Chapter 8: Pack

Annie's POV

We kept running for what felt like a long time. We didn't stop until we were all certain that we'd put a good distance between us and that stupid scientist.

"It doesn't matter where we go," Ethan said as he caught up to me. "He'll be able to track us wherever we go,"

I sighed. It was true though. No matter where we want that damn scientist would be able to find us. Now that our secret was out that would be very dangerous.

The rest of the pack caught up to us at that second. I didn't know what to do anymore. I tried to think of a solution to our problem. But no matter how hard I tried my mind kept coming up blank.

I noticed then that we were in an unfamiliar part of the forest. Great. In our panic we'd run so far that we were now in unfamiliar territory. I sniffed the air. The scents were unfamiliar as well.

"So what are we going to now?" Lily asked.

"We'll rest here for now until we think of a plan,"

"I think we should find a cave or something. I don't feel safe out here in the open like this," Eric added.

We all agreed with him.

We began searching. Some time had passed before we finally found a vacant cave big enough for all of us. I was so mentally and physically exhausted that I just dropped down on the spot as soon as I'd entered the cave.

I laid there near the entrance of the cave unsure of what our next move was going to be. Wherever we went we would be in danger at this point.

At some point I must have fallen asleep. I awoke when I felt something pulling me. I looked around and I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. However I couldn't shake the feeling that something was pulling me.

I couldn't fight the sensation. I was on my feet in seconds. The other wolves were all sound asleep so nobody had noticed my exit.

My pace increased as the pulling grew stronger and stronger. The direction didn't make any sense. Then I saw a teenage boy in the distance. Probably the same age as me if I had to guess.

At first it didn't even strike me as odd that he was here. I just knew that the tugging sensation was leading me right to him. He turned around as soon as he saw me approach.

The first thing I'd noticed was the gun in his hand. He was a hunter. That would explain why he was in the woods.

I gasped when I locked eyes with the boy. It felt as if the whole world had shifted on it's axis. Suddenly it wasn't gravity that was holding me here anymore. In that second my whole center shifted and my entire life flipped upside down. The things that made me who I am, my pack, my family, it all became secondary. This boy, this strange beautiful boy, held me here now. I would do anything for him. Be anything he needed me to be.

First I heard a loud noise and then a massive wave of pain slammed into my head and severed what felt like everything in it's path. I screamed in pure pain. I'd been shot.

Then I heard another shot followed by more pain. This time in my chest. This time my senses came back to me and I ran although I couldn't see where I was going.

I stopped only when I felt the adrenaline rush die down. The pain was still there in both places where I'd been shot. I waited for my fast healing capabilities to kick in.

The pain wasn't going away though. I closed my eyes and opened them again and begun to panic when I realized that my vision hadn't improved at all. I could barely see anything. My vision was almost completely gone.

I could only hear and smell. I tried to calm myself down. I kept telling myself that in a few minutes my eyesight would be restored when I finished healing. But as time went by it was becoming clearer that my vision wasn't improving.

The pain was still there as well. The realization that the bullet through my head may have done some permanent damage was slowly beginning to settle in.

I couldn't stop myself from panicking. A swarm of thoughts flooded my head at the same time. Each mind just as confused as the other.

"Shot! She was shot!" I heard one of them screaming in my head. It was all just making my head hurt worse.

"We have to find her!"

I wasn't sure how much time had passed when I finally heard them coming. It was a relief to know that they had found me at least.

"We have to go back now," Ethan said.

I shook my head. It wasn't safe too go home. Besides I didn't think that I could make the journey. I couldn't see and the pain was bad.

One of the wolves nudged me gently and urged me to go on. I couldn't go on though. Moving was way too painful. Besides being blinded scared me.

"Fine then," he thought. "For now then we will stay with you. No wolf left behind,"

I really was lucky to have such a good and loyal pack. Then I thought about that boy again. Maybe there was something seriously wrong with me but I still felt compelled to be close to him. It was crazy after what he did that I still felt that way.

"Why didn't you move out of the way when you saw that he had a gun?" I felt Ethan's warm wolf body snuggle close to mine.

"I don't know what overcame me," was my only answering thought. The pain just kept getting worse and worse. My vision refused to return.

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