Arms pumped by my sides as I raced through the forest, turning and twisting past many trees and bursting through several high bushes.

I could hear the werewolves behind us, their boots echoing loudly as they tried to keep up. I dared a look over my shoulder after taking a sharp bend, saw that they were nearer than I would've liked.

With them being werewolves, they were faster than Naverna and I, but not accustomed to this forest. Whilst I found it easy to weave past trees and duck under overhanging branches, it was challenging for them to do so and often stalled them for several seconds.

I could see Naverna ahead. She had always been the fastest runner out of my sisters and her long legs seemed to glide effortlessly over any possible obstacles. Large blades of grass sliced the skin of my exposed arms, the leaves from drooping tree branches smacked my cheeks as I brushed past them.

Naverna and I turned sharply at the last second, confusing the werewolves momentarily and a small smirk curved my lips.

Naverna and I both knew that we couldn't lead these werewolves back to where the rest of my sisters and Savior was staying, so we kept running in the opposite direction to where they were, hoping that the two beasts following would somehow lose track of us.

One of them was yelling as they ran, but his words were lost in the sounds of the wind rattling the leaves of the trees and my grunts as I propelled myself forward, leg muscles burning as I kept on advancing deep into the forest.

Naverna and I kept on running, even after I could no longer hear or see them anymore. The sky was darkening by the time we did stop and I wiped at bleary eyes, rested my forehead against a bark of a tree as I caught my breath.

Naverna had crouched to her knees, head in her hands as her shoulders rose and fell with each exhale and inhale she took. Unable to stand much longer, I sunk to the forest floor, uncaring of the sweat that had dampened my shirt.

"What now?" Naverna asked, eyes wide as she looked to me after recovering. I straightened despite my muscles' protests, one of my hands going to the combat knife attached to my pants anxiously.

"We need to find somewhere to hide." I told her. "We need to keep walking until we find somewhere to hide."

Naverna wrung her hands together nervously, but nodded. We walked quickly, but listened intently for any indications or noises that would suggest that the werewolves were nearby.

Tired but more desperate to seek somewhere safe to stay, at least for the night, we searched, even when night fell. We stopped once or twice to look for any edible plants but found nothing.

A cave is what we eventually discovered. My eyes narrowed on the trees blocking the entrance, the high bush which partially hid it from view. One would've had to look extremely carefully to find the mouth of this cave.

My body thankfully was able to fit into the small space between the trees and I crawled inside the cave, scanning the area as Naverna too squeezed past the trees.

We weren't the only ones in this cave, however. Small beetles and crickets scurried out of our way as we attempted to get comfortable.

Eventually, I decided to rest my back against the cold wall of the cave, draw my knees to my chest. Naverna was running a hand through her short dark hair, her face twisted in unease as she finally sat beside me.

"They may be able to track our scent here," Naverna said to me softly. I grunted in agreement, felt something crawl over my hand, and didn't even bother to move it away.

"I hope Savior doesn't send anyone to come look for us." Naverna said, shifting uncomfortably on her rear. My fingers felt icy and I rubbed my palms together as I listened to the crickets singing nearby. Naverna and I exchanged a few words, decided that we would take turns keeping watch.

I only slept for a short while, unable to rest further because of worry. Despite Naverna's protests, I urged her to sleep and reluctantly she did so while I stared gloomily out of the cave, combat knife in hand.

With heavy eyes the next morning, I watched as Naverna prepared to leave, laced up the boots she wore and checked that her gun was safely tucked away. Once we left the cave, we travelled hurriedly throughout the forest, trying to navigate back to the trapdoor.

******

I cooed softly as water from the stream lapped at my fingers, watched as it rippled when I raised my hands to my face, allowing droplets to fall on my warm skin. Naverna sat beside me, violently splashing the water on her face, partially drenching her shirt. The hot morning sun had made both of us thirsty and our skin felt uncomfortably sweaty.

We used the stream's water to our advantage and washed our face and hands, stopping every now and then to peer around us to see if anything was out of the ordinary.

We drank none of the water from that stream, not wanting to risk the possibility of becoming sick. We carried on walking eventually, but frustration grew when I realized the extent to how far we would have to walk to reach the others.

If we continued walking, without taking anytime to relax or search for food, we'd be there by nightfall. But I knew, that we would have to take several breaks. Both of us were tired and my muscles were still sore from the amount of running I did yesterday.

The insides of my stomach felt like it was churning as I became hungry after walking for a while, but there was no time to stop to look for something to snack on. We needed to keep moving and avoid those werewolves.

We weren't very lucky in avoiding them, however. Naverna and I had crossed a small clearing in the forest and it was then that a prickling sensation crept up my spine. I paused, swivelling on my feet cautiously, Naverna doing the same.

My heart thundered when my gaze fell on a group of similarly dressed female and male werewolves ten feet away, watching us with something akin to amusement and curiosity. My eyes dropped to the guns they all held, throat closed up in fear. Naverna swore under her breath when she too caught sight of them.

There were thirteen silver bullets in Naverna's gun and if she aimed correctly, she'd be able to take the beasts out. The combat knife with the silver blade I had could also do some damage if the bullets didn't stop them from attacking.

The group parted slowly, revealing the towering werewolf from the day before. The dark hat he wore was still situated on his head and dark brown eyes focused on me as I stepped backwards gingerly. His hand raised when the werewolves raised their guns at my movement, and I could hear Naverna's ragged breathing beside me.

"Anya, is it?" The werewolf's voice was deeper than what I had expected and my body shuddered as he called my name. I could see the werewolves lowering their weapons as he spoke and I glanced to his hands which he raised moderately, as if trying to show that he wasn't a threat.

My lips pressed tightly together at the action. Him not having a visible weapon on him wasn't something that lessened my need to run or calmed my fear. He was a werewolf and that was enough to send my blood running cold.

I scowled when I continued pressing backwards, noticing that with each step I took away, he took a step forward carefully. "We won't harm you." He continued speaking.

Another beast, the one who I presumed to be the little girl's father came from the group abruptly, startling the werewolf whose gaze hadn't, until then, moved from me.

I took his surprise to my advantage and turned on my heel. Naverna ran beside me and once again, we were chased throughout the forest.

However, this time, we were split up after she decided to take another route whilst I carried on in the same direction I was running. Confused, I almost came to a stop as a handful of werewolves darted after Naverna, but kept on running when I saw that another handful raced towards me.

The laces on my boots became untied and I almost tripped over them. Still running, I managed to throw them off of my feet and I found it easier to maneuver past the trees.

My breath caught in my throat when I felt a hand graze my back and I surged forward, gaining some distance between the werewolves and myself. My bare feet smacked the earth hard as I ran and I groaned at the cliff that I could see ahead.

"Shit, shit, shit!" I hissed, struggling to stop, feeling my body lurch forward despite my tries. I finally was able to halt at the edge, but the earth crumbled and gave away. I slipped, a hard lump in my throat as I felt my body dropping.

A warm hand skimmed my arm, seized my wrist. My legs swung in the air as I stared up into blazing, almost annoyed deep brown eyes framed with dark long lashes.

The werewolf's hat fell off his head and short, yet thick, black hair was revealed. With a low growl, he clung to my arm, began to pull me up. My body swayed and I felt panic rise. I thought to jerk my hand away, to fall. I'd rather die than have to be under the control of werewolves.

I twisted my arm and his hand gripped me tighter, confusion surfacing in the depth of his eyes as I fought his grip.

"What are you doing?" He snarled, continuing to pull me up. This beast was stronger than myself and any attempts to get him to release my hand was futile. His arm went around my waist and I was pulled to him, far from the edge of the cliff.

My chest was aching as the massive werewolf gazed down at me once I stood on my feet, the strong arm around my waist unmoving; the feeling of the sheath of the combat knife pressing against my pants allowing me to form a plan.

My fingers curled around the hilt of the knife as his eyes darkened with what looked like lust, his free hand lifting to cup my cheek almost gently, fangs showing from his parted mouth. I could see uniformed werewolves approaching and knew I had to act on my plan.

The combat knife slid out of its sheath and I stabbed the silver blade into his stomach. He jerked back in surprise and pain, released me. I looked down at the embedded knife and moved away.

A pained snarl erupted as he realized what I was going to do as I turned. But then, a shot rang out and my legs buckled as I fell on my side on the ground, a numb feeling washing over my body as I gasped, unable to move.

Two of the werewolves approached the dark brown eyed man, but he shook them off with a low growl as he wrapped a hand around the hilt of the knife.

My eyes drifted to the blue sky above as I once again tried to move, but it seemed like my body was paralyzed. My heartbeat slowed as I gave up on moving, stared at the boots moving almost frantically around me.

I fought to stay awake, but that was useless. A bloodied silver combat knife fell next to my face and a hand touched my hair. The sound of yells echoed even after darkness swept in on my vision.

**********
This is the end of the sample. The full book is available to read on my Patreon. (Check the link in my profile's bio so it will lead you to my Patreon).