On the Run (Book 1)

What Just Happened

My eyes opened slowly, hurting to even move. My body ached and a blinding light shined down on me. Once my eyes adjusted, I scanned my surroundings. I was outside, the warm air comforting my shivering body. Everything seemed normal, except for the pain I was feeling. What happened to me? Then I wondered where Jace was. I knew I was mad at him, but after passing out like I did, I needed to see him. No one was around, which concerned me.

            I looked around to see that the pack house wasn’t in view. Where the hell was I? I sat up, trying not to make any fast movements. All around me was trees. Tall ones. Small ones. Every type of tree seemed to be around me. I was laying on a mixture of short grass and dirt. Rocks dug into my hands and legs. I stumbled to my feet, looking around for any sign of someone.

            This all seemed like a dream but I thought in dreams you couldn’t feel pain. I started to walk, only to be held in place. I tried to move, but it was like I was glued in place. This is when I began to panic. I pounded on what was like an invisible wall stopping me from moving, but nothing happened. I screamed for help but no one came. What if I was stuck this way forever?

            “Hello Isabella.” A voice echoed through the forest.

            I spun around to see that I was still alone. Maybe I was imagining all of this? Was I hearing things? I tried to move once more but this time I managed to take a step forward. I smiled. I started to walk when a twig snapped behind me. I whirled around to see that I was no longer alone. Matthew stood in front of me, a smirk on his face, and his arms folded across his chest. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a plain black shirt.

            “As I said before, hello, nice seeing you again so soon.” He grinned.

            “Where am I? How did you find me?” I snapped, the anger building up inside me.

            “It’s amazing what all a witch can do. I see you’ve found your mate.” Matthew said, disgust in his voice. 

            “Yes I have and we’ve perfectly happy, so that means we aren’t getting married.” I replied, lying right through my teeth.

            “Now, now, lying is a sin you know. Happy? That seems a bit exaggerated but let’s say that, that wasn’t a lie, I would say that I don’t really care if you’re happy. You are coming with me sooner or later. This may not be fully real, but it’s real enough to get my point across.” He said smugly.

            “What do you mean fully real? Is this a dream?” I asked.

            “Sort of. As I said before, witches are pretty powerful. You’ll see that sooner or later. Technically, I’m not here, but then again, I am.” He smirked.

            I stared at him like he was a crazed lunatic. Okay, well, I knew he was crazy, just not this bad. He wasn’t making any sense as he talked. Maybe he was insane and this was him proving it to me. He took a step closer to me and I knew I should be afraid but if this was a dream, he couldn’t hurt me.

            “I’m warning you now. I’m coming for you, Isabella, it could be a day from now, a week, a month, even a year. We will be together and once we are married, you will have an ‘accident’ and I will take over Cadellan for myself.” He said.

            “Oh and tell Jace I said hi and that he better watch you closely.” He added, with a sinister smile.

            Before I knew what was happening, Matthew had shifted into his wolf. He was an all black wolf, which was the same as Jace’s except that Jace was larger and his fur was more silk like. I jumped backwards and tried to shift but couldn’t. What was happening? Why couldn’t I shift? Matthew’s claws ripped down my right arm and I let out a scream, as blood flowed down my arm. I put pressure on the wound, praying it wasn’t as bad as it felt. I looked down to see long scratch marks going down my arm. Thankfully, they weren’t made to kill. Everything started to go black and I fell to the ground, everything around me, turning to darkness.