Chapter 147. Save

I moved through the forest as silently as I could, deliberately stepping around every fallen leaf and snapping twig. My heart pounded so fiercely I was certain any second now a twig would betray me. Sure enough, with one small misstep, I heard a sharp crack beneath my boot. Before I could brace myself, I tumbled forward, tripping over a hidden tree root. I lay there for a moment, half-embarrassed and half-relieved my limbs still functioned. Were it not for the life-or-death stake hanging over me, I might have laughed at my own clumsiness.

“You smell it?” came my wolf’s low whisper inside my head. Instead of answering, I brought my nose up to the air and sniffed hard. The scent was unmistakable—other wolves were nearby, and they hadn’t picked up my trail yet. I’d already done the impossible once, running away from the pack where I had killed the old beta. But my fugitive status as a rogue meant I could never truly be free, only passing through these woods, always hunted.