Destined for Disaster ✔️

Chapter 42

Fate must have been smiling down on her. When Ryleigh woke, she was lying on the riverbank. It was dark around her, the stars and moon hidden behind thick clouds. She brought a trembling hand to her head and flinched.

She rested her cheek on the sandy bank. Her legs were still hanging in the water, the stream tugging at them like dead wood. She stretched out her arm and dug her nails into the soil. After a deep breath, she dragged herself further out of the river. Everything hurt and she gave up, closing her eyes. She didn't even have the strength to lift her head and look at herself. She wasn't sure she wanted to.

How much more did she need to suffer before her body called it? She was tired – not just physically, but mentally. But giving up was against her nature, and she blinked her eyes open again. She lifted her head just enough to be able to glance around her, and she realised she'd come out of the river on the opposite side of where she'd gone in. Drat.

She looked over her shoulder, her head protesting against any and all movements. Her back was littered with shallow wounds, and so were her legs. Claw marks ran down her right shoulder, garish and long. She sighed.

How would Austin be doing? Was he dead? But no, she'd know. Surely she'd know. He better pull through. If he died, all of this would have been for nothing.

Ever so slowly, she started pulling one of her legs up, out of the water. She clenched her teeth, her breath hitching in her throat. She planted her elbows in the dirt and pulled herself up a bit. A strangled cry escaped her when she dragged her other leg out of the river. At least she was officially out of the water now. It was a start.

She looked around her again and noted the wolf was absent. She'd rather have seen it dead, but at least it couldn't hurt her anymore. Had it drowned? She hoped so. If it walked away from this without a scratch, she would be very put off.

Swallowing a groan, she dragged herself to hands and knees. She contemplated shifting, but her wolf made it very clear that wasn't happening.

Crawling was better than sitting still, so Ryleigh struggled a few paces on all fours before pausing, breathing heavily. Her shoulder burned like, well, like a feral wolf had scratched her open. The rest of her body hurt like she'd fallen on an ant nest. She looked ahead. The riverbank smoothed into the forest again and she didn't look forward to scraping her hands and knees on the pine needles and twigs. Perhaps if she sat there till morning, they'd find her. When the sun rose, they'd only need to look across the water to see her. But maybe they would have given up by then and just assume she was dead. Besides, she would much prefer saving herself anyway. She didn't want to be rescued.

Sitting still wasn't an option anyway. Who knew if there were more feral wolves out there? Or what if Golden Dawn patrol would find her? No, it was better to hide between the trees. She pulled one of her knees up, kneeling. Planting the palms of her hands firmly on the ground, she pushed herself up.

She swayed on her feet and stretched out her arms for balance. She lurched towards the treeline, clinging onto the first tree she came across. The tree was the only thing keeping her upright and she leant against it, catching her breath.

The next problem was how by the Goddess she was going to find her way back. Following the river seemed her best bet. There might be a bridge somewhere. She nodded a few times, trying not to think too far ahead. If she let herself think about how far she needed to go before she'd be back at the pack, she was almost tempted to throw herself back into the river.

Tree to tree, that was her plan. One foot in front of the other, from one tree to another. The forest was pretty dense on that side of the river, and she could usually grab hold of another tree without having to let go of the one to which she was clinging. It was tiring and progress was slow, but at least she was moving.