Chapter 99 Between Life and Death

Chapter 99 Between Life and Death

Chloe's POV

I froze. I barely breathed.

The little piglet was still rooting around at the edge of the bushes. But the girls who'd been crowding around it for photos just seconds ago were already screaming. They bolted backward.

They slipped and stumbled. Hair flew everywhere. They charged straight toward me.

"Run! Get out of here!"

"Oh my god, the wild boars are coming!"

Their panicked scramble was exactly what set the two adult boars off.

The bushes exploded. Dirt flew. Heavy hooves thundered against the ground. The boars charged straight at the crowd.

My legs locked up. My whole body went numb. I couldn't move.

Lucas clamped down on my wrist. He yanked me backward. His voice was sharp and urgent. "Back up! Chloe—get up a tree or get behind me!"

In the chaos, one girl slammed into my shoulder. She cowered behind me, shaking. Another grabbed a fistful of my jacket and broke down sobbing. "Save me! Please don't leave me!"

I was caught off guard. Furious and panicked all at once.

"Let go of me!" I wrenched her hand off.

The lead boar was almost on us. Its black bristles stood on end. Tusks gleamed cold in the light. It closed the distance at terrifying speed.

Lucas stepped in front of me. He shoved me hard toward the safe zone off to the side.

"Get behind the tree!"

Before the words even landed, he pulled out his knife. He sidestepped the boar's charge with a sharp twist of his body. He planted his foot against a nearby tree and launched himself into the air.

The massive boar slammed past the tree. It rattled the trunk to its roots.

A split second later, Lucas came down from above. He drove the blade hard into the back of the boar's skull.

The boar let out a piercing, gut-wrenching shriek. It went berserk. It thrashed and slammed its head in every direction. Lucas locked one hand into its coarse bristles to hold on. His other hand gripped the knife handle. His whole body bore down on the animal as it raged beneath him.

"Everyone back! Get away from here!" he bellowed.

The crowd finally snapped out of it. They screamed and scattered in every direction.

The boar tore through everything in its path. It smashed through a low fence along the trail. Mud and leaves flew in all directions. Pure chaos.

Lucas's legs were locked. Every muscle in his back and shoulders strained. He fought to hold the animal down. He pressed it toward the ground with everything he had.

I had never seen him like this.

Blood poured from the wound on the boar's head. It spattered across Lucas's arm in dark red drops.

He didn't let go. He held on and kept pressing down. Until the boar finally ran out of fight. It crashed to the ground with a heavy thud. Its legs twitched once, twice—then nothing.

I was just about to run to him.

A low, savage roar exploded right behind me.

There was still another one.

I spun around. The second boar—bigger, heavier, pure black—was already barreling straight at me at full speed.

The two girls who'd been hiding behind me took one look at it. They screamed even louder. In their panic, they actually shoved me. Pushed me forward, right into the boar's path.

"Are you insane?!" I was shaking with rage. Cold to the core.

But there was no time to say anything. The boar was almost on me. Lucas's words came back instantly—get up a tree.

I grabbed the bark of the nearest small tree. I started climbing as fast as I could. But my casted hand was useless. My skirt and jacket tangled around me. I was clumsy and slow.

I'd barely found my footing on the roots when the boar reached me.

All around me—girls crying, people screaming for help, the frantic sound of running feet.

But in that moment, all of it fell away. All I could hear was the boar's heavy, ragged breathing right behind me.

I wasn't going to make it. There was no way out.

Then, at the very last second, a figure burst out of the bushes on the other side.

A tall man in a dark brown jacket. He grabbed the squealing piglet with one hand and flung it hard into the distance.

The adult boar snapped its head around instantly. It charged after him instead.

The man moved fast. Impossibly fast. He ran up the slope. He pushed off a tree root and jumped. The long blade in his hand came straight down and drove clean into the back of the boar's neck.

Fluid. Precise. No wasted movement.

The boar lurched forward two steps. It hit the ground hard. It didn't move again.

The whole mountain went quiet.

All that was left was the sound of heavy breathing and the occasional sharp gasp. People tried to pull themselves together.

I leaned against the tree. My legs barely held me up. I was completely drained.

"Chloe!"

Lucas was at my side in an instant.

He dropped the knife and pulled me into his arms. Hard. Tight. Almost painful against my chest.

He smelled like blood and sweat and mountain mud. It should have been overwhelming. Instead, it made me feel completely safe.

I should have pulled away. I didn't. I just held on.

"Look at me." He cupped my face in both hands. He was breathing fast. His eyes were wide with something raw and shaken. "Are you hurt? Did it touch you?"

I shook my head. My lips were trembling. "No… it didn't. It was so close, though."

The vein at his temple stood out. He stared at me for a long moment. Then he pulled me back against him without a word.

"Damn it," he said quietly. His voice was rough and low.

That's when the two girls finally recovered enough to walk over. They leaned on each other. Their faces were drained of color.

One of them looked straight at Lucas. Her eyes were red. Her voice was sharp with accusation. "Why didn't you help us? You were right there!"

The other one joined in. Her voice cracked. "You only cared about her. We could've been killed too!"

I just stared at them. I genuinely couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Lucas slowly raised his head. His eyes were ice cold.

"Do I know you?" His voice was low and controlled. But the anger underneath it was unmistakable. "Why would I be responsible for every stranger I happen to walk past?"

The two girls went silent. They were frozen in place.

Lucas kept his arm around me and continued. His tone was flat and cutting. "I told everyone not to go near the bushes. You panicked and ran—and you pushed the danger straight toward her."

"She almost got hit because of you. And now you're asking me why I didn't save you first?"

He looked at them both steadily. Each word was deliberate. "I stepped in because it was the right thing to do. I don't need your thanks. But you could at least have some basic decency."

The two girls went completely quiet. Their faces cycled through red and white. They looked mortified.

Then came the sound of hurried footsteps behind us.

Owen finally showed up with the others.

He took one look at the two dead boars on the ground. He stopped dead. "What… what happened here?"

Dahlia and Stella came up right behind him. The moment they saw the blood and the tusks, they both screamed. They stumbled backward.

"Oh my god, that's terrifying! I'm staying far away!"

"Is it actually dead? That's horrifying!"

Dahlia nearly fell over. She grabbed Stella's arm and retreated to a safe distance.

Owen's eyes landed on Lucas's arm and shirt. Both were streaked with blood. His expression shifted. "Uncle, you're hurt?"

"It's not mine," Lucas said flatly.

Owen exhaled and turned to me. Worry was written all over his face. "Chloe, are you okay? You're so pale."

I rubbed my temple. I was too tired to bother answering.

It was obvious I wasn't okay. He didn't need to ask.

But every single time I was in danger—every time I was genuinely scared—he was never there.

The disappointment settled deeper in my chest. I didn't even want to look at him.

Then it hit me.

At some point, without realizing it, I'd become exactly what Owen used to be to me. Impatient. Checked out. Done with trying.

When I stayed quiet and kept my distance, Owen's confusion deepened. He reached out to take my arm.

I stepped back without thinking.

He looked at me. His expression was caught somewhere between hurt and lost. "Chloe… what's going on with you?"