Prologue
Her eyes flickered back and forth, heart racing in her chest as they slowly approached. Her ears pinned against her head, teeth bared in a growl at the approaching wolves. Compared to her size, the wolves and the alpha towered over her. If they intended to be intimidating, they succeeded. She looked back quickly at the rushing river behind her, the ground falling off. The drop far enough below for worry but not enough for fear of death. 'If I jump I'll survive'.
As if reading her mind, the alpha, Adam, spoke, his tone sickening. "Now now, no need to risk your precious life when you could simply come with us."
She looked back over to meet his glowing gold eyes, smile smug and filled with beautiful lies. His dark hair was as wild as he was, from his recent shift, and his hands rested in his pants pockets. Relaxed. Unsettling.
He nodded to the two wolves on either side of him, them slowly moving to surround her.
She took a hesitant step back, her back paws causing loose stones to tumble down into the water below. His eyes grew wide then narrowed, taking a step forward. Pulling his hands from his pockets, clenched into fists.
"Don't do anything stupid, Raelyn, shift back and come home to your pack, to me," his tone turned soft, the voice of the man she used to know, the one she fell in love with. Her heart ached. She looked to the two wolves on either side of her, teeth bared.
All this trouble and for what? Her pack, the people she trusted now ready and willing to attack at the nod of a head. She looked back to her alpha, feeling the weight of his pleading stare. The human in her wanted to run back to his arms, ignore any and all instincts about this man. Luckily she wasn't the one in control. 'Run'.
"Never, again." Not letting him say another word, she spun around and jumped.
For those five seconds, she felt the closest to flying.
Then ice.
Ice-cold water encompassed her body, water soaking her fur as she struggled to keep above the water. She gasped as her muzzle pushed through the surface of the water. She scrambled to hold onto a log, doing her best to dig in her nails, panting. She looked back to the cliff face she jumped from. Through the rushing of water, she saw the alpha at the top of the cliff, watching her.
Panic ran through her as she struggled to keep a hold of the log, not being able to take her eyes off him. That was a mistake. The log spun with the force of the water, throwing her against a rock, her head banging against the hard surface. Pain shot from the back of her head.
Over the water filling her ears, she heard him call to her, "I will find you, mark my words."
Her vision swirled.
And she sank.
