Her Shadows

4 - Run

NATALIA

He sinks his teeth into the skin below my ear. His hands wrapped firmly around my neck and waist. His thigh shoved roughly between my own legs.

Oh no. This man is not about to do this.

I wiggle the fingers of my right hand, making sure he has no pressure on the arm before swiftly yanking it up, and thrusting my fist into his cheek. A sharp crack assures me I managed to break something on his perfect face. He reels back, his hands flying from my body to grip his jaw. I take my chance to run, sprinting towards the border, but he snatches my ankles out from under me. my head smacks into the dirt with a thud.

He crawls on top of me, slamming my face down again, and pressing his knees harshly into my ribs. I struggle against him forcing him to tighten his knees if he doesn’t want thrown off. The resulting pop sparks unparalleled pain through my body, momentarily rendering me useless.

Ivy snarls. I am a strong alpha wolf. No way an average wolf gets the better of me. Ignoring the pain in my ribs, I propel my body up off the ground, using each muscle available to jump up and throw him off in the process. I don’t get him far— the damn man is heavy— but I am given enough leeway to crawl out from under him before he regains his balance. I swing around quickly, landing a low roundhouse to his knees and forcing him to the ground. My abdomen screams in response, my breath caught in my aching chest.

But he's on his knees. I have to ignore it until he's down.

I bring my knee up into his chin. His head snaps back, but he isn’t knocked out. My hits are weakening. Thank the goddess for my supernatural strength or I would already be on the ground with my broken ribs. Even with my advanced strength, I don’t know that I could handle another swing. He looks dazed enough so I take off at the fastest pace I can muster.

It's not enough.

Sometimes I forget that all wolves aren’t slow healers like me and my mom. Cody heals as quickly as any other wolf. That is proven by his sudden grip around my middle. I scream involuntarily, the minor breaks feeling like each bone is being crushed.

He lands a sloppy hit from behind to my temple. It wasn’t hard, but it was enough. He spins me around, and hits me again in the same place; this one backed by more force. Black spots dance at the edges of my vision.

“Just because you're the Alpha’s kid doesn’t mean you get to be a b***h, Natalia,” he seethes in my ear. “You aren’t going to be Alpha or King like your brothers, and we all know they won't ever let you be a full warrior. Not with the way you heal. The least you could do is help take care of the males who will actively protect the pack.”

“What century do you live in, asshole? My brothers don’t control me.” He just growls and throws an elbow into my cheek. Blood pulls in my mouth.

“Just listen to me. It won't be bad. I don’t know why you're fighting so much.” He presses a knee between my thighs.

I spit the blood up into his face, snarling from between my teeth, “you are so stupid. My brothers will kill you for this.”

I expect that to blast some clarity into his thick skull and let me go. Unfortunately, a girl can't get so lucky. The dumbass just smirks, and seals his fate with his next words.

“They won't if you like it,” he whispers in a useless attempt at seduction.

Ivy surges forward, crashing into him and throwing him to the ground before shifting and taking off towards the pack house. I feel her muscles surging and pressing painfully against my sore bones as she sprints through the trees. She crashes through the side door heading straight to the stairs. I force her to shift out as we reach the landing of the thirdfloor.

I just need to sleep it all off.

“We need Max,” Ivy whines.

“I don’t want someone to kill him, Ivy. Especially not someone else. I want to be able to looard this night over him, the threat of telling my brothers hanging there like a knife over his head.”

She hums in approval.

I stumble to my feet, groaning as I make my way into the upstairs living room. my shuttered eyes snap open at the chorus of growls. Four sets of raging eyes are set on me. I shift my hazy gaze towards only one. The bottle green eyes I adore are darkened to the deep forest green I have grown accustomed to seeing trained on me. Except this time, it's not just those eyes raging, Max’s whole body is shaking violently beside the couch, his claws extended through his fingertips and tearing apart the old furniture.

“Where. Is. He.”