The Mating Game - Chapter 19：18.

INDIA’S POV

I dashed forward, rolling seconds after I flung myself towards the caves entrance.

I heard the sound of bones crunch as they collided with the mountain side we were currently hiding in. My wolf chuckled a throaty laugh as the giant wolf outside tried to shove himself through the tiny cave entrance. The guardians were relentless, but so were we. I refused to go anywhere but home, back to Colton and my pack.

I’d learned so much recently about the after life for wolves, and what happens to mates who’re separated. Some were so stricken with grief that they would take their own lives, vowing they couldn’t live without their mates. Other’s threw themselves into deep depressions, rarely dragging themselves out once they let the pain consume them. Then there were the lucky ones, who would fight through the pain, and vow to make sure their mates memory wasn’t tarnished, that they would make their fallen mate proud, and those wolves were usually granted a second chance mate, a mate that could help carry the burden of losing someone that dear to you, that etched into your heart.

I hoped that if I couldn’t make it out of this, Colton would be strong, and be granted a second chance. If anyone deserved it, it would be him.

‘Stop thinking negative, we’re going to get back to them’ My wolf growled towards me in annoyance as she curled up on a smooth boulder and began snoring moments later.

We had been running for so long now that I had lost track of time. We could’ve been here weeks, months, maybe even years and I wouldn’t know it. I had lost track of how many times we had escaped the guardians as well, each time harder than the last.

I peered out of the cave, noticing the darkness had vanished, I could see a sky, see trees and mountains and the faint glow of sunshine and moonlight. There were days and nights in this place, though they felt longer than days and nights on Earth. I didn’t need food or water here to keep myself going, but I guess when you’re only a soul you don’t need sustenance.

I heard a sharp howl pierce through my thoughts and looked back to see my wolf still sleeping soundly. The howl hadn’t come from her. Maybe there were other wolves trying to make it out of this place, maybe there were others like me, trying to escape the transition.

The howl came from someone else, and they sounded wounded.

I neared the entrance to the cave slowly, looking out at the forest just beyond the mountainside.

I saw nothing.

‘Get back inside India, it’s probably a trap.’ My wolf growled into my mind.

I would have listened to her, if I wouldn’t have locked eyes with a pair of piercing blue ones that shook my to my core.

“No” I breathed out, my lungs deflating as I struggled to remember how to breathe.

My wolf was at my side in an instant, standing in front of me, preventing me from leaving.

His body was covered in cuts and lashes, dried blood matted his hair, he was dirty, his clothes tattered, but he was still the most beautiful man I had ever laid eyes on.

“Colton,” I breathed, unable to contain it.

‘It’s not him India.’ My wolf growled again.

“How can it not be him, let me go to him, he needs me.” I begged her and she shook her head, her ears swiveling in another direction, picking up something I couldn’t hear yet.

‘It’s not him India. Trust me. I can feel his essence when he is near us, this is a trap. Do not watch this, please go.’ She begged me, pushing against me with everything she had, trying to shield me from something unknown, something she knew would happen, but I did not. I couldn’t tear myself away from him, I couldn’t turn away from him.

Colton, or not Colton, recognized me then, and his eyes lit up like he’d found rain in a drought.

“India, please help me.” He coughed out, barely breathing.

I saw the Guardians coming over the hillside then, a few yards away from him. Dread pooled hot in my belly as my nerves became live wires. As much as I wanted to look away, I couldn’t. I was as frozen as my wolf had been the first day we arrived.

“What if it is him. What if I kill him. I can’t do this. I can’t.” I panicked, sinking to my knees and wrapping my arms around my wolf’s soft fur.

‘Trust me.’ She whispered back to me through our link softly, cooing me as if I were a child.

“Please India, help me!” He begged and I buried my face in her fur, tears streaming down relentlessly.

“Please make it stop.” I sobbed to her.

‘It’ll be over soon. It’s not Colton. I promise you. I would not let our mate suffer.’ She assured me.

I heard the growls as the Guardians caught up to him, I heard his scream as they tore into his flesh, the audible crunch of bones as they crushed his easily between their massive jaws. I heard his sobs, his screams of searing agony as he was ripped apart limb from limb until a mangled corpse was all that remained of the beautiful man I loved so.

‘It’s over. Look.’ She murmured to me and I hesitated, peeking up from her fur. I saw the remains of Colton, and I almost lost it, until I saw them shimmering, disappearing into thin air as if they never existed.

“What happened?” I breathed out, confusion swimming through my mind.

That’s when I heard it. The same painful howl that I had heard at the beginning of this. I gasped and looked out, only to lock eyes with his again. It was happening all over again, like I was stuck in some twisted time loop where I had to watch him die over and over until I left this place.

“We have to get out of here, I’m gonna be sick.” I breathed to my wolf as I staggered backwards, deeper into the little cave. I couldn’t watch again, I couldn’t hear it all again. We had to keep moving, even if it meant losing another night of sleep.