Hybrid Aria by Jessica Hall

Chapter 10

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.

“Okay, Lil, catch your breath. We can’t stop again; we need to get to the other side of the city.”

“I’m thirsty, Ari.” She had tears in her eyes, her hair was all matted, and she was sweating.

“I know, baby. When we get to the other side, I will find you something to drink, okay? But we aren’t

safe here. I need to get you out of here first,” I said, rubbing her face gently. Lily looked down and

nodded before I felt her freeze. She tugged on my hand, pulling my eyes down to what she was staring

at on the ground. Blood and lots of it. In my panic, I forgot I was bleeding; it was leaving a trail straight

to us.

Lifting up my shirt, the place where the Alpha bit me was just a piece of flapping skin barely hanging on

except for the fact the remaining parts of my blouse were sticking to it, holding it together. My thigh

wasn’t much better. A huge chunk was missing, and my blood was turning a blackish colour. Just Lily

pointing it out made me very aware of the fact that I had somehow ignored the hunger I felt. Pulling off

the blouse that was only held on by the arms as the back was completely ripped open, I made a

makeshift bandage by wrapping it around my stomach and side holding the flap of skin in place. I can’t

do much about the leg unless I walk around naked, which is not going to happen.

Throwing the bag over my shoulder, I gripped Lily’s hand tightly and started running, pulling Lily with

me. Now that Lily pointed it out, every step I took was leaving an obvious trail behind us. When we

reached the end of the small bushland, we heard howls. We were in another residential area and only a

few blocks away from the city centre. Running down towards the city centre, I knew if we could make it

to the subway, we would be able to catch a train out of the city. Just as we stepped on to the main drag,

I heard a vicious growl catching us from behind, and a huge brown wolf stepped out from behind a

building. I turned to face it, pushing Lily behind me protectively, forcing my claws to extend; they

painfully ripped my fingernails off. Then more growls came from the side. We were outnumbered, six

wolves were surrounding us. The only way out was the direction we were running in, but they would ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

easily outrun us. I could feel Lily shaking behind me, pressed tightly against my back.

“Lily, I need you to run and don’t stop, no matter what, okay?” I felt Lily shaking her head against my

back.

“Please, no, Ari,” she whispered.

“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.