Riley POV
I'm free. I'm fucking free. As I make my way out of the Blood Moon Pack's territory, my first instinct is to slow down. But I don't trust my ex-mate. He's sneaky, he's conniving and he's a right bastard. I keep running. My feet stumble and the shoes I'm wearing aren't made for it, but the possibility of being dragged back kicking and screaming is enough to keep me going. It's cold and there's a slight chill in the air, making me rub my arms as I continue, trying to keep the blood circulating.
I can hear the roar behind me as he discovers I'm gone and I can't help but smile grimly to myself. He must be pissed to find out that I wasn't going to just stay there and accept the fate he had decided for me. It must be infuriating to him. I hoped it was. I hoped it made him so angry that his heart stopped beating. I was a little angry myself for taking everything he'd thrown at me and not fighting back. I was using that anger to fuel myself to keep going when the hours had continued to pass and my legs grew tired and my body shivered violently as the temperature continued to drop.
"Damn, it's cold" my teeth chattered.
I wrapped my arms around me. I was tired. Drained. But hesitant to stop. I hadn't come close to another territory, or at least not that I knew of. I could hear something though, the tiniest sound that made me halt in my tracks. Had I imagined it? I cocked my head and listened but there was nothing. I waited. I slowly placed one foot in front of the other and then I heard a sound that made my blood chill and my heart begin to race in my chest. I knew that sound. It was one that I had hoped not to hear while alone in the forest.
The sound of thudding paws along the ground. I sniffed but there was no scent of rotten meat like it was a rogue. This meant this was another shifter or...My mind refused to contemplate the alternative. It couldn't be a feral wolf. Stacey had to have been mistaken about that. It had been years since the last one had been seen. I began to run as the sound grew louder, looking frantically for a tree I could safely climb. It was times like this that it would be an advantage to transform into a wolf, I thought wildly. I cursed the fact that I couldn't and continued to look for something that would benefit me. Even a damn branch as a weapon would suffice I thought desperately.
I didn't have time to do anything as a wolf skidded into my midst. It stopped a few feet in front of me and I stared. I knew it wasn't Jaxon's wolf. It was huge. It was bigger than a shifter wolf. This wasn't an ordinary shifter wolf, this was different. It was....what was the word? They so very rarely ventured from their pack, and were considered to be higher in status than shifters. For all I knew this could be a royal one except for the fact that it looked quite mad. Its whole body was shaking as it looked at me. It was on two legs, not four. This was a Lycan? What was a lycan doing all the way out here?
It was eyeing me hungrily. I swallowed hard. Its eyes watched my every move. I slowly slid my eyes to the side but it wasn't falling for my trick. Fuck. There wasn't much I knew about Lycans except that they were more powerful than shifters and a lot of them were royal. I wasn't sure if I should approach it, run or scream. The lycan snarled. It was like a huge gust of wind washed over me.
"Okay," I breathed as it watched me "Maybe we could just talk to each other?" I suggested hesitantly, feeling stupid the moment I made the suggestion.
Its keen eyes observed me and then it crashed through the bush and a little closer, causing me to almost have a heart attack. I didn't think it was taking my suggestion. It was frothing at the mouth and I felt it was about to leap at me.
You idiot. Sing. It wants to hear your song. It will calm down the monster inside of it. This is what everyone thinks is a feral wolf. Morons. Sing.
Sing? It would probably eat me before I could get a single word out, I thought almost hysterically but the voice inside my mind was insistent and incredibly persistent, to the point of being annoying.
Sing! Sing damn you. Do not lose this chance to free what must be freed!
My mouth opened of its own accord and despite my reservations, I began to slowly sing, my voice wobbly at first and then growing stronger as my song came out of me. It was just as eerie as before but the creature seemed surprised, pausing in its movements and then slowly sinking down onto the ground. I was a little stunned. It wasn't entranced though, like the men had been. It merely looked as though it was enjoying the sound. I had this deep craving or desire to touch it. A foolish desire perhaps but it was growing stronger by the second. It was eyeing me carefully. My hand twitched. I took one step forward and it just looked at me. It didn't look angry or even concerned, merely curious by what I was doing.
I continued to sing, my feet moving forward on autopilot. There was something about this lycan calling to me. I should have been afraid of it. After all the way they were spoken about by shifters, they were practically described as monsters, but wasn't I a monster as well by their standards? Didn't they consider me repulsive? I felt a strong amount of camaraderie with this lycan. I got closer, close enough to touch its head. It's dark eyes observed me, as though it was watching to see what I did next. My lips curved into a small smile.
My hand reached forward. I touched the top of its head and it closed its eyes as I stroked its fur. It felt different to a shifter wolf. More course and rough to the touch. A jolt of electricity shot through me, and my song grew louder and different. It changed. It was almost coaxing in nature. My hand stroked his head and my body was tingling all over. My head flung itself back and the song continued to pour out, but it was like my very soul was trying to escape with it. The lycan began to growl, low at first and then louder and more ferociously as my voice got louder along with it.
I stayed where I was. I could feel the Lycan moving beneath my hand, his body rippling and shifting, heard the sounds of bones cracking and breaking. A loud scream sounded and dimly I realized it was mine as my body dropped to the floor. Where the Lycan had been, now a handsome man stood there instead. Naked and shocked, he glanced at his hands and his body before looking down at me as I stared upwards, my vision growing dim. I wasn't sure what had just happened. The man looked equally confused but he sprang into action. I felt his arms swoop down and gather me up with ease, felt the strength of his muscles as he lifted me. I had never seen a man so beautiful before. It was like looking at a god, I thought hazily.
His black hair was messy and disheveled and his green eyes were like big emeralds as I stared into them. He was tall, over 6" and his body was a gorgeous honey golden color that made me long to touch him all over. My mouth watered. He was careful to wrap his arm around me and carry me bridal style as I flopped like a rag doll in his arms.
"Who...you" I mumbled, my voice hoarse.
My throat hurt. The singing must have injured my voice slightly.
The man looked puzzled. He began to run with me in his arms. Had he forgotten who he was? Did he not know? I longed to hear him say something, anything if only to hear his voice.
When he spoke it was with an unsteady voice, as though he had not used it in a very, very long time.
"Bailey," he said gruffly and nothing more was said.
I could feel darkness surrounding me and in the safety of his arms and assured that he wasn't about to eat me anytime soon, tingles continually running through my body, I let it consume me and knew no more as the stranger continued to run with me in his arms.