It was quiet. Way too quiet. Ellie blinked open tired eyes. They felt as if they had been glued shut. Her lids felt heavy, and they hurt.
She blinked slowly as her vision slowly cleared. Someone was carrying her. She could feel her body sway back and forth as they moved. Her eyes slid shut against her will. It was hard to keep them open.
Her arm hung limply while the other was laid over her belly.
She pried her heavy lids open, determined to find out what was going on.
She caught sight of the face above hers.
Peter. Her head turned slowly, catching sight of someone walking close beside them. Derek.
He was curled in on himself, clutching at his chest with a pained grimace on his face.
His gaze fell to hers and his eyes widened. "Peter!"
She let out a groan as they halted suddenly, and Peter was adjusting his grip. "Gave us a scare there, Darling."
Ellie opened her mouth to respond only for her eyes to roll back as she fell unconscious.
When Ellie woke up, she was at the bottom of a ravine. She was bruised and battered, and she was pretty sure her right arm was broken.
She couldn't remember why she was here or how she got here, but she was being chased.
She glanced over her shoulder as she ran, her arm clenched to her chest as it throbbed.
She was terrified and alone and that scared her even more.
She fumbled her way up and over a rock and threw herself into a crevasse between a rock formation.
She brought her hands up to her chest and tried to control her breathing, she really didn't want those guys finding her.
She sniffled wetly and peered around the edge of the rock to see if they were close.
She froze as the sounds of the forest started to get to her. She couldn't tell what was normal and what could be the crazy guys.
She was trying so hard not to sob. She couldn't afford to be loud right now.
Her breath hitched as she heard footsteps. They were slow, trying to be quiet.
She backed up slowly, trying to become one with the shadows around her.
She brought her hand up to her mouth to stifle her breathing.
A few small pebbles fell over her head from above.
Fear shot through her. She looked up slowly. She locked eyes on a man crouched above on the rocks above. He was dressed like the others, freaky animal skin tribal like clothes and a mask made of an animal skull.
She screamed and his hand shot down, gripping onto her hair as he yanked her up, dragging her struggling form up and across the rocks.
She cried out and screamed as she twisted, trying to dislodge his grip, both hands shooting up to scratch at his hand and arm.
Pain shot through her arm and scalp, but her adrenaline won out.
He tossed her and she rolled. When she came to a rest she pushed herself up with her one arm. They were surrounding her on all sides. One on the front and two in the rear.
She brought herself up to her knees and gazed around in a daze. If she didn't do something, she was going to die here. Die before she could marry the love of her life, raise their kids together and grow old.
The one she assumed was the leader began to stalk towards her.
She took a deep breath, inhaling as much as she could, threw her head back and let out the loudest scream she could.
The men flinched at the sheer volume of it. Hopefully, her mate was close enough to pick it up. She knew he could hear up to two miles on a clear day.
The leader knelt before her as her scream trailed off into the air. Her head still tilted back. She heaved for breath, slowly looking down to face the man. He raised his hand, and her breath froze in her lungs.
He was holding a knife made from bone. Her eyes crossed as it neared her throat.
He trailed it lightly over her jugular, down to the edge of her blouse. It came to rest in the valley between her breasts and in a quick swipe down, her top ripped down to her navel.
She threw herself backwards as she tried to scramble away, but the two other men were on her in seconds.
They held her down as their leader ripped the rest of her shirt from her body. She cried out as her chest became exposed.
She continued to scream as the leader grabbed a fist full of her bra and yanked, the poor fabric tearing in the process.
A loud, terrifying growl reached all four of their ears and the men froze. Ellie sobbed in relief, taking the opportunity to kick and knock their hold loose. She bolted toward the growl, hands reaching blindly.
As she wrapped herself around the large, black and brown body before her, her good arm coming to rest over his shoulders, fingers curled into the fur, she gazed at the men before them from behind her savior.
Her eyes began to glow silver as she eyed the men before them.
The leader took a step back in clear fear. He said something in a language she had never heard.
Another growl from behind her made her relax even more. She had no idea how her father had found her first, but now her mate was here.
His wolf came to rest beside them. She grinned behind her father's shoulder.
"He tried to take me." She whispered, knowing they'd hear her easily.
Her mate's red gaze shifted to her; lips pulled back in a snarl as he eyed her naked torso.
Rape was the second worst thing you could do to a werewolf's mate, right after murder. It was a death sentence.
He let out a howl of rage before launching himself at the men.
Ellie eyes shot open, and she rose a shaky hand to her ribs, pain shooting through her.
What the hell had she just seen? Another weird ass vision? At least this one didn't make her want to cry.
"I can't even blame Scott for taking Stiles and running. He was protecting his mate and thought Derek and Ellie were dead. If he had chosen fight instead of flight, the Alpha would have killed him." Peter's voice drifted through her consciousness.
Her head tilted to the side, catching sight of Peter's back as he spoke.
She could see her dad, standing with a face full of worry as he listened to her papa speak.
"You're right, I know you are. I'm just… I hate that Ellie and Derek were left there bleeding out while a pissed off Alpha was out for their blood. They are only alive because of you, Peter." Noah ground out between clenched teeth. "Stiles has been demanding to see her. He doesn't quite get why he can't."
Peter stepped closer, hand coming to rest at her father's neck. "I know. Derek's wolf is in Protection Mode. He's hurt and so is his mate. I'm the only one he'll allow near right now."
"P-papa." Ellie nearly choked as tears filled her eyes, the pain was seriously starting to become too much, the edges of her vision blurring.
"De-Derek. Where's Derek?" She sobbed. Peter was at her side instantly.
"He's right next to you, darling. Shhh. He's just sleeping while he heals. Rest." He spoke softly and took her hand in his as she reached out for him, trying to sooth her worries away.
Black veins started traveling up his arm and he let out a soft grunt as Ellie fell unconscious once more. His brow furrowed. She was still in a lot of pain.
He wiped a few strands of chocolate curls away from her cheek as he took her pain away.
His eyes moved toward his nephew, noticing that they were opening a crack as he watched Peter, no doubt waking as he heard her cry out for Peter.
"Sleep, Derek. She's safe and will be alright." He reassured Derek's wolf, reaching out to smooth a hand down his nephew's arm in comfort, scenting him in the process.
Peter's eyes flashed red as he bared his teeth in anger. He needed to kill this Alpha, and fast.
Noah stood in the doorway, knowing better than to enter. "Some of the other kids; Jackson, Lydia and Allison… They are all saying Derek was responsible for the murder of the Janitor. That he must have been the one to hurt Ellie. I couldn't do anything to stop it. It's their word against Scott and Stiles. Derek is wanted for murder, Peter. Every cop is on high alert and looking for him."
Peter growled. "How did they know Ellie was hurt?"
Noah sighed. "Scott and Stiles said the murderer, they didn't name him, had killed Ellie. Stiles was traumatized. He thought she was dead and kept repeating it."
Peter sighed heavily and closed his eyes. They had their work cut out for them.
"I let the station know that she was attacked by an animal though it isn't severe but had no excuse for Derek. As of right now, they think he is running. Stiles and Scott stuck to a story while they were giving their statements of what happened. That they didn't see the killer and that they had no clue what was going on, just that someone was trying to kill them all."
Peter gave a nod. "Then we have some work to do. We need to take care of this rabid Alpha and fast."