Filed to story: When The Moon Hides Crown
We stood locked in a silent, furious standoff… wolf against wolf, pride against pride.
Ronan’s grip tightened slightly, his face lowering closer until his breath brushed my ear.
“If you don’t apologize,” he whispered, voice rough and low, “then you’ll have to die.”
My heart hammered against my ribs, not from fear, but from rage. I met his eyes, my own burning with defiance as I whispered back, “Then try your luck.”
Neither of us blinked. Neither backed down.
But then
“Seth!” Finn’s voice cut through the thick tension like a blade.
A hand grabbed my arm, pulling me roughly away from Ronan. It was almost as if the spell broke. I stumbled back, finding myself running with Finn as wolves all around us shifted, bodies lunging into the forest like arrows shot from a bow.’The hunt’s started, man! Do you wanna die here, lose the hunt, or what?!” Finn shouted, panic flickering in his eyes.
I barely registered his comment and looked over my shoulder because right then, just over. Finn’s shoulder, past Ronan’s large figure… saw him.
Dante
Standing lazily beneath a tree, arms folded, a smug smite curling his lips.
He caught my eye, almost as if he had been waiting for me to look over or already knew I would and mouthed silently across the chaos: It was Reed.’
The blood drained from my face. My mind blanked in an instant.
Phina also shook in my mind muttering in shock whispered, ‘It hadn’t been Asher.’
My body turned cold, ‘Asher never touched me but…”
It was Reed. Hidden in the shadows. Setting me up.
And Dante knew.
Or even more likely he was the one who planned it… so that Ronan and 1…
I looked at Ronan. I really looked at him this time.
For a fraction of a second, I saw the storm in his violet eyes, the primal need to dominate, to break. To kill.
And then in a flash of silver light and cracking bones, he shifted into a massive black wolf, fur dark as midnight, fangs gleaming.
A heartbeat later, Dante shifted too into the black wolf, faster-looking,but no less deadly.
Both wolves turned their heads toward me. Both had their eyes locked on me.
They weren’t just starting the hunt.
Phina said, “They are hunting us!”
Both Alphas were after me. Without wasting another second, I spun around and dashed into the forest. My feet barely touched the ground.
They were in their wolf form and I could not shift, so in this condition I was at a disadvantage and could be easily killed
I pushed every ounce of speed from my body, sprinting through the underbrush with a wild, electric desperation.
Behind me, the crashing sounds of pursuit exploded.
Faster, faster!
Thankfully they could not pick up my scent but I still kept hiding my aura to prevent them tracking my down. Breath burning my throat, I summoned every trick I had learned…every survival skill, every hidden instinct Phina whispered into my mind.
Turning back to check once in a while, I veered sharply left at the base of a twisted pine.
Rolled under a fallen log. Splashed briefly through a shallow stream.
Anything to hide my aura or scent if it slipped. Anything to make them lose my trail.
I wasn’t just fighting to win the trial now.
I was fighting to stay alive from two crazy Alphas after me.
I sprinted through the dense trees, my heart hammering against myribs, my lungs burning with every breath. Only when I had put enough distance between myself and the clearing did I finally glance down at the crumpled chit still clenched in my fist.
One single word was scrawled there: BISON.
I stumbled slightly, disbelief punching the air from my chest. A bison?
Were they serious?
Massive, horned beasts, nearly impossible to take down alone, even for an experienced hunter.
But there was no time to curse my luck.
Behind me, the ground shook from the weight of something heavy moving through the forest. Fast and violent.
Itwisted my head and caught a glimpse through the trees. A large wolf with sleek black fur and glowing eyes tearing through the underbrush-Dante. Not Ronan.
I gritted my teeth. This Alpha…. He was the one who had fucked up my already messed up situation. Now Ronan was after me thanks to him or this hunt would have been me solely focusing on my hunt.
Dante had shifted and now he was hunting me like a true predator, not his assigned prey. And his killing intent was obvious.
Shit. Did he pick my scent? It was impossible right?
I couldn’t outrun him forever. And if Dante found me then Ronan would be here soon as well.
“Fighting against two Alphas would not be wise,” Phina stated in my mind, “Especially when we have to hunt the Bison as well.”
“You are right,” I breathed hard. “We have to avoid the fight. When they were not even my prey but actually hunting me.”If I wanted to survive the night, get my hunt and through this ridiculous trial, I needed to use my brain, not just my legs.
Quickly, I veered off the obvious trail and dove into a thick patch of berry bushes. The-wild, sour scent hit me immediately. I grabbed a handful of berries and crushed them against my clothes, smearing the strong smell over my skin to mask my scent.
My ears twitched at the faint sound of pawsteps drawing nearer.
Ducking low, I crept forward until I spotted a branch, half-broken and hanging precariously above a narrow path.