“AHHHH!” Mary screamed and immediately grabbed Athissa’s arm.
“What was that!?” Athissa said, eyes wide.
The entire carriage shook.
Another loud impact followed.
BANG!
The horses outside neighed wildly.
“ROGER!” Athissa shouted.
No answer.
The sound of frantic hooves and frightened horses echoed outside.
Mary’s face slowly turned pale.
“Athissa?”
“Stay here,” Athissa said firmly.
Mary immediately grabbed the hem of Athissa’s clothes.
“No!
Don’t leave me!” Mary cried out in fear.
“I’m not leaving.
I’m just going to look,” Athissa said.
She nearly chuckled since Mary was clearly stronger than her, since she had already unlocked her wolf, unlike hers.
“That’s exactly what someone says before something terrible happens!” Mary pulled Athissa towards her.
“You read too many books,” Athissa removed Mary’s hand forcefully.
Mary tightened her grip.
‘This bitch!’ Athissa thought as she was practically slowed down by Mary.
Before either of them could move—
GRRRRRR!
A low growl echoed from outside the carriage.
It sounded menacing.
Both women froze.
Athissa slowly turned toward Mary.
Mary turned to Athissa too.
Neither of them said anything.
Then—
HOWL!
“WOLF!” Mary screamed so loud.
Athissa immediately slammed her hand into Mary’s mouth to shut her up.
“Shh!”
‘This bitch has a survival instinct of a goldfish,’ Athissa thought.
Mary’s tears streamed down her face while she nodded aggressively.
Athissa removed her hand and wiped the saliva on her skirt.
“Why is there a wolf?” Mary whispered as she went closer to Athissa.
“I don’t know!”
Another growl came from directly beside the carriage.
SCRAAAAAAPE!
Mary covered her mouth as her body shook in fear.
Athissa’s face turned serious.
Even though she was wolfless, she still had some knowledge about fighting and escaping difficult situations.
However, Mary was hindering Athissa if she wanted to escape silently.
Outside, Roger suddenly shouted.
“Get away!
GET AWAY!”
The sound of Roger’s whip cracking echoed through the road.
Then another terrifying growl followed.
“We should get away before their attention shifts to us,” Athissa whispered as she went to the other side of the carriage door.
Mary held her.
“What about Roger?”
“He is a grown man,” Athissa replied and opened the door as slowly as she could.
“That doesn’t mean we should leave him!” Mary’s voice rose a little higher.
Athissa wanted to smack Mary so bad for being dumb and thinking about others’ lives rather than prioritizing hers.
“If you want to save him.
Go!” Athissa pointed at the door, indicating for Mary to go out.
“But!” Mary protested.
Athissa rolled her eyes.
They were in a life-or-death situation, and Athissa wanted to stay breathing.
However, before Athissa could escape, the door yanked open.
A massive wolf stood before them.
Both of the women froze.
Its fur was dark brown, and its yellow eyes stared directly at Athissa.
Then Athissa slowly closed the door.
Click.
Mary stared at her.
“What the—”
Then the door was completely torn apart by the wolf, and it growled at them loudly, completely pissed.
The wolf shoved its enormous head through the broken doorway.
Mary let out another scream and Athissa grabbed her by the collar.
“RUN!” Athissa screamed.
“But where?” Mary asked, confused.
“ANYWHERE!”
Athissa kicked the wolf’s snout with all her strength and the wolf recoiled with a furious growl.
It wasn’t enough to hurt the wold, but it was enough to give them a few seconds to escape.
Athissa grabbed Mary’s wrist and jumped out of the carriage.
However, two figures appeared before them.
“Ladies, what’s the rush?”
“Don’t be scared.
We’re not here to hurt you.”
The two men laughed mockingly as they looked at one another.
Athissa stepped forward, shielding Mary, who was crying.
“What do you want?” Athissa asked firmly.
“Ooh, feisty.
I like that,” the man said, smirking.
“A woman should just cry and beg.
Like that one behind you.
Why are you acting so tough when you’re a weakling?” Another one said, frowning at Athissa’s words.
Athissa grimaced.
“Seriously?
You’re here to cause trouble yet you have time for lectures?”
Both men growled threateningly.
Then another man walked towards them, naked.
He was rubbing his nose.
“You have a good kick,” he said.
Athissa glared at him as she tried to step back.
“Where’s Roger?”
The naked man smiled.
“Still worried about the coachman?”
Athissa’s stomach sank.
“What did you do to him?” Mary shouted from the back.
The man shrugged.
“He ran.”
Mary’s face went pale.
“What do you mean by that?” Athissa asked.
“I mean, he ran… very, very fast,” another man said with a laugh.
“Smart fellow.”
Athissa clenched her fists.
“Are you letting us run too?” Athissa asked slowly.
The three men before them became silent as they exchanged looks, practically mind-linking each other.
After a while, the naked man spoke.
“Maybe, after we have fun.”
Athissa’s lips pressed into a thin line.
She looked at his neck and noticed a mate mark.
“You’re mated.”
Then Athissa looked at the other two, but they bore no marks.
“So what?” The naked man asked, shrugging.
Athissa inhaled sharply.
She felt a nagging feeling inside her stomach that wanted to burst out.
“You…you can take our luggage, but spare us,” Athissa said, her voice became weak as her breathing became rapid.
The three men laughed.
“Please!
We will give you our money too.
Don’t hurt us,” Mary begged, clasping her hands together.
Athissa staggered backwards as she became dizzy.
She closed her eyes tightly before opening them, but she felt like the world started dancing.
“You’re…mated,” Athissa whispered.
The naked man’s smile dropped.
“I’ll just beat my mate if she started nagging that I fucked another woman,” he replied.
The two other men laughed and also encouraged the beating.
“Yeah!
As if she can do anything!”
“She should be thankful to be fed by you bro.”
They chuckled, completely ignoring Mary and Athissa.
Athissa glanced at Mary and used that little distraction to her advantage.
She grabbed Mary’s wrist and ran as fast as she could.
She went straight to the forest in hopes that it would help them cover.
However, a human’s speed couldn’t compete with a wolf’s.
“Run and ask for help,” Athissa said firmly before she pushed Mary forward with all her strength.
I’m about to let it out.