in the pack by the river farther up north?”
She’s nodding fast.
“If we cross the river, I’ve heard there are safe places.” I hate lying to Jae, but she’s so young and already looks terrified. I need to give her hope, anything to keep going. Once we escape the pack, I can come up with our next action plan. But right now, all I can think about is surviving.
“The river by the giant pines?” she asks, her chin quivering.
“Yes, that’s the place. And if we ever get separated, we always meet there. I’ll wait there for you both for weeks, months, years. However long it takes. Now we need to move fast.”
We sprint around the house, putting on coats and heavy boots, taking with us a bag with minimal supplies and a blanket. My mind is too busy racing with fear to really make sense of what we should take. I quickly collect the firestarter from the table and hurry to the pantry where I collect my hunting knives and slide them into my boots. That’s when I spot Mother’s golden bird-shaped brooch with a large emerald. It might come in handy for bartering, so I take that as well.
The moment we slip out the back into the darkness, there’s a pounding on the wooden front door.
I’m shaking, my mind numb from how quickly our life has slipped out of control, but I won’t let them catch and hurt us.
Cold seeps into my bones, and I’m trembling. I stay at Jae’s back while Kaira takes the lead. Night conceals us as an icy wind sweeps past. This isn’t how the ritual was meant to end, and I keep going over the incident in my mind. It’s all my fault. I fought Martell too much, which then unleashed my magic. And if I had been a true witch, then I’d have known how to use it to shut him up. But I don’t even have the ability to do that. Maybe I really am cursed. Maybe I deserve this punishment.
But my sisters don’t.
Kaira reaches the wire fence behind our house, night concealing her and Jae. She tugs at the cut wire to reveal a small opening, and Jae slips through. I grab Kaira’s hand before she follows. “Take Jae and run. Don’t you dare stop. I’m going to try to distract them in a different direction.”
“Narah, no,” she gasps, her eyes wide and glistening beneath the moon. Her body trembles beneath my touch, and I hug her fast before my resolve dissolves. “Take care of her. We will meet by the river, alright?” I reach for my boot, pull out a blade, and place it into her hand. “Go quickly.” I push her when she doesn’t move.
She stumbles, but she never stops staring at me as a loose tear escapes from the corner of her eye. My heart has already shattered into hundreds of shards from the pure fear of what’s waiting for us out in the wilderness. But first we need to survive the Storm Wolves.
“I love you, Narah,” she whispers, then turns and slips into the hole, vanishing into the night.
Voices from farther in the pack territory reach me. They’re searching for me, coming this way.
Desperately, I throw myself into the gap in the wire fence.
Someone seizes my arm from behind me, pulling me back into the darkness behind my hut.
Fear punches me in the gut as I stumble back around, tripping over my own feet. I jerk my head up to a dark form standing over me, a snarl slipping past his lips.
Martell.
Shit!
“You fucking bitch!” The punch comes out of nowhere, and I don’t see it until it collides with the side of my face. My legs crumble under me, and I’m screaming with agony as I fall over. Pain spreads up the side of my head, and my vision blurs in and out. I land on my side and stare out through the wire fence and to my sisters sprinting away. They are just two shadows vanishing, blending into the dark, already so far that I doubt anyone’s noticed them leaving.
Don’t you dare stop.
He grabs me by the arm and drags me across the ground, my head still spinning, my vision painted in stars.
Terror is razor-sharp, cutting into me at how I’ve made everything so bad tonight. I push myself to get to my feet, but I only keep tripping over myself from how fast Martell is moving.
“Please, it’s not what you think,” I plead between muffled cries,