Running

Kellan walks towards us now that everyone has left. The other contestants have gone inside, except for Sage.

"Okay, I'm going to speak to Maze. Maybe she has a plan to figure this out. Tomorrow is Sage's event, so..." Darius stops and looks at us. "I'm not sure the plan for that, keep you like this, or let you shift, I'm not sure. So, Kellan stay with her, let her shift, and see if it helps her focus more after." He walks off, and Sage smiles.

She hugs me and steps back. "I shall leave you two to it."

"Okay, so maybe Darius is right, maybe shifting will focus your mind. Maybe it won't. Maybe it will make things worse. For now, though, shift and let your wolf have a bit of time in control. Not full control."

"I don't know how." I can't remember ever doing it. How do I shift?

"Close your eyes, focus on Winter, feel her." I turn to look at him.

"You know her name?"

"Zeus, my wolf, said it. Stop getting distracted, focus."

Nodding, I close my eyes and focus on my wolf, my body shifts and I stand feeling weird. Okay, this is fucking weird.

I hear Kellan's laugh and look next to me seeing his wolf. You will get used to it. Try walking before running, and I mean that literally, walk then run.

I do as he says and wobble slightly before beginning to move faster and faster. The sound of Kellan is still there in my mind, and I push myself to go faster.

Stop! The growl I hear has Winter stop in her tracks. Was that Zeus? Find me, see if you can sense other wolves.

I begin to focus and turn, running forward through the trees. I can sense him, I keep going and see him behind a boulder, jumping over it I land on him.

Ouch! Elara, fucking hell, that hurt.

I laugh slightly but then panic, shifting back I look at him. "Are you okay?" He shifts and looks at me.

"Fine, but you're fucking powerful, so go gentle on me, please." I laugh at that. "I mean it, I was prepared for you. I knew you were going to do it, but fuck that hurt."

"Sorry." Shit, I didn't mean it.

"Don't worry, it's fine." He leans forward and kisses me, my mind losing itself instantly as I pull him closer. My hands pull and rip his shirt as he laughs. I don't care if he thinks I'm crazy. Moving, I pull my dress off.

He groans and pushes me away slightly, my body pushing his over until I'm above him and kissing him. My hands unfasten his trousers, as he rolls over until he’s above me.

I get ready for the whole 'not here' or 'not now', but he continues to kiss me. His lips move along my neck, as his hands pin mine down. His hips move, and he grinds against me.

My legs move, and I try pushing his trousers down with my feet. "Elara."

"Yes, you can't say no." He raises his head to look at me and leans forward, capturing my lips. The word mine growled from my lips as he kissed me back. I finally get him naked, his body staying over mine as I fight to pull him closer.

His hips thrust, and he groans as I whimper. His mouth stays glued to mine as his hips begin to speed up, pleasure sweeping through. Every part of my body can feel it. It's like electricity flowing through my veins.

Crying out in pleasure, I grip him harder as his thrusts become more demanding. My name whispered from his lips as his nails dug against my skin. His mouth moves down my neck, nipping and sucking as he does.

"Please." I want him to claim me. He groans and thrusts deeper.

"Not yet." His words growled as he sped up. Screaming I call out his name as he grunts, and his hips slow. My body relaxes, and my mind goes quiet.

"You're a bad influence." His words have me smiling, but I don't care. He moves and pulls my dress on my body. "You ripped your own dress."

"It was in the way." My body relaxes against his.

"Can you walk?" I can barely talk, let alone walk. My eyes close, and I fall asleep with his arms around me.

Darius

I pace back and forth, my eyes on the treeline as I see Yori and Ash shift back before walking to me.

"Nothing, can't even sense them."

"Which means he went past the fucking point he's not meant to!" Turning, I look at the Beta's. "Find her now!"

"Her?" They look at me, confused.

"Him, them. Just find them." It's been eight hours. I pace quicker, it's taking everything not to give in, shift and find her. My wolf isn't happy about the space, not this amount of space for this long.

"We will search for them.” I watch as they shift and then disappear.

"Kellan won't let her get hurt, Darius." Turning, I glare at William. I never cared about anyone, not like this. Before, there was something; now, it's taking over, and I can't see why they would be gone for eight hours.

My wolf is fighting for me to search for her, but I can't. I stop pacing when I see Kellan walking towards me carrying her. I walk over and see her.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing, she's exhausted and is asleep."

"You've been gone eight hours! Eight fucking hours and went past the border. I had no idea if she was even fucking alive!"

"Oh, look who actually cares." He laughs slightly.

"Don't. By letting her shift, I meant for half an hour, not eight hours!"

"Okay, I apologise, I didn't realise how long we had been gone for. Now, calm down. You're shaking like a mad man."

I wouldn't be if I knew she was safe.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realise we had gone past the line. I just let her run and followed her. It worked. Her mind finally gave her a break, and she fell asleep.”

"Because you fucked her." Of course, he did.

"God, you're so infuriatingly screwed Darius. Yes, I fucked her right out there in the snow."

I step forward and growl, ready to rip his head off as he laughs. William jumps between us.

"You can't act like you care now. Not when you're no doubt still planning to make Lyra queen."

I'm not, I don't think. I don't even know. He's right. I step back. "Sorry," I told her to focus, and I was getting lost in my mind. I was ready to hurt him. Turning, I walk back in. She's back, she's safe. That's all that matters.