CHAPTER 7 -The Road That Led Nowhere
Carolyn
I burst out of the forest like a wounded animal fleeing its own shadow.
The sudden openness shocked me so badly that I nearly fell flat on my face.
Trees gave way to emptiness, and under my feet was no longer soft earth or forgiving roots. It was cold, unyielding tar. A narrow, lonely road stretched ahead of me, covered by darkness in both directions, flanked by looming silhouettes of trees that pressed inward.
The night air hit my lungs sharply.
I gasped, choking on it, bending forward as my chest convulsed violently. My breath came in broken, panicked bursts, they were too fast, too shallow, each inhale scraping my throat raw. My heart slammed against my ribs like it wanted to break free, like it was trying to escape my body the way I was trying to escape my fate.
This was it. This was my nightmare, no even worse than my nightmare because this was real.
The moon hung low above the road, huge and pale, its light strangely distorted, pulsing faintly like a living thing. It washed the tarred surface in silver, making the cracks shimmer, my eyes were dizzy and my head banging, making the world feel unreal, like I had stepped into a vision I wasn't meant to survive.
My feet hit the road hard.
Slap. Slap. Slap.
The sound echoed obscenely loud in the silence, each strike of my heels against the tar reverberating through the night. I winced with every step, flinching at the noise, my heart leaping into my throat as panic screamed through my veins.
I'm too loud. They'll hear me. They'll get me.
But I didn't stop. I couldn't, I just kept running.
Pain screamed up my legs with every step, my bruised feet protesting violently against the rough surface. My calves burned, my thighs trembled, my knees threatened to buckle beneath me. Sweat soaked through my torn clothes, chilling instantly against my skin in the night air.
My vision blurred further, my tears mixing with sweat, stinging like acid. My mind spun wildly, my thoughts were crashing into one another without order.
Where am I going? How long have I been running? Why won't my body just give up already? Was it because giving up meant dying or was it something else. One thing everyone fears the most us death, the very end.
Somewhere behind me, too close, I felt them. I didn't need to hear them to know.
But I did anyway. The night resonated their sound.
The pounding of paws against the ground, heavy and relentless. The low, feral growls and loud scary howls. They had shifted forms, wolves. So many of them.
This was it, my pack was now the enemy, my home was now my doom.
The realization struck deeper than any blade.
My chest tightened painfully as voices cut through the darkness, sharp, dripping like viper's venom, tearing at me with every word.
"Catch her!"
"Don't let her get away!"
"Don't let the killer escape!"
The word hit me like a physical blow. Killer. How do you go from being the future Luna to being a hunted killer, this was something you could only see in fantasy books, not something that happens in real life.
My breath hitched violently, my vision blurring as hot tears spilled down my cheeks. I stumbled, barely managing to keep my balance as sobs clawed their way up my throat.
"Killer?" I gasped hoarsely, my voice lost to the night. "You think I'm a killer?" Someone please wake me from this nightmare because this can't be real.
The road stretched endlessly ahead of me, empty and hopeless. No houses. No lights. No refuge. Just darkness, hope devouring darkness, there was no light at the end of the tunnel here, just death, darkness and judgement.
Just the echo of my pack's hatred snapping at my heels.
My heart broke open with soundless screams.
Did they really believe it? Did all of Silvermoon believe that I had murdered Alpha Alexander, the man who had blessed me with his own hands, whose voice had been warm and approving, whose eyes had looked at me with kindness? I remember how he smiled at me and how his face brightened as he tasted my moonspice tea, before everything turned sour.
The father of my chosen mate. The man I loved. The man I would have followed anywhere. Peter. I could never do such a thing to him, how was this even up for debate.
The thought of his name sent a sharp, twisting pain through my chest. My throat tightened so badly it hurt to breathe.
Peter, how could you believe this?
What could I possibly gain from Alexander's death? Status? I hadn't even had time to become Luna. Like make it make sense, what could my motive possibly be.
Even if I was going to kill the alpha I wouldn't do it so stupidly, making myself the obvious prime suspect.
I had barely tasted happiness before it was ripped away from me, stained with blood that wasn't mine. Tears streamed freely now, blinding me as I ran.
My surroundings blurred into streaks of silver and black, the road melting beneath my feet as my vision swam.
The moonlight pulsed again, brighter this time, like a strobe that made my head throb.
I blinked hard, shaking my head as a strange sensation rippled through me. The air around me seemed to hum, vibrating faintly, like a distant chant carried on the wind.
Carolyn...
I froze mid-step, my heart pounding violently.
"What?" I whispered, my voice shaking.
The road was empty. The night was silent, too silent. Then the whisper came again, softer this time, curling around my mind instead of my ears. Run...
My head throbbed painfully. My neck stinged like hot coal was placed on it. I pressed a trembling hand to my temple, my breath hitching.
"I am running," I sobbed. "I never stopped."
The moon flared suddenly, its light brightening unnaturally. Silver flooded the road, crawling up my legs, washing over my skin like cold fire. For a heartbeat, a single split second, I saw things that weren't there. Or maybe had always been there.
Shadows moved where no bodies stood. The road beneath my feet seemed to ripple, like water disturbed by unseen hands. Symbols and runes, faint and glowing, flashed briefly along the tar before vanishing.
I cried out in panic.
"No, no, no...please..." I shook my head violently. "I can't be losing my mind now." But the whispers didn't stop.
They amplified.
Fragments of voices brushed against my thoughts, too many to understand, layered and overlapping, neither male nor female, neither kind nor cruel.
"Innocent...Marked...Chosen." They were like whispers but they were so distinct I could hear them clearly.
"Stop it!" I screamed, clutching my head as tears blurred everything. "Just stop!"
My foot caught on a crack in the road. I went down hard and pain exploded through my knees and palms as my body slammed against the hard tar. The impact knocked the breath clean out of me, leaving me gasping soundlessly as stars burst across my vision.
I rolled onto my side, curling instinctively inward as a sob tore from my chest. My entire body shook uncontrollably, exhaustion crashing over me in a suffocating wave.
I couldn't run anymore. I couldn't even move or stand. I had nothing left. My limbs felt like lead, my muscles screaming in protest as I tried to push myself up and failed.
My vision dimmed at the edges, the moonlight blurring and fracturing above me. The pounding grew louder. Closer.
Footfalls echoed against the road, no longer restrained by the forest. I felt the vibrations through the ground before I heard the snarls, the hot breath, they were boiling with fury.
I turned weakly onto my back, tears sliding down my temples as I stared up at the moon.
"So this is it," I whispered hoarsely. "This is how I die."
A shadow loomed over me. Then another. And another.
Warriors emerged from the darkness, massive and terrifying.
Fear rooted me in place. Was this the end? What was going to happen to me? Was this how I would die, alone and cold. I couldn't even scream, just quiet sobs as tears streamed down my face. A sudden force slammed into my side.
I cried out as I was grabbed roughly, claws digging painfully into my arms as I was hauled upright only to be thrown back down onto the road. My body skidded across the tar, my skin tore, the pain burned through every nerve.
"Got her!" one of the warriors barked triumphantly.
I landed hard, the impact rattling my bones. I curled instinctively, coughing violently as the taste of blood filled my mouth. Boots surrounded me.
A rough hand grabbed a fistful of my hair, yanking my head back so hard tears sprang instantly to my eyes.
"There you are," a voice sneered above me. "Thought you could outrun justice?"
