Chapter 11: Betrayal

**Amina**

There!

There it went again, the shiny, dark fur coat that let out forceful pants as it reappeared and disappeared behind a row of fir trees. It was mocking me with each coming and goings as if it knew I couldn't follow. As if it knew I couldn't move. 

I was stuck in the middle of a deserted road with my hands and feet shackled in the asphalt, and the more I fought against my captivity, the more the metal handcuffs secured around my skin tightened. My throat became scratchy, and my tongue swelled in my mouth, but I tried to scream anyway as my unease slowly turned into an all-consuming fear. 

Whatever animal that was fled behind the protective cloak of the forest for good and left me in the one position I dreaded most, alone in the dark, helpless and vulnerable. I tried begging it to come back and save me, but my voice cracked at the bitter taste of blood and tears that rushed past my cracked lips and into my mouth. And suddenly, I couldn't talk anymore; all I could do was stare straight ahead and listen to the dragging thumps of my heart rhythmically beat along the passing gusts of wind. 

I laid there for hours, freezing, tired, and scared. My eyes glazed over, and just as my vision began to fade, the deafening sound of deadwood crackling rose in the air. I could feel my body harden when, through the blur, I saw something approaching me, something that, at first, I mistook for a wolf, but whose unmatched features became much clearer with each of its slow and heavy steps.

My blood turned to ice in my veins, for this truly was no ordinary predator. On the contrary, he was ten times the size of an average wolf, with midnight-black fur and hundreds of sharp canines busting out of his mouth, and as he brushed his cold and wet snout on my face, my breathing slowed to virtually nothing. 

This was it. I was about to die. I could feel it as his low growl suddenly grew more frantic, but instead of stretching open his gigantic jaw and cutting me in half as I pictured, he pulled back abruptly.

"Mina?" I heard through my heartbeats the voice that suddenly made the beast recoil. 

"Roxy?" I struggled to answer, whimpering.

"Mina!" my best friend yelled again, but this time the monster's eyes too turned to her. 

I panicked, body and mind trapped, as Roxanne headed straight towards us. I couldn't warn her of the imminent danger, couldn't scream or wave, and because of it, she risked dying too. But then something strange occurred. Instead of tears, I saw a smile twist Roxanne's lips as she neared us, and instead of fear, I saw pride light up her eyes. She planted herself next to the monster, and seconds later, the girl I knew and loved was gone. Her laughing was the last thing I heard as she turned, before my very eyes, into a reddish version of the same beast that tortured and tormented me.

"No!" I screamed, my eyelids snapping open as I jerked awake, covered in sweat.

My heart still raced from my nightmare, and it took a minute for me to come to my senses and catch my breath. I couldn't see anything inside the dark bedroom, and if not for the now-familiar and distinct smell that lingered in the air, I wouldn't have known where I was.

"Roxy?" I called out weakly as I climbed out of Benjamin's old bed.

With shaky legs and a head buzzing and throbbing, I fumbled around the room's walls in search of the light switch, and when my eyes finally adjusted to the dazzling brightness slowly taking over, I pushed out a sigh of relief. Roxanne was nowhere around, and I was thankful for it. I didn't feel like facing her or any of the Millers again until I could accept the secrets she shared with me. Only, how could I? Werewolves were supposed to be myths, beings of fiction, so nothing about this made any sense. It all felt surreal, almost as if she were playing tricks on me. But then again, I saw her shift, so this was no prank. My best friend was a werewolf, a real one, and I was angry, because beyond my fear started growing in me a feeling I never thought I would ever feel for Roxanne: betrayal.

For years, she had lied to me, each time proving how little she trusted me, and now, I felt our relationship could never be the same.