Page 42 of Before the Bond
I was not stopping. I was running for my life.
I cut off the road into the trees because I thought cover, distance — anything to break their line of sight.
Cold air burned in my lungs, but that kept me awake.
The growling closed in. The sound of footsteps turned into scratching. Claws against cement and dirt. They were running.
Don’t look back. Don’t you dare look back.
“HELP!” I screamed.
I looked around helplessly as the slope steepened.
A house. A shed. Something to tell me there was someone here.
“PLEASE!” I begged.
The growling was just within my ears.
I changed directions. In the dark of the trees, more shapes moved. I shrieked and turned left. I came across a rock. Two more shadows leapt up on top of it. I turned again, but realized there were even more approaching. It was no longer a one-way chase.
They were herding me.
I ran another twenty feet and stopped at its edge, chest heaving. I turned to face the dark because I refused to run blind. That’s when I clearly saw what I already knew was chasing me.
Three wolves, large and pale, stepped closer to me. They stared intently, baring their fangs. They were waiting for something. I did not want to know what.
My heart hammered against my ribs. I pressed the back of my hand to my mouth and made myself breathe through my nose.
Stay still. I had to stay calm. I had to make no movement whatsoever.
The wolves drew even closer.
Tears streamed down my face. If I ran, they'd be close enough to pounce. If I stayed, they were going to attack anyway.
My hands shook.
I thought about my parents. I thought about the growls and barks followed by my parents’ screams. I cried without uttering a single sound. I couldn’t go anywhere.
All of a sudden, a fourth shape emerged from the dark.
A black wolf cut between me and them. It was larger than the ones in front of me. Bigger than anything I’d seen.
The black wolf howled furiously. I expected it to attack me. Instead, it moved in front of me.
The pale wolves growled back. One of them, the one on the right, finally pounced.
I pressed myself against the nearest tree and watched.
It was brutal. The second wolf engaged and the black one held its ground. The others bit at the intruder, but it stood there unfazed. Out of nowhere, the third wolf lunged toward me.
The black one crossed the clearing in three strides and planted itself between me and the third wolf. It was even closer to me now. And then I felt it.
A strong pulse from deep inside my body. It felt like one that happened not too long ago.
The wolves gauged one another. The black one was heavily injured, but the pale wolves were even more torn up. Still, theytested it — snapping, feinting, circling closer. Each time, the black wolf held its ground, absorbing the blows and striking back harder. Blood matted its dark fur. A pale wolf yelped sharply and stumbled back. Then another.
After a moment, the pale wolves finally ceased their growling. They retreated.
