After Darkness Falls: Chapter 14

Heart beating at a thousand miles an hour, she ran. She had no clue where to go, so she followed the handful of people ahead of her who seemed to know the way.

She’d had a hard time with her morning run, but now it wasn’t just about getting to the intro on time; it was about running against people, trying to beat them or at least outsmart them. It didn’t matter that she didn’t know these lands; cross-country was her thing. She’d always known where to step, how to avoid roots and use her surroundings to her advantage.

In the distance, she saw a girl push one of the guys to the ground. He cursed her out loud, then got to his feet and set off after her. They were both laughing.

Right. No rules. Chloe heard someone catch up with her and decided to veer off the set path. She could still see and hear the other runners, so she knew what direction to take, but at least she wouldn’t be tripped over.

Hopefully she wasn’t heading toward a ditch.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing here?”

Chloe stopped. She had come face to face with a rather tall and exquisite woman with dark blonde hair. She had scars all along her arms and was just wearing shorts with a tank top. Obviously, she was immune to the cold. A werewolf, no doubt.

“Avoiding the others? They’re tripping each other and…”

“You know what you should avoid? Getting eaten, that’s what. Stay away from the pack. Trust me on this.”

Chloe wasn’t very intimidated. “I have a lot of werewolf friends.”

“Not here, you don’t,” said the stranger. She looked behind her, watching the distance. With a sigh, the she-wolf said, “Come on. I’ll show you out of here. Hopefully in one piece.”

The woman truly seemed rattled by something. Chloe hesitated for a second but decided to follow her.

“These damn arrogant hunter dudes,” the wolf grumbled. “They’re taunting the pack with their runs around our land, always close to the full moon. Someday, they’ll get what’s coming to them.”

“I meant no disrespect,” Chloe said carefully.

“Yeah, right. This way.”

They’d arrived at a hamlet, smaller than Adairford, with red brick homes that seemed newer than the buildings in town. The she-wolf put her finger to her lips in a shushing motion and walked quickly along the outer edge, behind the rows of houses.

In the distance, Chloe could hear a voice say, “I smell something.”

“That’s those guys again,” another added. “I tell you, they’re trying to prove a point. We should show them.”

“Show Jack Hunter?” a woman said doubtfully. “Even if it would be easy to take him, what if his family—”

They left the voices behind, jogging as silently as possible on the pebbled ground. Soon, they arrived on the other side, back to the woods. Chloe could see Lakehill through the trees.

So, the she-wolf hadn’t exaggerated. There was bad blood between huntsmen and weres around here.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know I shouldn’t have been there…”

“Well, now you do. Stay away from these parts.”

She nodded, and the she-wolf walked away.

“Wait,” she called. “I’m Chloe.”

The shifter watched her, clueless.

“Your name?” she prompted.

“Avani,” she said, then returned to her village without giving Chloe a second glance.

Chloe tried not to take it to heart. She was a people person, and most of those she met tended to like her. When someone didn’t, she felt like she’d failed in a way. A stupid point of view, really.

Thinking of failure, Chloe resumed her run, heading toward the lighter spots between the trees in the distance, hoping to reach the hill before the last huntsman, at least.

She emerged between two trees at the same time as Jack, who stared at her, baffled.

“No way,” he said.

Then his eyes returned to the hill in front of them. A dark-haired man was waiting less than five hundred feet away.

Chloe’s brain understood in a split second that she hadn’t arrived last—she was first, tied with Jack. And whoever reached the guy would have five hundred shiny pounds right in their pocket.

She didn’t think she’d ever felt that much pressure in her entire life. She had to win. Had to.

Chloe’s heart beat hard, the cold wind slapped her face and her lungs burned, but she pushed and pushed and pushed harder, her feet hitting the ground like it was her sworn enemy, and finally…

“And that’s a tie!” said the dark-haired guy.

Chloe didn’t even try to stay on her feet, falling right on her ass and laughing on the ground.

‘Holy cheesecake.’

Jack, hovering over her, laughed, too.

“Good run, Cheetah. And through the pack territory, too. Ballsy.”

“Stupid,” she amended. Talking hurt, but she was too ecstatic to notice. “You can say stupid. I didn’t know where I was going.”

“Whatever. You survived without a bite, that’s the main thing.”

He extended his hand to help her up. The ground was starting to feel freezing, so she took it gratefully and thanked him.

The huntsman pulled a roll of cash out of his suit jacket. She hadn’t noticed, but he’d run in a damn suit.

“We should split the money,” she suggested.

Jack shrugged. “Nah, I only run for fun. The winner is whoever arrives first after me.”

She inclined a brow, intrigued. What was this race about?

But the rest of the huntsmen were arriving, bearing equally puzzled expressions. Her question would have to wait.

“No way.”

“She won?”

“Shit. Well done, newb.”

“She went through the wolf territory.”

Now, puzzlement gave way to horror and awe.

“Holy shit. Did you have to outrun wolves?”

She laughed.

“No, actually. One of them helped me cross the village undetected.”

They asked her to tell, and retell, every moment of her interaction with the wolf. Chloe didn’t know why, but something told her to keep Avani’s name out of it. If there really was an issue between wolves and huntsmen, it wouldn’t do to say who had helped her. What if Avani got told off for it?

Gwen arrived second to last, racing fast against a blonde huntsman who lost at the last second. Chloe found herself feeling rather guilty. The moment Jack had said ‘Go,’ she’d raced forward, completely forgetting about Gwen and leaving her behind.

The witch didn’t seem to mind, though.

The walk back to Adairford was a lot of fun; the huntsmen were into teasing each other, punching each other, and no one excluded her or Gwen.

“Love the hair, by the way,” said one of the girls. Natalie? Something like that. “Good luck getting an ombre like that in town, though.”

Chloe laughed. Truth was, she’d had her hair cut but not colored. It grew dark at the roots, and then all its color faded, turning to dishwater blonde. Her father’s and brother’s hair was the same, but they’d both kept it short—and dark.

She didn’t mind now, but as a kid, it had sucked. Children have a way of teasing each other for being different. The prom queen types had many things to say about her bad dye job until she gave up and just started to color it brown.

These days, she didn’t care, and no one else seemed to either.

“That won’t be a problem,” she said, pointing to her head. “Natural color.”

“Cool,” Natalie told her.

The creature watching at the edge of the Wolvswoods narrowed his eyes.