4. Bella

The icy gale ripped through my hair, howling a deafening tone that rattled my bones. I pressed my chattering teeth tightly together as the smell of pine and the sharpness of frost invaded my senses. Even this late into the night, the shifters were enjoying the last vestiges of the night. I glanced up into the sky, squinting at the pale sliver of the moon concealed behind clouds that hugged it in a winter”s embrace. The slightest of outlines could be seen to prove it was full.

The curse of the woods was so powerful this night that it almost felt alive as snow began to fall, growing heavier with each step I took. I could taste the magic in the air, a thick feeling of dread that warned me to turn back or suffer the consequences. Still, I pushed forward, desperate and determined to outrun my fate. My feet were rooted to the ground, unable to move past the invisible barrier despite the ever-present desperation that drove me further into the darkness.

Driven by sheer desperation, I scrambled up a steep incline, jagged rocks slicing into my palms. The pain only fueled me, driving me further into the woods, away from the monster who sought to claim me.

As I reached the top of the hill, my foot caught on a hidden root, sending me tumbling to the ground. I cried out in pain as my body collided with the earth, fresh wounds blossoming across my skin. I tried to pick myself up, but my battered limbs refused to obey.

Gideon”s treacherous plans hung heavy in my mind, serving as an inconsolable reminder that I never truly belonged here amongst these monsters—ones who twisted love and commitment into nothing but depravity and slavery.

They treated women like objects and used them for their own gain until they were exhausted and discarded like yesterday”s trash. My heart ached at this injustice, thanking God each day that He had given me the gift of being born mortal. This curse would not have me.

At least vampires had the decency not to toy with people”s lives just for sport.

I was determined not to let Gideon, who had forced his claim on me, find and use me however he pleased. The air around me seemed to be changing, almost as if warning me to stop, but I ignored it and forged ahead.

I had underestimated the wolves so determined to run me to the ground. Their growls reverberated through the forest, a new tone added as they barked viciously at me. One deeper, louder, more guttural, and primal. The sound had my back threatening to bend and me falling to my knees, giving the wolves the advantage as they gained on me. They surrounded me. Gideon”s pale blond wolf was still covered in blood as he snapped his jaws angrily at me. I pulled out my dagger and waited.

My heart raced as the wolf lunged toward me, ready to tear out my throat. With every ounce of strength I had left, I shifted sideways, desperately trying to dodge its attack. Only to realize too late that my legs were numb from the cold, leaving them useless and dead weight. I knew I was dead, but I”d go down fighting. His wolf lunged, and I shifted sideways, stumbling as the cold numbed me into nothing more than dead-weight appendages as I barely was able to miss getting my throat torn out.

Gideon growled, stalking toward me like a predator closing in on its prey. His eyes blazed with triumph and something darker—something that made my blood run cold.

”Stay away from me!” I spat defiantly, even as my body trembled with exhaustion. I wouldn”t give him the satisfaction of seeing me submit.

”Give up, Isabella,” he sneered. ”You belong to me.”

”I belong to no one,” I pronounced, but my voice trembled.

Suddenly, a mysterious mist enveloped the area, thickening the darkness around us. Panic surged through me, and I couldn”t tell if it was a blessing or a curse. The mist wrapped around us like a cocoon, choking off Gideon”s barred fangs as he loomed over me.

”Isabella—” His voice was suddenly muffled as though spoken from a great distance away.

I lunged at the wolf, his pack mates baring their razor-sharp teeth and snarling menacingly in my direction. Gideon pounced, snatching my clothing tight in his razor-sharp teeth. The sudden movement caused me to stagger back in terror. Something whipped out of the darkness, large and menacing, and even Gideon seemed lost as he frantically searched for its source.

My vision blurred, and an overwhelming fatigue washed over me. I struggled to stay awake, but the darkness beckoned, offering sweet oblivion. A roar sounded in my ears. Both wolf and one that sounded much bigger.

The wolves began whining as they took off into the woods, leaving me to death.

I pushed on, stumbling farther into the woods. My head swam as dizziness took over. I was not going to make it very far. The damn mist was everywhere, too thick to see through.

A putrid smell of burning filled the air as a monstrous figure descended from the heavens and thundered against the ground with such force that I was sent hurtling through the air and into a nearby tree. As my vision faded, I saw droplets of snow turn crimson-like blood before darkness claimed me.

I awoke to the inky blackness of the night. The last thing I remembered was the mist enveloping me as I ran through the forest, and now I found myself in a strange stone room. Fear seized me as I realized I was sitting against a cold wall. As my gaze traveled, I realized it wasn”t a room.

The forest had been replaced by an expansive cavern illuminated by flickering torchlight. My heart hammered in my chest as my eyes locked onto the massive crimson dragon that dominated the space. His scales caught flickers of moonlight from above as they glimmered off his iridescent scales.

My eyes trailed along his body, mesmerized by the beauty of him. He was the promise of death, and he was magnificent. I knew I should be terrified of him, but I couldn”t muster the strength.

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I made out a stone wall behind me and an open doorway leading to a vast hall. Light streamed down from a domed ceiling hole, revealing a dirty wooden floor with designs etched into the stone walls. A small fire had been built outside the doorway, providing warmth and light. Stale air scented by wood smoke filled the space.

My heart pounded as adrenaline rushed through me, making it hard to draw breath in. Fear gripped me as I stumbled back until I remembered the wall behind me.

”Hello,” I called out.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up straight. The dragon”s two red glowing eyes stared back at me. I squinted, wondering about my own sanity. Was this death, and I was stuck in some sort of dark in between? Panic hit me, clawing up my chest as I whimpered. The real panic didn”t start until those glowing crimson eyes moved closer from the distance, and a cool breeze that smelled like brimstone tickled my nose.

His body looked like a reptile, nearly two meters long and covered in scales. The lines of his face were fluid as he shifted from one state to another: angry snarl and baring teeth, all watching me, assessing me.

”Well,” I said, ”shit. This is just my luck.”

I didn”t know much about dragons, except they were territorial, possessive, aggressive, and mostly extinct. Actually, they had been extinct for centuries now. I was sure of it. Yet, here was a dragon, looming far too close for my comfort.

His body was long and scaled, his large talons clicking on the stone surface, but his wings held my attention the most. They were obsidian and crimson, like his scales and the darkest nights painted with blood. If there was any light in the darkness, his massive wings blotted it out of existence. I was thankful for the small amount of torchlight provided. At least I”d see what killed me in its razor-sharp jaws.

He growled, and I felt my back pressed tightly, flush with the wall, even as my gaze did not budge from the blood-red eyes that held my own.

I lowered my voice, hoping it was gentle and calm. ”Listen, I don”t know how I ended up here.” I lifted my hands to create a barrier before me, speaking low and steady. ”But I did not intend to end up here and am very happy to leave.”

The dragon shuffled even closer, stepping completely over the massive pit between us until his face was inches from mine. Then he looked deep into my eyes like he could see everything in my soul. He roared again, a low sound that vibrated through the room and weighed down my movement to a derisory crawl.

”I know I may appear to be quite appetizing,” I said cautiously. ”But trust me, I am not. In fact, I have been told many times that my blood is… unpleasant to consume.” I stumbled over the words, remembering all of the times vampires had taken a bite out of me only to spit my blood back out in revulsion. ”Lucky, indeed…” I muttered in disbelief.

The dragon ignored me, opening its mouth and showing off its elongated teeth as the fire within him began to burn, ready to be unleashed. I”d always known I”d go out in a blaze of glory. Just not this literally.

I turned my head like a coward. If it had been anything but flame that would end me, I”d stare it in the eye and face it. The fear of the pain, as I burned in a fury of dragon fire, lanced fear in every fiber of my body that left me trembling. I closed my eyes tight and turned my head, waiting for death to welcome me in a burning rage.

Nothing happened. Finally, I opened one eye as the dragon stood there, waiting. His fire banked, and the acrid stench of fire permeated the air as if he had thought better of burning me to a bloody pulp. Or he had just wanted to scare me. If it was the latter, it had worked. I straightened my back, squared my shoulders, and reminded myself that death was but another journey and that I should be brave in the face of it.

Which was utter bullshit. Dead was dead; there was nothing brave in it, only an ending. I read in a book that if you said positive, wise statements to yourself, you had a better chance of believing them. I was still waiting for it to work.

”Well go on then,” I spat. ”Might as well finish.” My hands clenched, but I kept my feet planted as I stared into the vertical red pupils of the monstrous beast. A challenge in my stare. The arms at my sides tensed as the trembling was barely contained.

The dragon snorted, permeating the air with a sweet, burning scent. He leaned close to me, bumping his scaled hide against my skin, and breathed in deeply. Before I could react, he stepped back, turned, and flew away into the opening, where the stars glittered into the darkened pit far above.

As soon as he was out of sight. I let a loud exhale out and fell to my knees. My head tilted back as I thanked the goddesses for yet another day, grateful I hadn”t pissed myself in fear.