The Lycan's Unexpected Warrior Luna! novel Chapter 4

This hesitation cost me because someone then wrapped two significantly enormous arms around me from behind. Fortunately, I am on the smaller side, and as I demonstrated to Elder Miles, I could exploit this to wiggle out of practically every hold the guys tried to keep me in. So I wiggle and struggle in his arms, causing him to reposition them in an attempt to get a better grip on me, which is exactly what I wanted because it gave me a bit more movement.

I toss my head back, hitting his nose, and then I throw my elbows back, hitting both sides of his ribs at the same moment, loosening his grip on me even more and allowing me to slip down and out of his arms. When I get to the ground, I crouch and then kick out my leg, rotating as I do so, sweeping his legs backward and causing him to fall hard to the ground.

I smile and rise back to my feet, but it's not for long since I'm suddenly surrounded by three more beasts, the first of whom I manage to avoid. I know I've been lucky thus far, that I've gotten the better of them because they aren't expecting a small girl like me to fight back, but I know that won't last long before they don't hold back, so instead of facing the three males, I turn and escape. Elder Miles taught me to assess the situation around me in one of his private classes, and that there is a time to stand and fight and a time to run in the opposite direction so that you can fight under better conditions the next time.

I move fast, avoiding the beasts who tried to capture me as I rushed past, and then the trees, branches, and shrubs that snatched at me as I ran through the woods. I’m not sure where I was headed, but there had to be another little village or town nearby, or maybe one of the larger cities mentioned by the blacksmith and healer. Hearing a howl coming from the village’s direction, I take a moment to glance around.

I’ve never gone this deep into the woods before, but some of it still looks familiar; suddenly I hear two or three loud growls and the sound of something running. I take a brief look around, choose a path, and resume running; however, I hear a sound behind me and turn to look back, tripping over a downed branch in front of me. I smash to the ground hard, but I remember my training and use my momentum. I roll, scraping my arm, but I get back up and keep running.

As the night grows darker, it becomes increasingly difficult to see where I’m going, so I slow down to avoid tripping again. When I reach the point when I have no option but to stop, I put my hands on my knees and try to take deep breaths to slow down my pounding heart. When I straighten my arm and glance down, I gasp a little as I see a long shallow cut from when I tripped over.

I don’t get to look at it for long, though, because I’m attacked by a monstrous form that pushes me backward until my back collides with a nearby tree. I gasp once more, as pain spreads across my back as a result of the force with which I struck the tree; this also causes me to glance up and into the cold grey eyes of the beast from my dreams.

His eyes captivate me, and it isn’t until he breaks the connection that I realize he has twisted and trapped one of my hands to the tree over my head and the other behind my back into the tree. He moves my hair away from my shoulder with his free hand, then repeats the gesture from the basement, running his nose over my shoulder and up my neck while taking a significant breath. This causes me to tremble once more, as his eyes meet with mine again, and he smiles, making it difficult for me to breathe.