Hybrid Aria by Jessica Hall novel Chapter 11

Aria’s POV

Waking up when the ute came to a stop, I laid under the tarp, frozen. Listening carefully, I could hear music blaring loudly and lots of voices. I was not sure how long we had been in the tray because not long after our escape, I had given in to exhaustion. When I was sure the coast was clear, I stuck my head out from under the tarp, trying to find anything that might tell me where we were. We were in a parking lot. Looking out, I could tell we were at a bar, one that I had never heard of, so we were not on Black Moon territory, but where were we exactly? Feeling Lily move beside me, I clamped my hand down on her mouth. She looked up groggily at me as I motioned with my finger to my lips telling her to keep quiet. When I heard voices, I quickly stuck my head down and back under the tarp lying motionless.

The voices stopped right next to the tray. The voices sounded like they were right next to us two male voices. Focusing on what they were saying, I heard a man with a deep voice speaking to whoever was with him.

“You smell that, Mark?” I listened as they sniffed the air.

“Rogues,” the other man growled. My body tensed at his aggressive growl. Shit, we escaped only to end up on another Pack’s territory.

“They couldn’t have got far; the scent is too strong, and they are injured too, so I doubt they will put up much of a fight.” The first man laughed.

“Alert the Alpha; it’s time to go hunting.” Mark sounded like he was excited to hunt us down. Lily’s breathing started to get louder. I could tell she heard what they were saying. Lily gripped my hand tightly, and we waited until they moved away. As soon as they did, I pushed the tarp off us. I slowly climbed out, ducking behind the tray, I quietly gripped Lily from under her legs and arms, lifting her out of the tray.

Grabbing the bag, I flung it over my shoulder. I did not know where we were, but one thing I did know was we had to get off their territory before they found us. Carrying Lily, I ran down the street and behind a hardware store. Sitting behind the dumpster out of view of the street, I placed Lily on the ground, forcing her to stand.

“Lily, I need you to run. I won’t be able to carry you. Don’t stop until I tell you, and whatever you do, don’t let go of my hand.” She nodded, clutching my hand tightly. Looking above the dumpster, I tried to find a street sign to tell me where we were, but there weren’t any. The streets were pretty much deserted besides the bar around the corner, so it must be late.

Grabbing Lily’s hand, we stayed low and walked as quietly as possible to an alleyway that was behind the hardware store. I couldn’t recognise any of the streets because it was dark and my vision was already blurry. Sticking to the back streets and alleyways, we made our way to a residential area. All the house lights were off; only the dim street lights illuminated the roads. Quickly as possible, we climbed a small hill in the residential area once at the top. I looked around trying to find anything that would let me know which side of the city we were on.

My heart stopped when I saw a huge skyscraper building in the distance. The giant lit-up sign on top that said Pharma enterprises. My blood ran cold, we were on Blood Moon territory. Pharma enterprises was a Blood Moon owned business. Grabbing Lily’s hand tightly, we started to run down the hill when we came to some bushland. It wasn’t very thick, so didn’t offer much coverage. Lily started to slow down to the point I was half dragging her. Stopping behind a tree, I let her catch her breath.

“Do as I say, Lily. Run and don’t stop,” I growled at her. The brown wolf was slowly prowling, sizing me up as the others moved in.

“Run Lily,” I growled just as the big brown wolf launched himself at us. I smashed into it, grabbing it before it could grab Lily. Lily screamed then took off running. I watched as another wolf pounced, its claws digging into my back painfully. I was thrown to the ground violently. Just as another smaller grey wolf went to jump on me going for my face, I lifted my hands, my claws digging into its chest. Using my legs, I pushed it off and away from me.

The only thing on my side was there were too many of them to attack at once without injuring each other, but at the same time, I couldn’t catch my breath. My lungs felt heavy, and I understood this was going to be how it ends for me. So long as I could be a distraction and Lily could get enough distance, she might stand a chance of making it off this territory. I just needed to buy her some time. A grey and black wolf I noticed out of the corner of my eye went to chase after Lily. I jumped, sinking my claws into its back and hanging on before I was thrown off and into a brick wall. Jumping to my feet, I lunged at it, only to be hit from the side, slamming me to the ground again.

Black dots started to take over my vision. The last thing I remember seeing was the black and grey wolf snarling and snapping its teeth at me, running at me. The next thing I see is oblivion. Complete darkness. No pain, just a feeling like weightlessness, like floating. Is this what death is like? Darkness? Nothing? They were my last thoughts before everything went black.