted painfully as I fell.

I crawled on all fours to the nearest tree trunk, shuffling around its base until I collapsed on the side facing away from my pursuers.

I didn’t for a moment believe that the cover would do me any more good than a few extra minutes of freedom. I’d already learned not to believe in false hope.

The pain was everywhere.

My ankle throbbed. My muscles screamed in protest. My lungs and throat burned. My wounds had reopened sometime along the way and hot red blood was running freely down my skin. I made no move to stop it. It wouldn’t help.

Darkness loomed at the edges of my vision, pressing down on me like a landslide waiting to happen.

My eyes dropped closed. What was the point of staying awake for something that I had already experienced more than once? It would only make the dreams worse.

The wind slithered past, dragging their scent along with it.

I frowned.

Strange. They don’t smell familiar. They must of sent new pups this time.

What does it matter, I thought. Even the new ones are heartless and cruel.

A howl sounded, piercing the night sky with its animalistic desire.

Defiantly new pups. The others new better than to howl whilst hunting—it could alert other packs to their presence.

The last thing I was aware of was a deep low growl coming from behind me.

This is it. Again.

And with those resigned thoughts, I allowed myself to be buried in unconsciousness.