The Girl He Marked

Chapter 30

30

‘Hey Charlie,‘ I mumble, greeting my cat that always manages to sneak into my room and onto my bed

in the mornings.

Fear sliced through me as a loud growl resonates around my tent, coming from near my feet. I realize

I‘m not at home, so the fur cannot belong to Charlie. I jump and my eyes fly open, I try to acclimatize to

the darkness but all I can make out are two large indigo eyes watching me by my feet.

My breath gets caught in my throat and I freeze in fear. I remain frozen in my sleeping bag, transfixed

with the enormous black wolf taking up the majority of space in my tent. It just watches me, it doesn‘t

bare its teeth or growl, it just watches me, like earlier at the lake.

Topen my mouth to scream, but the strangest thing I‘ve ever seen in my life happens. The huge black

wolf begins losing its fur and its bones start moving around under its flesh. My scream is caught short,

and an incoherent squeak is all that escapes my mouth

I watch, with absolute horror, as the wolf in front of me changes into a man. A tall, crouching man, in

my tent. For a few seconds, I try to comprehend what I have just seen. The word ‘No‘ resounds in my

head as I try to come up with some sort of explanation, it echoes through my mind, and it is all I can

focus on. I could be dreaming, but the adrenaline and fear coursing through my veins are making that

theory unlikely.

Topen my mouth properly this time, ready to let out a real, come–save–me–now scream, but the man

seems to assume this because he lunges forwards and ties something around my mouth. He isn‘t

careful and catches my hair in the knot he ties behind my head. On instinct, I push him away, his skin is

burning like it‘s on fire. I reach up to untie the cloth from around my mouth, but he grabs my wrists and

ties them, using them to drag me up into a sitting position.

I kick and flail about, but he maneuvers me with ease and grace, the complete opposite of me, and

pulls me out of the tent. My world is turned upside down again, quite literally, as he throws me over his

shoulder, winding me in the process. I grunt and bang on his back with my fists, but he is like a wall of

muscle.

He marches through the trees, I bounce up and down on his back with each step, my head bobs up ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

and down like a bobblehead. To someone with an outside perspective, the situation might even look

funny.

But I‘m not laughing.

lam being kidnapped with my friend only meters away, I try to scream but this stupid piece of cloth

masks any noise I make. I thrash about but he reaches up and clamps his hands firmly on my waist,

hold

ing me in place on his hard shoulder. I reach out to passing trees and branches, grabbing on to

anything I. can. Even as I dig my nails into the bark and hold on with all my strength, he pulls me away

like it‘s nothing. I grunt in annoyance as branches snap off in my hands, I drop them to the ground and

resume my pum melling of his back.

Tattempt to keep myself calm and give myself a reassuring pep talk.

It‘s going to be okay. Aria will wake up and come save you. Werewolves exist. You have been kid

napped and apparently wandered onto the set of Twilight. But you‘re going to be fine.

I squeeze my eyes tightly shut and pray for the situation to be some horrible dream and any momenti

will wake up and laugh about this tomorrow.

Suddenly, I am lifted from his shoulder, and he places me on the ground with my back against a tree. I

push back against the tree, trying to get as much distance between us. He turns away from me and I‘m

giv en the surprisingly wonderful view of his peachy backside. I widen my eyes at the thing dangling

between his legs that is partially on view due to his wide stance. My eyes shift to a large brown wolf

emerging from

Not another werewolf.

The man lunges forward and shifts back into his black wolf. My brain whirs painfully, trying to make

sense of what I‘m seeing. It‘s beautiful, watching him change, but it contradicts everything I know. The

two wolves begin scrapping, they gnarl and growl at each other, throwing each other across the

woodland floor. I take the opportunity of their distraction to struggle to my feet and slowly back up away

from them. The black wolf lifts his head and snarls loudly, his blue eyes landing directly on me. I freeze

and watch him, re lieved when the brown wolf slams into him, moving his attention back to the fight.

I turn on my heel and sprint back towards the camp. The foliage stabs and pricks at my feet through my

spotty socks, but I ignore the pain and keep running. My heart hammers so loudly I fear the whole for

est can hear it, thankfully the adrenaline is keeping me going. I can‘t form a coherent thought, I just

keep re peating a mantra in my head: run, run, run..

My only warning is the sound of rapidly nearing footfalls before I am rugby tackled to the forest floor. I

lay on my back, struggling to breathe as he knocked all the breath out of my lungs when he wiped me

out. Within seconds, the man is on top of me, holding me down on my shoulders with his huge hands. I

look up at him and the fear in my eyes turns to shock. I can‘t believe how gorgeous he is, like honestly,

incredible. I try to curse but ‘Holy shit‘ comes out more like ‘Oh–ly–ih‘ thanks to the gag.

His ethereal jade eyes stare at me so deeply: I feel he can see right into my soul. He takes a deep

breath and closes his eyes, a faint smile of content forms on his lips. When he opens them again, he

looks determined.

To do what, I‘m not exactly sure.