Chapter 109: The Hunt Finds her

Beatrice waited until the sound of Annelise’s footsteps had completely disappeared into the forest.

Slowly, she swung her leg over the branch and jumped. Her shoes hit the ground with a soft thud, scattering a few dry leaves beneath her feet.

She turned in the direction where Annelise had run off to, and smirked.

All it had taken was one name. One name to shatter all of the healer’s defences.

Beatrice stared at the direction of the house again. She’d expected that by now, Della would be getting a big surprise from some very able men.

The noble woman took a step forward, then something below caught her eye.

Something pale lay among the crushed leaves near her boot. She frowned and crouched down, picking up a small herb.

The ones Annelise had been picking before she’d run off.

Beatrice picked up another, and a third, then her brows slowly drew together as she recognised them. Or rather, she recognised what the combination was meant for.

Her eyes moved over the scattered collection again

Frostpetals

Crystalleaf.

Moonbell.

Her expression changed immediately. These herbs weren’t used for a fever, injury, or something similar. They were used together for one very particular purpose.

Beatrice’s eyes narrowed.

Someone was pregnant!

.

.

.

Della sat alone in the cottage, constantly checking out the window to see if Annelise was on her way back. She would often see her stepping through the trees.

Today, that heavy feeling had settled deeper. It’d started a few minutes after Anne had left, and Anne often wandered into the forest to gather herbs, and Della had learned not to worry whenever she disappeared for an hour or a little more.

But this was longer.

And something was creeping in her chest.

Della sat on the edge of the mattress, her eyes fixed on the small window. Breakfast was still brewing under the crackling food, and the sun was up and shining.

Anne had been gone for at least two hours now.

Della tried calling for her wolf again.

Nothing.

Not even the faintest stirring.

She exhaled sharply and pushed herself to her feet.

Maybe Annelise had found something useful and gotten distracted. Maybe she’d gone farther into the forest than usual.

That had to be it.

Still, the uneasiness wouldn’t leave.

Della pulled the old cloak around herself and walked toward the door. She hesitated with her hand on the latch, remembering that Annelise had specifically told her not to leave the cottage.

But Anne wasn’t here.

And if something had happened—

Della pulled the door open, and the cold air immediately struck her face. She stepped outside, looking around the dense tall trees that surrounded the small house, "Anne?" She called out.

Nothing.

Della moved a few steps forward, scanning the trees, "Annelise?"

The forest remained eerily quiet. Then, a sharp noise from behind and her head snapped toward it to see a figure dropping down from behind one of the trees.

Her instincts screamed, and Della just barely, threw herself sideways before a fist tore through the space where her head had been.

She stumbled, catching herself against the cottage wall.

Another figure came from the opposite side.

Then another.

Her eyes widened.

Werewolves.

Three. No, four.

They had surrounded her.

Della’s heart slammed against her ribs. If they were here, then what had happened to Anne?! She immediately looked toward the forest again.

"Well, isn’t the Rotblood a pretty one?" One of them cooed, their nasty-looking set of teeth reminding her of Garrett.

She backed toward the cottage, her hand instinctively settling over her stomach, "Stay away from me."

The largest of them smiled, and honestly, each of them was quite large, "That won’t be happening."

Della’s breathing quickened.

She needed her wolf.

Now.

Please.

Nothing.

She called again.

Wake up!

Nothing.

The first man lunged, but she twisted away, and his claws scraped across the wooden door instead, leaving deep grooves in the timber.

She kicked him in the stomach, but he barely moved.

SHIT!

A second wolf came at her, and Della ducked beneath his arm and drove her elbow into his ribs, but another hand caught her hair and violently yanked her backwards.

Pain exploded across her scalp, and she cried out, catching herself before she could fall. She twisted and kicked backwards, catching someone in the knee.

"Grab her!"

Hands closed around her arms, and she thrashed violently, "Get off me!"

One of them grabbed her wrist and twisted it in an angle that wasn’t right at all. A violent scream ripped out of her mouth, blinding pain tearing through her whole arm while hot tears flooded her vision.

The man holding her laughed, "There’s no awakening to save you this time?"

Della suddenly ripped herself sideways with everything she had, forcing them to lose their grip on her. She bolted, but she didn’t run back into the forest.

She ran back into the cottage, slammed the door behind her and shoved the wooden bar into place with her good hand.

She quickly backed away from the door and window, panting really hard. She knew the door would not hold, and she was scared out of her mind.

The only person who could help her right now was Asteria, and it didn’t seem like she was going to come through.

The first impact came immediately, and the entire door shook.

BANG!

Della stumbled backwards, swallowing tightly before another impact followed.

The hinges groaned, and Della’s eyes darted around the room. There was nowhere to hide, and nowhere to run.

She quickly grabbed the largest knife they had, which was the smallest and possibly the bluntest knife in existence right now.

Her hands shook holding it, while her broken wrist remained pressed protectively against her stomach.

The banging noise came again, and this time the door couldn’t hold them back anymore, and the wood splintered inward.

Della screamed as she threw herself backwards, watching as the men poured into the cottage.

"You see," The largest one smiled again as he walked in, this time more crooked than the last, "We were gonna go easy on you, but—"

She didn’t let him finish.

Catching him off guard was the goal, because she had reached forward in the blink of an eye and jammed the knife straight into his chest.

It lodged deep inside of him, and she watched the shock and pain flash through his disgusting eyes right before another grabbed her hair and yanked her back again, and this time she was sent falling hard.

Her head slammed into the wood, and pain rippled all over her head like it was travelling through her veins.

Before she could clear her vision, a fist grabbed the front of her dress and pulled her up, till she was dangling on her toes.

"Would you look at that?" He jeered, a little happier than she had expected, "You killed him,"

Della looked over and saw him on his floor, blood rolling down the spot she had stabbed, which was directly his heart. He was dying, vomiting blood and pressing a hand over the wound.

The others didn’t care.

They glanced at him and smiled amongst themselves.

Della looked back at the second man holding her up, then she whispered, "You’re next!"

Her head came down on his instantly, but she didn’t headbutt him. She sank her teeth into his nose and pulled, tearing out the whole flesh on his face.

The man reeled back, a horrified scream bellowing out of him as he let go of her. Blood spluttered out of the spot that once held his nose, while Della spat out the dismembered organ inside her mouth.

"Bitch!!" The third roared and reached to grab her, but she rolled out of the way and went straight for the hanging pot.

She didn’t even care how hot it might be. She grabbed the whole thing and threw out the pot and its boiling contents.

The whole thing crashed and splashed over their faces, including the dead one and the one that was still screaming because of his nose.

Their agonising screams followed, along with frantic thrashing and panicking as they desperately tried to get the sizzling contents off their burning skins.

Della used the opportunity to throw herself toward the door, slipping between their irregular movements.

Before she could get there, the one who now looked like Voldemort grabbed her hair again and yanked her back down.

This time, he didn’t let go of her till she was slamming into the hard floor again, the sheer force of it splintering the door under her head.

Della’s eyes burned with pain, and she felt her whole head throbbing once. Twice. Her eyes slowly fell close while staring outside, then one hand reached out achingly, "Anne...,"

A slap followed. So loud and sharp that her whole head whipped to the side, and she tasted so much blood in her mouth right before the darkness finally settled in.

And she stopped moving.

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