The moon hung low over the forest, casting long, jagged shadows on the ground. The air was thick with the scent of blood, sweat, and smoke—a reminder of the battle they had just barely survived. Selena stood at the edge of a small clearing, her body bruised, her mind still reeling from the chaos that had erupted hours earlier. The battle, the ambush, the betrayal—it had all come too fast, too hard.
Aiden and Kade had fought valiantly, but even they couldn't stop the overwhelming force of Ryker's wolves and the rogue leader's relentless assault. The battle had turned into a slaughter. They had barely managed to escape with their lives.
"We need to keep moving," Aiden's voice broke through the thick silence, his words heavy with exhaustion. His eyes were dark, the weight of what had happened clearly taking its toll. He stood a few paces away from her, his body leaning on a tree for support, his hand clutching his side where a wound was slowly beginning to heal.
Selena's gaze shifted to the horizon, her chest tight as she thought about what lay behind them—the battlefield, the loss, the wreckage of everything they had hoped for. "How long can we keep running?" she muttered, the words more to herself than to anyone else. The truth was, they couldn't keep running forever. At some point, they would have to face their enemies, face Ryker, face their own fears.
Kade approached, his face a mask of determination, though it was clear he was as exhausted as the rest of them. "We're alive," he said simply, his tone cold but firm. "That's all that matters right now."
"We can't just run forever," Selena said, her voice sharp, though the vulnerability beneath it was unmistakable. "We can't keep running from them."
"I'm not running," Aiden shot back, his voice breaking with frustration. "I'm surviving. And so are you. So don't act like we're weak for getting away. We did what we had to."
Selena turned her back to them, her heart pounding in her chest. She couldn't shake the feeling that running was all she had ever done—whether it was from the rejection, from her own weakness, from Ryker's cruelty. She had spent her life running, and now, after all the pain and suffering, she realized that she was still running.
A part of her wanted to scream at the world, at the unfairness of it all. She had been abandoned by her pack, rejected by Ryker, and now, even in the midst of a battle, she was forced to flee again. Her wolf, Luna, stirred uneasily inside her, as though sensing the conflict raging within Selena. The desire to keep running, to keep surviving, was strong, but something inside her began to shift.
"I can't do this anymore," she whispered to herself.