Rory dragged Anna along on a wild goose chase, and despite Anna's fondness, Rory was determined to take her with her. They were followed by several werewolves who had survived the collapse and had not gone completely berserk, and together they rushed out another hidden exit from the lair.
They rushed deeper into the Grey Mist Mountains, where the air was much wetter and colder, and the chill penetrated the skin, giving instant goosebumps. The trees there grew in strange shapes and vines twisted around each other, displaying an ancient and powerful life force, as if controlled by some unseen force. The roar of the nest faded away behind them, replaced by an even more eerie silence in the mountains and forests, as well as the wailing of crows that made a few sporadic sounds.
Anna was still lost in the ecstasy of the Blood Moon's summoning, her blue eyes staring vacantly ahead, a nervous whisper escaping her lips every now and then, making it impossible to examine what she was actually saying. Her wrists are still bleeding, the blood glowing faintly in the grey mist.
The tattoo on Rory's back burned hot and tingly, and every heartbeat felt like a needle sticking. It was the double torture of the Blood Moon curse and the Kieran brand. After a few kilometers, a tidal wave of physical exhaustion washed over her, but she knew she couldn't stop. She had to find a safe place to settle down and figure out what happened to Anna and the shard, as well as, the hunter...how was he?
The thought annoyed her, like a hundred claws scratching at her heart, and she shook her head, trying to shake Milo's face, tinged with pain and anger, out of her mind. What did it matter to her if he was dead or alive? Or maybe it wasn't just her business that he was dead?
Just as they ducked into a cavern for a moment's respite, a figure with raging power and a sickeningly fishy-sweet scent suddenly appeared at the mouth of the cave.
It was Kieran.
His speed exceeded Rory's expectations, and Rory gazed at this 'family member ' who had become a complete stranger to her. His grey wolf form was scarred and bloodied, but the frenzy in his red eyes had not diminished and had become even more frenzied. In his hand was a black iron whip, engraved with ancient runes, a tool used by the wolves to punish wrongdoers, Rory knew it all too well, and the fear engraved in her bones made her take a few steps back, but she had to overcome it. This time, she had to face it bravely.
'How dare you run away, Rory.' Kieran's voice was laced with anger and disappointment, like a snarl at a disobedient pet. He ignored Anna, his red eyes staring deathly at the tattoo on Rory's back.
Rory's heart sank, holding her breath as her gaze intensified. She knew Kieran valued obedience and control above all else.
'You let the hunter go,' Kieran's tall figure stepped closer, the iron whip in his hand emitting a low hum, runes glinting with an unsettling light on the lash. 'You let the Shard's power get out of control, you betrayed me, you betrayed the Wolves!'
'You betrayed me!' Rory finally let out her heartfelt roar, her eyes burning with hatred and defiance towards Kieran. All this time she had done so much for him, endured the humiliation of branding, carried out countless orders against her conscience, and yet he had taken advantage of her loyalty, forsaken the oath of 'family', and pursued destructive power in order to satisfy his selfish desires and hold on to power!
'Men and wolves cannot coexist!' Kieran erupted into a torrent of roars, the iron whip in his hand carrying a cracking sound as he viciously lashed out at the tattoos on Rory's back.
'Splat!'
The iron whip landed on Rory's tattoo as if igniting a curse. Severe pain instantly swept through her entire body, Rory let out a wail of agony, her body arched due to the trembling, and cold sweat instantly soaked her back, the tattoo felt like it was alive, growing like thorns in her flesh and blood, torturing her crazily with searing and tearing pain.
Once again she remembered the year she was 16 when Kieran took the red-hot iron and branded her back, humiliation once again coming like a tidal wave, surging through her blood. She hated it, she hated it all.
'Snap!'
Once again, Rory's scream rang throughout the mountains.
Anna watched the scene from a short distance away, her like stilled, no horror on her face, only an eerie calmness, one might even say an indifference. She chanted some sort of incantation, her voice muffled.
Kieran raised his whip, ready to drop it again. He wanted Rory to remember the price of defying him.
Just as the whip was about to fall again, a strong, angry roar came from the entrance of the cave.
'Stop!'
It was Milo.
His figure appeared like a ghost at the entrance of the cave, his blonde hair looked a little dull from the dust, and his body carried the marks left by the battle. He watched as Rory suffered, his amber eyes gradually shifting from determination to burning fury, his chains poised in his hands.
Rory was shocked, simply incredulous at Milo's determination. She'd thought Milo was buried dead in his lair, or that he'd been entangled in a frenzied werewolf and couldn't get out. But to think he'd come after her, risking his life to enter the heart of the wolves' territory, just to... save her?
'You deserved it.' The words squeezed out of Rory's mouth, her voice trembling with pain and carrying a hint of complexity she hadn't even realized she was feeling - a little mockery of his stupidity, a little annoyance at his presence, and more than anything else, a heartbeat that annoyed her more than she could say, and a humiliation that she was feeling at the moment.
'Get away from me!' Rory finally uttered a sentence that even she felt went against the grain.
Kieran's red eyes grew even angrier, his eyes locking onto Milo instantly as his anger found a new outlet.
'You! You're the one who compelled Rory!'
The surviving werewolves around them snarled at Kieran's command and rushed towards Milo, surrounding him.
Milo's courage did not diminish in the slightest as he waved the chains in his hands, forming a silver barrier that temporarily blocked the wolves. But he was only one person, and the wolves were far outnumbered. Soon Milo was entangled in a couple of wolves, and after a few scuffles, he was scratched by their claws and dragged bodily to the ground.
'Don't want you to die.' Milo said stubbornly in Rory's direction before he was dragged down, his voice was low but unusually firm.
Rory watched Milo being surrounded by wolves, watching the unyielding fire still burning in his eyes. The whip marks on her back were hot and painful, but something soft inside was touched. This hunter, why...why did he risk his life to save her? Was he clearly his arch-enemy, a rival camp to the death, simply because of Anna? No. The way he looked at her, what he just said...
She jerked free of Kieran's grip on her, pain shaking her body, but her will was as strong as a mountain. She let out an angry growl, no longer for the wolves, but for a more complex emotion. She lunged at Kieran with all her strength, tearing at him with her claws, trying to pull him away from Milo.
'Get away!' Rory let out a hoarse roar, her attack unrelenting and with a hatred that was utterly decisive.
Kieran's red eyes widened completely, a chilling cold light radiating from his pupils; he hadn't expected Rory to resist at this point, and he was caught up in her ferocious attack.
'Move!' Rory shouted in Milo's direction, blocking Kieran's attack with his body.
Milo was shocked, but instead of retreating, he took the opportunity to break free of the wolves' entanglements, and he stood up with all his might, ignoring the wounds on his body, and rushed to Rory's side.
'Follow me!' Milo grabbed Rory's arm and forcefully pulled her to escape deeper into the cavern.
Rory's body was still weak, and the tattoos on her back were in sharp pain as if they were on fire, but she didn't resist Milo's pull and even obeyed a little heartily. As she fled, her body moved uncontrollably closer to Milo, eventually leaning against his broad, strong shoulder.
His body was hard and warm, carrying a mixture of nitrous and pine. The scent no longer annoyed her at the moment with her heart beating out of order but brought a hint of a reassuring, unfamiliar calm. The pain in Rory's back burned, but leaning against his shoulder seemed to ease it a little.
Milo felt the weight of Rory's body, felt the movement of her leaning in, and... An unnamed dependence. His body stiffened slightly, then relaxed. He tightened his grip on her hand and pulled her wildly through the dark caverns.
Behind them came the sound of Kieran's angry growls and wolves in pursuit, and Anna's voice if anything, adding to the creepiness.
'I will show you the truth...'
Fog rolled in beyond the cavern, and by a faint glimmer of moonlight, Rory glanced back. In the thick fog, she seemed to see a glimmer of red light flickering, like the glow of the blood on Anna's wrists, or the power of the shard, or... something more terrifying.
She realized that the danger wasn't far away, but for the moment, Rory leaned against Milo's shoulder, the pain in her body intertwined with some kind of trust budding inside her.
She didn't know what awaited them ahead, but at least for this moment, she was no longer alone in the darkness.