Shadow of the Beast (Twisted Dark #2)

Chapter Thirteen: Broken Promises

My heart pounded in my chest as I watched him walk away. "Don't leave me out here, Jax!" I shouted the words at him, my tone almost hysterical. He didn't respond as he walked further away. I felt panic rising up in my chest and it rose high enough to touch the back of my throat. I whirled around and grabbed the chain he had tied around a branch above my head. I yanked hard on the chain but it held fast. The knot was too high up for me to reach and I looked over my shoulder. "Jax!" I didn't want to be left alone out in the Forest.

I spotted a fallen branch and I ran for it but the chain immediately went taut. I fell just a few feet from the branch. My breathing started to increase and I tried hard to reach the branch but no matter how hard I reached for it, it remained just out of reach. I turned, sitting down and yanked on the chain around my ankle. I cursed the fact it wouldn't shift off my ankle. I had tried it thousands of times over the years but I never felt the incredible need to escape as I did now.

I grabbed the chain tightly in my hands, pulling hard on it. The tree branch it was tied ti didn't even move and I inhaled, my chin trembling. The feeling of being trapped was growing worse and I jumped to my feet, going back to the tree, grabbing the chain and trying to climb up the side of the tree. I kept slipping, my hands rubbing raw on the chain and my knees and feet being scraped up by the bark.

I slowly climbed, doing my best to stay up and when I reached for the branch, seeing it just over my hand but I fell. I hit the ground hard and tears blurred my eyes, I had been so close to grabbing the branch. I let out an aggravated sound, yanking on the chain, ignoring the pain of my cut palms. I glowered up at the branch, my heart pounding rapidly in my chest and I looked around warily.

Something seemed to be hanging in the air, an edge of expectation that made a shiver run down my spine. I shoved my hand into my hair as I bit my lip hard. I wanted to get out, I needed to leave. Jax had been gone for nearly twenty minutes and the longer he was gone, the less I felt safe. Something was coming, I didn't know what it was but I knew it wasn't good.

I moved around one side of the tree, trying to see how far I could go and also grabbing the chain and rubbing it against the tree, hoping to weaken it. I knew it was a fool's hope, I had seen the spells Irma had placed on it and I knew the chain was indestructible as long as she was alive. Time crawled on as I tried each and every way that I could to try and free the chain from the branch but it all proved fruitless.

My heart pounding harshly in my chest and I wiped my sweaty, stinging palms on Jax's shirt, my mouth dry. I was one hundred percent trapped and it made the panic in me grow that much more. I shook my head, leaning against the tree, sobs fighting their way up in my chest. I looked around, feeling like I was being watched and my hands shook violently. The fear soured my stomach and bile touched my throat.

"Witch." At the growled voice, the hair rose up on the back of my neck and I slowly turned my head. A werewolf with gleaming eyes stalked towards me and I pressed myself against the tree.

I blinked at him warily and shook my head. "I'm not alone." My heart hammered hard in my chest as he grinned, his teeth sharp in his mouth. I knew how those felt tearing into flesh and my breathing increased until my breaths came out in panicked pants.

"Lie." The word was garbled. "I watched." I scrambled away from him, tripping over my chain as I did so. My breathing increased to the point where I was nearly gasping as he loomed over me.

My chain yanked tight, letting me know there was no where I could go and I held up my hand. "Stop!" I shouted it out and he paused, my heart in my throat. "I didn't do anything to you!" I didn't know who this male was, I had no clue why he was coming towards me. No clue why he looked so angry.

His eyes flashed yellow and he seemed to be growing larger, puffing himself up. "Betrayed Bam. Betrayed Bo." At that my heart seemed to stop in my chest. It was the werewolf that had been with Miranda.

Fear made my vision swim and my face pale. "I didn't!" I wanted to tell him why I told, wanted to save myself but my throat closed, the spell refusing me the words that would save me. He moved closer, stepping down on the chain while I tried to scramble backwards and away. "Please!" He grabbed my ankle and his claws sunk in as he yanked me towards him. "I didn't mean too! The chai-" My throat tightened and I would have been sent into a coughing fit but claws raked through my throat, my coughs garbling as the heat of my blood spilled over my skin.

I stared up at the male, watching his face turn angular as fur pushed through his pores. I gasped for air, gasped for the life that was seeping through my fingers as I clutched at my throat. My vision seemed to flicker, one minute he was human and the next he was a beast. I couldn't even scream as his teeth sunk into my belly, ripping through flesh and tearing through muscle. Pain exploded in my skull, my vision went white and when it returned I could see the werewolf tugging on something deep inside me, could feel it but the pain was growing less.

I couldn't breathe, my throat was no longer capable of inhaling air and my lungs no longer capable of holding it as he dug clawed hands up into my rib cage. I looked away, looking at the dark canopy of the evergreen tree I lay underneath. I felt light yet heavy, a familiar feeling of death that coated the pain. I was just thankful he had taken my throat before he started on my stomach because I couldn't feel it anymore. I was thankfully fading, going further and further away. My vision growing darker and my body growing colder as I bled.

It was a relief to no longer feel the searing pain, a relief to be without how badly it hurt but curiously my chest burned and ached like a thousand brilliant suns as an echo of accented words rolled over me. My eyes burned and when I blinked, my eyes closing at the heaviness that descended over me, the tears seared my skin like fire.

He promised I wouldn't be hurt.

He promised.