Page 17 of Untamed

But, I'll be safe from The Pack. Taking a breath, I start to travel along the river's edge, heading toward the mountains. I only walk for another hour before dusk begins to fall. The mountains are looming ever closer, and the river is somehow wider, a mammoth snake instead of the little worm I'm used to.

Maybe it's just the falling darkness that makes the river seem so deep? I should climb a tree and rest. In the morning, the river will seem friendlier.

I haven't been afraid of the dark in years, but now I am. I feel like a little pup all over again.

I chose a wild cherry, its branches spaced perfectly for me to climb high into its canopy. I roll the quilt up and settle my body on top of it, with the pack secured to my back, ready to get as much sleep as I can.

The sudden silence makes my bones shiver.

I didn't hear any noise, not a branch snapping or a deep breath, but the forest knows something is out there. Instinctively, my wolf and I know it’s not me that's silenced the nighttime animals.

Something is out there.

I go still, making sure my breathing stays quiet and steady. Nothing is out of place. Nothing exists to draw attention to my location.

Except for my scent. I feel as if I canseethe fumes of fish wafting off of me. I keep still anyway. Not knowing where the predator is makes it foolish to run.

I don't hear him. I justseehim.

A wolf, nearly twice the size of my Father, eclipsing my size, steps into a shaft of moonlight near the river. His nose is low, ears held high, twitching, searching for the sound of my heartbeat to give me away. Is thisthatmale? A bit of silver in his muzzle tells me that he's older. Is he the one Father sold me to?

He's going to find me.

I look at the river. The terrifying, black water seems so calm at night. I look back at the giant. His head is up, eyes peering through the leaves towards my hiding place.

I take off, my feet flying over branches as the thud of paws on the forest floor under me mixes with my wolf's growl of warning that rumbles in my chest.

The male wolf howls, a sound that makes me scream, just as I leap into the water. Inky darkness closes over me as the current catches my body and, like a fallen twig, tosses me downstream.

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6 - Golden Cat

Willa

My frantically scrambling fingers touch something slimy. A branch, a tree limb, a savior. When my hand tightens on it, I feel it break apart. My hand gets pulled under the current as something else hits my shoulder. I'm pushed further under the water, the black shape moving above my head. Still on my back, my bag is snagged by something above my head.

I grab for the tree limb, praying that I can find a handhold, unlike the last few times I reached for something. It's slippery, and my hands are going numb, but as the current carries me downriver, I somehow manage to find myself on the top of the flotsam.

Clinging to the branch, I pull in air to my grateful lungs. Deep, harsh breaths of precious air. I choke a little, coughing out river water, but the tightness in my chest slowly eases.

I lay on top of my new raft. Blackness pulls at my body. I fight it... I have to fight it. I'll drown in this river if I lose consciousness. I don't even know where I am.

I don’t know how long it’s been when the river finally stops churning around me. I have never felt so heavy in my entire life. I feel like I weigh twice what I did when I entered the water and am a little bit surprised that the log can still hold me, but it is sturdy under me.

My vision is a little hazy as I look around. I blink my eyes futilely. I feel like my eyeballs are waterlogged along with everything else. I instinctively huddle closer to the waterline when my mind starts to catch up.

I must have lost consciousness for a while. It's still nighttime, the stars twinkling overhead, the moon distantly glaring at me from high in the night sky. I'm on my tree, floating downriver with my numb legs dangling in the water under me.

I kiss the log, thanking Nature for saving my life.

I'm in the mountains. The jagged shoreline rises on either side of me. To my right, it's steeper, the hills of forest and rock climbing out of my sight. To my left, it's a gentler slope. My left... The Pack is out there, and my savior-log has drifted much closer to that edge of the bank.

I pull myself up a little more. Maybe the goddess sent me to this side of the river. I can travel along its edge until I'm out of Pack territory… if I’m in pack territory. I wish Father had let us have a map in the cabin, but he burned all of the maps in our books. He didn't want me to know how to escape him.

I don't want to release my branch, but when I float close to a tumble of rocks that have fallen into the water, I let go and splash toward them.

My shins hit the rocks hard enough to bruise; least of my worries right now. I need to get out of the river, warm up my body again, find something to eat, and get my bearings.

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