Infinite

by Amy Richie

  “We have to get out of here,” he said in a low voice, “we need to move now.”

  An intense sense of urgency seemed to take over when I realized that Paris was finally agreeing with me. Things must be bad. “Come on,” I fumbled for Miranda’s hand, finally catching it after several failed attempts.

  “We’re leaving?”

  Miranda had been holding onto her false sense of security concerning the nest since we were forced to leave it the first time, so I shouldn’t have been surprised. “Yes,” I hissed, tightening my grip on her hand in case she tried to stay behind. What did she expect? Owen and Addison to come back here for her? I shook my head and darted after Paris—dragging Miranda behind me.

  We zigzagged madly through the trees with no clear destination in mind as far as I could tell. Even though the wolves were all around us, Paris kept just out of sight. Only brief glimpses of color told me I was going the right way.

  Miranda set the pace painfully slow, but I dutifully stuck beside her, trying not to pull her arm out of place in my haste to move faster. “Please,” she panted, “just leave me here.”

  I didn’t even spare her a glance. No one was leaving anyone behind. Paris might not be right beside us, but he was watching out.

  Just like the first time we had been forced to run through the trees from the wolves, I knew we had to find a hiding place. Miranda was slow before, but now that her ankle was hurt and she knew Addison was dead, she was even slower.

  Paris was keeping the wolves away a little, so at least they weren’t snapping at our heels yet, but they would figure out soon enough that he was only one vampire and no match for all of them.

  We had to hide—it was our best chance.

  “I need to talk to Paris,” I called back to Miranda.

  She nodded, but it was clear that she was going as fast as she could. “Ok,” she gasped when I didn’t say anything else.

  I made my decision quickly and without much thought. “I’ll be right back.” Her hand slipped out of mine, leaving a cold place on my skin. “Don’t slow down.” I waited for her nod before sprinting ahead.

  Despite my own injuries, I was able to catch up to Paris easily. I couldn’t imagine how he was able to go so slow with the wolves all around us, but he didn’t seem surprised to see me.

  “We have to find a place to hide,” I told him without preamble.

  “No,” he answered back just as quickly.

  “What?”

  “We keep going.”

  “No.”

  He finally looked at me; surprise, amusement and anger mixing together to form a dark scowl. “Hiding isn’t an option. They won’t stop.”

  Paris was the strongest vamp I had ever seen, it wasn’t very comfortable if he was afraid of the wolves. What did that say about our chances?

  “We have to hide,” I yelled this time, my frustration spilling out.

  He didn’t respond this time—just kept watching the path in front of us. He couldn’t just keep being stubborn. It would end up getting one of us killed.

  “You think we can outrun them?” I jerked my thumb back impatiently.

  “I don’t know!” he admitted miserably.

  We didn’t have time for weakness though, there was too much at stake. “You need to figure it out!”

  My eyes swung back nervously. Miranda was pale, but keeping up the best she could. How could Paris look at her and think we would be able to outrun them?

  “If you refuse to hide, then,” I shouted, “you need to carry her.”

  He looked even more horrified at this prospect. “We don’t carry humans,” he sneered.

  “The sisters carry me all the time!” I was almost screaming in my frustration. Paris had carried her before, what was the big deal?

  “There’s so much about you Lexi,” his expression softened slightly with my name, “that is unusual.”

  “I’m not…” I blushed furiously at the implied compliment before I realized he could be being mean. “I just want to get her out of here safely. So much… So many have died or been taken. I just want her to get away.” My voice lowered with my sentiment, but I knew he could easily hear me.

  “So do I.”

  Our eyes met and held, but the intimate moment was interrupted by a growl that was much too close. Miranda. I slowed down and turned back, not wanting her so far away.

  I was between Paris and Miranda when a wolf showed itself. It jumped out in front of me, making me falter enough in my steps that I fell backwards onto the ground.

  I scrambled backwards and raised myself back to two feet before the wolf had much time to get closer. I didn’t have any choice of direction now, I turned and ran—away from Paris and Miranda.

  “Paris,” I screamed as I ran. “Paris, get Miranda.” I ducked between two trees and when the wolf was forced to go around, I squeezed back through the tiny opening and raced back to the others.

  The only thing waiting there was another wolf, though. This one had dark colored fur and was smaller than the others. His teeth looked just as sharp though. “Miranda! Paris!”

  I kept one eye on the wolf and the other searched for the pale face of Miranda. Where was she? The dark wolf didn’t come any closer, just blocked my way so I was forced backwards.

  Realizing that he was probably keeping me from joining Paris and Miranda, I made a sharp turn back into the denser part of the woods. As expected, he followed.

  I crouched low into a thick bush and craned my neck to see which way Miranda had gone. My hiding place wouldn’t stop the wolf though, only slow it down, and I had to roll quickly onto my back to avoid a heavy paw.

  I scrambled up to my hands and knees and crawled to the other side of the bush, but the wolf was right there waiting for me. I grunted in frustration and made for the only clear path away from the monster.

  I chanced a quick look behind me, but I didn’t see Miranda anywhere. I could only hope that Paris would go after her instead of me.

  Something heavy blocked my path, which I collided with while I was still looking behind me. I jumped back automatically, but two arms shot out to steady me.

  “Paris,” I gasped. “What are you doing?” Why wasn’t he with Miranda?

  “Where is she?” He didn’t sound breathless, like I felt, but that didn’t comfort me any.

  “I was hoping she was with you.” We both looked behind him at the same time and when nothing was there, our heads swung to check behind me.

  A huge grayish brown wolf glared at us from the other side of the bushes I had just crawled through. On his other side was Miranda.

  “Miranda.” My lips formed the word, but no sound came out.

  “Lexi!” Unfortunately, she wasn’t as quiet. The wolf turned towards the sound of my name and took a step towards her.

  “Run!” I screamed. “Miranda, run!”

  The dark wolf came up behind her, boxing her in so she couldn’t go anywhere. She danced from foot to foot for a few tense seconds before the light brown wolf lunged forward.

  It was a blur of movement that I couldn’t quite follow. I saw the affects, though. The wolf’s massive jaw clamped tight around Miranda’s leg, leaving an ever growing pool of blood on her pants.

  “No!” Her scream vibrated the area all around us. It echoed off every tree, every leaf, every cloud in the nonvisible sky, every dust particle on the ground, and bounced back into my heart- effectively slamming it backwards in my chest.

  She kicked at the wolf with her free leg, but it didn’t affect the monster at all. If anything, his grip tightened. It pulled her backwards several inches, keeping its eyes on me the entire time.

  Miranda grabbed a fallen branch, trying to slow the wolf down. He kept dragging her backwards, though.

  I stood rooted to the spot. Even if Paris wasn’t holding onto me, I wouldn’t be able to move. My brain couldn’t process what I was seeing. Miranda wasn’t being dragged away by a monster werewolf; it couldn’t be real.

  My mou
th fell open to allow oxygen to my brain, but it barely affected my thought process. Would it kill her? Was it taking her back to its lair to make her a werewolf mate?

  “No,” I whispered, “no, no, no.” My voice grew louder with each denial until my legs unfroze. “Let her go!” I took a step away from Paris, but he kept a hold of me.

  “We have to get her,” I pleaded without looking at him.

  “Just wait.”

  Miranda screamed again, a high pitched sound that made my teeth ache. Paris and I both took several steps forward. He seemed to remember before I did that we couldn’t hope to take on several adult werewolves.

  More had come to watch, waiting eagerly for someone to be the first to make a move. I knew Paris was right to pull me back, but it wasn’t easy not to run after Miranda.

  “Miranda,” I called helplessly.

  “Paris,” I clawed desperately at his arm. “We have to get her before he…”

  “I know.”

  “Wh… What should we do?”

  “You need to run and find a place… A safe place.” His head spun wildly around, taking in the wolves that had moved in behind us.

  Was he thinking the same thing I was? That I would never make it past them? I didn’t care about that, though. I wasn’t going anywhere. Not without Miranda. I didn’t say any of that out loud, though; I only watched Miranda—lying so helpless on the ground.

  The wolf’s teeth clenched tighter onto Miranda’s leg, making her cry out. Paris still had a hold of me so I couldn’t go to her.

  There wasn’t much I could hear over my own frantic heartbeats, but I could see her eyes. For just one moment, our eyes met and everything else faded away.

  Her terror vanished for just that moment and was replaced by a resigned sadness. She knew that we would likely never meet again. There was so much I wanted to say; like how she was the one who saved me, and that she had been my first and only friend, but of course there wasn’t time for that.

  Her eyes squeezed shut tight and then she was gone.

  Chapter 36

  My eyes blinked rapidly, trying to understand what just happened. The other wolves faded away, back into the trees. They would probably follow their brother back home—with Miranda with them.

  Miranda.

  I could still hardly believe what had happened. She had trusted us to keep her safe, but we let the wolves get her. If I hadn’t left her alone… If Paris had only carried her.

  His hands were still tight against my arms, but when I looked up at him, he was staring at the place where Miranda had disappeared.

  “We can still catch them,” I insisted.

  We had to try, no matter how impossible it seemed. We couldn’t just let that wolf take her away. If we hurried, we could still catch them.

  “Even if we could…” he started.

  “You think we should just give up?”

  He shook his head, but we didn’t run after them. We just stood there, staring stupidly as if we expected them to just bring her back. My eyes tightened at the thought. If we wanted her, we had to go after her.

  “We’re going to lose them.” Desperation made my voice thick.

  “We… We can’t go after them.”

  My eyes widened in disbelief. “What? Why wouldn’t we go after them?”

  “They’ll take you, too.”

  “No, they won’t. We’ll just…”

  “There is nothing we can do for her now. She’s gone.”

  I couldn’t believe what he was saying. Miranda wasn’t dead yet and we had promised to keep her safe. Just standing here doing nothing wasn’t what I expected from Paris. I thought he would be the first to want to go after them, to get her back. He had promised Addison. What was he thinking giving up so easily?

  “She’s still alive and I won’t just let her go to be a werewolf mate. I wouldn’t want to end up like that.”

  I bolted away from him before he could stop me. If he wanted to stand there and be a coward, fine, but I was going to try and save her. I didn’t get very far.

  A black wolf stepped free of the trees with his top lip raised up in a half snarl. “Where is she?” I screamed at him. His expression didn’t change. “Let her go.” Still no change. He started to back up. “Please! I’ll take her place.” I raced forward, desperate for this one chance at getting her back. “Take me and let her go.”

  The wolf hesitated, just enough to let the hope flare up in my chest. He was still glaring though, so I didn’t go any closer.

  The wolf’s huge head lurched forward, sharp teeth aiming for my face. Paris pulled backwards roughly, causing me to land roughly against his hard chest. There was a low rumbling against my ear, but it took me several moments to realize it was Paris. He was actually growling at the wolf.

  I expected the wolf to back away as it had before back at the nest, but this one held its ground. Several more of his brothers came to join him until there was a half circle of growling monsters in front of us.

  “Let’s go,” he whispered between ferocious growls.

  “No, not yet.”

  “You’re being stubborn,” he accused in a rush of words. He was standing so close to me that his breath brushed a few loose strands of hair across my temple.

  “I just don’t want to lose her.” Why couldn’t he understand that?

  “I know, Lexi, but she’s already gone.”

  I bit hard on the inside of my cheek. “We can get her back,” I insisted through clenched teeth.

  Horrible images of Miranda being dragged across the forest floor invaded my mind. A lone blood trail that we could follow. I shook my head quickly.

  I couldn’t think like that, not if I really expected to save her.

  “We won’t be able to go after her at all if we stand here and get killed by these wolves.”

  As if to prove his point, one of the wolves closest to us took another snap at me. I felt the brush of his fur against the back of my hand, but it didn’t make contact. No blood.

  I knew Paris was right, it was idiotic to just be standing here, but I couldn’t make myself leave the last place I had seen Miranda. If I left, it was like I was just letting them take her. How could I just leave?

  “Go,” he growled close to my face, “just run and don’t stop until I tell you to.”

  “No, please. We can’t just leave her. Paris, please.”

  He pushed me forward as if I hadn’t said anything. “Run.”

  The single word sparked an instinct inside of me, years spent with the sisters that had taught me to obey. No matter what situation we were in—obey first, then figure out what was going on later.

  I didn’t resist when Paris grabbed a hold of my hand and pulled me away from the half circle of wolves.

  He tried to keep hold of my hand as we ran, but I quickly pulled away from him so I could go faster. He stayed beside me, ducking under tree branches and pulling me quickly out of the path of oncoming trees.

  We didn’t discuss which way to go or stop to catch our breath, I just followed him blindly, only watching his back that remained just inches in front of me.

  He should have carried me, but I didn’t ask. I knew he was uncomfortable with it and I barely cared anyways. If the wolves caught me, maybe they would take me to where they had Miranda. I almost stumbled at the thought. Could I do that? Was I brave enough?

  Years of ground-in instinct forced me to stay up with Paris and turn when he did, even when my mind was twisting around with plans.

  If everything Melody had told me about the wolves was true, they would take me as a mate instead of just killing me. I was strong and able—exactly what they were looking for. I cringed away from the thought, but it might be the only way.

  I already knew what Paris would say about my half thought out plans. He would be against it. Maybe after his brothers came, he would be more open to the idea. Maybe…

  I yelped and jumped sideways as a huge shape lunged at us from the side. Paris jumped the same way I
did, careful to mirror my steps as if afraid he would lose me, too. He pushed his hand into the small of my back and forced me to keep going.

  “Come on, come on,” he hissed, but his lips didn’t move. I didn’t have time to ponder this, though. Another wolf joined in the chase, making us change direction again. I could no longer be sure if we were going forwards or backwards—just away from the ever present snap of jaws.

  I crawled on all fours after being thrown backwards again, under Paris’s leg and back on my feet—where he was waiting for me.

  “This way,” he pulled me around a tall tree and through a small puddle of water that baffled me. Why was it even here?

  We ducked expertly through two trees that had grown close together and then continued straight for a while. Without pause, we changed direction and flew past more clusters of brambles.

  The wolves continued their mad pursuit, snapping and hissing dangerously close. Suddenly, a familiar dark colored wolf forced Paris and I apart.

  “Lexi,” he called desperately, but I had no choice. Three more wolves came—forcing us even farther away. “Go!” he screamed at me when the four wolves all pounced on him. I turned and ran blindly.

  The trees thinned out briefly, then became denser than ever. The shadows were so thick, everything looked black. I widened my eyes as far as they would go, but I still couldn’t see much.

  Paris was nowhere around me. I had no way of knowing how far he had been forced to go, but he wouldn’t leave me alone for very long, if he could help it.

  There was a brighter patch not far from where I stood, so I made my way in that direction. I didn’t know where the wolves were, though, so it was hard to know for sure if it was a good idea. What if they were there?

  I stopped moving for several tense moments, craning my ears to hear any sounds. The wind rustled the trees above me, groaning and moaning in disconnected voices.

  Goosebumps spread across my arms and along the back of my neck when a low growl came from one of the shadows. The sound was terrifying. Survival instincts began to kick in, I didn’t want to end up like Miranda.

  Shame filled me at the thought. I wrapped my arms around my stomach and started walking again. I needed to find Paris so we could go after Miranda. I wasn’t ready to give up yet.