Aristocrat | ✓

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

     I didn't know how long I had been laying on the ground, but what I did know was that my fingers had gone numb and it was hard to retract or stretch them. My throat was dry, and my eyes were refusing to remain open since there was ice was forming on the side of my eyes and areas of my face where my tears had streamed down.

     I should have been panicking that I could possibly die. I should have been worried that the stinging pain I could feel on my leg through my breeches wasn't just a scab, but I didn't have the energy to do any of that. If Lord Evenus hated me and wanted me gone after today, what would I do with myself? I didn't want to go back home, and I didn't think I could live with myself knowing that he hated my guts.

     There was also something about being near death that made you remember all those times in your life that you'd done something unforgivable. I started to think of Alistair, wondering what must have happened to him after my freak out accident. Had he wandered off the woods too? Did he live? Did he make it to a village that would have him? Those were some things I accepted I would never know.

     My chest hurt when I heaved it took a deep breath, and I found it hard to figure out where things were because the tree canopies had blocked out the moonlight.

     I shivered when my face came in contact with snow as I turned. My arm and leg burned with pain, but I could at least now feel the raised root branch I had tripped on when running.

     Some time passed, and I thought of Marie and wondered if she would be worried about me. I wondered if Lord Evenus was looking for me, but I doubted that. He thought I had gone back to my room, and I was sure he has other things on his mind to think about at the moment. Maybe one of the gatemen I ran past had woken up to the sound of my hurrying feet, but maybe they also ignored it—thinking it was a fox or a wolf in the distance.

     Wolves.

     My heart started to pump faster, and the sound flooded my ears. I had somehow forgotten that these were the forests Lord Evenus and I went hunting in a lot. They had wolves, bears, and foxes. Snakes were rare, but it was unwise to cross them out.

     The blowing wind sent a chill up my spine and rustled the leaves. An owl hooted in the distance. My ears were suddenly focused on the sounds around me. Paranoia confused me and every rustle in the distance was a potential animal willing to rip me to shreds. I knew I was bleeding—the way my breeches stuck to my injured leg was enough to tell me that. The animals could smell blood. It was fall, and they were probably hungry from the lack of prey in the area now.

     All thoughts were confirmed by the low bark so heard in the distance. There was a howl, and then the sound of approaching footsteps. I let out a sigh, preparing myself to die. I had thought of praying one last time, but I didn't feel like I deserved any grace—from God or from Bennett.

     I shook, spotting green and yellow canine eyes in the distance. One, two, three of them. I sucked in my bottom lip, trying not to make a sound as I tried to remain as quiet as possible. They could smell me. It was useless, but anything to make me calm down I supposed.

     One of them approached me, and I started to sob in silence, shaking like a leaf as I waited for the animal to finish me off.

     As it got closer, I shut my eyes, but instead of sharp pain caused my canine teeth buried in my skin, the sound of a gunshot rang through the air. The wolves were whining. One of them probably got hit. I opened my eyes to be greeted by the flood of red-orange lamplight as well as the back of red wolves retreating to the distance. A human was here, but I didn't have the energy to turn and see them.

     There was the sound of footsteps as the light got brighter. A dog barked, and I could hear a faint voice.

     "Manfred."