Chapter 121 Everything’s Mine
Chapter 121 Everything’s Mine
ARDEN
I couldn’t fight him with Tessa on my back.
Mr. Winters was older, stronger, and at the moment, more agile. And Tessa could barely hold her head up. I knew if I put her down, she wouldn’t be able to hold her ground either. She was in no condition to run. She might not even survive another hit of whatever he’d given her.
So I did the one thing I could.
“Hold tight,” I whispered.
And then I shifted.
The pain tore through me instantly, claws ripping from my fingers, bones snapping and rearranging, skin stretching into fur. My clothes shredded off my body, falling in useless ribbons into the grass. My muscles expanded, my senses sharpened, and a growl rose in my throat like a war cry. Tessa whimpered as her weight shifted against my new form, but she clung to me instinctively, her fingers tangled in the scruff of my neck.
With that. I bolted into the trees, my paws pounding into the soil. The forest blurred past us in a rush of green and shadow, my ears twitching at every snapped twig, every breath behind us. My legs stretched farther than I ever thought they could, driven by nothing but the fire in my chest and the primal scream inside my skull.
Escape.
Behind me, the ground thundered.
Mr. Winters was following after me. He had shifted, too, and I could hear his claws scraping against stone along with the angry huff of his breath.
Every step felt like a countdown to disaster.
“Arden,” Tessa whimpered, her voice a broken thread in the wind. “Just leave me. I’ll distract him. You can get away. Please.”
No. I snapped.
My voice was a guttural growl in this form. Don’t you dare say that. We both get out.
I ran faster.
The wind lashed against my fur, tree branches slashing at my sides, but I didn’t stop. I leapt over roots, slid down ravines, and tore through vines.
I was faster than he was.
I had to believe that
Being lost in this forest before turned out to be a blessing. I remembered the path Cade and I had found
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when we scouted this area. I veered toward it now, banking hard left, sending leaves into the air beminit.
inc.
Mr. Winters roared behind us.
And still, I ran
My paws hit the forest floor. Tessa was slipping, her hold weakening, and I had to keep adjusting to make sure she didn’t fall.
I didn’t have time.
He was gaining on me.
The next few turns came in flashes–over the creek, past the rock pile, under the tree. My mind was working like wildfire, burning every ounce of energy into escaping.
Until I felt pain–hot and sharp, stabbing into my thigh.
I yelped and staggered, skidding across the forest floor as my back leg gave out. Tessa tumbled from my back with a pained grunt, rolling a few feet before collapsing against a patch of dirt.
I turned around, teeth bared, vision swimming.
I saw Mr. Winters back in his human form. He was fully naked, blood smeared across his chest. His hair was still damp, sticking to his eyes, and the empty black pits in his eyes locked onto me with anger.
A knife glinted in his hand, its blade glistening with dark fluid.
It wasn’t silver, I knew that.
Still, a tremble ran through my leg as I collapsed to my knees. It was bleeding, but it wasn’t the blood that scared me. It was the scent coming from the wound.
Tessa groaned from the ground.
“That’s what he gave me.” she rasped. “That scent.. it’s the same
I stared at the wound on my leg, horrified. The edges around it were already beginning to go numb. My heartbeat faltered. My breath came in gasps.
I tried to stand, but my balance wavered. My limbs weren’t listening to me anymore.
If I ended up like Tessa–if I ended up unable to move, to run–there would be no use.
We were done.
“Arden, no,”
“Tessa whispered, crawling toward me with the last of her strength. I crawled to her, too, seeking some kind of solace.
However, everything slipped away in a moment.
Tessa screamed.
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A sharp cry escaped her lips as Mr. Winters tossed her aside like a rag doll. Her body flew across the floor and crashed into the base of a tree with a sickening thud. She crumpled to the forest floor. unmoving, her long hair splayed out in the dirt.
“Tessal”
The howl ripped from my throat, wild and feral. I collapsed to my chest, feeling the strength leave my body.
Mr. Winters turned back to me, smiling casually.
“I told you,” he said as he wiped the knife on his thigh. “All you had to do was follow through with my words. Obey. And you would’ve been in a much better position.”
I whimpered as he stepped forward, his shadow stretching I over 144
“But no. You just had to play the hero. The martyr. The noble little bitch.” His smile widened. “And now look at what you’ve done. You made me angry. You made things… difficult.”
He gestured toward Tessa’s crumpled body. “We were going to have a good time. The three of us. On the bed. Maybe even a little fun before I put you to sleep permanently. Peacefully. But now?”
His teeth gleamed. “Now you’re going to get it.”
I growled low, my claws digging into the soil as I tried to force my body to fight again. But it was like trying to hold water in my hands.
My body trembled once more–and then I shifted back. I collapsed onto the forest floor in human form.
Naked.
Exposed.
Vulnerable.
The leaves scratched my skin. I clutched at the dirt, panting, refusing to look at him–but I felt his eyes on me. The way they dragged across my skin, lecherous and slow, as though undressing something already
bare.
I then heard the sound of his tongue licking his lips.
A slow, deliberate slurp.
“Now I see,” he muttered, voice heavy with want. “Now I understand why Cade goes crazy for you.”
I didn’t move.
Couldn’t.
My voice was trapped in my throat.
“I want a taste, 100.
“No.” I whispered, choking on the word. My fingers clawed the ground. “Please. No…”
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He crouched in front of me. His breath fanned againe my cheek
“Cade.” I whispered.
A final, desperate ery
But he only chuckled darkly
“Cade won’t save you.”
He gripped my chin, forcing me to look into his eyes.
“You’re mine now.”
His gaze flicked to Tessa–still motionless, blood forming on her temple.
“And Fenra, too.”
“No.” I rasped.
