Escape

Ryan

There were still fifteen minutes left for the online meeting with other East Federation alphas to kick off. I sat behind my desk and tried to sort out my tangled thoughts.

The rogue attack kept my mind occupied. There was a bigger force behind it, and I worried for a pack war that would bring turmoil and bloodshed once again. The temporary peace we had would be interrupted. Fear would re-terrorize the land.

But the attack was not the only thing that was bothering me. The woman who was locked in the guest room next to my bedroom was constantly on my mind. I'd been avoiding her since the talk yesterday.

I found her witty and intriguing. She was not as stupid as I thought her to be, although it still puzzled me how she could mistake a wolf for a dog.

She cornered me with her questions, and I could see that she didn't buy a single crappy lie I spewed. She even used my lies to tease me. She was smart.

Every time she observed me with her curious and lively amber eyes, my heart skipped a beat. This was a new experience for me. It was not that I didn't feel my heart flutter for Melanie. It was just that with Melanie everything was like a written script.

We met at a ball for the first time and found out we were mates. Then we mated and marked. Peaceful marital life followed. We were perfect together. After all, mates were born for each other.

But with Hayden, everything was different, everything was new. I was confused and had no idea how to process my feelings towards her. Therefore, I avoided her. Yeah, I was immature. I knew that.

When Hayden said that I wrapped my arms around her waist that night in the cabin, I was shocked to the core. Did this mean I was able to be intimate with a woman again? And of course, I feel embarrassed and ashamed of myself, too. It was very improper, so I quickly apologized. I could only hope she would truly forgive me.

I stopped my wandering thoughts when the alphas' face popped on my laptop screen.

"Ryan, any new rogue attack? I was worrying for the worst when you called this emergency meeting," Alpha Sebastian from the Night Sky asked with knitted brows. He was a handsome man with dirty blonde hair and moss green eyes.

Alpha Lucas of Crimson Plain and Alpha Ethan of Starseeker also voiced their worry. The four of us met in the Royal Alpha Academy. We were classmates and became very close friends. It was very natural for us to bond together since our fathers were allies in the Idris War 30 years ago, a civil war that was named after our current King.

Being the most important and powerful packs in the east, we led the East Alphas Federation. We were dubbed The Big Four by the smaller packs in the federation that relied on us in terms of defense and economy.

We also shared one unfortunate thing in common: all single without a Luna. I lost mine, while the other three had no luck in finding their mates. It seemed that Moon Goddess was not a fan of favoritism.

"No, no new attacks. But I found something interesting from my father's journal," I said, watching their faces light up on the screen.

"Rogues were also sighted along your pack borders, right?" I asked.

"Not in an alarming number, but a few rouges did wander along our border," Lucas said.

"Same here," Sebastian and Ethan said in unison.

"That sounds alarming to me. Rogues appear along the borders of the most important four packs in the East Federation at the same time. Same as 30 years ago." I said, hearing the gasps falling from their mouths.

"What do you mean?" Ethan asked with a serious face.

"Remember I said last time that I thought our federation was targeted? I remembered vaguely what my father told me about the start of the Idris War. So I went over his journal and found out that the war started with the same pattern. Rouges were seen along different packs' borders in the East Federation at the same time. Our King Idris, then Alpha of the most powerful Dark Moon pack, was ambushed and attacked by mercenary rouges," I said.

"That sounds ominous," Sebastian's face turned dark.

"Do you think the West Federation is plotting another war to avenge their fathers?" Lucas asked, rubbing his chin.

"That would be a break of the peace treaty the east and the west signed 30 years ago. And the goddamn war they incited last time killed many innocent wolves," Ethan gritted his teeth.

"Or their ultimate goal is to overthrow the King by destroying us–his strongest supporters–first," I said, watching their reaction. Their eyes widened like saucers at my words.

"Should we notify the King and the Elders?" Lucas asked.

"No, not yet. It was my wild guess. I might be wrong. Plus, you know how paranoid the King has become these years." I said quickly.

"I agree," Sebastian nodded his head, "I heard that old man is suspicious of everyone nowadays, constantly worrying for his precious throne."

"Let's keep my speculation between ourselves right now. But we have to notify other packs in our federation to reinforce border control and enhance communication with us." We reached an agreement on this point.

"How are you, bro? Have you recovered fully?" Sebastian asked me with concern laced in his voice.

"I'm as good as new. But the doctor is checking me every day even if I'm fully healed." I said in annoyance. Rex was not cutting me any slack. He appeared in my house at the exact time every day. I had four more days of checkup to endure.

"You cannot blame Rex for being extra careful. That dosage of wolfsbane is unheard of." Sebastian tried to soothe me.

"Speaking of the wolfsbane, whoever was behind the attack must have supplied the rouges with the dose. There was no way a few rouges could have resources and money to get that." Ethan mused.

"It's true. Whoever it was, let's be careful and take care of our packs," I said. They nodded in unison.

Hayden

Tia placed the tray of food on the coffee table and left the room. I waited until she locked the room to wrap the bread in paper and hide them in the backpack. I would need food for strength. I had been secretly stocking food and water since yesterday.

I managed to get some information about the forest from Tia. It seemed that if I continued to walk south by foot, I could hit a highway in 12 hours. That was a piece of good news to me. I was an experienced hiker, which meant I could make it to the highway in less than 12 hours. Then I would hitchhike and leave this place once and for all.

I quickly finished the spaghetti and stood in front of the window to check the guards. I'd timed their rotation and found out their patrolling pattern.

Tia unlocked the door and came in to take the tray. I turned and asked her, "Is Ryan at home?"

"Alpha…uh…Mr. Brooks is having a meeting in his study right now," she smiled. I nodded at her and saw her leave the room.

It was weird that Tia always called Ryan alpha. Their cult was really something, but I had no intention to know more.

I watched the clock on the wall. Eight Thirty. In three hours and a half, I would be leaving this place.

A strange feeling overtook me. Sadness. I didn't know where it came from. I should be happy to be able to leave this terrifying cult base and walk free.

But I wouldn't be able to see Ryan again. I wouldn't be able to stare into his mesmerizing deep blue eyes. The thought startled me. I only met him for a few days and I shouldn't develop feelings toward him. Yeah, he was gorgeous and every woman's wet dream, but he was a cult leader! He may have shown some kindness to me, but I still believed he had something to do with Fluffy's disappearance.

Remember your new rule, I reminded myself. Live like a man, separate your heart from your body. Right now, it was my lust doing the thinking.

I lay down in the bed and switched off the lamp. I decided to take a rest for the journey I was about to start.

About fifteen minutes to go, I slipped off the bed and dragged the backpack from under the bed.

Heavy footsteps sounded in the hallway. I froze and my body tensed like a stick. The footsteps stopped in front of the door of my room.

After a few seconds, a gentle and hesitant knock sounded on the door. "Hayden?" Ryan called my name in a low and soft voice.

What was he doing here so late? I stayed put in order not to make any noise.

"Are you asleep?" he asked.

"As I guessed," he muttered after my continued silence. Then he walked away and the sound of footsteps disappeared.

I let out the breath I'd been holding carefully. I peered at the clock, only five minutes left. I needed to hurry.

I shouldered the backpack and walked over to the window, staring down at the guard standing below the window.

When he moved and made his way around the corner, I pushed the window open and used the gutter that was attached to the side of the house as a pole to climb down to the ground. I slid down the gutter, careful not to make any sudden or loud movements.

When my feet hit the ground safely, I took off running in the direction of the garden. I tripped on a twig. The noise was clear in the dead night. I panicked but quickly stood on my feet and hid behind the bushes of wild roses, lying face down on the ground.

"Who is there?" The guard's gruff voice made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I bit my mouth and held my breath. Please don't let him find me, I prayed silently to all the deities I could think of.

He walked towards the bush and scanned the area. His eyes glowed in the dark. My palm began to sweat. Luckily, he retreated and walked away.

After his footsteps died down, I climbed to my feet and took off running towards the forest.

The wind brushed against my hair, bringing the sweet aura of roses, berries, wild fruits. It was Summer. The forest was filled with fragrance and scents. I inhaled them deeply as I kept on running. The sneakers Ryan bought for me were comfortable enough to trek on the bumpy road.

I kept running as if my life depended on it, although I knew Ryan would never hurt me. I felt a twinge of pain when I thought of him. I quickly brushed away my thoughts of him.

I kept running and walking for hours until my feet hurt like hell. I knew I needed time to take a break and drink some water.

I stopped beside a brook and sat down on the soft dirt. I was breathing hard and my legs felt like I just ran the world's longest marathon.

I took a bottle of water from the backpack and started gulping water. It was then that I noticed weird green glows on the other side of the bank.

The glows were bright and staring at me. Then I heard loud and intimidating growls. Panic started to kick in.

I hurriedly stood up and ran as fast as I could. But the glows were running with me on the other side of the bank. They were chasing me.

Tears started to stream down my cheeks. What were they? I could only see their glowing eyes.

I didn't want to die. I was still young. I wished Ryan was here with me.

I screeched to a halt when more glowing eyes appeared right in front of me. It seemed I was cornered.

I backed off with trembling legs and stumbled to the ground when I tripped over a rock.

The glowing eyes were stalking toward me in different directions, howling and growling. They bared their sharp canines, ready to spring at me.

Now I could see clearly with the little distance between them and me. They were wild wolves. It was no mistake that they wanted my flesh.

Dread and terror washed me over like a bucket of ice-cold water. I was going to die.