The Gift chronicles novel Chapter 1

Book 1 Chapter 16

Alpha Cain's eyes were overran with darkness, and he gave a sinister smile. "Run, pup. You know I love a good chase. I'll even give you a head start because of your convincing display of affection."

I scrambled out from underneath him and sprinted into the forest, confused on how he was so prepared for my assault. I really need to stop underestimating the goddamn Blood Alpha. Having to run from that beast truly was a punishment from the Moon Goddess herself.

I made the executive decision to shift into my wolf. If I shifted, I could cover more ground faster, and time was of the essence. I wasn't sure what he considered a head start, but I planned on making the most of it.

Not wasting any time getting undressed, I shifted directly into my wolf, tearing all of my clothes into shreds. My wolf was grey with one white paw, and bigger than the average she—wolf. I dug my paws deeper and deeper into the soil as I ran, trying to use anything I could to push me further, faster.

I had no doubt in my mind that if the Alpha caught me, he would Mark me. I had tricked him too many times for him to trust me, and the deal was that he would wait to Mark me if I behaved. I'm not sure what he counted as behaving, but I was pretty sure that stabbing his collarbone was not exactly making me look like Mother Theresa. In my defense, he shouldn't have brought a knife if he didn't want to get stabbed with it. It's like putting a slice of cake in front of a fat boy.

I continued running for about a minute before I could hear footfall (pawfall?) behind me. Some head start that was. Although I suppose I should be lucky he gave me one at all, considering I certainly didn't give him a warning before plunging a knife into him.

I pushed myself to go even faster, and I'm not sure I've ever ran so fast in my life. I loathed being in wolf form, but I will admit, it was pretty useful when escaping your kidnapper.

Even though I was beating my own PR, I could hear his paws thudding against the ground, not too far behind me. I knew he would catch up to me any second. Making a split second decision, I decided to shift back into human form for Plan B. If I'm being honest with myself though, this was really more like Plan K.

I was able to shift quickly, likely due to the high concentration of adrenaline running through me, and climbed up a tree. No, I did not have clothes to put on and yes, it was uncomfortable. Luckily, the trees in the forest were excessively tall, so I was able to climb up about 15 feet and somewhat conceal myself in the leaves.

I worked on controlling my breathing and lowering my heart rate, so that by the time Alpha Cain ran by, he hopefully would not be able to tell I was lurking in the trees, and would just run right past me.

Unfortunately, it was bright outside since it was still morning, and I knew the leaves did not provide ample coverage, especially factoring in his keen Alpha senses.

His steps got closer and closer, and I peeked out at him in between the leaves. I was surprised to see that he was in human form, and not wolf form. I had assumed that he had shifted, since he was so close behind me. If he could almost outrun me in human form, I was terrified to see how fast he would be in wolf form.

At first, he ran by my tree. Then, he stopped a few feet in front of it, and I knew I was doing a bad job at slowing my heartbeat. He turned around slowly, and I was horrified when I saw that his eyes were still pitch black, and he grinned wickedly, his canines extended menacingly.

"I can hear your heartbeat, mate. I could smell you from a mile away. You really thought that you could trick me?" He shouted wildly, every bit the formidable Alpha I had grown up hearing about.