Chapter 32: Survive

Warriors closed in on us. I looked over at Zander and saw fearlessness. He was prepared to fight for his life, despite the injuries from Maurice. Blood was still running out of his wounds. I worried that he would lose too much blood if he fought too long.

Zander moved to stand back to back with me and said, “You ready to kick a lot of ass? We can take them.”

“Yeah I’m ready. Remember to stay close.”

“Don’t worry. I wouldn’t dream of getting away from you. I’ll stay by your side.”

My heart fluttered at his words. I wished he didn’t say things like that before a battle. I had so much more to say to him but couldn’t.

Warriors started charging towards us, brandishing wooden staffs and knives. It didn’t seem fair, but I was strong enough to fight weaponless.

A blonde girl swung her staff towards my face and almost hit me. I tried to swing my leg to kick her in the face.
She dodged my attack and whacked me with the staff hard in the stomach. I stumbled back but didn’t fall down.

When she swung again near my throat, Zander stepped in and helped me. He ran between us and grabbed her staff and tried to take it from her. They struggled with keeping hold of the staff, but Zander managed to take it from her.

A black haired guy of Maurice’s pack came sprinting behind Zander. I tripped the guy, since he didn’t see me standing there. I got on top of him and held him down by pressing my knee into his back.

I continued to press harder and harder and made him cry out in pain. Someone heard his struggle and a pretty brunette came.

She tackled me and started punching me in the face. I tried blocking her, but she was tougher than she looked for her short height. I grabbed her neck and squeezed hard before the next punch came.

Another warrior came in to help her and pulled me off her by my hair. It hurt and I yelped out in pain. Then he shoved me into the ground and pinned me facedown.

The guy kept his hand gripped on my hair and attempted to hit my head against the ground. There was a rock nearby, and he noticed while giving a vicious smile to me. I struggled to get out of the guy’s grasp, as he pulled me towards the rock by my shirt collar.

I reached into my pocket and got my hunting knife out and stabbed his arm. Blood dripped down his arm, and he screamed while letting me go.

A new member came and held a bloody wooden staff. A chill went down my spine. It had to be Zander’s blood. Where was he?

I scanned the area while starting to pummel the black-haired guy. Zander was a couple feet away and his shirt was torn in places with stains of red.

Another member had pale blonde hair, and she had a disturbing smile on her face. I stopped punching the guy when he was knocked out. Then I stood up to face the girl.

The girl smacked me with the staff before I prepared to defend myself. She straddled me and
gave me a strong right hook to my mouth.

I spit out blood while she tried to squeeze my throat tightly. It was harder to free myself, as she put all her body weight on me and was taller.

Suddenly I heard Zander, “You get away from her! I’ll kill you!”

Zander knocked the girl off me and held her by the shirt collar. The blonde’s eyes widened. Zander punched her hard in the jaw, knocking her out.

Another guy came running from the opposite direction of Zander. I quickly blocked the guy from getting to Zander and stared him down.

He scoffed and kicked me hard in the knee. Then the guy grabbed my ankle when I was down. He started gripping it tightly and twisted it from side to side. I yelled out loudly at the extreme pain. The guy was breaking my ankle and had an evil grin while doing it.

Zander rushed towards me and removed the guy from me and started beating him up. He was gushing blood from his nose and had a bruise on his cheek.

I noticed that Zander had some cuts and bruises on his face. Zander’s lip was split in the middle and was still bleeding.

I attempted to get up but felt a sharp pain in my ankle. It had to be broken. Hopefully it would heal quickly with my ability as a wolf.

When Zander tossed the guy away, he came to my side and helped me stand. I was hobbling on my broken ankle but still wanted to fight.

“Cleo, I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner. I almost killed that bastard for doing that to you.”

I looked at him and said, “It’s okay. I’ll heal in a while.”

“But it’s my fault for leaving your side. You wouldn’t be injured now.”

Zander looked at me with concern and glanced at my ankle. I didn’t want him to feel guilty. It wasn’t his fault that the last guy was so strong The injury could’ve been worse.

He stayed by my side as the pack members regrouped and came towards us. I held my fists, ready to fight to the death.

They backed us to the edge of a cliff.

Suddenly, I heard Maurice’s voice call out, “Let Cleo live as long as she doesn’t get in my way.”

I wanted to beat Maurice for saying that. He needed another good smacking.

Zander glanced at me and I could read so much longing in his eyes. His gaze fell on me with a heat that I had never felt in my entire life. It was like he was saying goodbye.

A moment later, Zander hurled himself into the rapids without a word.