Page 83 of The Last Sanctuary

Pebbles dug into her kneecaps. She barely felt the pain. Numbly, she retrieved her water bottles and filled them with automatic movements, adding the disinfectant tablets, then stuffed them back inside her backpack.

Raven stared unseeing at the rushing water.

At least they didn’t have Shadow, too. Shadow had been with Luna the last time she’d seen them, but luckily, he hadn’t been at the river, or they would’ve taken him, too. She didn’t know where he was. Off hunting for rabbit or deer, no doubt. He didn’tknow the Headhunters had taken his mate. How would he react when he returned to find Luna gone?

Would he smell the Headhunters' scent mingled with Luna’s beneath the cluster of hickory trees and understand what had happened? Would the wolf comprehend that this was Raven’s fault?

She’d been forced to watch helplessly as the Headhunters killed Shika, Echo, and Titus. Suki and Gizmo. How many more innocent creatures had they slaughtered last night? Was Zephyr still alive? Kodiak and Sage? Electra?

She could still run and save herself. She should run. It was the smart thing to do. She had water. She could make it to the cabin in a week or so. She could survive there, alone.

Wasn’t that what she’d wanted all along? From the beginning, hadn’t she longed to leave the world behind? Hadn’t she planned to abandon all this? The animals, the refuge, the responsibility. Everything.

She was a loner. Solitary, isolated. A recluse, just like her father.

But that was before. Before Zachariah died. Before her father died. Before the Headhunters came and started killing anything that moved. Before Shadow and Luna made her part of their pack.

She sank to her hands and knees. Her palms pressed against the smooth pebbles and mud at the water’s edge. Her fingers sank into the sludge. The mud smelled dank and sulfurous. Like something dead and rotting.

She was only one girl.

She’d done everything she could. She’d released the animals from their cages. She’d stalked and killed one Headhunter and wounded three others, driving them from the woods for a few precious hours so the surviving animals could flee.

She’d murdered Rex.

Hadn’t she tried her best? Hadn’t she done enough?

No one would even know if she ran. The world was dead. Everyone she’d ever cared about was dead. Except perhaps her mother. Did she even count?

Her mother had left. Her mother ran. Wasn’t that what Nakamura women did best? They left when the going got tough.

The frigid water numbed her hands. She yanked them from the river and drew back, wiping them on her pant legs. She drew her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around herself. She lowered her head to her knee and moaned.

Luna was just a wolf.

But that wasn’t true, and she knew it, felt it in the deepest parts of herself.

Her mother used to say it was a mistake to ascribe human emotions to animals. They were just genetics and instinct, her mother had claimed. But she was wrong.

It wasn’thumanemotion. It was simply emotion. And some emotions—joy, anger, fear, grief—transcended species. Animals could feel, could think, could store and retrieve memories. They could show and receive affection.

They were sentient beings. Their lives held value, connection, and beauty.

Luna’s life held value, connection, and beauty.

What are you going to do?

If Raven did nothing, the Headhunters won.

The outside world was destroyed. Everything had shattered into a million pieces. She might die of the Hydra Virus. Her hand strayed to her throat, then to her forehead. Still not hot.

What was left but this? But here?

The Headhunters had destroyed Raven’s world. The Headhunters had stolen her home, her food, her safety. The Headhunters killed the animals she loved.

To go back to the lodge now… they would most certainly capture her. Torture her. Abuse her. Then kill her.

It was ludicrous to consider it. Insane. Dangerous.