#3 The Four

Ryanna POV

My lungs were fire. My legs were blades. My heart was a war drum trying to punch its way out of my ribs.

Running wasn’t just something I was doing anymore, it was the only thing left that felt real.

The forest blurred around me, leaves slapped my face, sweat stung my eyes, and blood from a split lip slid down my chin. My body should’ve collapsed ten minutes ago, but somehow it kept going, stronger, and faster, like muscle memory carved from another lifetime.

Behind me? Silver Eyes. The first one who found me. The first one to corner me. The one whose shadow trailed mine like he was reading my every step before I took it.

Every breath I took, I felt him answering with one of his own. Every direction I turned, he matched like we were connected by an invisible thread that pissed me off more than it scared me.

But tonight? I wasn’t just dealing with him.

The whistle he let out still rang in my ears. A signal. A call. And the forest answered.

Heavy footsteps hit the dirt behind me. A second hunter. He was close, way too close. His presence was a pressure, thick and scorching, like if sunlight had teeth.

Gold Eyes. My pulse spiked. The chase wasn’t linear anymore. It was a tightening circle.

Branches whipped across my arms as I veered left. My boot caught a root, but I shoved forward anyway, refusing to fall. Not now. Not with two of them closing in.

The forest thinned briefly, opening into a stretch of moonlit ridge. I sprinted across it, and instantly knew I’d screwed myself.

Silver Eyes shot up the slope to intercept me.

Gold Eyes came in from the right, moving like wildfire.

My throat tightened. “Oh, come on!”

I pivoted, scanning desperately for an escape.

Too late.

Silver Eyes came first, emerging from the shadows like he was born from them with his chest heaving, and his eyes glowing like molten metal under the moon. He didn’t attack. He just stalked forward, slow and precise.

“Running won’t save you,” he murmured, his voice low and deadly.

“Maybe not,” I snapped, “but it keeps me from looking at your smug face.”

He smirked. The bastard smirked.

Then Gold Eyes crashed into the clearing behind me, all heat and muscle and golden fury. He didn’t shift back, he came in wolf form, massive and snarling, his paws digging into dirt as he circled me like I was already his.

Great. Just great.

Silver Eyes bared his fangs. “Back off.”

Gold Eyes growled, lowering his head in challenge.

And then...A cold wave slithered through the trees to my left. Darkness thickened… and a third shape appeared.

Black Eyes. Not glowing like the others. Not bright at all.

His gaze was dark and bottomless, and his strength was obvious. He didn’t rush. He didn’t posture. He simply appeared, silent, deadly, and inevitable.

My stomach dropped. “Absolutely not. No more surprise bastards tonight, thanks.”

All three turned toward me at once.

Silver Eyes stepped forward first. “We’re ending this.”

“Ending what?” I gasped, stumbling back.

“The Hunt,” Black Eyes murmured, his voice smooth and chilling. “You should have been claimed already.”

Gold Eyes snarled at that, snapping his jaws.

Silver Eyes bristled. “She’s not yours.”

“And she damn sure isn’t yours,” Black Eyes shot back.

Gold Eyes lunged, shifting mid-air, landing in human form, full, glorious, naked male fury, as he shoved Silver Eyes hard enough to send him skidding.

And then...A fourth presence hit the clearing.

Blue Eyes.

He strode out of the tree line like he owned the whole continent, tall and sculpted, his muscles flexing beneath moonlight, his hair a dark mess, and his eyes blazing an impossible glacier blue.

He took one look at the other three circling me and snarled, “Get away from her.”

My breath stalled. Four alphas. Four predators. Four wolves. And all of them were looking at me like the moon itself had delivered me into their hands.

“I hate my life,” I muttered.

Blue Eyes sniffed the air, his jaw tightening. “She’s terrified.”

“I’m pissed,” I corrected.

Silver Eyes countered, “She’s tired.”

“Wrong,” Black Eyes said softly. “She’s remembering.”

I tensed so hard my bones vibrated.

Gold Eyes stepped closer. “Who are you?”

“If I knew,” I snapped, “you’d be the last person I told.”

The ground trembled beneath us, four alphas circling, snarling, and bracing to tear each other apart.

The tension snapped, and Silver Eyes moved first.

“You want the truth?” he snarled, stepping between the others. “She’s marked. Her scent is wrong. Too strong. Too… layered.”

Gold Eyes grabbed his arm. “She’s mine.”

Black Eyes’ shadows writhed. “Touch her again and I cut off your hand.”

Blue Eyes cracked his knuckles. “I’ll break both your spines if you don’t shut the hell up.”

Silver Eyes bared his teeth at them, then barked:

“She has vampires hunting her.”

Everything stopped. Even the wind. Even my heartbeat.

Gold Eyes froze. “What?”

Black Eyes’ expression darkened. “Impossible.”

Blue Eyes inhaled sharply. “Where?”

Silver Eyes turned to me, his eyes like lightning. “They’re not far. Two miles west. They picked up your trail.”

My stomach lurched.

Vampires. Vampires. VAMPIRES.

“Are you kidding me?!” I snapped, my voice cracking with panic. “Why would vampires hunt me?!”

All four stared like I’d just confessed to kicking a puppy.

“You don’t know,” Silver Eyes breathed.

Gold Eyes’ jaw clenched. “She truly doesn’t.”

Black Eyes murmured, “Someone wiped her memories clean.”

Blue Eyes stepped closer, his eyes narrowing to slits. “Who the hell are you?”

“I DON’T KNOW!”

Four wolves. Four heartbeats. Four scents slamming into me all at once.

Fear. Rage. Claiming instinct.

And something else.

They were scared. Not of each other. Of what was coming.

Silver Eyes snapped back into motion. “We need shelter now.”

Gold Eyes grabbed my arm, gently, surprisingly, but I ripped free.

“Don’t touch me.”

His jaw ticked. “Fine. But you’re running with us.”

Black Eyes flicked his gaze into the dark. “Three vampires. Two wolves. More coming.”

Blue Eyes cracked his neck. “Move.”

Silver Eyes shoved me forward. “Run.”

And for the first time since this nightmare started, something in their voices didn’t sound like command.

It sounded like protection.

I ran.

All four followed, not behind me, not beside me, but around me. A formation. A shield. A pack that refused to admit it was forming.

Branches snapped. The forest roared with movement as something, some things, closed in behind us.

Gold Eyes barked, “Left! There’s a ravine. We can lose them!”

Silver Eyes countered, “Too open!”

Black Eyes hissed, “Temple ruins. Half a mile.”

Blue Eyes growled, “Move!”

My lungs burned. My legs shook. My heart hammered. But I ran. Through roots, shadows, moonlight, breath, and fucking terror.

And somehow…with four monsters at my back, and something worse behind them…

I didn’t feel alone. Not anymore.