Hunted.

Motioning for Evan to come over, we exited the cave with the sun glaring at us as it slowly sank in the sky. "Why me?" I asked, trying to be as straightforward as possible, looking into his red eyes.

"That requires a very long answer, but we've been looking for you, and we need to go back to the rest of the pack as fast as possible," he replied. I needed more information. I needed answers.

He briefly looked around, his wolf ears visibly flickering in the air. "We must go."

He pulled me by the wrist onto his back, and before I knew it, I was clinging to his red fur. The wolves darted out of the cave and began running with us through the forest. Trees topped with snow whipped past as I made an effort to look up and tried my best to be aware of my surroundings and what we passed.

It was so bright. Through squinted eyes I could see mounds of white, glistering snow. The pine trees tangling together in masses. In the distance, high peaks stood and watched the oncomers.

It was nauseating having my legs nearly dangling off. Sitting upright would be so much better, but I was worried about falling off. My eyes blurred by the winds streaking past.

"Where are we going?!" I tried to shout loud enough to hear.

"It wasn't safe. I'll answer your questions later in detail. Just don't move," he said under his breath as he leapt over logs.

I was focusing so much on the wolves that I had stopped focusing on everything else. Just what was so dangerous?

I looked behind me and spotted only a few men badly riding on horseback. My mind had naturally thought of suitable ways to knock all of them off. My hands were missing something, though. "Why are you running from them?" I asked.

"For your protection," he replied.

It felt as if something inside me was irritating me to leap and take them out. They were just average hunters who couldn't hold a gun steady from the way their taunts showed. A gunshot, blasting through the forest, woke me up. How did I know that? I clenched Evan's fur, holding my breath and fighting the urge to take off.

My head spun as curiosity couldn't prevent my mind from digging into the information.

The hunters hollered at the wolves to stop, threatening with another shot at a tree trunk.