Chapter 166: We Can’t Outrun It

The longer she stayed on Winnie’s back, the warmer she felt. "Does it hurt when you shift?" She asked.

Winnie grunted twice, and Maya smiled into her fur. Maybe someday, she was going to experience that.

She didn’t know why she didn’t have a wolf, and she was starting to wonder if she was an anomaly and would have to live the rest of her life like this.

"Do you think I’ll ever get my wolf?" She asked softly.

One grunt.

"I hope so too."

It was easier to talk now, and for some reason, she didn’t want to shut up. It might be because it was so dark and quiet.

She could tell Winnie was tired; she didn’t run, she just steadily walked. At first, she thought it was because she didn’t want her to fall off, but soon enough, she could tell it wasn’t that. Winnie was panting as hard as Theo at full speed.

It must have taken some time to find her, and she doubted Alaina had easily parted with the information. Just what did Winnie have to do?

Her heart expanded. She was so grateful; she doubted she would be able to repay Winnie for everything she had done. She didn’t have to, especially now, when her mate was gravely wounded.

Did she even get to tell him?

She wanted to ask about Asher, but she had to keep her questions to yes or no. She also didn’t want to talk about something that would make Winnie sad.

Now that her body was less cold and numb, Maya was starting to feel pain again. However, the pain that bothered her wasn’t the pain in her arm or her feet.

It was her lower back, where the rock had been poking her—but she was starting to wonder if there was even a rock in the first place, as the pain seemed to have spread to her lower abdomen.

"Have you ever been here before? The mines, I mean." She asked, looking around to distract herself even though she couldn’t see a thing.

Is that a sticky feeling between her legs?

No!

She was likely just feeling weird because she wasn’t numb anymore. Now that sensation was returning to her body, she was bound to notice things she didn’t notice before.

The baby was fine.

My baby is fine.

"Have you been here before?" She repeated, yelling more than she needed to as her stomach twisted.

Two grunts.

"Oh," she replied.

She had a feeling Winnie had replied before, but she didn’t hear her. Her thoughts were jumbled; it was hard to pay attention. She wished she could see. It would at least distract her from everything.

"It’s so dark. I can’t even make out the walls."

One grunt.

"Are we close to the exit?"

One grunt.

Silence.

Maya clamped her lips together as the pain in her abdomen intensified. She screamed internally; her chest felt as though it was about to rip apart. She couldn’t lose the baby too.

Winnie grunted, slowly down as she noticed that something was wrong. She made a sound as if to ask what was wrong.

"Winnie. I think I’m losing the baby," she burst out, tears streaming down her face. "It hurts so much, Winnie. My baby!"

Winnie froze but only for a moment, then she set off, running over the uneven ground as Maya sobbed on her back.

They were pretty close to the exit, and light poured in, but it barely made it past the entrance because of how dark the mines were.

She hopped over the rocks, careful about where she landed, before she got onto the loose sand of the beach. She stopped and carefully placed Maya on the sand before shifting.

"What do you mean?" She asked over the sounds of the waves crashing on the beach. Her pale body and golden hair hovered over Maya.

She lifted her head from off the sand. Her dress was dirty and stained with blood. She didn’t smell anything different, but Maya was already covered in blood; she wouldn’t notice more.

"The baby," she whispered shakily and moved a hand to her lower abdomen.

Winnie’s eyes followed her hands, and blood drained from her face. There was a dark patch just underneath her hand.

"No!" She cried. "We have to get you to Richard. He can do something, I am sure."

Winnie was shaking. She was willing her body to move as she held Maya, but her heart felt like it had been nailed to the earth, and she couldn’t move a muscle.

She bit her lip to snap out of it, feeling the metallic taste of blood. She lifted Maya again, carrying her as she had earlier before shifting.

Maya was sobbing, her shoulders shaking on her back as she ran over the sand. Her legs burned and her lungs hurt, but Winnie didn’t care. She ran as fast as she could.

Her vision was blurry, and the wind scattered her tears, but she didn’t need to see to know where she was going. She prayed to the moon goddess to protect the baby.

Suddenly, the ground shook like an earthquake—but not quite. However, the shaking didn’t stop. The entire sand vibrated enough for the grains to bounce.

"What was that?" Maya asked as she lifted her head to look.

The sound was too scary to ignore, and for a moment, she put aside her pain.

"An earthqua—ahh!" She yelled as she looked towards the ocean. "A tsunami!"

A wall of water, easily twenty meters high, rose beyond the beach and it was rushing toward them. It would drown out the town—or worse.

Winnie let out a howl as she began to run, but Maya pulled on her fur. She winced as pain tore through her arm but she could let that slow her down.

"No!" She screamed over the loud rushing sound of water.

"Towards it, trust me. There isn’t enough time. We can’t outrun it. We will die either way."

Winnie slowed down, but she was still running in the wrong direction.

"Please, Winnie. I don’t know if it will work, but there is no way we are outrunning that tsunami. Trust me."

Winnie let out another howl and turned around, heading right for the huge body of water that seemed to be increasing in height as it rushed toward them.