Hazel's POV.
I ran.
I ran like my life depended on it because it did. My legs were burning, and my lungs were heaving with every breath I took. Sweat dripped down my forehead and stung my eyes. I didn't dare stop. Not when the thundering footsteps behind me were getting closer with every second.
"No... no, they can't catch me...
I can't die now," I muttered, almost like a chant.
I darted around a corner of the High House, my heart slamming against my chest so loud it was all I could hear. The marble floors under my bare feet were slick, cold, unforgiving. I reached a hallway that led to a massive glass window at the end. The moonlight poured in, soft and silver, but it wasn't comforting. It was a spotlight and I was the prey.
I yanked on the nearest door handle. Locked. Tried the next one. Also locked. Panic spiked in my chest as my hands scrambled over the last knob. Nothing.
A voice split the silence behind me.
"Hazel!!"
My father's roar echoed through the hall like thunder, raw and venomous. "I'll kill you, you bastard!" he screamed.
I froze, eyes darting toward the window. There was no escape that way. We were at least four stories up. And even if I survived the fall, the chaos below wasn't exactly a pillow landing. The mating games were happening beneath us wolves in partial or full form, ripping and wrestling to claim what's theirs. Dropping into that would be suicide.
Still, that was the only direction that didn't end in a blade to my throat.
My heart pounded louder, faster. I clutched my dress tightly, trying to muffle the sound of my panic. But it was useless. With their senses, they'd hear it, smell it..feel it.
"Darling, she's here!" my stepmother Selene's shrill voice rang out, slicing through the air like a knife.
And then... they arrived. My father, Selene, and two guards stood at the other end of the hallway. My father held a knife..long, curved, and dripping with past sins.
"No," I whispered, stepping back.
He started walking toward me, slowly, savoring the moment like the sadist he was.
"You think you can run from me?" he sneered. "After all I did to hide your shameful little existence?"
The walls felt like they were closing in. Each step he took crushed what little hope I had left. There was no time. No help.
I looked back at the window.
It was a stupid idea.
Reckless.
Fatal.
But it was all I had.
My foot hit the window frame. I climbed up. My fingers trembling hard.
"You want to jump?" he laughed, cruel and bitter. "You low-life human? Go ahead! Save me the effort of spilling your blood myself."
Selene cackled beside him. "Such a dramatic end for such a disappointing girl."
"I'd rather die like that," I spat. I sighed, Closed my eyes, and then jumped.
The wind screamed in my ears. The ground spun wildly below me, and my heart dropped into my stomach. There was no time to think..only fall.
Crash.
I hit something. Not the ground. Not a person. Something softer, messier...
Trash.
I blinked up at the night sky from the confines of a massive, industrial dumpster. Disoriented, but alive.
Wait... alive?
I wiggled my fingers, then my toes. Everything moved. No bones poking out. No blood spurting. Just a dull throb in my head and the horrible stench of fish bones and spoiled food.
I pushed myself up and peered over the edge. The back alley of the High House was dimly lit and strangely quiet. Not many people wandered here, but I could still hear the growls and cries from the mating games echoing in the distance. Some wolves were already feasting. Others, blindfolded and sniffing for their destined ones.
If they caught me a mere human they wouldn't hesitate. I was meat to them. A way to power up and hunt better.
I jumped out of the dumpster, trying to ignore the fact that my hair now smelled like week-old chicken. I didn't get far before I collided with someone.
"Ah!"
I stumbled back, heart lurching. My eyes shot to the face in front of me. A blindfolded lady had dropped hers in surprise.
Natasha.
Of all the people.
Her eyes widened as she saw me. "You?!" she screeched. Her disappointment was thick in the air. She probably thought I was one of the Salvatore brothers her possible mate.
But no. Just her annoying, half-sister.
She grabbed my wrist.
"There you are—"
"Catch her!!"
My father's voice thundered from the window above. He hadn't given up. He was still there, looming like a curse that refused to let go.
I panicked and did the only thing my instincts screamed at me to do—I punched Natasha right in the face and she stumbled back
She yelped and fell to the ground. I didn't wait. I sprinted into the night, my lungs burning and limbs aching, but I kept going.
"Don't let her escape!" Selene's voice rang out. I ran after then my leg could carry it again. My feet are hurt like crazy. When will this running stop? I need to leave this place. Fast.
I risked one glance back.
Selene stood at the window, bow and arrow already in hand. She smirked, aimed, and fired.
The arrow sliced through the air and grazed my arm, tearing through the skin.
"Ahh!"
The pain ripped through me. I fell hard to the ground. My hands scrambled at the dirt, but my legs wouldn't move. Everything was spinning.
No... not now. Not like this.
I tried to crawl, but my body was shutting down. Exhaustion. Fear. Blood loss. I was fading fast.
Then through the haze..I heard it.
"Mate..."
Voices.
Two of them.
Figures appeared, blurry through my teary vision. One knelt beside me. I felt the warmth of breath near my neck. A soft whisper of skin against mine.
And then, eyes.
Red. Deep. Devouring. Glowing right in front of me. I've seen these eyes before..No—Today. Cayden?
Then everything turned black.