Chapter 84: RUN

The night swallowed her whole.

Branches whipped across her bare arms and face as she stumbled through the forest, the expensive fabric she’d stolen hanging awkwardly from her shoulders. Every breath scraped through her lungs like broken glass, yet she refused to stop.

She couldn’t.

Her trembling hand never left her stomach, and she didn’t even realise she was crying until warm tears mixed with the cold wind racing past her face.

Run.

The only word left inside her head.

Run.

Run.

Run.

Behind her, the mountain loomed between the trees like an ancient beast watching her flee its jaws. She didn’t dare look back once, and every crack of a branch made her heart leap into her throat.

Every rustle of leaves sounded like footsteps, and every gust of wind sounded like wolves were closing in on her. She had spent too many years being hunted to convince herself this would be any different.

Her feet slipped on wet moss, but she quickly caught herself against a tree, almost collapsing before forcing herself upright again.

She pushed herself forward again, but the forest seemed endless.

She wanted to believe this was the same forest that stretched just beyond the castle — the one she had escaped into twice. But she had a feeling it wasn’t. After all, she didn’t remember ever seeing a mountain in that forest.

And to be honest, her memories were foggy the whole time from the moment the guards had barged into the dark room and dragged her to the cave, so she couldn’t tell.

The moon slipped between thick clouds overhead, painting silver ribbons across the ground before hiding again.

She looked around again.

She had no idea where she was going, but she did know that she couldn’t stay.

Not there.

Never there.

Her palm pressed harder against her abdomen, "...You’re okay..." She whispered it without thinking, "I’m here..." Her lips trembled, "I’m here..."

The words weren’t for herself anymore.

They were for the tiny life she’d only discovered moments ago.

Her child.

The thought almost made her stop running.

A child...

Her child.

His...

She squeezed her eyes shut, "No..." She muttered to herself. She refused to let herself think about him!

Not now.

Not ever.

But the image of Malachi standing inside the cavern flashed through her mind anyway, when he had stood there, watching her in utter disbelief like the rest of them.

Or that one, small step he had taken when she had realised she was pregnant.

Wait...does that mean he also sensed it too? No, that was impossible! The mate bond is gone. She felt it tear apart the moment he rejected her.

But he did seem concerned when he had taken that step.

"No." She shook her head violently again, "It isn’t real."

It couldn’t be.

The man had chained her.

He had refused to fight for her. He never believed her.

He had stood there while they prepared to take her one by one.

Whatever she’d imagined seeing on his face had simply been exhaustion, or disbelief. Or some default in his usual character.

Nothing more.

She wouldn’t allow herself to believe anything else, because believing otherwise would only hurt more. And she’d been hurt too many times!

The forest became steeper as she kept moving, sharp rocks tearing into the soles of her feet.

Blood marked every step she took now, but she never slowed. Her breathing became ragged too, and slowly, the burning beneath her silver veins slowly faded.

The overwhelming strength she’d felt before had disappeared back in that cave, and now the silver was also gone.

Not particularly gone, but... sleep again.

She could feel it retreat deeper inside herself, like it had been a roaring ocean now withdrawing and turning back to calm water.

And now that all that released energy was completely gone, exhaustion began shaking her body again. The pain from the rejection that had burnt her fire was back again, and her pace slowed.

She was so incredibly tired, and she was burning hot.

"Wolf?" She whispered.

Nothing answered, and her heart lurched.

"Wolf?"

Silence answered once again, then a very faint voice replied, *I’m here*

It was like hearing someone speak from the other end of a dream, and the voice no longer carried the terrifying growl from before.

It sounded...sleepy and gentle.

*Forgive me...*

Della slowed even more, *Are you leaving me again?*

Her throat tightened.

*No.* It replied. The answer came after several breaths. *The Awakening is complete...*

Another pause.

*But it’s our first time, hence, I’m trying to adjust to it properly*

Before Della could say anything else, the voice continued.

*I will be back, Adelaide. And do not worry, your power is yours,*

It yawned softly.

*You’re the first Rotblood to ever reach the point of awakening. You’ve done well,*

The connection weakened even further.

"I don’t understand."

*You don’t have to.* The wolf sounded impossibly distant now, *Not tonight. Just focus on yourself and the baby’s safety*

*What’s your name?*

Silence again, and for several long seconds she thought she’d lost her again.

Then...

*Asteria* It whispered.

The bond dissolved, and Della felt it.

It was sleeping once again.

Della stood motionless beneath the trees for a moment, her mind still reeling from the conversation she’d just had with...Asteria. She felt neither alone nor accompanied, which was an oddly comforting emptiness.

Almost peaceful.

Her hand drifted back to her stomach, and the tiny flutter returned. So faint she almost smiled.

A shaky laugh escaped her, "You startled me."

Another tiny movement answered, and fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I know..." She whispered, "I’m scared too."

She then slid down the trunk of an ancient oak until she sat on the cold earth.

Everything hurt.

Her shoulders.

Her legs.

Her wrists where the chains had bitten into her.

Her throat.

Her heart.

Her entire life.

She wanted to stay there forever and just breathe.

But instinct screamed louder than ever.

Move.

Move before they find you.

She forced herself back onto shaking legs and continued to move.

The forest gradually grew quieter, and it got to a point where the moving insects that reassured her that she wasn’t alone stopped singing.

The silence became so complete that she could hear every heartbeat inside her own chest.

Something was wrong.

The hair along the back of her neck slowly rose as if to confirm her thoughts, and she stopped walking entirely.

Nothing.

No footsteps.

No voices.

No wolves.

Only silence.

Her instincts screamed anyway.

Someone was there.

She looked around her surroundings frantically.

Up the trees.

Below.

But she didn’t need to keep searching, because just the way one feeling recognised the other or how she could always recognise the back of her pal anywhere...she already knew who was watching her.

"Moonfire," The voice was calm. Deep. Too familiar.

Despite knowing already, all her muscles still locked together. Slowly...so painfully slowly...she turned around.

Moonlight spilled through the trees, and there he was standing several yards away between the shadows, one hand resting against the trunk of a towering pine.

His black clothes were stained with dust from the cavern.

His blue eyes glowed in the dark, never leaving hers.

He wasn’t breathing as hard as she was. Hell, he didn’t even look as though he’d been running, as though the forest itself had simply delivered him to her.

Neither of them spoke, and Della instinctively stepped backwards, both hands moving over her stomach.

The tiny protective gesture didn’t escape him.

His eyes dropped briefly to where her hands rested before returning to her face, and something unreadable flickered through them.

"What do you want?!" She snapped at him.

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