Silas’s P.O.V
As soon as I heard the warning howls, I felt a sense of fear creeping up on me. I had heard them before, and I knew what they meant. The howls were a warning that danger was near. My body tensed up, and a wave of fear washed over me.
I did not fear a lot of things, and I had never been easily scared, but this was one of the things where my first instinct was to freeze and feel my heart attempt to beat out of my chest. My limbs tensed, and my senses went haywire. Outside, the loud howls continued, and here, inside Zoya’s cabin, I, too, wanted to howl or scream, but there was no way of doing that without alerting my packmates about my whereabouts.
I collected myself, taking deep breaths to steady the wild beating of my heart, and then crouched beneath the window, so I could observe the world outside.
The howls were a sign of caution, and I knew full well the threats lurking in these woods. But what struck me the most was the realization that Zoya might be in danger too. The mere thought of losing her sent shivers down my spine.
Memories flooded my mind, memories of that night that changed the trajectory of my life forever. Two years ago, when my parents were patrolling our territory, they were attacked by the rogues. Nobody was able to save them, and I had been haunted by their deaths ever since. The howls reminded me of that night and I feared, with a grudging realization, for Zoya's safety. I looked at the time and realized it was getting late, and she still was not home.
I knew that going out was dangerous, especially since my pack was still looking for me, but I can't help but worry about Zoya, I couldn't ignore the possibility that she might be in danger. I anxiously checked the time again, and my worry for Zoya increased. I knew I had to find her, no matter the risks.
Finally, I decided to go out and look for her, even though it might put my own life in danger. I opened the door as carefully as I could, though I knew that my packmates were likely too busy dealing with whatever danger had infiltrated our home to care about me just yet. I closed the door behind me and closed my eyes, using my senses to detect where the howls were coming from, tuning into the core of my instincts so that it would tell me where to go.
The howls were still echoing around the perimeter of the pack territory, and I figured that the majority of the patrol guards would be away from the main roads. So, I followed the sound downhill, towards the town, and my heart pounded as I moved cautiously, knowing that danger could be lurking around every corner. I couldn't help but wonder what Zoya was feeling right now. Was she frozen with fear? Was she alone in these woods, unable to ask anyone for help? I hated thinking about it, so I dispersed those thoughts, focusing instead on my journey all the way down.
The thick trees that surrounded me cast shadows on the ground, making it hard to see the path ahead, and to add up to the tension, my heart was pounding in my chest, the fear of the unknown threatening to overwhelm me. The past and the future kept blending in my mind, reminding me of all the awful times, but I thrust those memories away to the back of my mind and kept moving forward.
As I made my way through the forest, the howls grew louder, echoing off the trees. My senses were on high alert, and I could feel my muscles tense up, ready to defend myself against any danger, and to stay vigilant, I kept my eyes peeled for any signs of movement or activity around me. The darkness of the forest seemed to close in around me, even with my heightened senses. Every rustle of leaves, every snap of a twig, made my heart skip a beat.
That was when I heard a loud crash in the distance and my heart slammed against my ribcage, threatening to burst out of my chest. I quickened my pace, wanting to know what had transpired.
My emotions were in turmoil, a mix of fear for Zoya's safety and anxiety about my own precarious situation, but it was mostly the former. It may only be because of the mate bond that the Moon Goddess had placed on us, but I cared more about Zoya’s well-being than I had regard for my own safety.
I broke out into a sprint, which finally turned into a run as I tried to find the source of the sound, the place where the crash had occurred. I kept hoping against hope that it wasn’t Zoya, but my mind kept on reminding me that hers was the only cabin in this direction…but still, I tried to cling onto hope.
I ran until, finally, I saw Zoya's car crashed onto the side of a large tree. There was smoke coming out of her bonnet, but fortunately, there was no fire. However, the sight itself was enough to make me feel panicked.
I didn't know what kind of injuries she might have sustained in the accident, and the sight of her lying motionless, her head hanging to one side, supported by the seatbelt, filled me with terror. I didn't know if she was alive or not, and the fear of losing her was overwhelming. But I had to act quickly, so I rushed to the car and pulled her out of the wreckage. The door opened with a creaking noise, the old junk she drove easily falling apart under my strength.
I took off the seatbelt and pulled her into my arms, the warmth of her body providing me the reassurance I needed as her head fell limply onto my shoulders. My fear turned to panic as I realized the severity of her injuries, but I quickly regained my composure and placed Zoya against a tree to ensure that she was alright. She practically weighed like a feather.
I inspected her body to find that her head was bleeding from a cut, and she seemed to be unconscious. I double checked to make sure whether she was still breathing or not, and was tremendously relieved to see that she still was. It felt like a huge weight was pulled off my chest.
But then, the sudden rustle of leave came to my ears along with the scent of something unfamiliar…something that didn’t belong to my pack.
Slowly, I got up from beside Zoya, and turned to face the humongous black wolf that was staring right at me from the other side of the road. It’s jaw clenched and a growling sound came from its throat as it took a step forward.
I stepped away from Zoya, making sure that it’s attention was on me. Whoever this was, I knew only one thing…it was the reason why Zoya was in this state in the first place…and I was never going to forgive it for that.
With my fists clenched, I looked the wolf in the eye with open challenge, anger taking over my entire being as I got ready to face off Zoya’s attacker.