There was almost absolute silence here in the middle of the gloomy forest. Only the soft snoring of Keno and the even breathing of Yasha and Juniper could be heard.
The two sisters lay snuggled close together across from us while Keno lay next to me, holding me tightly in his arms.
It was really nice to lie so cuddled up in his arms and look at the dark sky with the twinkling stars above me, while its pleasant smell enveloped me, but despite this security, I just wanted to get away from here.
Now that Yasha was there and with her second mate background, the idea of running away seemed like the only logical thing to do.
Exactly like »If you release him and he comes back to you, he's yours forever!«, and that's exactly what I wanted, because this feeling that he would only resist Yasha because I made him do it was not an acceptable state for me .
Very carefully I pushed his arm off my stomach and as soon as I was about to turn to stand up, he hugged me again and pulled me tightly by the waist so that my back gently hit his chest and he took a deep breath in my hair made.
Super!
But I still didn't give up. Again I pushed his hand aside and actually managed to get up without waking him up. I very quietly brushed the dust off my yellow sweater and looked down at keno, which I already missed more than I would have liked.
My wolf went nuts at the sight of him being so peaceful and I could feel it in my fingertips, wanting to take control, wanting to stop me, but I was stronger than her and was pushing her back into the depths of my consciousness.
"I hope you will understand me and do the right thing," I whispered wistfully and smiled at the sleeping man, who after a short time meant so much to me, and then took a quick look over at the two sisters.
Basically, Yasha was right. I was more human than wolf, but she should be happy about it, because otherwise the moment would probably have come when I would have torn her neck as a wolf.
But I quickly dismissed this delicious thought...
One last deep breath and I turned to the dark forest until I paused and wide-eyed again at Keno, who seemed to be talking in his sleep.
"Ariaaa...", he smacked his lips at my name, very indistinctly and quietly, and even if it made me smile, a few tears still formed in my eyes, which shortly afterwards found their way down my cheeks.
"Shit," I swore, wanting nothing more than to snuggle up to him right away, but this little thought that it was only a matter of time before my heart broke propelled me to take slow steps between the trees deeper into the forest and leave everything else behind.
"He'll look for me and resist her if I don't interfere," I kept telling myself and padded carefully over the cracking branches and the uneven forest floor, while the light wind blew through my long, black hair and I myself kept clinging to the trees around me.
The time flew by, at least that's how it felt to me, and even though my wolf howled more and more desperately for her alpha, it didn't stop me from running faster and faster through the night.
Of course I also thought a lot about Gloria and the fact that I would soon know that she would be safe and that my life would at least get some normality again. Oh god, how I missed her. She would definitely like keno... Although... probably not with all the tattoos, but she would at least try for my sake.
When I reached a wide, really beautiful clearing, I wanted to lean against one of the thick tree trunks for a little break, but when a branch suddenly cracked loudly in the forest behind me, I turned around with bated breath and I tensely concentrated on all my senses, hoping it was just an animal and not a vampire. That's just what I needed, to have to fight so exhausted now.
"Who's there?!" I asked in a loud voice, getting ready to transform when I recognized a dark figure farther away in the darkness.
"I asked who it was!" I raised my voice even more, trying to appear more menacing with a snarl, but the figure didn't move an inch, so I even thought for a moment that I was imagining it and that it was just a shadow , but then she suddenly ran towards me and even at high speed.
Without further trying miserably to be brave, I turned around with a racing heart and ran quickly across the clearing, only to sprint back through the trees on the other side.
My breathing became completely uncontrolled and yes, I wanted to transform, but if I did that, I would probably attract more vampires and I wanted to avoid that at all costs.
I didn't even know what was chasing me, so I kept running through the darkness, groaning in pain as the small branches of the trees lashed my face. But no matter how painful it was, no matter how tired I was, I kept running without mercy.
"Aria!", but then I heard the person behind me and widened my eyes in disbelief to slow down my speed at the same time, but it was already too late.
A huge cliff appeared before my feet and just as I did, I managed to turn around so I could hold on to the root of a tree while the rest of my body dangled weightlessly over the deep chasm.
"Shit, shit, shit," I managed between my teeth in a panic and risked a look down where I saw very little water but lots of large rocks in the darkness.
I would die if I didn't pull myself up again!
With all my strength I tried to pull myself up by the root, but this caused it to detach from the forest floor and I cried out in fear.
"Help!" I yelled and just when I thought I was about to die, I felt a hand on mine and looked up into a face I already knew.