Chapter 5: Escape Plan

By the time night came, Rain couldn’t stand looking at the wallpaper any longer. Her stomach growls openly, it's the third night without food. This isn't its first protest of the night but certainly, the one to kick her into gear.

There’s been no sign of Orion or any of his pack members, though occasionally, she'd hear footsteps outside of her door. Even when she smelt food from somewhere downstairs, no one came to deliver some to her.

So much for the everlasting love of soulmates. It's almost like they're telling her to stay quiet and stay put.

Too bad Rain doesn't know how to stay still.

From her explorations of the barren room, there wasn't much escape fodder. A simple bed with a simple carved wooden frame, hand-made no doubt. An empty nightstand in the same design and ugly floral wallpaper in an obnoxious pastel color.

A simple bathroom made of marble tiles, only a toilet, and a sink.

It took several hours of searching to find the weak point on the corner bedpost as if it had been broken and nailed together again. It snapped off easier than a twig.

The window was stronger than the wood chunk, probably made of a stupid fancy material Rain couldn’t pronounce.

Two strikes at the window before she realized it was not going to open that way. She attempts to pry it open but unluckily for her, the latch is on the outside for whatever god-forsaken reason. The room is on the second floor.

What kind of idiot puts the lock on the outside?

But, Rain isn't one to give up.

It took a while but after gnawing on the bedpost fragment in her wolf form, it was roughly shaped thin enough to pry it underneath the window. It slid under the frame and she put all her strength into pushing down on it.

Finally, the lock breaks with a loud snap, and the wood cracks under her fingers.

She topples to the floor, catching herself on her wounded arm. A hiss releases from her mouth at the pain but at least the window is open now.

The smell of the fresh air brings tears to her eyes, freedom on the other side. She pulls the broken window out of the pane and easily slips through the opening.

She stumbles on the roof singles, her balance wobbling for a few heart-wrenching seconds but she has practice on her side. Once she's stable, no longer feeling like it'll tumble out from underneath her, she carefully walks across the roof.

It helps that she weighs practically nothing from years of lack of nutrients. It made her shorter than other wolves too but she didn't mind. It was easier to hide with less surface to cover.

The crunch of grass and leaves stopped her in her tracks. Two wolves approach the side of the house, their conversation loud amid the night.

“Did you hear there’s a rogue-born’s going to be our new Luna?” One of them said.

“God, I hope not. I’d sooner take over the pack myself," The other scoffed.

“Don’t even joke about that! The Alpha will have your head!”

“Yeah, right. With that liability as his mate, he doesn’t even deserve the title Alpha anymore. I don’t know what the Moon Goddess is thinking. A rogue-born as a Luna? It's blasphemy."

“There has to be a reason. The Moon Goddess wouldn’t do this to us otherwise.”

“Maybe She wants us to kill it so one of our pack members can be Luna? It’s better than having that thing running around. Who knows what kind of filth it’ll bring to our pack.”

“You think? Reyka’d make a pretty good Luna. She’s a great fighter.”

Their voices trailed off the further they got. Still and silent, she waits until they pass before moving again. She feels nothing at their harsh words.

After all, they weren't wrong.

Why on earth was she, the trash scavenging wolf, the mate of an Alpha?

Unlike the pack wolves, She didn’t believe in the ridiculous myths of the Moon Goddess. If there truly was a goddess, rogue-borns would’ve never been born in the first place.

One thing was clear. If she stayed here, she’d be killed by the pack wolves, Alpha’s mate or not. There was no way they’d ever accept her as Luna.

Once the coast was clear, Rain slid the rest of the way down the roof, catching a few scratches along her thighs. She dangled from the gutter, wincing at the use of her arms, and dropped down in a perfect crouch.

This wasn’t her first escape and it wouldn’t be her last.

She cautiously slid away from the Main packhouse and through the confusing loop of houses along the way. There was more than she thought. She never thought a pack could be so large before.

There were dozens of houses but not nearly as large as the city ones she was used to. Once she caught sight of the treeline, a smile almost took over her face.

Her heart beat fast as she hurried into the forest, relishing at the moonlight on her back as she ran through. She's almost home.

She spoke too soon.

A howl unleashed from behind her, stopping her dead in her tracks at its pained fury. And then, a dozen howls answered back.

Rain paled. She took off into the woods as fast as she could, dodging the trees as she sprinted in the direction she thought led away from the packs.

Her feet pound against the ground in a hurried rhythm. The boundary line is right there. Just a little more.

But unfortunately, wolves are faster than she.

Their feet hurry behind her, snarls she could and could not recognize a few feet behind and then right on her heels.

In desperation, she reached her hand as if trying to grasp onto the boundary, hoping to haul herself over the edge.

Almost.

And then she went tumbling to the floor as something tackled her, the thought "Not again." crossing her mind as fell face-first into the dirt.

All the air rushed out of her lungs at the same time, leaving her gasping as two paws dug into her back. She lifts her head out of the mud.

The boundary is only mere feet away.

Her life, even if it was a pathetic one, was all she had. It was all she knew. And it was right there.

Her freedom slipped out of her fingers once more, taken by the pack wolves.

Anger and hopelessness boil in her stomach as her eyes heat up, blurring with unshed tears.

“GET OFF ME!”

She struggles, clawing at the ground and the tree roots, thrashing as hard as she can to escape. She tries to drag herself to the boundary, to pull herself away from his punishing paws even though she knows it's useless.

When that doesn't work, she tries to claw at the wolf even in an awkward position. She wasn’t going to make this easy. She’d make them take her back kicking and screaming if she had to.

“LET ME GO! LET ME GO! LET ME GO!”

She screams as loud as she can, her voice straining from it but she could care less. Her fingernails dig into the soil, throwing it at the wolf as he growls, pushing her further into the earth to keep her still.

Then the paws were gone, replaced with large hands gripping her waist. She doesn't stop thrashing, only increases as the furious voice booms “Get me some clothes!”

“Alpha,” A voice says but barely audible through Rain’s continuous screams and thrashing.

“LET ME GO!”

“Shut up!” Orion snaps holding a tight grip on her through all her struggles.

She screeches as his hands lifted her like a sack of flour, the world blurring together as she's thrown over his shoulder. If she had food in her stomach, it would’ve been on the floor by now.

Lucky for him, she's still starving and too weak to properly fight or shift.

“I DON'T WANNA GO!” She screams with all her might, right near his ear as she threw the biggest fit she knew how. She knew she looked like a toddler on a street crying over a lost toy but she was exhausted, she was angry and she wanted to make his life hell for doing this to her.

“Orion-” A voice said, male. She recognized the beta from last night, Vilas? Vimas? Something like that.

“Not now!” Orion cut him off, “QUIT IT!”

That last line was directed to her, she knows. She doesn't listen, of course.

Rain grabs hold of every body part she can as they move through the forest. She kicks at his front, tries to knee his chin and face, scratches at his back and every move she can think of.

“Orion, you can’t treat your mate like that!” Beta Vitas scolds as he follows them.

“She’s not giving me a choice!”

Her knee catches what sounds oddly like his nose from the crunch.

“Goddammit!” He curses, voice nasally. Definitely his nose.

No matter how much she struggled though, he wasn’t letting go.

She could only helplessly scream to the void as the sight of her freedom disappeared.