Darkness (II)

CHAPTER SIX

I didn't quite know where I was running. All I knew was that I needed to leave. Shouts rang in my ears but I didn't stop—I couldn't. My legs carried me forward, controlled by the forward lurch of my stomach. I tried to tell myself that I wasn't scared but I was. I was terrified. It was this self-same fear that failed me as a Huntress but perhaps it now absolved me, yanking me in the direction of safety. And he wasn't safe. Of that much, I was certain.

The heavy footfalls that echoed behind me were like thunder. I picked up the pace, feet slapping against the floor with renewed vigour, and eventually found myself sprinting into the dense forest. I was alive with power. Veins of fiery light plunged outwards from my form, as if desperately searching for a reprieve from the inward storm.

Keep going, it whispered. Run. Run. Run.

The thundering footsteps eventually quieted. When I felt I could no longer run I collapsed, breaths heaving in and out, in and out. My entire body trembled with the freight of my fear. The look in his eyes—the primal, raw desire—was forever seared into my corneas. He'd scared me. Despite my training—despite everything—the man had shaken me up. He'd seen through my cool facade and witnessed my every flaw and imperfection.

I leaned my head back against a tree, lips quivering. I couldn't be his Luna. I was a Huntress by blood, and a coward by nature.

Not a coward, the power whispered, but scared. That's okay. We're okay. We just need to run.

I closed my eyes, trying to suppress the whispering voice. Fear, in my father's eyes, was the precursor to cowardice. I drew a shaky breath and allowed it to whistle through my pursed lips. In and out, in and out. I'd be okay. I just had to run. That was what I was best at, after all—running from my fate, running from my family...what made this any different?

"Isa?"

Somehow, through the misty panes of withheld tears, I saw Thea approach. Her voice was quiet, tentative; it was like a whisper of wind gliding across my skin. For a moment I stared at her, hoping to convey the feelings I couldn't quite put into words, before refocusing my gaze on the forest floor. Autumn leaves were peppered across the moist soil, crisp and fading. I almost felt like one myself—a tiny, insignificant dot, ripped harshly from my world and thrust onto the planes of someone else's.

"Hi," I managed, playing non-committedly with the scattered foliage.

She kneeled down before me, demanding my attention. Once more I glanced up. Her expression screamed of pity and I hated it.

"I know how you're feeling." she finally said.

I snorted, though the sound hosted no humour. "Do you? I've been brought up as a Huntress and I'm now the mate to an Alpha."

Her eyes hardened and she hauled me upwards. I stood before her, swaying like a boat adrift on an unforgiving sea. There was something to fear in her stony expression. I would've shrank backwards, if not for my complete shock. The fire in her eyes reminded me who—or rather what—she was: a werewolf. Thea didn't act like the others, but that didn't mean that she would tolerate disrespect.