109 Chapter 109


    109 Chapter 109


    Seraphina’s POV 1


    The first thing that hit me wasn’t pain-it was the smell.


    Death. Pure, concentrated death that crawled into my nostrils and wrapped around my brain like a living


    thing. Sweet and putrid and so thick I could taste it on my tongue.


    I gagged before I even opened my eyes, my stomach lurching violently. Something was pressed against my


    face-something soft and wet and wrong.


    I forced my eyes open and screamed.


    A rotting face stared back at me, empty eye sockets crawling with maggots. I was lying face-down on a pile of


    corpses, my cheek pressed against dposing flesh.


    “No!” I scrambled backward, my hands slipping on things I didn’t want to identify.


    Bodies everywhere. Dozens of them piled like garbage in a massive pit. Men, women, some barely more than


    teenagers. All in various stages of decay. Flies swarmed in thick ck clouds. The stench was overwhelming.


    I rolled off the pile and hit solid ground hard, fresh pain exploding through my shoulder. But I didn’t care. I


    had to get away from the corpses.


    My stomach heaved again. I vomited until there was nothing left, my body convulsing with dry heaves that


    felt like they were tearing my ribs apart.


    *A?* I called desperately into my mind, searching for any hint of my wolf’s presence. *A, please, I need


    you.*


    Nothing. Complete, terrifying silence where she should have been.


    The wolf poison. It was still in my system, cutting me off from everything that made me strong. I was alone in


    my own head again.


    “Get up,” I whispered to myself, my voice shaking. “You have to get up.”


    I tried to stand and immediately copsed. My legs felt like water. Every muscle in my body screamed in


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    protest. Whatever they’d injected me with had left me weaker than a human.


    I looked down at myself and nearly vomited again. My clothes were in tatters, stained with blood and worse things. Dried gore caked my skin. My left ankle was swollen to twice its normal size, already turning purple.


    But I was breathing. My heart was beating. Somehow, impossibly, I wasn’t dead.


    *They threw me away like trash,* I realized with growing horror. *They thought I was dead and dumped me


    with the others.*


    “Adrian, Damien” I whispered, the thought of my family giving me the strength to try again. “I have to get


    home.”


    Using a nearby tree trunk for support, I managed to pull myself upright. My ankle nearly buckled the moment


    I put weight on it. Definitely sprained, possibly broken. But it held.


    I looked around, trying to get my bearings. Dense forest stretched in every direction. No roads, no buildings,


    no signs of civilization. Just trees and underbrush that could hide an army of rogues.


    *Where am I?* Panic started to w at my chest. *How far into rogue territory did they take me?*


    I picked a direction at random and started walking. Each step was agony. My ankle sent lightning bolts of pain


    up my leg. My ribs ached with every breath. The wolf poison made everything worse, amplifying pain that


    should have been manageable.


    *Damien,* I tried reaching out through our mate bond. *Damien, can you hear me?*


    The connection felt cold, distant, like trying to call through static. But it wasn’t broken. Muffled, maybe


    blocked by whatever poison they’d pumped into me.


    He was alive. He had to be alive.


    The forest was eerily quiet. No bird calls, no rustle of small animals. Even the trees seemed to lean away from


    this ce, as if nature itself wanted nothing to do with the horror behind me.


    After what felt like hours, I had to stop. I was gasping for air, my whole body shaking with exhaustion. My hands were trembling so badly I could barely grip the tree I was leaning against.


    The wolf poison had stolen everything-my strength, my healing, my enhanced senses. I was as helpless as a


    newborn.


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    109 Chapter 109


    I pushed away from the tree and kept walking. My ankle was getting worse-each step sent fresh waves of agony through my leg. I started limping heavily, using trees for support whenever I could.


    The sun was climbing higher, beating down through the canopy with unseasonable warmth. Sweat mixed


    with the dried blood on my skin, making everything itch and burn. My mouth was bone dry. When had Ist


    had water?


    A branch caught my torn shirt, yanking me backward. I stumbled, my ankle finally giving outpletely. I hit


    the ground hard, my vision going white with pain.


    For a long moment, I justy there in the dirt and leaves, gasping. My whole body felt like it was on fire. Every


    cut, every bruise, every ache amplified tenfold without my wolf healing.


    I rolled onto my side, biting back a scream as my ribs protested. My hands were scraped raw from all the


    falls. Blood seeped through my torn clothing from a dozen different wounds.


    Using a fallen log for support, I managed to get back on my feet. My ankle buckled immediately, but I caught


    myself. I couldn’t put any real weight on it anymore, but I could still hobble.


    The sun reached its peak and started to descend. How many hours had I been walking? It felt like days. My


    legs were shaking so badly I could barely stay upright.


    But I couldn’t stop. Stopping meant dying. Dying meant leaving Adrian orphaned, leaving Damien to me


    himself for not finding me in time.


    The sun was starting to sink toward the horizon when I finally heard it-voices.


    My head snapped up, ignoring the fresh wave of dizziness. Through a gap in the trees, I could see movement.


    Three figures in what looked like military fatigues.


    Border patrol. It had to be border patrol.


    “Help,” I tried to call out, but only a hoarse croak emerged from my ruined throat. I swallowed hard, tasting


    blood, and tried again.


    “Help me,” I managed, the words barely audible.


    They didn’t hear. They were moving away, their voices getting fainter with each step.


    *No!* Panic gave me strength I didn’t know I still had. I dragged myself toward them, using my arms to pull


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    my body forward when my legs wouldn’t cooperate. Rocks and roots tore at my clothes, opened fresh cuts on


    my skin.


    “HELP!” I screamed with everything I had left, my voice breakingpletely. “PLEASE, HELP ME!”


    The figures stopped. Turned.


    “Someone’s out there,” I heard one of them say.


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