8. MAYA

POV Maya:

The cold surged within me. It was the kind of raw reaction I often relied on. A response that helped numb the pain, but even as I tried to wrap myself in it, her words still shattered me. The ache in my chest was an unfamiliar sensation, spreading rapidly. A lump formed in my throat, and tears welled in my eyes.

No. No, I couldn't show weakness. I couldn't let him see. Closing my eyes, I called upon my wolf. Sensing my pain, she hesitated, but I needed a swift escape. I had to conceal myself before any of them could see me for who I truly was.

Weak and desperate.

The she-wolf took over, and I darted into the nearest tree line, running as fast as I could to put as much distance between me and my only hope as possible.

"Shit," someone said behind me. "She can't go in there. The bandits will finish her off."

I had no idea what that meant, but I didn't care. I just ran faster.

I let my wolf instincts take over. She was the only one who could run, run away, and hide. I seemed to only ruin everything.

I was so wrong about everything. Larson was just like my father, so at least I had avoided a problem. It was foolish to have pinned my hopes on him.

Or would it have been foolish? To think that the neighbor who was kind to me would save me. That a lover would save me.

My wolf was small and fast, a strong little bullet fired into the dense forest. It was only when she hid under a bush that I realized she wasn't reacting to Rhyson. Wolves.

The odors were old, perhaps from a few days to a week, but there were many. Had I entered the territory of a pack without knowing it? If an alpha caught me, I'd be dead, but these tracks felt personal, not from a pack. That didn't make sense either.

Where the hell was I?

I tried to think of what I knew about the new king. King Silas had reigned forever, as far as I could remember, and for almost a decade before my birth. He had reached the thirty-year mark but rarely visited this part of the country. I had never seen him. I'm not even sure if my father met him. It was rumored that he was going crazy by the end.

Rhyson came out of nowhere to challenge him. His brother was an alpha, and Rhyson was part of his pack. I didn't know why he had challenged Silas, but I heard he had fought challenges for a brutal month. I remembered Chase asking my dad if he would challenge him, but Bruce liked his position. Sure, he wanted to expand the pack, but to be king? It was a lot of responsibility.

What was he doing here? The king lived five hundred miles away, and there was no way we could have traveled that in five hours. So where the hell was I?

Most of all, I wanted to communicate with my wolf. Others seemed to know exactly what their wolf was thinking or feeling. They could act as one, but my wolf and I were not like that. We were so disconnected, and I had no idea why. Still, I tried to ask her why her nervousness was growing.

There was no answer. I could detect the scent of wolves, but there was something more—something that made her very uncomfortable.

We couldn't stay under a bush forever. I needed to find someone to ask where I was. With so many wolves around, it was unlikely I was in human territory. If I was fortunate, the alpha would be kind and understanding.

But I was never lucky. So, let's reconnoiter the terrain. I forced my wolf to retreat and took control. I didn't hear anything, so I slowly crawled out from under the bush. My stomach growled, but I ignored it. It had been almost a whole day since I had eaten, but this wasn't the first time I had gone without food. I had about twelve hours before I started to weaken.

But now everything was different. My usual calculations were of no use. Still, there was nothing I could do about it now. My wolf had never hunted in her entire life. I had no idea if she knew how to hunt, but I had a feeling I wouldn't be wandering around alone for the next twelve hours. Wolves were territorial. Someone would find me.

The sun was high, but the forest was dense and provided plenty of shade. The summer heat can be tough for wolves, but not here. I dragged myself slowly, my head always spinning, until I heard the sound of water. Cautiously, I walked toward a clearing. A great river flowed beside me. Suddenly, my thirst was undeniable, and I kept close to the bank as I walked, searching for a calmer spot. Half a mile downstream, the river widened, calming the currents. I waited a few minutes to see if anything else emerged from the dense vegetation.

Finally, I quenched my thirst with the cold water of the river. My legs began to tremble. I was exhausted. I couldn't go long without eating.

I turned around the moment the shadow emerged from the forest. I didn't stand a chance. The wolf, nearly twice my size, struck me, and I rolled over, falling into the river. As I struggled to rise, its teeth sank into my shoulder, and I screamed. Panic set in, and I stumbled away from my attacker.

The ground suddenly gave way beneath my feet, and I plunged into the river. Blood mixed with the water as the current began to carry me downstream, and I paddled desperately. As a human, I had no idea how to swim, but a wolf?

Even worse.

She screamed in panic, fighting to stay afloat. Water filled my mouth and rushed down my throat, nearly suffocating me, and I dove to the surface.

What a mess. That was it. I was going to drown in the middle of nowhere.

Something wrapped around my body and pulled me. Instinctively, I fought against it, but the grip only tightened, dragging me against the current. We emerged from the water, and I tried to turn my head to see what was holding me back, but I couldn't get a good angle. I focused deeply on my wolf and tried to concentrate.

I sensed the shapeshifter, but it was a human arm pulling me back to the shore. When he finally pulled me out of the river, I turned to see who it was.

Rhyson.

My wolf tried to surface again to run, but I was too exhausted. "Stop," he commanded. The wolf magic pulled me, hard and firm, and my wolf instantly fell, whimpering in submission. Fury burned in his eyes as he stared at me. "Are you trying to kill yourself?"

It wasn't like I could answer him anyway. I coughed up more water. Blood flowed from my shoulder, and when I tried to rise, my legs wouldn't obey. I fainted, collapsing to the ground.