The Hunt

Selene's wrist burned as Lucian's iron grip dragged her through the dimly lit corridors of the Duskveil estate like a puppy dragged cruelly at the end of a leash. The sound of her heartbeat roared in her ears and panic overtook her in waves, making her breathing come rapid and shallow. It amplified the sound of each heavy footstep that echoed against the cold, stone walls and made the shadows cast by flickering torches seem more ominous as they danced across the portraits that hung on the walls.

"Please, let me go," Selene pleaded, her voice trembling as her hand still plucked uselessly at the fingers that dug into her skin. "Lucian, please—there's been a mistake."

He said nothing. She could see his jaw clench and unclench, and though she could not see his eyes, she knew they were blazing with fury and contempt. 

They reached the entrance of the grand hall and the great wooden doors seemed to scream as Lucian kicked them in, making the metal of the hinges scape together.

The room, vast and dismal with its black decor that matched the rest of the mansion, was filled with members of both the Nyxbourne and Duskveil packs. Elders, warriors, nobles, and those from every sort of class and profession stood in solemn witness to what was meant to be a union of strength and bloodlines. Now they would bear witness to her humiliation.

Lucian shoved her forward and Selene stumbled, falling to her hands and knees on the cold marble floor. She looked up and she was before a throne, towering and shadowy with the back made of a myriad of sharp pointed decor shooting towards the ceiling. The cushion was the same blood red of the roses in the courtyard and she shuddered at its grim appearance.

 Gasps and murmurs rippled through the crowd, but no one dared step forward.

"Betrayer! We have been taken for fools, my dear family and guests," he said, his voice thundering through the hall and echoing off the ceilings. "This woman—who was to be bonded to me, who was to be my mate and unite our packs—carries another's spawn within her!"

Selene's breath hitched as she choked back a sob, a wave of shock and horror washing over her. "I've been with no one," she cried, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "I swear it." She felt like she was screaming into a void, as if she spoke and no one could hear. 

Lucian's laugh was cold and cruel. "You are a deceiving bitch, the scent of another's blood taints you. You have defiled our bond and dishonored your bloodline." He turned to the gathered witnesses. "The alliance between Duskveil and Nyxbourne is severed. By her betrayal, she has brought ruin upon her pack."

Selene's eyes darted over the crowd, searching for her mother and father, but she did not see them in the ocean of unfamiliar faces. The weight of her family's legacy pressed against her chest, suffocating, immobilizing, and she wondered if they would still love her. It was then Selene made a chilling realization. Now that her family was a target, she wondered if she would even survive the night to see them again. Or if they would escape his newly forged vendetta.

Lucian's hand shot out, seizing her by the arm so hard she screamed. His ensuing laugh was chilling and malicious as he scowled down at her. "You are nothing but a stain on this sacred night."

With a brutal yank, he dragged her through the hall once more, past faces now twisted with judgment, fear, and disgust. Selene fought against him as hard as she could, biting, scratching, kicking, but his strength was relentless. The heavy doors to the courtyard opened as he approached, and the cold night air rushed to meet her.

Lucian threw her onto the rain-soaked cobblestones, her body landing with a painful thud on her side. Thunder rumbled in the distance as if the heavens themselves were angry with her.

He stood staring down at her, the rain soaking them both to the bone.

"Run, my dear Selene," he said calmly, his voice colder than a winter storm. "Run far and fast, for the hunt begins now. There will be no mercy."

He turned and walked back into the mansion and the massive doors slammed shut behind him, sealing her fate and leaving her in the darkness.

A howl echoed from within the estate, soon followed by more, until there was a choir of howls filling the air and signaling the hunt that would commence. Selene pushed herself to her feet, cradling her abdomen protectively. Fear coiled in her chest as she stumbled the courtyard's gate. She glimpsed the towering forest that loomed in the distance, the shadows of it's ancient trees beckoning her into the unknown.

"I will survive," she whispered to the night. The determination and defiance she had felt before began to rise in her again. She must live. She must survive. She must thrive. "For you, my little one. I will endure."

The slow, chilling padding of wolf paws on wet ground echoed behind her and she fled the courtyard, kicking off her shoes and sprinting across the sprawling field that lay between her and the forest. She was full stride, her breathing slow and measured, when she tried to shift, trying to find that familiar tug of the wolf body at the back of her mind.

Nothing. 

She tried again, concentrating as the tree-line approached, searching desperately for the wolf inside of her. 

She suddenly felt it. Somewhere far off, disconnected from her but still part of her. She had never heard of pregnancy stopping a shift, but then again, she supposed not many had ever been impregnated by a goddess. 

The trees were rapidly approaching and she ran faster, bracing her arms in front of herself. She crashed through the dense vegetation and headlong into the forest, branches whipping at her arms, some of them cutting deep enough to draw blood. 

She persisted, running headlong through the trees, trying to keep here eyes as far ahead of her as she could to avoid trees and anything that would block her path. The damp forest air smelled of earth and decaying vegetation and she breathed it in deeply, trying to keep her lungs full, but her breathing steady.

In the distance, howls grew closer.

The full moon cast pale light through the branches sometimes, illuminating her way like a beacon, but she knew better. If she could see the way, she would also been seen.

She tried to shift once more, to find the form that could carry her to safety, but only found a void where her wolf form should be.

She tripped. 

She put her arms around her stomach and slowed her pace, cradling, instinctively protecting the life inside her, but she did not fall. She caught her rhythm once more and picked up the pace.

It wasn't long before her lungs began to burn, and her limbs felt heavy, but she pressed on. She thought she was deep in the forest, but the trees had begun to thin out an the vegetation grew sparse and ill-nourished. She could see further and further between the trees, which had also begun to grow smaller, and more sickly. 

A wolf yipped somewhere in the distance, startling her, and she suddenly realized they were toying with her. She would have never been able to outrun them otherwise, her human body was much too slow to out pace a wolf. She had been so frantic to get away she hadn't thought about why they they hadn't caught her quickly. She pursed her lips and leaned further into the run. She would find a way out of this situation.

She felt like she had been running for hours, like time had forgotten to continue onward, when suddenly an intense burning sensation suddenly swept over her body, all the way to her core, making her shudder. The forest immediately disappeared, as if a great being had come and cleared them all suddenly away. Only parched dirt and vegetation remained.

It was no longer raining, but a dense fog had descended, one so thick it seemed to cling to her body. She couldn't see her path anymore and her foot caught on a root, but as she tried to catch her balance with the other, there was suddenly no more ground beneath her. Her body exhausted, she curled into a protective ball and tumbled down the side of a steep ravine.

She could feel every bump, scratch, and slice of her fall before landing on her back, the breath completely knocked from her body. She lay still for a moment, gasping for air. Something flickered above, further down the ravine. 

Shadows flickered above her and she felt the panic rise in her, but she gritted her teeth and silently got to her hands and knees, mud clinging to her skin and the dress that was now in tatters around her, determination driving her forward. 

She froze, one of the dark misty forms venturing near. A howl in the distance made her wince, but the shadow darted back into the mist and away from her.

"Goddess, protect me," she whispered. Her body, and her voice, trembled in fear and exhaustion. Her scent must have been dampened by the rain and the fog. This was her chance to run to freedom.

She kept her stance low, her feet stepping softly as she walked carefully to avoid anymore falls. 

She would escape. She had to.