LYRA'S POV
What struck me first was the cold.
Not that kind of chill from a night with threadbare covers, as was usual for me, nor the kind to make one curl tighter into bed. This cold crawled over skin like slick fingers, creeping down into my bones.
I woke in a gasp, and the world was a blur of dark shapes and muted colors. For a moment, I didn't even recognize my own hands as they clawed into the dirt beneath me. My breathing was ragged, panicked, lips dry. I could still hear it-the gavel slamming down at the auction, the way I had been dragged through the crowd like cattle while I watched their bland faces through my half-closed eyes.
My stomach churned. The last I remembered, I had been in chains. I was thrown and locked in some carriage, so how did I get here…
Where was here, even?
I stumbled forward, grasping my head as dizziness threatened to pull me back down. My bare feet sank into damp earth. The air smelled of moss and rain, heavy with the scent of pine. Around me, towering trees loomed, blackened silhouettes against a sky dotted with clouds. The moon was nearly full, its pale glow threading between branches like a thousand watching eyes.
"A… forest?" I whispered hoarsely, though no one was there to answer.
My throat was on fire with thirst, and my mind struggled to remember what had happened. Had I fainted? Had they dumped me here? Was it all a test? Or a nightmare I would wake up from, gasping?
Then, the sound came.
A long, bone-deep howl, carrying on the wind. Low and guttural, it split the night like a blade drawn across flesh.
My blood ran cold.
I was out alone in some unknown forest that was probably crawling with dangerous predators, without a weapon….
Branches whipped across my face, cutting shallow lines in my skin. Roots snared my feet, trying to drag me down, but I forced my way through. The pounding of my heartbeat echoed in my ears, drowning out any thought except of survival.
Another howl tore through the night. Closer. Louder.
My panic rose with every sound. I could almost envision them, gleaming eyes in the dark, claws scraping against bark, teeth bared in anticipation. The image drove me faster. I couldn't feel my lungs anymore-only a burning and desperation.
My foot caught on a jagged root, sending me crashing to the ground with a cry, face-first into wet earth. Pain flared in my lip where it was split against a rock. The copper taste of blood filled my mouth.
Groaning, I forced myself onto hands and knees. Mud smeared my palms, clung to my hair.
Get up. You have to get up. If you stay down they will catch you.
I tried. My muscles screamed in protest, my body trembling. My head spun, tears blurring my vision. For one brief, pathetic second, I thought about staying there. Just let the forest swallow me whole. Let the monsters take me, if only to end the fear. After all, what was worse that could happen? I would happily receive death after the torment of the day.
But then the growl came again.
Low. Rough. This time right behind me.
I froze, my breath catching in my throat. Slowly, I raised my head.
Between the trees, two golden eyes gleamed. Unblinking. Predatory.
That was enough to bring me out of my stupor. Adrenaline was pumping into my veins, hot and wild. I scrambled to my feet, half-falling, half-running, crashing through undergrowth. I didn't look back. I didn't dare look back.
My chest heaved, lungs burning. Tears cut streaks through the dirt on my cheeks. I was no runner; I was just a girl sold like cattle, a girl with no weapon, no plan. And yet my legs were forced to carry me, fueled by sheer terror.
My mind shattered into frantic fragments.
"Stop! please, stop," I cried into the night, as if it would heed me. As if the monsters would show any mercy.
My legs buckled, and I staggered helplessly against a tree, chest heaving, throat raw. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think.
The growls came closer, circling now. i could hear them, their vicious sounding snarls sliding through the trees, paws thudding against the ground, sharp breaths of predators savoring the chase.
My body screamed for rest, my muscles begging to collapse. Still, I ran. Because behind me, it felt like the wolves were laughing. I could hear it in their howls, in the cruel rhythm of their pursuit.
They enjoyed this. They could have caught up to me if they wanted to but they enjoyed this race.
The moon broke through the clouds, the silver light spilling over the trees. For an instant, the path ahead glowed faintly, a ribbon of safety or a cruel trick. I didn't care. I followed it, my vision tunnelling to that silver glow.
But the forest was endless, every tree looked like the other, every turn led to more darkness, and panic clawed at my throat until I could hardly breathe.
I lay there gasping silently, staring upwards at the skeletal canopy above me. My body refused to move.
And then I heard it.
The crunch of leaves. The low, deliberate sound of paws approaching.
The wolves weren't in a hurry anymore; they knew I couldn't escape. They were savoring the last moments, closing the circle.
Tears streamed from the corners of my eyes. My lips moved in a prayer I hadn't said since girlhood.
"Please… someone… anyone…"
A figure was silhouetted at the top of the slope.
The first wolf stepped into the moonlight. Its fur was black as tar, gleaming with silver tips. Its body was massive, larger than any ordinary beast, its muscles rippling beneath its coat. Saliva dripped from its fangs as it snarled, golden eyes locked on me like molten suns.
My breath stopped. My body shook uncontrollably, frozen in terror. It was impossible. The wolves were too massive, the drugs i had been injected with must be messing with my sight.
The pack had arrived.
My heart hammered so violently, I thought it might burst. I tried to move, tried to crawl, but my limbs were weak, useless.
The black wolf growled, low and cruel, and began to make its way down the slope. Each step was slow, deliberate, the predator savoring its prey. I squeezed my eyes shut, a sob tearing free. I didn't want to see it happen. I didn't want the last thing I ever saw to be fangs dripping with my blood. But even as terror crushed my chest, something stirred. A flicker, deep inside my bones. A pulse, like heat, coiling low in her stomach, radiating outward. Then, suddenly.
"This way!"