Clementine:
At age 1:
"Look! Clementine is running. How?"
A voice exclaimed, shocked that instead of taking my first steps, I was already running.
At age 10:
"Clementine has run away—somebody catch her!"
Loud screams erupted as I ran through the crowd, planning to go rogue at such a young age.
At age 15:
"That bitch has run away again. Call the warriors, fucking catch her!"
Their words echoed in my ears, but I kept going. The council had changed the rules, no one was allowed to go rogue. If anyone wanted to leave the pack so badly, they would be enlisted into the academy instead. But I wasn't bound by the rules.
At age 18:
"How the fuck did she pass us?"
It was Haiden's ego taking a hit as I ran past all of them, leaving them behind.
I have had experience since I was a child. Every few months, I would try to run away from the pack. But I would always get caught, not because I was slow, but because they used all sorts of weapons to stop me.
The wind screamed in my ears, but I didn't care. It felt like it was carrying me. I could smell the trees, the damp earth beneath my feet, the wildness of the forest all around me.
"Ugh!"
I heard a grunt beside me, Yorick was catching up. My legs burned, my chest ached, but I didn't slow down. The others were behind me. I knew they were fast, maybe even stronger, but I was faster. I had to be.
I ducked under branches, jumped over roots, not letting anything stop me. Leaves slapped against my face, stinging my skin, but I kept going. I had to take out my anger on them for what happened yesterday. I channeled all of it into winning this race.
But as soon as Haiden started catching up on my left, I got the feeling they weren't just trying to pass me. I was right, the moment Haiden tried to bump me with his shoulder, I reacted quickly and moved to my right.
That's when I accidentally collided with Yorick. He had no idea it was coming and couldn't save himself. He was sprinting so fast that one bump sent him crashing into a tree.
"Shit," I cursed under my breath, slowing down to check on him.
"You fucking slut!"
The way Yorick got up from the ground and yelled at me made me rethink my next steps. He clearly didn't need my help, and he definitely misunderstood what happened.
So I spun around and sprinted forward again. By that time, Haiden had ran far ahead of us after he cheated.
This time, I had to run, because a mad alpha was chasing after me.
I don't even think Yorick was trying to win the race anymore. I felt him coming up behind me, his fingers nearly brushing the back of my neck as he reached out to grab me.
That's when I closed my eyes and ran faster than I ever had before.
I'm not good at running once someone starts using violence. But I had to break that cycle.
I could see Haiden far ahead, and my only goal was to beat that asshole. Yorick should be going after him, he was the reason I bumped into Yorick in the first place.
In the next few seconds, everything turned silent around me. I left Yorick far behind, his grunting finally fading away, and now I was catching up—no, passing— Haiden.
Anger kept flooding through me, blinding me.
They had given us wolfsbane with breakfast so we couldn't use our wolf's power. Everything we had in this race came purely from our human bodies.
But I wasn't as weak as everyone thought I was.
I saw Haiden ahead of me, his back moving quickly as he ran, his feet pounding the earth. I pushed myself harder until I was right behind him. My legs were on fire. I could easily pass him, but I wanted revenge. He wanted to hurt me, so I wanted to do the same now.
I waited for the perfect moment. Just as he lifted his foot, I moved fast, swung my leg forward, and kicked the back of his knee.
It wasn't hard, just sharp enough to make his leg buckle.
"Fuck!"
He shouted and stumbled, falling to the side. I didn't look back. I just ran past him, heart racing, eyes on the finish line. I smirked even harder when I heard him cussing behind me.
"Fucking cunt!"
His sharp British accent actually made me laugh. And just as I reached the finish line, back at the podium, I raised my arm high in the air, and flipped him off with my middle finger.
I finally slowed to a stop beside the Lurker, bending over with my hands on my knees to catch my breath. While doing so, I spotted Ian coming in second.
That was–shocking. He was such a silent, creepy guy. Not once had he panted or grunted during the race, and we hadn't seen him once. Where the hell had he come from?
He came to a sudden stop just after crossing the podium. Third was Yorick, then Troy. And in last place—was Haiden.
Their first move after finishing was to charge at me. Haiden and Yorick rushed me fast enough to make me instinctively step back. Haiden grabbed my shirt and yanked me up from the ground, my feet lifting off the floor.
Yorick came from behind me, his massive frame making me shiver as he placed a heavy hand on the back of my neck. I flinched, it always tickled when someone touched me there.
"How fucking dare you sabotage my victory?" Haiden yelled in my face, making me squint my eyes against the force of his voice.
"Your victory?" I laughed, and that only made him angrier. He shook me roughly, trying to snap my attention back to him.
"You attacked me!" he yelled, conveniently forgetting he was the one who started it.
"She did the same to me," Yorick added, slapping the back of my neck. I closed my eyes as my skin burned from the sting.
"So, you're the sore-loser type?" I said, smirking. "It's okay, I won't tell anyone that two big Alphas lost and then couldn't take defeat with grace."
I didn't know why I couldn't shut up once I started talking. Even while hanging in the air, an Alpha behind me slapping the back of my neck repeatedly, I just couldn't stop arguing.
"Are you fucking serious—" Haiden started to scream, and at the same time, Yorick pinched the back of my neck.
But then we all froze.
The sound of a gun clicking cut through everything.
Silence.
Haiden slowly lowered me to the ground, his eyes shifting to the side. I followed his gaze, and saw the Lurker pointing a gun at him, gesturing for him to put me down.