Healing His Broken Luna.... Chapter 93

#####Chapter 6 - Chase

The smell of the pine trees engulfed me the further I went into the forest. I continued to run as fast as my little feet could carry me. My heart's pounding so hard in my chest, I'm sure any wolf within a mile radius could hear me.

I stumbled over a fallen branch and picked myself up to keep running. I wasn't sure where I was going or which direction to go. I could still hear the howls echoing in the mountains behind me and knew I needed to keep pushing forward.

Should I try to find humans? Should I seek help from a neighboring pack? The she wolf in the barn knew my name. She was from Blue Mountain Pack. I wonder if they would help me? No, they had attacked our pack, they'll probably kill me on sight.

Sunset was on the horizon and the forest was starting to get darker. Wolves have excellent night vision, they were definitely going to hunt me through the night. My hip was still hurting from yesterday's beating, my ribs ached, my head was throbbing, and the adrenaline was pumping. I was still in Sapphire Moon territory, I wouldn't have a chance to escape until I was beyond the territory. 

"Try the river." A voice inside of me whispered. Or maybe it was my subconscious.

I kept moving south east hoping to find a body of water to float in with a strong current that would carry me away faster than I could run.

I heard a growl and saw a flash of gray fur running towards me in my peripheral vision. He stopped in front of me and I froze at the sight of the big wolf. The only noise that could be heard was my panting and my heart racing. He nodded his head, as if to greet me. I swallowed hard and stepped back, I didn't recognize him. I knew I wouldn't be able to outrun him, so I stood still because running triggers chase within the animal. I prayed he would deliver a quick and painless death.

He moved behind a tree and shifted into human form. I diverted my eyes to respect his privacy. Wolves are not typically bothered by nudity, but I was.

"Don't be afraid of me. I'm going to help you get out of here. I was friends with your mother when we were pups. I'm going to shift back, and you can ride on my back." He said with great urgency.

I nodded my head. He wasn't trying to kill me, at least not yet. If he runs back in the direction of the pack, I'll jump off. His gray wolf walked slowly back over to me and lowered himself so that I could climb on. I haven't ridden on a wolf since I was a pup on my father's wolf. I tried to hold tight on the back of his neck as he took off running.

He jumped over a fallen log and I lowered my head into his back trying to hold on for dear life. I wondered who this wolf was. He said he knew my mother, but my mother wasn't from Sapphire Moon. My father had found my mother while visiting another pack, I just couldn't seem to recall the name of her pack at the moment.

"Blue Mountain Pack." My subconscious whispered to me again.

That's it! It was Blue Mountain Pack. This wolf was from Blue Mountain. What was he doing here? Why did they attack our pack? What did he know about my mother? So many questions stirred inside of me. 

I could hear paws thundering towards our direction and a howl. They were hot on our trail. The wolf carrying me pushed harder and faster. We jumped rocks, logs and zigzagged around big trees. They got closer to us, I could sense them just behind us, I was overcome by fear.

I turned my head and looked, I nearly fell of the wolf carrying me when I saw what was chasing us. My eyes couldn't believe what I saw. It was the biggest black Alpha wolf I've ever seen. I was breathless just looking at him, he had a beautiful shiny raven colored coat and icy blue eyes. He was almost the size of Domino! Alpha Jaxon was running next to him with Beta Keaton and they were dwarfed in size by comparison when standing next to the large horse like Alpha wolf.

He was the scariest and most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

They all stopped running. I wondered if we had finally reached the packs territory line. Maybe they can't chase past the line? Or maybe we had just crossed over into someone else's territory.

A moment later, the wolf I was on came to a halting stop. I look up to find that we had run out of ground to run on. We had run right to a cliffs edge and had nowhere else to run. Eight naked men stepped out of the tree line. They had shifted into human form and they were here to kill me. Alpha Jaxon, Beta Keaton and Donnatella's mate Alpha Lukas, stood with five other warriors. They looked angry, arrogant and ready to kill ... or torture.

With every step forward they took to trap us, the gray wolf stepped backwards towards the cliffs edge. I looked down, we had nowhere to climb down or run. I had already decided that I would rather jump off the cliff than have them take me alive. I was going to leave this cruel world on my terms.

I felt terrible for the gray wolf trying to protect me. He didn't even know me and owed me nothing. Yet here he was, looking into the eyes of this murderous clan, knowing he was moments away from death. He shifted back into human form and stood beside me.

"WHO ARE YOU AND WHY ARE YOU ON MY LAND?" Alpha Jaxon growled.

"I'm no one that concerns you." The man standing next to me said. He reached his hand to my shoulder and moved my hair to the side. I felt his hand on the nape of my neck and he whispered something strange to me.

I looked up and met the intense gaze of Alpha Lukas. His eyes locked with mine. He probably wanted to kill me as revenge for his mate. I couldn't seem to break my gaze away from him. This was the longest I've ever been able to look into an Alpha's eyes without cowering in fear. Especially this Alpha, who's aura and power was so much greater than the one standing next to him.

I felt a knot in my stomach, almost like butterflies. No, it was probably just nerves. I was about to die and the man next to me had whispered the most ludicrous thing to me. It made no sense.

"Now Syble, GO!" He said to me and shifted back into his gray wolf as Alpha Jaxon shifted into his black wolf.

He knew my name! He was going to be killed trying to save me. Well actually, I was going to die as well. I was going to jump this cliff and it looks like a four hundred foot drop into a raging river.

I inched closer to the edge as the wolves started fighting. They were clawing and biting at each other. I looked into Alpha Lukas' eyes again and it seemed he understood what I was about to do.

"DON'T!" His voice commanded.

Something inside of me wanted to obey him. It wanted to reach for him. He would probably make my death less painful. His beautiful blue eyes flashed sadness for a moment, but I'm sure I just imagined it. That was the last thing I saw before I jumped off the ledge.

I was free falling. I spread my arms and legs out hoping to slow the fall a little. I thought about what that gray wolf whispered to me. "You control the wind. Envision it carrying you to safety. Jump and trust the wind."

I wish the wind would slow down my fall so I don't die on impact, I thought to myself. In that same moment a gust of wind was blowing against me. Slowing down my fall. Everything seemed to slow down, except the wind. It was as if I was cradled in a breeze and I was floating down into the river.

I splashed in the river and the shock of the cold water numbed me. I'm so exhausted. I have absolutely no energy to fight against this fast moving river that started sweeping me away. I may have survived the fall but I'm pretty sure I'm going to drown.

I floated to the surface, and let the water carry me away. I prayed the wind was blowing with the current and not against it so I could move faster. The further away I got, the better. The river was moving more rapid than I could run, and the wind was blowing it even faster.

There's no way Alpha Jaxon would believe I survived that fall. I doubt even the strongest of our warriors could survive it. I was weak, malnourished and broken. The fall should have killed me.

Once the river rounded a turn, and I was sure I couldn't be seen from the cliff's edge, I tried to doggy paddle and stay clear of big rocks. I let the river carry me away. It was nearly dark, and the temperature was dropping, I couldn't possibly remain in the water without getting hypothermia.

I floated by an open meadow and saw a chain of small cabins. I could smell smoke from the fireplaces burning and wondered if this was a human village. I wasn't sure, I've never actually met any humans before.

I moved to the edge of the river to climb out but slipped. It continued to carry me further away. I tried to step out again and climbed on a rock. I scurried over the rock and onto the river's edge. Somehow it seemed much colder out of the water than in the water. I didn't have any body fat to help keep me warm and started shivering.

I need to find warmth and dry clothes before I freeze to death. I walked through the forest and could see the glow of lights from a distance. I moved as quietly as I could, hoping to find some humans camping. I didn't have a plan at the moment, I didn't even know what to do if they tried to talk to me. I wasn't comfortable speaking, especially after not speaking for eight years.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" I heard a man's voice say as he stepped out from behind a tree. He was mid thirty, blonde hair, green eyes and in great physical shape.

The way he was dressed, anyone else would have mistaken him for a human camper. But I knew better. I could sense his wolf just below the surface. This was no human; this was a wolf. Possibly a rogue. I stopped and took a few steps back.

"Look at you, all soaking wet. Are you lost?" He asked.

I looked him in the eyes and wondered if he could tell I was from a pack or if he actually believed I was human.

"We can help you find your parents. What's your name?" He stepped closer to me.

I shook my head no and watched his every move.

"You're a tiny little thing. How old are you? Fifteen? Sixteen maybe? Not much meat on your bones, don't your parents ever feed you?"

"What's taking so long?" Another male with olive skin and dark features stepped out from behind the wolf, but he wasn't a wolf. He was human. At least, I think he's human. I couldn't sense or smell a wolf. 

"This is our lucky night Saul, we have a bonus prize." The wolf said to his friend with a smile on his face.

"Where are you from?" The man named Saul asked me.

I turned my head and looked in the direction of the cabins in the open meadow I floated by not too long ago.

"Are you staying at the resort upriver?" He asked.

I nodded my head, hoping they would believe I was staying close by and if something happened to me, it wouldn't go unnoticed.

"Well she's certainly not staying in the pack north of that. She must have gone for a walk and fallen into the river. It's moving so fast, I doubt the humans will look very hard. They'll just assume she died in the river and floated away." The wolf said.

"She's a pretty little thing. Would look much better if she fattened up a little." Saul told the wolf as if he was deep in thought.

"She might not be worth as much as the others, but we should take her anyway." The wolf said and jumped on me.