Chapter 65 Chapter 64
ADRIANA'S POV
I've been running for more than an hour, my feet were more than tired and I think I stopped breathing some twenty minutes ago. None of this made me stop, even when I felt the liquid trailing down my back and the pain intensifying, I didn't stop. Not when my feet threatened to buckle, completely exhausted and unable to carry me further, I didn't stop either. I kept telling myself I've done the hardest part, I have left Xander's pack, I couldn't stop now.
I didn't think I'd made it to the finish line, and while it may take Xander a little while to realize I'm gone. I would rather put as much distance between us as I could before he comes after me. He won't be so forgiving if he finds me, and I really don't want to find out what he would do when he gets to me.
I stop for a brief second and take in my surroundings, so I could think of where to head next. It wasn't smart of me to leave without a map and nothing to keep me alive. I didn't even have a loose change like the first time. All I had was that water bottle and the granola bars. My stomach growled loudly, telling me it has been a while since I last ate.
I've been feeling hungrier these past few days, since I came back from the hospital. I ate a lot and rarely felt full. I wasn't used to this. I uncapped the bottle and gulped down almost half of the water, thoughts of being out here for long and needing it later not coming to my mind. I felt like I could swallow the whole ocean so thinking of the future definitely wasn't on my mind. My chest heaved as I gulped down the water. When I felt like my stomach couldn't take anymore, I closed it back up and tore one pack of the granola bar and bit into it. I almost moaned when it hit my tongue.
It felt like I haven't eaten in days, or even weeks, instead of just a few hours.
I rested my back against the bark of a tree and tried to breathe in through my nose, my heart was beating so fast and sweat was trailing down my face like I was in the rain. took me a few seconds realize I was feeling hot, which was strange because the place was freaking cold. It was the end of the year and the weather was usually unforgiving by this time. I'd thought of bringing something to cover up with, now I see that I wouldn't have needed it
My eyes roved around the place, I looked straight ahead trying to see if I could at least see the end of this path but it was all trees from here on to maybe a few hundred meters in front of me. I looked back and saw the same thing, it was like I was stuck in a never ending loop of greens.
It had scared me at first, because I thought maybe I was going the wrong way and I would never get to the opening. Then I remembered in one of the lycan books I've read, that Xander's pack was hidden in plain sight. It's why when the humans infiltrated most of the lycan packs then, they hadn't got to him. The lushness of the trees surrounding the borders intimidated them, they knew the people there had better knowledge of the forests around them and if they tried to go in, it would be like blindly walking into their deaths so they kept their distance. It wasn't working to my advantage right now.
One, because it meant I still had a long way to go. And two, it reminded me that if Xander sent his guards, they knew this place a lot better than I did, their senses were more heightened than mine and they would locate me very easily.
I stretched my tired limbs, the thoughts motivated me to keep going. If I was going to leave here unscathed, then I had to work fast and ignore my basic needs. I breathed in through my mouth, taking in a much needed lungful of air before expelling it with a heavy sigh.
I pushed off the tree and crouched, stretching my arms downward the way I've seen some of the warriors do in my pack when they were training. My back made a cracking sound and I felt some ease there, there was a blunt pain but nothing that would stop me from moving. I kicked my legs forward at a turn, releasing the muscles. I've never run this much in my life, not even when Carlson had released a deadly snake in my room when I was ten. I couldn't remember why he did that but the fear, that was something I would never forget.
What I was feeling now was a million times more than whatever I felt then. I've come to realize Carlson wasn't really a predator, at least not one like Xander. He just wanted to instill terror in me because it gave him a weird boost of serotonin. Xander on the other hand didn't want to just scare me, he wanted me to like it, to crave the fear he brought within me and that was on all basis fucked up. But I guessed that was Xander for me, the things they said about him held a lot of truth to them.
I take another glance at my back before I start walking this time, feeling like if I pushed myself any further I would collapse. I needed to reserve my energy if I wanted to make it out. Goddess knows I didn't want to sleep in this forest tonight. It had to be three in the afternoon now, so if I was going to get any further than this, I had to start ahead.
I didn't have a specific path I was following, so I just kept going north, deciding it was my best bet now. Most packs kept their north border as the main entrance. It sounded dumb that I was heading there but I doubted they paid the same attention to people going out the way they did to those coming in. Not to mention, most of them were busy so if there were a lot of guards there, then they would be trying to stop anyone from entering.
The walk was much better than the first minutes of running. I realized I had actually gone quite far when I saw the trees getting less dense. I was getting close to the border. The thought made my insides jump in giddiness. My pace increased ever so slightly but I tried to keep it down and not alert anyone yet.
I've started to feel other people's presence around here, not necessarily close by but it wasn't just trees like the first time.
The border security was here, I had to be extremely careful and not cause any attention to myself. I looked up and saw the starts of a road, my mouth slackened as I stared at it like I was watching a dream unfold in front of me. I guess, it was because I never thought I would get here.
I urged my feet to walk more, promising myself the future was just a step away and all I had to do was make it there. It would be a lot easier to find someone going into town when I was on the road. I started thinking of a story to tell them so they would help me. I doubted anyone would just pick off a stranger in the middle f nowhere if they didn't have bad intentions.
'I was hiking with my friends and we got attacked by wild animals and we all ran, I didn't know where they went.'
No, it didn't sound very believable.
Maybe I could say that a bear attacked us, the humans would believe that a lot more than if I said a pack of wolves. Again, I didn't want to make them suspicious. I nodded to myself, the second option sounding way better than the first.
When my feet touched the gravel, I almost jumped but I managed to keep my cool and keep walking on it. I didn't make it to three steps before I felt something painful tug at my lower stomach. I tried to breathe through it, thinking it was just the running and maybe that granola bar was bad. I tried to stand back up, trying to breathe through the pain but it got worse if that were even possible.
I cried out in pain, clutching my stomach as my knees wobbled, very close to giving out. I reached the hard ground, pieces of the gravel digging into my palm. The pain was nothing compared to that of my insides turning. It felt like they were being twisted in the opposite direction.
"Ahhh," I screamed out in agony, somehow it was intensifying. Black dots started to dance in my vision and my first thought was, no, please, I didn't want to pass out, not here where I could be prey to whatever was lurking in the woods.
I was writhing and moaning in anguish, my eyes shut tightly closed because there was nothing else I could do. Just when I thought it was all over, I heard movements from behind me. I forgot about Xander and what he would do to me, just happy that someone could help me.
My whole system rattled when I heard a loud growl, the anger so potent in it the sky almost turned gray.
I shivered, in fear and something else as it clicked to me who it was.
"That wasn't very smart of you, little wolf.'
Everything went black after that.