Vowed (The Vampire Journals, #7) - Morgan Rice Page 0,33

and the others. She turned about in all directions, and suddenly felt a bit unsure about precisely which way she had come from. And she couldn’t see the way out, either. All she saw, everywhere, were trees.

The noise came again, and Scarlet stiffened, scared. Several branches snapped, and Scarlet spotted motion in a clump of bushes about twenty feet away.

The noise was followed by a deep, guttural snarl.

Scarlet want to turn and run, but she was frozen in fear, too afraid to move, and not knowing which way to run. The snarl grew deeper, and suddenly, she saw several huge shapes appear from behind a bush. Her heart nearly stopped.

It was a pack of wolves.

These wolves looked nothing like Ruth. They were huge, enormous, twice her size, nearly the size of bears. They also looked skinny, famished, and their lips were curled back in vicious scowls.

Their eyes gleamed yellow, and they held in them nothing but death. There were a half dozen of them, and their eyes all locked on Scarlet.

Scarlet felt paralyzed in their sites, and had no idea what to do. She realized instantly that she could never outrun them, and that she had made a big mistake in coming here alone.

Beside her, Ruth snarled back. It was a loud, vicious warning noise, a scarier noise than Scarlet had ever heard Ruth make before. Ruth took several steps forward, standing in front of Scarlet, protecting her, snarling back at the pack. Scarlet was grateful for her protection. But not reassured.

Ruth was badly outnumbered, and these wolves, so enormous, were each twice her size.

Yet still, Ruth was fearless. After a series of the most vicious warning snarls Scarlet had ever heard, it was clear the wolves were not backing off—and that was when Ruth burst into action. She chose the biggest wolf, one that seemed to be the leader, and charged right for him.

With just a few strides, Ruth leapt into the air, and managed to sink her teeth squarely into the wolf’s throat. The other wolf seemed surprised, as if he hadn’t expected Ruth to be so bold and daring. Ruth’s teeth lodged deep into his throat, as the two wrestled on the ground.

Another wolf came running over and attacked Ruth from the side, sinking its fangs into her back. But Ruth would not let go of her deadly grip. The leader rolled on his back, clawing at Ruth, trying to get her off. But it was no use. Ruth had death in her eyes, and she clamped down with such power, that within moments, the leader was dead.

But Ruth paid the price. Two more wolves jumped on her, and all three wolves managed to bring her down to the ground. They were all on top of her, clawing and biting; Ruth, on her back, fought back valiantly. But a fourth jumped on her, and she was just too badly outnumbered.

Scarlet felt a sense of desperation. The other wolf had her in his sights, and he suddenly burst into a sprint, right for her.

Scarlet turned and ran, knowing, even as she did, that it was useless. She barely got a few feet when she felt the first clawing on her back. It was long, and razor-sharp, and it struck her with such speed, that she felt it slicing open her skin. It tore right through her clothing, and across her shoulder blade, and the force of it sent her flying, face first, to the ground.

Scarlet didn’t even have a chance to turn around. A split second later, the wolf was on top of her, its awful snarls in her ears, filling her entire universe, its hot breath in her face, its filthy claws on her back. Her world was spinning, and in a moment of clarity, she knew that suddenly, just like that, her life was about to be over.

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched helplessly as the wolf opened its mouth and lowered its large, yellow fangs right for her throat. Then she felt awful pain as the three inch-long fangs broke her skin and sunk into her neck. She felt more pain than she knew was possible, then felt her own blood rushing out of her, as her world began to spin, growing lighter and lighter.

The last thing she saw, before her world went black, was her basket of flowers, sprawled out on the forest floor. And her final thought, before her life ended, was that she wished she could gather them back