MORANA
"Zacreus… please," I whisper, the taste of him still on my lips.
He doesn't look at me for a moment. His eyes are so full of rage that it seems like he will kill me if I say another word.
Yet, that does not discourage me, "Zacreus, I love you… I have always loved you…"
"Fine! Then tell me, Morana," He turns sharply and grabs my face, his fingers digging into my jaw. "When we met for the first time, was it a coincidence or did your father command you to find me?"
My blood freezes slowly when his question sinks in my head.
"Tell me!" He glowers at me.
"I… He asked me to look for you but I…"
He releases my face as if I am filthy.
"So you have always been in this with your traitor father hmm? Truly alike." He raises a hand, and from the trees, two guards emerge.
My breath catches.
"Throw her..." His voice is ice. "Into the Fifth Ring of Enchanted Forest."
"Zacreus—!" I cry, stumbling toward him.
Yet, he does not even blink as he turns his back to me.
The guards seize me, and I scream, kicking against their grip.
"You said you loved me," I sob. "You said you couldn't wait to make me yours."
He halts in his tracks and looks at me from above his shoulder.
Hope rises inside me, only to be extinguished the moment he opens his mouth—
"Love?" His laughter is maniacal, almost like I have cracked a joke. He shakes his head, "Let's not lie to ourselves, Morana. The only good thing about you is your body. I might have said a few sweet-nothings in moments of heat but how can I love a trash like you?"
I don't know if the others hear it, but the sound of my heart breaking is the loudest thing in the forest.
And my screams die down, along with my protests. I let the guards grab me and yank me away like a worthless rag.
As I am dragged deeper into the Enchanted forest, the air turns heavier, the light thinner, until even the moon seems afraid to shine.
Branches twist like gnarled fingers and roots claw at my feet when I reach the Fifth Ring, which is the deepest part of the Enchanted forest.
The guards halt at the border and exchange a glance. Then wordlessly, they shove me forward.
I stumble to the moss-covered ground. Behind me, the guards just turn and vanish.
The second they're gone, everything changes.
The trees creak like they're breathing. The shadows look like they're watching. Even the ground feels different, like it wants to swallow me whole.
Cool. Totally not freaking out.
I take a step and the silence swallows it. Then another. And then—
"A prey?"
I freeze.
"Looks tasty…"
What the actual hell?
I whip around to find the source of the voice but no one's there. Just fog and trees and my own heartbeat punching through my chest.
"I will eat her."
"No. She is my prey."
Okay yeah. Nope.
I duck behind the nearest tree, holding my breath. My fingers won't stop shaking. I try to listen again but all I hear is rustling.
Suddenly, my breath hitches as I spot a pair of glowing eyes in the darkness.
At first glance, I only see one pair but no!
As I blink, I see more of them. A lot more than one pair of glowing eyes.
They don't move. Just stare. But one of them finally steps forward, slow and silent.
It's a wolf. Huge. Starved-looking, it'ts fur is torn in places, and on its shoulder is a thick, jagged scar.
I've seen that mark in the books before. It belongs to the criminals who have their flesh burnt before they are kicked out of the pack.
And judging by the way the others are slowly circling around me, I've a feeling I am about to be dinner.
I don't wait before I lift my dress and run.
Branches smack my face, roots try to trip me. I barely see where I'm going. I just run and hope I don't die in the next two seconds.
But wolves are faster.
One tackles me to the ground. My arm scrapes open and my mouth fills with dirt and blood by the force of the wolf.
Claws rake across my thigh. Another rips at my shoulder. I kick, punch, scream but they're everywhere.
Blood runs warm down my arms and I can't tell where the pain starts or ends.
I try to crawl but it's useless as they drag me back and lock me down.
One wolf breaks away from the rest. The way he looks at me sends a shiver down my spine.
Suddenly, he jumps, straight for my neck, claws outstretched.
My breathing ceases, my heartbeat slows but as I await my death, something catches my attention.
A faint glowing thread slowly starts to circle my wrist.