Captive

Kali ran for her life, and for the innocent lives that would die if they captured her.

Every step stained the snow with blood, although she couldn’t feel the cuts on her bare feet. Hell, she couldn’t feel anything below her knees. She’d escaped her prison wearing nothing but tattered gym shorts and a t-shirt.

Not exactly the best attire for a freezing Canadian night. But that did not matter.

Luca Dresdin, Skyla Raider, Anika Khatri.

She repeated their names in her head, one name for each step. They were what mattered: the people who had died because of her.

Jessa Soledad, Madeline Finch, Iman Farhad.

So much blood on her hands. Blood that would never cease to spill, if she couldn’t escape.

A howl cut through the air. She tried to tell herself that it was just the wind, but then another howl sounded, and another.

She pushed onward, her lungs burning and stomach twisting. The sharp smell of pine trees filled her nose, a stark reminder of where she was--deep in a forest, miles from help.

She was fast, far faster than any human. But it’d been three days since she’d had a proper meal and months since she’d walked further than a kilometer, and escaping the vast depths of the forest seemed impossible.

Trees whipped past her, the towering pines snaring her tangled hair as she ran. But the trees began to pass slower and slower as her muscles lost strength.

Emelia Rosen, Tanner French, Arjun Patel...

The howls came again. Louder this time.

She spat a silent curse and tugged at the silver bracelet clamped around her wrist. For the thousandth time, it dug into her raw, blistered flesh. And for the thousandth time, it didn’t budge.

If she could just remove it, if she could cast a simple spell to make the sight and smell of her vanish...

But they’d made damn sure that wouldn’t happen.

Kali risked a glance behind her shoulder. Through the dark trees, she saw a flash of something even darker. Something moving, rushing toward her, kicking up snow with each step.

The beast howled. And she ran.

They were waiting for her to tire. Kali was certain of it. She was malnourished and running through two feet of snow, and they knew it was inevitable. Soon, she wouldn’t be able to go any further, and they would capture her.

She was falling into their trap. And there wasn’t a damn thing she could do.

Her foot slammed into something under the snow, and her knee gave way under her. She fell, landing on the rock that had tripped her. There should have been pain, but there was only numbing panic.

She twisted around, just in time to see two wolves emerge from the trees.

They were six feet at the shoulder, as large as a horse, but they made barely any noise as they prowled through the snow. One was a chocolate brown color and the other pure black, with only a small snip of white on its chest.

They were beautiful. Kali had never quite understood that--how such majestic creatures could cause so much pain, so much suffering.

The werewolves stood there, watching her with keen eyes, waiting to see what she would do. They knew better to mess with a Seer, even if she was a starving, injured, freezing Seer.

She threw up a hand, as if she was going to cast a spell. Both wolves instinctively shied away.

That was her chance. She forced herself to her knees, pushing through the numbness, the cold, the panic.

She whirled around, and she ran.

A rush of motion exploded from behind a towering pine tree, leaping straight into her path. She stumbled to a halt, nearly crashing into the beast.

It was a third wolf, this one even bigger than the others. Its coat was a deep, rusted red, a color that reminded her of drying blood.

The third wolf bared its teeth, releasing a sharp snarl and a blast of warm breath that struck her face. She threw up her arm in a spell-casting position.

But the wolf didn’t even flinch. Its gaze locked on the silver bracelet on her wrist, and its eyes crinkled in the corners, a decidedly human expression.

“Gotcha,” the smug look seemed to say. “You’re trapped. And we know you can’t fight.”

Her panic and despair suddenly vanished. And in its place was rage. Hot, boiling rage that filled her veins and overtook her brain.

She was done with this. Done with being helpless, done with being a pawn. Done with being forced to assist in kidnapping and torture and murder.

She could not use magic. Not while wearing silver. Not if she wanted to stay alive.

But there was something she wanted even more than life: she wanted the suffering to end.

Energy crackled over her hand, a familiar tingling she hadn’t felt in over a year. Pain immediately swallowed her arm as the silver bracelet ate deeper into her skin.

She ignored the pain and thrust her arm toward the red wolf.

She had a single moment to register shock in the wolf’s gaze. Then light exploded from her palm, and pain engulfed her body, and the world went black.

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Thank you so much for taking a chance on this story, despite it being new and unknown. It means more than you know! :)

I’m always trying to improve my writing, so please let me know anything you liked or disliked. Serious critique is welcomed with open arms!