Knowing that I was going to die did not make me give up like I expected. The queen's screams could have shaken the earth to its very core. Whether it was her intention or not, her cries would sick her entire army after me. And they did.

I barely thought of the weapons I still had on my person, including the ones I held in my hands, until I heard paws pounding the soft ground behind me. It sounded like a stampede of mustangs tearing up the rocky desert. But they weren't wild prey animals tearing up Nevada terrain. They were predators with the intelligence of humans and the physicality of one of the top predators in the animal kingdom and this was their territory.

How many were there? I didn't dare look. It would cost me time. It would make my heart stutter. And either of those things could kill me now.

I focused ahead, pumping my arms, adjusting my foot placement just like Milo taught me. I thought I was becoming a machine of power and precision. I had a task and I could complete it. I would complete it. I just had to try hard enough. All I needed to do was get to the road. Surely them would stop their chase then, like the one with red eyes had. Surely, they would not cross out of their territory.

If they did...

A howl rang out behind me, piercing the air. And my heart.

Such a loud call. Telling all of them exactly where I was. Any of them that hadn't located me already, would now.

But they were still behind me and that was all that mattered.

My breaths were coming out of my lungs harder. I knew that it meant that I would be losing steam soon. How long could wolves run for? I had never thought of that before. But if their natural stamina outweighed my trained body...

No, I could not think that way. If I was going to think that way, I might as well just lay down and bare my throat to them.

I told myself that I knew this path. I told myself that I had outrun the red eyed beast. These wolves had nothing on me. this forest would not keep me trapped. I knew the shrubs and the trees. I dodged and ducked as needed. At one point, I tugged along a thick branch as I raced past, then released it when I was clear. The whimper that sounded out as the tree slapped one of them should have brought me joy. It only made my stomach tighten. They were close. Too close.

A flash of white on my right startled me. No, it wasn't possible. But there it was, a white werewolf, barreling towards me from the side. I barely had a chance to brace my body for impact before the stocky body slammed into me. the knives that I had brought along for moments like this were completely forgotten.

It was a blur. My feet were knocked out from under me. my hands raised up to protect my face as I went down. My knees hit first, then my elbows. A heavy weight pressed down on my spine. I jerked hard, throwing the pounds off. I needed to see. I needed to see what I was fighting if I had any chance of winning. My pair of knives must have flown out of my hands when I went down, because now my hands were curled into tight fists around nothing.

I managed to flip over onto my back and immediately wished I hadn't. it was all a swirl of fur, snarling mouths, and dark eyes. I could barely see the canopy above. My entire vision was filled with nothing but those that would end me. teeth sank into my right ankle first. I screamed out, jerking as I tried to reached for one of my knives, just out of my reach on my right side. Paws on claws were on my chest then, forcing me back into the earth.

I swung without thinking, my palm slamming into the side of the werewolf's face while it stood in my chest like a gladiator posing with a fallen lion. It could at least wait until I was dead to gloat. I was rewarded with a snarl and foul breath in my face. My left wrist stung a second later and I knew from the hot wetness surrounding it, then I had been bitten yet again.

This was it.

I felt my body melt into the grass below for a moment. I had done the best I could, but like Milo always knew, I couldn't hurt that child. And because of that, this would be my last memory in this world. I would get my throat torn out. My lungs would be punctured with claws as they ripped through my innards. The brain that stored all of my memories – hugging my parents at graduation and a crying fit in kindergarten – it would rot in the woods. Every part of me would be gone.

No one moved. Paws stayed planted on my chest. The teeth on my opposing limbs remained rooted.

But they did not tear, they did not scratch.

A light was coming in the distance. Many people described a light when dying, but I knew that this was not the case. The light moved and bumped as it neared, having no essence of godly glow to it and I certainly felt no release. A lantern, held by someone, or perhaps more than one person.

Slowly, I could make out more distinct features. One smaller than the other, with a more feminine figure. Two pairs of jeans, a plaid shirt for the larger male and simple tee shirt on the woman. The woman's dark hair bled into the night, one not ending without the other. And I knew right then who was coming to kill me. it only made sense that she be the one to deliver the final blow.

"You didn't make it very far," Queen Keiko stated. Her voice was strikingly calm considering I had flung an arrow at her partner no less than five minutes ago. "And you'll be absolutely heartbroken to know that Ajax is going to make a full recovery. A shot into the shoulder wouldn't bring down any werewolf, much less a king. If your little clan wanted him dead, they should have sent someone more capable to do it."

I said nothing, only studying her. Surely, there had to be something sinister about her. she couldn't be guiding this group, hurting all of these people, and appear just like any other human woman would. But the lantern only illuminated almond shaped eyes, a small nose, and knotted hair. I felt like I could pass her in a mall or while walking in a park.

"Not very chatty," she mused, cocking her hip to one side. "That's fine. For now. The only reason these wolves aren't shredding you into little ribbons is because I'm hoping you're going to share some things with me. if you are cocky enough to shoot the king of werewolves on our own land, then hopefully you'll be brave enough to answer some simple questions. And if not..." she shrugged her slender shoulders. "Bring her to the shed, we're going to have some fun with this little hunter."

~~~Question of the Day~~~

What would your perfect bar or coffee shop look like?