I ran and ran until my lungs felt like they were tearing, my throat burned even more but I still didn't stop because the footsteps behind me never stopped either and even without a wolf I knew what it sounded like when hunters were enjoying it.
I could hear them clearer now along with snapping branches and their boots hitting the ground, when I glanced back I saw shapes between the trees. I looked forward again and kept going, not thinking just running where my instincts led me. my head was still spinning from the rejection and my tears kept blurring my sight, I wasnt able to where I was going, until foot caught on a root hidden under leaves.
I tumbled over ,when I tried to catch myself the ground vanished. I went over a small ledge and rolled down hard. The rocks cut into my arms and legs as dirt filled my mouth. The pain sparked through my shoulder and I couldn't even tell where I was tumbling to. It didn't stop until my back hit something solid and the air slammed out of me.
" Ah, " I gasped, hoping no one heard. I lay there for one second, panting and gasping for air but it all just tasted like blood. Everything hurt, but there was no time to feel it the footsteps were still coming. With the strength I had left I forced myself up, my ankle screamed when I put weight on it, but I bit back a sound and limped forward, half stumbling, half running. My eyes darting through the trees like an animal looking for a hole to crawl into and that's when I saw it. A dark opening in a rocky wall ahead, a cave, it was a cave.
I should have been scared of it, because caves were where you got trapped and died in the dark with no one hearing you. But something about it pulled at me, like it was the only place the forest wanted me to go, like the air itself was pushing me toward it. My skin started to prickle and I didn't understand why. I only knew the voices were close now, and I needed to disappear. With that, I staggered toward the cave and squeezed inside.
The moment I stepped in, the air change. The air Inside was cold stone and it felt like the cave was holding its breath. I paused my chest heaving and tried to name the feeling but I couldn't. It was like walking into a place that didn't belong to the world, a whole new dimension.
I moved deeper and crouched behind a large rock, pulling my knees to my chest like that could make me smaller. At first, I still heard them, slowly their voices turned into nothing. I pressed a hand over my mouth and took a careful breath, trying not to sob, trying not to make any sound at all. For one small moment, I thought I was safe,then a voice spoke from the dark behind me.
" Oh my, I haven't had company in years."
My whole body jerked, I scrambled backward on the stone floor so fast I scraped my palms, my heart slamming so hard it hurt. I spun,try to see, but the cave was as black as night and my eyes were still watery, was I just hearing things, my mind refused to accept what I'd heard.
But I was wrong, a man stood in the centre of the cave. No, not stood, he was held there. Chains wrapped around him thick and dark, crossing his chest, his arms, his waist, his legs, and they were bolted into the rock like roots, like someone had built the cave around him on purpose. There were more restraints around his wrists and biceps, tight enough that even if he moved the metal would bite into skin. Some parts looked like iron, some like stone, and the locks didn't look like normal locks they looked sealed, like they weren't meant to ever open.
Around the chains, a dark fog hovered curling and clinging to the metal. The man , he was big his shoulders were wide, arms thick with muscle he looked like a warrior. His hair was long, falling in tangled waves past his shoulders, and his beard was heavy, hiding part of his face, but I could still make out wat he looked like. He was handsome, even like this,that thought made me feel stupid and sick, because handsome didn't mean safe. His scent hit me but it was faint
"Wh… who are you," I managed, my voice cracking. The man's mouth lifted slightly, not a friendly smile just a curve that made my skin crawl. "I should be asking you that," he said. I swallowed, eyes fixed on the chains like they might suddenly fly at me. "I'm not here to hurt you," I whispered, because I didn't know what else to say.
He watched me like I was something interesting. I shifted back another inch, ready to run, but the cave felt different now. My chest tightened between wanting to get out and wanting to understand why he was here,why would someone chain a man like this.
Before I could think more, a sound drifted from outside, I could hear voices and they weren't too far, that made my blood turned to ice."They're here," I whispered, more to myself than to him. The man's gaze flicked toward the mouth of the cave, then back to me. "I can help you," he said.
I furrowed my brows trying to understand him, it was obvious his state couldn't help any of us . He nodded toward a rock on the ground "set me free ," he said, voice calm, "and I'll protect you."
My hands shook . "No," I breathed. "I don't even know you." The voices outside grew louder for a second, and my pulse raced so hard my chest hurt. His eyes didn't leave mine. "Use it," he said, nodding at the rock again. "Knock out that end. Once I'm free, I'll protect you."
I don't know why but I listened, maybe fear makes you stupid or just maybe part of me wanted to believe someone powerful could stand between me and the pack for once. Whatever it was, my body moved before my mind finished arguing. I grabbed the rock, it was rough and heavy in my hands.
I stepped toward him, close enough to smell him properly now, close enough to see the way dirt and old blood stained his skin, close enough to see his eyes clearly. They were dark, not brown or black, but dark like night water, like something deep that didn't show what was at the bottom.
I lifted the rock with both hands and struck the chain where he had nodded. I hit it once and the sound rang through the cave. I hit it the second time and it hissed like it was angry. My arms trembled but something kept pushing me to strike. I raised the rock above my head and struck it for the third time and the chain snapped.
It loosened and his hand slid free. For a second he didn't move, like he was tasting it, like he was letting the feeling sink into his bone and then he laughed. A low, broken sound at first, then louder, and it wasn't relief, it wasn't joy, it felt wrong, like the kind of laugh you hear right before something bad happens. His eyes darkened even more, and his smile widened, every hair on my body rose.
This man was chained for a reason , that thought hit me so hard it made me dizzy. I stepped back, clutching the rock like it could save me. "No," I said, my voice shaking. "That's enough." He turned his freed hand slowly, flexing his fingers like he'd forgotten how. "Come on," he said, still smiling. "Set me free." He laughed again and again, it echoed off the stone until it felt like the cave was laughing with him.
He tugged at the chains, and the sound of metal groaning filled the dark. He pulled once, hard, and the cuff at his forearm cracked, and then his whole arm slid free like the chains were finally giving up.
My stomach flipped, fear gripped me and I backed toward the cave mouth, panic swallowing everything. "I can't," I whispered, and then louder, "I can't." His gaze snapped to me, my mouth ran dry . I turned and ran, still limping and stumbling out of the cave, not caring if the hunters saw me, not caring about anything except getting away from him.
Behind me, his voice followed,"I'll find you…"
The rest of his words faded as I got near the opening and all I heard was my own ragged breathing and the pounding of my heart as I fled, terrified that I had just made the worst mistake of my life.