Page 27 of White Horse Black Nights

Run away!she yells.

I feel frozen—I can’t leave her—but Myst is my brave girl. She’ll be okay on her own. She can sure as hell run faster than me.

There’s another grunt as Wolf and the wildcat collide, and I flinch. Reaching the end of the outcropping, I climb until I’m on higher ground, and then run blindly.

Where can I go?

My mind doesn’t want to think. It only wants to act. Rocks and roots stab at my soles. Months ago, my feet would have been tough enough to pass through the woods barefoot, but not since the Sisters ensured my calluses had softened in preparation for my marriage.

Shit. I won’t get far like this.

Wincing as pain stabs my feet bottoms, I spot a fallen log in the early morning mist. It’s hollowed out, big enough to hide me. Maybe the sweet rot of wood will mask my scent. Desperate, I dive for the log and scramble inside. It’s damp and loamy and dark. I crawl in as far as I can, pulling in my feet. My bruised rib throbs. Between the two ends of the log, I just barely fit. Dirt and debris fill the humid air, straining my already limited breath.

Be quiet, I tell myself while clutching my aching rib.

But I can’t stop my heart from beating.

I can’t tell my lungs not to fill.

For a few seconds, nothing happens. I can only see a small portion of the forest from within the log. Muffled by the wood, it’s impossible to hear what’s happening out there. Are they still fighting? For all I know, the wildcat killed Wolf. Myst and I could be free. Assuming Myst got away . . .

I’m churning in my own fears when a branch snaps. I swallow a gasp—

The wildcat falls with a thud right next to my head.

It’s dead. Its glassy eyes see nothing. Its neck is bent at an angle. Its fur is matted with blood.

I scream.

Before I can move, Wolf grabs my ankles at the other side of the log.

I kick and scream as he drags me out. All I can think about is the dead wildcat. If he killed it so easily, what will he do to me? Panic overtakes my reason, and I thrash as Wolf pulls me the rest of the way out onto the damp forest floor.

“Sabine. Stop!”

He tries to grab my wrists, but I smack at him with my remaining strength. From the corner of my eye, I spot Myst nearby, tied by a rope to a tree. She rears up, wanting to help, but there’s nothing she can do.

“Let me go!” I scream, trying to scratch his face. I’m dimly aware there are already deep, bleeding scratches on his neck made by claws far sharper than mine. But at this moment, I could care less if Wolf Bowborn is hurt.

He wrestles me until he manages to pin my wrists. I try to fight him, but it’s useless. He holds me to the ground with his weight, breathing hard.

“You didn’t have to kill it!” I yell, rage making my voice ring out like a bell. My heart aches for the wildcat. If I’d known it would die, I never would have asked it to keep watch while I rested. I keep wriggling under Wolf’s weight to get free. Sweat pours down his face. He’s breathing nearly as hard as I am.

“I did,” he says with only slightly more composure than me. “You sent a wildcat to kill me, Sabine!”

It’s only then that I fully take stock of Wolf’s wounds. Besides the scratches on his neck, deep punctures in his bare chest near his ribcage ooze blood. His hair is never tamed, but now it’s complete havoc.

The edge of panic fades in my chest, but my anger doesn’t. I buck my hips as I writhe.

Wolf briefly closes his eyes as though pained. “Stop moving, Sabine. I like you squirming under me too damn much.”

My body goes slack. A bird calls far in the distance. A rock digs into my back. The fight fades out of me as the sobering realization hits that it’s over. Wolf found me. Was I a fool for ever thinking there was a chance he wouldn’t?

Myst paws the dirt, frustrated. A strong breeze rattles the trees, dropping pine cones. It feels as though the whole forest is as charged as I am.

And then all my anger comes to a head, and I start sobbing.

I cry thick, ugly tears. Tears I don’t care if Wolf judges me for. I’m crying for the wildcat. I’m crying for my own lost freedom. I’m crying because I never had any real damn freedom to lose in the first place.

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