Destined for Disaster ✔️

Chapter 40

What Austin wanted to do was find Ryleigh and do whatever it took to change her mind, but since she was even more stubborn than he was, he knew there'd be no point. And so he steered towards the forest instead, away from the dining hall, where the faint trace of her scent led to.

He pulled off his shirt when he reached the treeline, draping it over a low-hanging branch. He did the same with his trousers and shifted. His wolf jumped to attention and shook his fur. He started slowly, just trotting through the forest, letting his wolf run free while he continued his overthinking. As his thoughts spiralled out of control, so did his pace.

Faster and faster he went, until he barely noticed his paws hitting the soft underground of leaves and dirt. He jumped over fallen branches, narrowly avoided headlong collisions with thick trees, and only when he was going so fast any moment's loss of focus could be his death did he manage to shut down his feelings.

Twilight was setting in, coating everything in grey. He ran blindly, using his nose and ears when his eyes no longer sufficed.

His wolf bid him to slow down. It wasn't that the animal didn't like the speed – he loved running as much as the next wolf – but he understood there was a time for reckless abandon and a time for caution.

But Austin didn't slow down. His thoughts would be impossible to ignore if he did, and he was sure he'd lose his mind if he let himself think about everything he was losing. First his chosen mate, now his fated mate. Rationalising didn't help either. He could tell himself a hundred times that he didn't know her all that well, that she was keeping secrets from him, that she was coarse and blunt – but at the end of the day none of that mattered. She was his mate, and he was starting to understand what that meant.

And so he kept running, despite his lungs burning and his legs shaking a bit more with every strike against the floor. The wind rushed past his face, the chilly evening air cooling him down. And then he came full stop. One moment he was speeding through the forest, the next his legs pulled straight as they hit the ground, dirt spluttering up all around him, his body using the forest floor to resist movement. Of course such a sudden alteration in pace was impossible for his paws to adjust to and he flew forwards, toppling over his own front legs and tumbling a few paces before at last coming to a rest, panting and covered in dirt.

Austin yelled at his wolf in his head, but the animal was unfazed by his counterpart's anger. Austin jumped to his feet, the muscles in his legs cramping. He was the pack's best runner, but even he couldn't have kept that murderous pace for long. He kept cursing at his wolf, but the animal didn't bother to react. Instead, he redirected Austin's attention to a sound.

On one side of them the ground gave way to a steep slope which at the bottom ended in a fast-running river. It was difficult to make out any sounds over the rushing water, but when Austin paid really close attention, he could pick up a gentle crumpling of leaves and the almost indistinguishable sound of breathing. Whatever it was stood downwind, so he couldn't pick up its scent.

He glanced around him, bracing himself for whatever was lurking in the shadows. His wolf urged him to retreat. Whatever it was, they could probably outrun it. Few wolves were faster than him. But Austin didn't run. He stayed put, eyes flitting over the surroundings, then focusing on where he thought the sounds were coming from.

Something shot from behind a bush and rammed its head against Austin's chest, knocking the air from his lungs and his feet off the ground. A yelp escaped him as he soared through the air, hitting the floor hard and gliding on a few feet. He ended up right where the ground started to go downhill and he was lucky he hadn't slipped over the edge, or he would have rolled off the precipice straight into the raging river.

He was disoriented. His surroundings blurred and he had to blink four times before the feral rogue came into view. The wolf was large – much larger than Austin – with patchy, black fur. Its tail waving high, the animal came flying at him again. Austin was on his feet instantly, laying his ears flat against his head, growling. The wolf did the same, pulling its lips up to reveal rows of sharp, deteriorated teeth. They both shot towards each other, and a vicious clanging of jaws ensued.

Austin's wolf itched to take over. Austin might have been willing to fight this monster and lose his life, but the animal had no interest in dying.

The feral wolf was standing low on its legs, reacting instantly to Austin's every move. Then it ducked forward and went for Austin's flank. Austin moved away, but the wolf still managed to sink its teeth into his hip. He howled and topped over, the wolf threateningly on top of him. He moved his paws frantically, trying to kick his adversary off him. The wolf seemed even bigger now, towering over Austin. Strings of blood-infused saliva dripped from its jaws onto Austin's fur.

The only advantage Austin had was that the wolf had no steady underground. Its hind legs were planted firmly enough on the ground, but its front legs were on Austin's side. Realising that Austin was going to get them killed, his wolf surged forwards and took the lead. And Austin, realising that dying was not going to solve his problems, let him.

His wolf jerked his body towards the right, while kicking hard as he could with all his paws. One of his legs managed to hook one of the wolf's hind legs and he pulled hard, earning a yelp from the wolf and his momentary freedom. He shot out from under his enemy and ran. Had he been more of a warrior, he might have considered it beneath him to run away from the scene of a fight, but he was a runner by nature and besides, when it came to feral wolves it was common procedure to run if you could. It didn't matter how good of a fighter you were, feral wolves had a quality to their aggressiveness that was unnatural and that no sane wolf could keep up with.

Running, however, became less and less of an option with every step. Searing pain tore through his side, where his hip and ribs connected. With one leg out of the equation, he couldn't manage a sprint, only a hurried limping.

The wolf caught up with him within seconds, running head-first into his side, much like it had done when it first started the fight, only this time it put even more force behind the action.

Austin's paws disconnected with the ground and he shot through the air. With a sickening thud, he slammed against a tree. Ribs cracked and he sank to the ground. His mind floated in and out of blackness, flecks performing an intricate dance in front of his vision. He saw the wolf approaching – slowly, clearly revelling in its victory – but he didn't register it fully. It didn't matter. He didn't have the strength to fight back.

He lay motionless on the forest floor, his breathing laboured. There was no reason to expect mercy – feral rogues always fought to the death. A blood-clotting roar ripped through the air.

The next moment, Austin's light-coated mate shot out from between the trees. She wasted no time, didn't even look his way. She went straight for the feral wolf, jumping without hesitance and landing right on top of the wild creature. 

The wolf fell over, and under normal circumstances, Ryleigh's wolf would have been able to rip out its throat quickly and cleanly. As it was, the wolf had been standing on the edge of the precipice and when Ryleigh landed on top of it, they went over the edge.

They rolled down the steep slope in a fit of growls, fighting even as they fell. With a loud splash, they crashed into the river and were dragged away by the stream. 

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A/N: Ryleigh has saved his life - but at what cost? Stay tuned ;) 

As always, thank you for reading!