Page 87 of Rescued By the Beast
I dash through the forest, each step a Herculean effort, the pain burning like a whip tearing at my nerves, but I cannot stop. My blood drips from my fur in scarlet trails along the path, each drop stealing more than just strength, stealing my essence, my magic.
The wolves follow me with their howls, the sounds of their paws hitting the ground growing closer and closer. This behaviour is unnatural for them; they don't usually do this after a duel. What the hell is going on?
My vision flickers, blurred, the outlines of the trees blending into indistinct shadows.
Just a little further...
The cabin is ahead.
Its magical barrier glows with an almost imperceptible light, the protection I need. My legs fail me in the last few metres, but I throw myself forward, crossing the invisible boundary.
The wolves stop abruptly, angry growls echoing in the night. Drool drips from their sharp canines, their eyes shining in an animalistic frenzy. Something is wrong.
They are not just angry.
They are out of control.
But the barrier stops them. One by one, they retreat, their ears lowering, their bodies trembling before finally turning and disappearing into the forest.
I fall to my knees inside the safe perimeter, my chest heaving, my skin burning as if it were being torn apart from the inside out. My body responds to instinct, trying to transform back into human form, but something is wrong.
Pain explodes, a cruel spasm running through my limbs. I can't do it. My flesh trembles, hesitates, something inside me refusing to return to normal completely. My clothes appear, but my body is still in disarray. My fingers remain elongated and clawed, my legs bend awkwardly, human skin mixed with beastly fur. My bones hesitate, stuck between two forms, unsure which to assume.
The cold iron... is preventing me from changing.
I am trapped in this anomalous form, a twisted hybrid between beast and man. My own body, my own magic... betraying me.
A groan of pain escapes my lips as I try to move, my muscles stiff, weak, refusing to obey. My breathing is shallow, the world around me swaying, darkening at the edges of my vision.
I struggle to reach for my mobile phone, my clawed fingers trembling, unable to hold anything. My body gives way. I collapse to the floor, crawling on all fours like a wounded animal, each movement making me whimper in pain.
Everything around me distorts, my thoughts stumble, but one truth leaps out of the chaos: this was no coincidence.
The bloody duel happening at the exact moment of the monsters' attack?
The uncontrolled wolves...
This reeks of a trap.
Cold iron spreads through my veins like lethal poison, burning, consuming, erasing every remnant of thefaeessence that dwells within me. Liam discovered my secret, the lineage I inherited from my mother, something I made a point of keeping hidden. Even after my adoptive father hired a mind controller to erase any memory of my weakness from the entire pack's memory, he found a way to discover it. And now, that knowledge is destroying me from the inside out.
I struggle to breathe, to stay conscious, I need to survive...
And then, right in front of me, a pair of familiar eyes.
Green eyes.
She runs across the lawn, coming to my pitiful state with feline agility.
Her silhouette is the last thing I see before darkness engulfs me.
Chapter 27
Sandra
My stomach churns in a whirlwind of nervousness and anxiety.
Today. It will be today. I will tell him the truth.
