II

I could hear his voice in my head. Not because we were connected anymore—he’d severed that when he rejected me—but because it was Kane. His words were always there, like some sick, haunting echo I couldn’t shut out. "Ten..."

I scrambled to get up through the waves of pain crashing through, only to end up collapsing on my butt once again. Sobs wracked through me. Liquid poured from my nostrils, from my eyes, staining my cheeks with salty tears.  My head roared with pain, too much of it, I felt like I was going to explode into bits. 

"Nine..."

I tried again, and this time, I didn't fall or crash back into the floor. My legs trembled beneath me, jellifying as I stood up straight before Kane’s very eyes. His wolf looked bored as I shuddered and trembled, fighting the urge to hold onto my head and fall into the ground crying. 

"Eight..."

He nudged at me, growling, his paws shoving my shoulder back enough to cause me to tumbling back into the ground, obviously growing impatient.  I didn't fall. I couldn’t afford to.

"Seven."

I whipped around him, and as ordered,  I mustn't return to the pack village and raced through the forest, trying my absolute best to ignore the numbing pain shooting through my ribcage. He wasn't coming after me yet, I couldn’t hear his purs thundering, couldn’t hear his growls behind my ears, couldn’t feel him, couldn’t feel nothing, I was numb with the pain and adrenaline surging through me. 

"Six."

I brushed past trees, dry ones with sharp ended twigs prickling at my skin till blood spilt from the fresh tiny scratches and splattered into the dry forest floor. My arms stung with these wounds, which only deepened the faster I ran, the faster I brushed past the trees and barrelled at them like some sort of truck without a brake. 

"Five."

My ankle slammed into a wood laying on the ground and I immediately stumbled to the ground. Pain pulsated through my ribs, throbbing, my head ringing but I didn’t let the pain settle. 

"Four."

I scrambled to my feet, my hands shaking so badly they barely found purchase on the rough ground. My body screamed in pain, the rejection tearing through my chest like jagged glass, but I didn’t have time to care. I couldn’t.  

"Three..."  

I staggered forward, my legs weak and unsteady, but I forced them to move. Each step was agony. My breath came in short, panicked gasps that barely filled my lungs. The tears streaking my face blurred my vision, but I didn’t dare stop to wipe them away. Kane wouldn’t wait. He wasn’t the waiting kind.  

He was coming for me.  

"Two..."  

The growls behind me grew louder, each one like a warning shot through the air. My heart slammed against my ribs as I ran blindly into the forest, branches tearing at my arms and legs. Every sharp twig, every sting of pain was a reminder: I couldn’t stop.  

But it wasn’t enough.  

I could feel him closing in now, the heavy thud of his paws hitting the ground like a drumbeat behind me. His presence was suffocating, this constant, looming shadow that stole every ounce of hope I had left.  

"One."  

I didn’t make it far enough. I wasn’t fast enough.  

Something massive barreled into me from the side, and I hit the ground hard, the air knocked clean out of my lungs. The impact left me stunned, pain radiating through every inch of my body as I struggled to get myself.  

Before I could even think to move, he was on me. His wolf towered over me, all glowing silver eyes and bared teeth. His paw pinned me to the ground with terrifying ease, the claws digging into my shoulder just enough to remind me how easily he could tear me apart.  

I froze, choking on a sob as my wide eyes met his.  

"Kane..." My voice broke, barely more than a whisper.  

He didn’t respond. Not at first. His wolf simply stared down at me, a low growl rumbling from deep within his chest. His breath was hot against my face, every exhale a reminder of how close those sharp teeth were to my throat.  

Then, finally, his voice came through the chaos of my mind.  

"You ran." His tone was calm, cold. "Good."  

I couldn’t speak, couldn’t move. I was too consumed by the terror coursing through my veins by the finality of his words.  

"Why..." My voice trembled, barely audible. "Why are you doing this?"  

His growl deepened, and I flinched as he leaned closer, his teeth glinting in the dim moonlight.  

"Because I need you to understand," he said, his voice soft but laced with something sharp and unforgiving. "You are nothing to me now. To anyone. And nothing runs. Nothing hides."  

Tears slipped down my cheeks, hot and unrelenting, as I stared up at him. My body was trembling so badly I could feel the earth vibrating beneath me.  

"Run again," he ordered, his paw lifting just enough to let me scramble free.  

I hesitated, my legs refusing to cooperate as fear kept me glued to the ground.  

"Run." His voice was sharp this time, a command that left no room for argument.  

So I did. I stumbled to my feet and ran. Ran like the terrified, broken thing he’d reduced me to. Ran with no idea where I was going, just that I had to get away.  But even as I pushed myself forward, ignoring the burning in my chest and the blood dripping from my skin, I knew.  

I wasn’t escaping him. I never had a chance.

"Too slow," Kane’s voice rumbled in my head, low and guttural, as if his wolf had fully taken control.  

I didn’t have time to breathe, to think, to react. His massive form crashed into me, claws digging deep into my back. I screamed, the pain white-hot and searing as his weight shoved me to the ground.  

The world spun around me, dirt and dried leaves sticking to my skin as I tried to scramble away. My nails clawed at the forest floor, but the sharp ache in my back robbed me of air, my body convulsing with sobs.  

“Get up!” his voice roared in my mind, venomous and sharp.  

I pushed myself up on trembling arms, my blood dripping in thick splatters from the wounds on my back, staining the ground beneath me. My legs wobbled, barely holding me, but I forced them to move.  

I had to move.  

His growl followed me as I stumbled forward, tears streaming down my face, blurring my vision. The twigs and branches tore at my arms, the sharp ends scraping the skin already raw from my frantic escape.  

The pounding of his paws against the earth was deafening, growing closer with every step. Just as I thought I had a second, just one brief moment to gain some ground, his claws raked down the back of my legs.  

Pain exploded in my calves, and I collapsed again with a cry, my knees hitting the ground so hard it knocked the breath from me.  

I couldn’t stop. I wouldn’t.  

My fingers dug into the dirt as I pulled myself up once more, the taste of blood coppery on my tongue. My breaths came in short, sharp gasps, but I kept going. I ran, my body screaming in protest, every step heavier than the last.  

Through the blur of tears, I saw it—the cliff’s edge.  

The moonlight illuminated the jagged rocks below, the sharp boulders and twisting branches promising only one thing: an end.  

My chest heaved as I neared it, the ground beneath my feet growing softer, looser, threatening to give way before I even reached the edge.  

But it didn’t matter. I had no other option.  

I slowed just enough to turn back, tears streaking my bloodied face as I cast one final look at him. Kane’s wolf stood a few paces back, his chest heaving, his dark eyes locked onto mine.  

He didn’t move.  

He didn’t have to.  

I saw it all in his gaze—the anger, the satisfaction, and something deeper, something almost... regretful. But it didn’t stop him. It didn’t save me.  

And then I did it.

I leaned back, arms outstretched, as the wind tore at my clothes, my hair. I let myself fall, the world spinning faster than I could breathe.

For a moment, I thought I might see him jump after me. But no.

He stood there, frozen.

I was falling. I was free.

The last thing I saw was him standing at the cliff’s edge, panting, frozen in place as I plunged downward.  

Rocks and branches reached up to meet me, their jagged edges tearing at my skin. The pain was brief, sharp, and then—  

Nothing.