by Jenna Aileen
I cursed. “Well, we knew this was a possibility,” I said, taking a deep breath. “How many of them do you think there are?”
Valko shrugged.
“It’s hard to say…at least ten.”
I swore again.
“That many?”
“Maybe more. We’ve got to hurry, Conan. If they run into us, it could be really bad.”
*~*~*
Over the next week, I pushed us to go faster than ever, traveling well after dark and taking less breaks than we did the first two and a half weeks of our journey. I could see that it was starting to take its toll on Kathryn, but I would rather have her over-tired than killed by rogue werewolves. All we could do was hope and pray we didn’t run into the pack of rogues. Lord knows what they’d do to Kathryn if they captured us.
“Conan, its pitch-black and freezing cold. Can we please stop to rest and maybe light a fire?” Kathryn asked in a small voice. She drug her feet heavily on the frost-covered ground, and I could hear her teeth chattering loudly.
“No, we have to keep moving,” I commanded, trying to urge her along.
“I can’t feel my feet,” she said flatly. “Or my hands. Or my face.”
I could just imagine the look she was giving me right now. Her eyebrows were probably knit together, her jaw sticking out, and her lips pursed and to the side.
“I’m sorry to hear that. Maybe you should have worn better shoes. And brought a hat and gloves,” I replied sarcastically. She growled and I heard her stomp her foot.
“Wear better shoes? You’ve got to be freaking kidding me, Conan! It’s not like I planned on being kidnapped by a bunch of smelly werewolves! You act like we’re on some dumb camping trip or something. Stupid wolfman.”
“Call me stupid wolf-man one more time,” I growled.
“Stupid. Wolf. Man.” Oh this girl had nerve.
“You’re treading on thin ice, Kathryn,” I told her coldly.
“You forget I’m not as strong or as fast as you are!” She snapped back.
“Yes, darling, you haven’t any of us forget that you’re just a weak, whiny, helpless, little girl,” I snapped, whipping around to face her. She probably couldn’t see me very well in the dim moonlight, but I could see her as if the sun were just starting to set. Tears pooled in her eyes and her lip wobbled. I felt like someone punched me in the gut. I couldn’t apologize to her, but I could at least explain.
“There is a pack of rogues nearby, and I don’t want to risk lighting a fire and having them see the smoke. We need to be moving as quickly and as quietly as possible. So shut up and walk.”
“I hate you,” she whispered, wiping the tears with her dirty sleeve. I grabbed her arm and started yanking her along. She didn’t move her feet at all, and was trying to pull me the opposite way. “Please, Conan. I can’t…” Her voice trailed off and I could tell she was on the verge of a complete breakdown.
“Fine, we’ll take a quick break,” I muttered, letting go of her arm.
She sighed with relief and dropped to the ground with a grunt. Her body was shaking, and her teeth were still chattering rather loudly. She groaned again and sat up.
“I’ll be right back,” she muttered, wrapping her arms tightly around herself and stumbling away.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
She huffed and turned on her heel to face me. “There are two possibilities—pick one,” she snapped before abruptly turning back around to march off into the woods.
“Two possibilities? Oh, never mind,” Sawyer mumbled.
“Conan, I think that—”
“No, we can’t stop,” I interrupted Valko before he could finish chastising me.
“Conan, you’re going to kill her if you keep pushing her like this! If she dies from exhaustion that’s not going to fix our problem with the ro—”
“Shh!” Liam shushed us.
“Liam—”
“SHH! Do you hear that?” We all stopped and listened. Thirty seconds went by, and all I heard was the gentle rustle of the wind blowing through the trees.
“I don’t hear—” A low, mournful howl interrupted me mid- sentence and we all froze. “Kathryn…” I whispered, looking at the others. Their eyes were wide and filled with worry.
Chapter Fifteen, Kathryn
“Stupid wolf -man is so bossy. Who does he think he is?” I grumbled to myself, my body shivering uncontrollably in the cold night air. A bitter wind blew, and I clenched my teeth to try and stop them from chattering so much. This has to be far enough away that they can’t see me or hear me. I thought to myself.
At this point, I didn’t really care. You really lose all sense of dignity traveling through the wilderness with four male captors.
I hastily used the facilities (if you can call popping a squat behind a tree “the facilities”) and started to make my way back to where I assumed the others were. You would have thought by now I would have learned not to walk after dark all by myself, but I’m a slow learner.
A distant howl stopped me in my tracks. My heart started beating faster and faster until I was sure it was going to fly out of my chest.
“H -hello?” I called softly. I knew there was no need to scream because Conan and the others had advanced werewolf hearing. Nobody answered. I shook my head and took another step, quickly turning around when I heard a low growl behind me.
“I swear to God if you—”
“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” Asked a booming voice behind me. I jumped and took a step back as I saw a tall silhouette standing in the silvery light of the moon.
“Who are you?” I asked. This scene seemed all too familiar. Not again…
“I could ask you the same question,” the guy laughed, taking a step closer. I couldn’t make out any of his features, but I could tell that he was head and shoulders taller than me. There was a sinking feeling in my stomach as I wondered if this was one of those “rogues” that Conan had been talking about. I didn’t even really know what a rogue was anyway, except that it was probably really bad.
“I’m sorry, I just got lost on my way home from—”
“Darling, there aren’t any roads, let alone houses, for a good thirty miles.” He took a step toward me. “You aren’t a wolf, I can sense that much. I could guess that maybe you were out camping or hiking? But you don’t have any sort of supplies or camping stuff with you.” The word wolf made my heart beat faster.
“What do you mean wolf?” I asked, trying my best to play dumb. Unfortunately for me, my acting skills were very rusty, and the werewolf could easily sense my lies.
“You know very well what I mean. You’re not wandering these woods alone, are you?”
“Kathryn!” I heard Conan call, his voice filled with worry. The man chuckled as I backed into a tree.
I wasted no time kicking the guy in front of me as hard as I could and taking off toward where I thought I heard Conan calling from. Unfortunately for me, however, the man who I had run into was also a werewolf, so before I knew it I was on the ground with sharp pain shooting up my back. It felt like someone had just dragged knives through my flesh. I cried out in pain as the guy—man—wolf flipped me over and pinned me to the ground.
“So, your name is Kathryn, huh?” he asked in a patronizing voice.
“Get off me!”
He grabbed my head and smacked it hard against the ground, causing me to see stars before I briefly lost consciousness.
*~*~*
I awoke with a pounding head and ringing ears. My hands were tied behind my back and I was laying in a bright orange ring of firelight.
“Ah, finally decided to join us again, sweetheart?” I heard a deep, thrumming voice say. I sat up, slightly confused as to who was talking to me and why Conan had tied me up. Then the memories came flooding back, along with the burning pain in my back. I groaned, trying to blink away the blurriness in my eyes and make out what was going on. I was surprised to see Conan was tied up too, and guarded by two huge, g
ray wolves. There were five or six other men standing around us, all tall and muscular.
“C-CConan?” was all I managed to say before I was picked up and slammed into a tree.
“Yes, we found him, you little liar.”
“Leave her alone, Des!” Conan shouted angrily. One of the men that was standing next to him kicked Conan in the gut, silencing him except for his coughing and sputtering from the blow.
“So, Kathryn,” The way this guy said my name sent chills down my spine, his lust-filled eyes staring directly into mine. “What exactly are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere traveling with them?”
“W-w-with Conan? I-II don’t know,” I said, my voice shaky. Apparently thr truth wasn’t good enough for him.
He punched me so hard I almost lost consciousness again. Stars danced before my eyes as I felt hot blood trickling down my cheek.
“I’m going to give you one more chance,” he threatened, his voice low and dangerous. “Why are you here?”
I shook my head and bit my lip, fear gripping my chest and causing me to shake even more. “I swear I don’t know,” I choked out, the metallic taste of blood filling my mouth.
“Well, there’s more than one way to skin a cat,” he muttered, rolling his eyes and untying my hands.
“Wh—” in one jerk he pulled my sweatshirt over my head, leaving me even colder standing in only my thin button-down shirt.
“Shut up!” He smacked me, then roughly ripped my flannel shirt off. I was unable to hold back my cry of surprise, and tried in vain to push him away. He was so much stronger than me but I somehow managed to knee him in the crotch. He growled and raked his claws across my back. I screamed as I felt my skin being sliced. My tank top was torn to shreds, and I could feel fresh blood flowing down my back.
Des threw me to the ground and raked his claws across my stomach. One of his hands had transformed into a huge wolf’s paw. I squirmed under his weight, doing my best to kick, scratch, punch—anything I could do to try to get him off of me. He smacked my head against the ground and my ears started ringing.
“Stop, please! No! Get off me!” I wailed as he clawed my stomach again, violently. The pain was almost unbearable. Was he going to maul me to death?
My ears were ringing as I continued to fight him. But the more I fought the rougher he was. It felt. In the distance, I heard a bunch of shouting and growling, along with the gory sounds of bodies colliding and being torn apart. Suddenly, Desmond was pulled away from me and engaged in a fist fight with…Conan? How did he get free?
I really had no idea what was going on, and to tell you the truth, I really didn’t want to find out. My first instinct was to curl up into a ball, squeeze my eyes shut and make myself as small as possible. However, the rest of my mind was screaming at me to run.
I somehow managed to get on my hands and knees, and crawl away from the intense battle that was going around me. I grabbed my sweatshirt and shakily stood up. The adrenaline now pumping through my body helped numb the pain of my wounds, and I was able to run for a little while.
It wasn’t long before I ran right into another werewolf. His glowing eyes appeared before I saw the rest of his body. My heart raced and I wished I had some sort of weapon to fight the wolf with. Although I knew that even if I did, my chances of beating him were slim. Then suddenly, I remembered that I still had my knife. Not that it could really do much damage, since their skin couldn’t be pierced by anything other than silver.
“P-p-pplease, don’t,” I whispered as my hand slipped into my pants pocket and the cold metal brushed against my finger tips.
The wolf advanced towards me and I flicked the pocket knife open and stabbed it in the side just as it knocked me to the ground. It yelped and jumped off of me. I was surprised to feel blood on my hands, dripping down from my knife. How did that happen?
The wolf was hurt, but it didn’t run away. All of the blood on my hand caused my fingers to slip and I dropped the knife. The wolf took advantage of my clumsiness and lunged at me once more. I dropped to the ground and rolled, dodging him and grabbing my knife off the frost covered grass. I popped back up just in time for him to take a swipe at me with his ginormous paw. His claws nicked my shoulder and I moaned in pain, falling to my knees.
He stumbled a bit because of his injury, and it was now my turn to attack him. With all the energy I could muster, I stabbed him again in the shoulder and then took off running. He barked and growled as he chased me through the woods, but he never caught up to me.
After what seemed like an eternity of running, I realized that I no longer heard him running behind me. Slowing my pace a bit, I looked back and realized that I was no longer being chased.
Relieved, I dropped the knife and collapsed, my body shaking uncontrollably. I covered my mouth with my hands, smearing the sticky blood on my face. Sobs wracked my body as the adrenaline wore off, causing the sharp, stinging pain to overtake me again. I whimpered and groaned, waiting for the wave of pain to pass. I took a deep breath, bit my lip and forced myself up.
I had to keep moving, if I stayed here any longer they would find and kill me. I hugged myself tightly and walked deeper and deeper into the woods, unsure of where I was going or how long I could make it on my own. If the wolves didn’t kill me, my wounds or the cold surely would.
I stumbled in the darkness until morning light, when I found a creek. I plunged my hands in the icy water and washed all the blood off of them. My throat was so dry, I knelt and greedily drank the clear, sweet liquid until my stomach felt like it was going to burst. Unable to muster up the energy to walk any further, I collapsed on the bank and fell asleep.
The sun was high in the sky when I woke up. A thin glaze of sweat dripped down my neck. The weather seemed way too hot for the end of September. My body was sticky with blood and sweat and I quickly pulled off my crimson-stained sweatshirt and sat up, wincing as my wounds cracked open again. I crawled over to the water and started to splash it on my body.
The water was still frigid, but it felt good on my stinging wounds. I felt like I was burning up, but I still couldn’t stop shivering. I groaned as I remembered what had happened last night. I tried to stand up so I could keep walking but my legs were too wobbly and buckled beneath me.
So I was left lying in the shade of an oak tree, unable to move and in pain. I lay there and watched the sun move across the sky, until it finally set behind the trees. The temperature started to drop, and I carefully pulled my sweatshirt back on, trying to protect myself from the cold air.
I was ravenous, but there was no way I would be able to find any food. At this point, I felt like I would rather die of starvation than have those rogue wolves find me again.
My skin felt cold and clammy, and the pain was almost unbearable. I lay propped up against the tree through another cold, windy night, drifting in and out of consciousness. I was tormented whether sleeping or awake. It was as if my nightmares were sent by the devil himself.
And even after I awoke, I was pained by thoughts of my loved ones. Despair filled me as I tried to come to terms with the fact that I would never see them again.
The person occupying my thoughts the most was Abel. I felt as if my heart was breaking when I thought about how I would never get to see his face again. I would never get to look into his beautiful brown eyes again…never get to feel his strong arms holding me, or see his kind smile. Never again would I hear his sweet voice call my name. It all seemed so unfair. I found myself praying to whoever, that I would somehow make it out of this. It didn’t take long for an odd peace to wash over me, and I soon drifted off into a deep sleep.
*~*~*
“Kathryn!” I heard Conan’s voice calling to me as I ran from a pack of bloodthirsty werewolves. I screamed for help, and again I heard Conan shouting my name.
“Kathryn.”
I opened my eyes and Conan was kneeling beside me, the moonlight casting a silvery halo around the crown of his head. “Conan?” I croaked, trying to s
it up more.
“It’s alright, Kathryn,” he said, his voice soft and comforting. I don’t think I had ever heard him speak like that before—especially not to me.
“Where are the others?” I asked weakly, trying again to sit up, wincing in pain.
“I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter right now.” He gently scooped me up, and started to carry me bridal style.
“Where’s your shirt?”
“It was ripped to shreds when I transformed.”
“I-II think I can walk,” I mumbled, a little confused as to why he was carrying me.
“Um, don’t think so,” he stated, a hint of amusement in his voice.
“But—”
“Now, shush. Save your strength,” he said.
I sighed and complied only because I couldn’t find the energy to do anything else. Otherwise I would probably have been my usual defiant self.
I was too busy trying to stay conscious and ignore the pain (as impossible as that task was.) I felt myself growing weaker and weaker with each passing moment. My head was pounding and I couldn’t see clearly. I glanced down at my stomach and saw that the blood from my wounds had leaked through the sweatshirt. It didn’t gross me out at all. I had never really been bothered by blood, but it did worry me. Was I going to die? It seemed like a lot of blood.
There was hope now that Conan had found me again. Plus, I really wanted to know why I had been kidnapped. Even in death, it would probably bother me never knowing why I had been taken.
I closed my eyes and rested my head against Conan’s chest. I heard the gentle "thump, thump, thump" of his heart beating. I focused on my own heartbeat and willed it to continue. I wouldn’t let it stop. I just wouldn’t. I pleaded with it to keep pumping. I felt his chest slowly move in and out as he breathed. I concentrated on keeping my breathing nice and even like his. Just breathe… I told myself.
Chapter Sixteen, Conan
“Kathryn!” I called, running through the seemingly endless woods. The fight with the rogues lasted longer than I had wanted it too, and in the end over half of them ran away. I sent Liam, Valko, and Sawyer to chase the last few while I searched for Kathryn.