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Chapter 44

Alisha and Blaren breathed heavily on the edge of the cliff. They were exhausted and people were arriving all the time. After the door was opened, none of the people present had expected them to come out of the cage, so the surprise factor was definitive in order to gain some ground.

Both were covered in the b***d of their attackers and their jaws ached even more from the effort of attacking their necks. For Alisha who had never killed anyone or that she had any idea of it, it was repulsive at first but it was either that or let herself be grabbed.

Robert stepped out from the group of people surrounding them.

-My daughter, don’t make this any more complicated than it already is. Come back to me.

Alisha just bared her teeth more and the hair on her back stood up. That man had the nerve to ask her to do this as if what he was doing was a good deed. She saw him take another step towards them and they both growled even louder. Behind Robert the circle grew smaller and some drew weapons, the tips of which flashed electricity.

Alisha stepped back as her paw touched the edge and some stones fell into the void.

-Blaren, what do we do?” she said through her mind, touching his neck with her nose to get his attention.

-Do you believe in anything?

She mentally denied, and she didn’t think it was the first time she had done so.

-You know we have no choice,” he said, backing up to stand on the point as well.

The boulder was several dangerous metres above the ground, at the end of which lay a lake, but from its height it was both impressive and terrifying to see. That was something to be tested. But they were not given much time to think. The shadow of an electrified net was cast over them.

Blaren acted quickly. He bit into Alisha’s back and pushed her down the ravine as the net fell over her body almost as she let out a howl of pain. The she-wolf could only watch before she fell as her brother-in-law collapsed to the ground releasing smoke from his pelt.

-Robert’s scream echoed far into the distance and he peered over the edge as he watched his daughter fall into the void.

Alisha felt as if she had been hit by a wall of concrete blocks as she hit the water, to the point where she almost lost consciousness, but if she did, she would die. Kicking as best she could, she floated upwards and called out to Blaren in her mind but received no response. Panic attacked her as it rarely did. He had sacrificed himself for her. Why had he done it? It couldn’t be. What would happen to him. What would Cristian think. Her thoughts overwhelmed her in a cruel way as the current began to carry her away.

Determined not to die and let the wolf’s sacrifice be in vain, she kicked hard, but the current grew more aggressive as it went on.

A piece of log passed by her and she had to dodge it by diving, which caused her to be dragged further. She kicked in the water as hard as she could, until her muscles burned. Not far away she saw the water splashing against the rocks and disappearing along the side. What she was missing. A waterfall.

His heart pounded harder. If he fell this time there was no guarantee he would survive. He already had some broken ribs from the previous fall. She let herself be dragged to a rock and with momentum she tried to pull herself up but something pushed her and she let go. The end of the lake was very close and she could see herself falling. No, she could not die. If she did, how could she save Blaren, how could she look again at Cristian and the whole herd.

She tried again and although she lost her breath in the process, she managed to climb onto an uneven rock with a slippery surface. All around him was water, water and more water. Her paws trembled and she did not know if she would be able to make it to the other side. There were two more rocks separating her from her destination. The distance was considerable. She advanced a paw and her whole body roared enormously. It would be a daunting task, but the thought of falling down had been left with the log that had fallen down the waterfall.

He took a deep breath and tensed his muscles. Reaching the first stone seemed almost impossible, but there it was. He clawed his nails and teeth until he was on top of it. It was a little smaller and the water splashed over it, almost obscuring her visibility.

He repeated the same procedure and although he almost fell off the other one, he reached the shore with hardly any strength. She lifted her ear and looked to see if anyone was approaching. The current must have swept her at least two or three kilometres from where she was and they would have to make a huge turn to reach her. Still, she was not safe.

Transforming wasn’t a good idea either. Her wolfish body regenerated faster if you could call it regenerating, and it was more suited to the lush forest she was in, which she had no f*****g idea where she was located. He closed his eyes and tried to locate his partner. Only after long minutes did she feel a caress inside her to cut herself off from her own exhaustion.

She rejoiced inwardly. She had been able to contact her partner, at least she thought so. He must be too far away to even be able to talk to him. If they met she could tell him what had happened with Blaren and they could go find him, in her state she wouldn’t be the stupid heroine all wounded playing the role of the ridiculous one where she would only get caught, for after all she was the prey they were after.

With some idea of where she was to go she began to walk with so much effort that the metres seemed like leagues. She walked on paths that were damp to cover both her tracks and her scent. She let her instinct lead her to her destination to the point where she moved forward by inertia.

She was tired, thirsty, sore, but if she gave up, it was not only her life that was in danger. Her front legs buckled and she fell forward on her face. Trying to get up was useless, her body was unresponsive. He felt that at any moment he might close his eyes and never open them again.

She heard light footsteps around her and barely perceived a wolfish silhouette around her.

-Calm down, Alisha,” that familiar voice, “It’s going to be alright.