Page 48 of Sins of Autumn

I couldn’t see shit. My legs ached, stumbling over roots and rocks, but the adrenaline kept me moving. Cherish was just ahead, her silhouette a blur in the dim light. Her bound arms swayed awkwardly as she fought to keep her balance, the gag in her mouth muffling her breathy cries.

Ryan was just behind me, his heavy footsteps crunching through the underbrush, a constant reminder that we were still alive, still moving.

The cold bit into my skin through the thin layers of my clothing, but I refused to acknowledge it. I had to focus.

The fear coursing through me numbed everything else, sharpening my senses to the sound of our footfalls and the rustling of branches around us. I fought back tears, swallowing hard to keep them from spilling over and blurring my vision further. If I couldn’t see, I couldn’t run, and if I couldn’t run…

No.Don’t think like that.

The woods felt endless, the trees like looming sentinels watching our every move. I glanced at Cherish again, my chest tightening at the sight of her stumbling. She caught herself before falling, her bound hands twitching as though they were desperate to reach out for something to steady herself.

Ryan’s muffled grunt of effort from behind me pulled my attention back.

He was keeping up, but I could hear the strain in his breath, the exhaustion creeping into his steps. His limbs weren’t right. Shifted at odd angles and tied behind his back. That had to fucking hurt.

The gag pressed against my tongue, the rough material chafing the corners of my mouth. I wanted to scream, to yell, to curse Wilder’s name into the night, but the sound was locked inside me, trapped like everything else. My mind raced, desperate for a plan, an escape, but nothing made sense. Nothing about this made any fucking sense. They did shit like this simply because they could? It was sickening.

A branch snapped somewhere off to the right. My heart leaped into my throat as I whipped my head toward the sound, my breath catching. My pace faltered for just a second, my foot catching on a root. I stumbled, barely managing to catch myself before I went down. Cherish turned her head slightly, her muffled voice reaching me in panicked tones.

I managed to get my legs back under me and kept moving, but the sound stuck with me, echoing in my head.

Were they already coming?

I ran forward, nearly colliding with Cherish’s back. I couldn’t tell if it was the adrenaline or sheer terror fueling me now, but I clung to it like a lifeline.

The forest was alive with the sound of our frantic footsteps and snapping branches, each noise a reminder that we were prey. My heart pounded in my chest, every beat a desperate plea to keep going, keep moving, keep surviving. Cherish tripped, her shoulder slamming into mine and sending me off the faint path we’d been following.

I stumbled sideways and barely caught myself. I caught a glimpse of KJ skipping behind us and immediately regretted looking back.

“Run!” I tried to shout through the gag, but the sound was muffled and useless.

I shoved my sister forward with my shoulder, hoping she’d take the hint. If we both couldn’t make it, one of us needed to. She hesitated for only a second before darting ahead, her bound hands making her movements awkward but determined.

I didn’t stop to check which way she went. I couldn’t, veering further off the path, the dense underbrush grabbed at me like it wanted to keep me there. Branches snagged on my clothes, tearing my sweatpants, and scratching my skin.

I pitched forward, landing hard on my stomach. The impact knocked the air from my lungs, and I coughed, dirt and leaves sticking to my face as I tried to catch my breath.

The gag in my mouth felt like a suffocating weight, and I dragged my face against the rough forest floor, forcing it free with sheer desperation. As soon as it was off, I gulped in fresh air and pushed myself up, ignoring the pain that shot through my wrists.

I could feel thin trails of blood from where the flesh had split, some of it dripping down onto my hands.

I started running again. My legs burned as I forced myself into a sprint, dodging trees and stumbling over roots. I realized too late that whoever was behind me easily could have caught me already. They had stopped when I fell, treating this like a game of cat and mouse.

They didn’t seem to be struggling like I was to see two feet in front of them. A pained shout echoed through the trees from further back, and my stomach dropped. That had to have been Ryan. I zigzagged, crying out as my shoulder bounced off a tree. The ground abruptly dipped, and I pitched forward.

Before I could go sailing down into darkness and whatever else awaited me at the bottom of what I assumed was a hill, A strong arm wrapped around my middle, yanking me off my feet and dragging me backward.

I screamed, thrashing wildly, tripping up whoever had me.

We went down together. The ground came up fast, but my fall was cushioned—by them.

No. Notthem.

Wilder.

The scent of his cologne, the solid build of his body pressing against me, was unmistakable. My stomach twisted as dread and fury clashed, boiling into something dark and uncontrollable.

"I’ve been dreaming of this day all week," Wilder confessed, his voice low and unbothered, as if we weren’t sprawled in the dirt of the forest. He wasn’t winded in the slightest, his strength an inescapable cage.

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