RETH - Anima

He hated this.

Every strike, every snapping tooth, every broken neck, every mortal scream grated on Reth like a claw drawn down his spine.

And the entire time, the great lion heart in his chest struggled as if it would beat its last.

The moment he'd thrown Elia into the traverse and she'd screamed, her hand flailing to grasp at him and he'd pulled away so she didn't reach him…

If he hadn't been fighting for his life he would have been sick.

As it was, the nausea brought on by his own brutal passage through the Lupines that had found them threatened to bring up the fruit Behryn had given him.

They were his people, these wolves. His people, drawn into a struggle to the death because he hadn't thought quickly enough, hadn't listened to his own gut.

Accept what you cannot change.

It was the Anima way.

But he resisted. Within himself he fought, begging the Creator for the chance to go back in time and turn Lucine down before the Rite.

Failing that, he pleaded to go back and tell his people the truth before the Flames and Smoke.

His mate. His precious mate was in the Traverse and there was only one ally waiting for her. And it was not him.

Everything within him roared against that.

As the limp body of the second Lupine soldier that had attempted to take him slid to the floor of the cave, Behryn screamed

"Reth!

" from back towards the cave mouth, just as another wolf appeared, jaws open and snarling. With a roar of rage Reth picked it out of the air by its throat, its teeth snapping closed less than an inch from his face. But in a single movement, ignoring the tear of its teeth on his extended forearm, he turned and swung it against the wall. It hit with an almighty crack and a strangled yelp, its spine giving under the immense impact.

He let it drop, turned away as the wolf disappeared to leave the dying man beneath gasping his last breath on the floor of the cave.

Their eyes met and Reth, his own breath heaving in his chest as the other man's faded, prayed the wolf could see the grief in his eyes.

"Creator save you,

" he panted. The man's eyes widened as Reth turned away, rushing out of the narrow cavern into the main mouth of cave… only to find Behryn standing over the last body of the five who'd found them.

Behryn's head snapped up and their eyes met, twin expressions of pain and disgust. Of wasted life. And of triumph that it wasn't their lives lost.

"We have to run. Now,

" he said.

Reth nodded, then took a step and staggered. Behryn jumped forward, but Reth shook his head and pushed him off.

"I'm fine. I'm just…

"

"I know.

"

"Are any of our guards nearby? Any chance we can hold the ground?

"

"None. We set them all up on the other side to make it look like we were going that way.

"

Chest still heaving, Reth looked at Candace, sprawled on the floor of the cave where he'd had to leave her when he'd barely made it in here.

"She's gone,

" Behryn whispered.

Reth's eyes closed. He made the grieving keen in his throat, and Behryn responded. But there was no time for the proper remembrance.

She had given her life in defense of her Queen. She would be honored. Later.

Accept what you cannot change.

Reth swallowed tears as, without another word—unable to hear another defeat—he pushed himself forward and out of the cave, away from his only link to the most precious person ever Created.

The thought tore at his insides as he and Behryn scented the air, then he tumbled into Beast form, and fled from the cave, past the body of Lucine sprawled in the dirt spattered with his blood and Elia's, galloping away from that bloody graveyard.

*****

Howls rose behind him, where his mate had been. He yearned to go back, to turn. But the other within him only snarled. It was not allowed.

The mournful howls echoing through the WildWood raised the hackles beneath his mane and on his shoulders. Then, mere breaths later, the calls to the hunt began.

The horse ahead that was not prey, pushed faster and he tried. He tried to keep up. But his body was beginning to fail. The wound on his leg not healing quickly as it should, despite not being deep.

The howls rose again—the baying of a scent found and followed. Then silence.

The wolves were on their trail.

The King pressed on.

*****

When Behryn shifted back to his human form where a creek crossed the trail—but well before they were close to the Tree City—Reth forced his beast down and did the same. He stood, hands on his knees, sucking at the air.

"Why… did you… stop?

"

"You aren't going to outrun them, Reth. We have to outwit them.

"

Reth blinked.

"How?

"

"That creek we passed a minute ago, we need to go back to it, get in it, use the water to hide our scents and hope they think… I don't know what they think. But we need to pray that they don't think too deeply and keep running when they get here, thinking that we've followed this water, or gone on ahead instead. But we have to do this now. We don't have much time until they'll reach that part of the forest. If they catch wind or sight of us, we're done.

"

"Never done,

" Reth growled, but he was still gasping, and Behryn gave him a flat look.

"We are strong, Reth, but neither of us is the Creator. Another fist will have us—especially if Lerrin's a part of it. Now that he'll know you killed Lucine. We're in open air here. They'll take us.

"

Reth didn't want to admit it was true, but he also knew better than to question Behryn when it came to battle tactics. So he opened his arm back the way they'd come.

"Lead the way,

" he said.

Two minutes later and less than a mile back, they reached a point where the trail curved out towards a wide creek. Behryn slowed and knelt to drink, and beckoned Reth to do the same, then stood and walked back towards the trail.

When his feet returned to the hard-packed ground, he leapt over the near ten feet of dirt, straight into the water then stopped and turned, waiting for Reth to do the same.

"They'll be able to tell?

" Reth asked, not wanting to admit he was exhausted, and leaping that way into cold water sounded… painful.

Behryn just nodded. Reth sighed, but gathered himself and made the jump, splashing his best friend as he landed right beside him, knee-deep in the chill creek water.

Then he followed Behryn upstream, moving slowly, but steadily, keeping themselves as close to the opposite bank as they could, and watching for gaps in the trees that lined most of the water here, to make sure they wouldn't be seen.

Reth's body had begun to ache and it took a lot longer than usual to catch his breath. But he kept moving. He would not fail. And moving more slowly would give them time to figure out how to make it back to the Tree City when the WildWood was apparently crawling with wolves.

An image of Elia's face flashed in his head—along with an image of the wolves making their way through the portal.

He had to clench his teeth not to roar.

****

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