Chapter 4

~Lilliana's POV~

After my nerve-wracking visit from princess Tori, I decided after finishing the food to make myself scarce. Heading down to the basement I made sure all of my stuff was ready to go. I was thankful the princess stood up for me, but I had to get out of here before Alpha Jack Ass came down to hand me my punishment on a silver platter. I had gotten him reprimanded by the princess herself, there is no way I'd be able to live through that kind of punishment.

I had enough food to last me a few days before going and having to hunt for it. I had let Kairi heal the best she could today so she'd be able to take over and get us the hell out of here. Checking over her things one last time she made note of the small supplies she had, a knife from the kitchen for protection, a pair of torn jeans she rescued from the trash, an old hand-me-down stained shirt, a bit of food she snuck from the kitchen, and her prized possession an old compass given to her by her dad. She was ready.

She tucked her bag behind the water heater keeping it hidden from view. She'd have to leave after everyone was asleep. Sighing I slumped down on my old cot, my back pressed against the grimy wall of the basement. I was finally doing it. I was finally leaving this hell hole. Still, I needed my energy so a nap before escaping was a must.

Slowly I let the darkness consume me, my eyes drifting close with paranoia gripping at my chest of getting caught.

"Lilli bear, it's time to wake up." Whining I swatted the hand away, I had spent the night eating the Christmas candy I had gotten from mama. I finally fell asleep when the sun began to peek out from the snow-covered mountains. "No, I'm sleepy," I mumbled out, a giggle came from the voice trying to interrupt my slumber. "Lilli bear, did you stay up past your bedtime?" Slowly I opened my eyes looking up at mama, her white hair was pulled back in a low ponytail a few strands were free and framing her face.

Reaching up to her I hugged her tightly, trying to get out of being reprimanded. "I'm sorry mama." She giggled and hugged me back. "Your daddy was so excited to take you out today too. Looks like I have to tell him you prefer to sleep in." That instantly jolted me awake, scaring away the grip of sleep. "No! I'll go get ready right now!" I quickly wiggled free of her arms and climbed out of bed rushing to my closet. I quickly began getting dressed, how could I have forgotten?! It's tradition for when a cub turns 12 to go on their first outing of pack territory!

My hands fumbled with my outfit before finally mama came over and helped fix the straps to my sundress. Now you're probably wondering why the heck I wear such light clothes in this cold weather, well our body heat is a lot higher than normal creatures. I won't feel the cold, even if I laid down butt-ass naked and made snow angels.

The snow is annoying trying to wade through it though, so I put on my boots, this will keep the snow from attaching itself to my legs in a futile attempt to hold me back. I smiled up at mama happily, she bent down and hugged me, kissing my cheek. I returned a kiss of my own to her cheek. Mama has always been there for me, same with dad. They didn't care about my extra parts they embraced my uniqueness as a blessing to the tribe. Dad is the chief, so I was shown off to the entire pack. He said the reason the moon goddess blessed me with the parts of a male was that my soul was a warrior. So she gave me the beauty of a woman and the strength of a man. He told everyone to wait and see, I would be the strongest chief in our pack's history.

Sadly even though mama and dad supported me and saw this as a blessing, the pack did not. I was still an oddity in their eyes, but that didn't matter. As long as mama and dad loved me then nothing else mattered.

I ran out of my room and soon out of the house. "Daddy!" my dad turned around and smiled bending down to catch me in a hug. "Hey, baby girl! You ready for today?" He asked, his white hair stuck to his forehead from sweat from working all morning. White hair was normal for our tribe, after all, we were white tigers. The purer the white, the more in tune with our tigers we were. The Aqua blue eyes; however, were a trait passed down from the chief. So only those with the blood of the chief will have them.

I nodded quickly and he smiled putting me down and holding my hand. We said bye to mama and he led me towards the woods. This day was perfect, I was finally being accepted as the future chief, and seeing the pack lands was a great honor for me. This meant I got to see the land I would, later on, take over from my father.

This day was supposed to be perfect, nothing was supposed to go wrong. Flashes happened in front of my eyes, first I was holding my dad's hand talking happily second I was bawling my eyes out holding my dead father's hand begging him not to go. Blood staining the snow around us, I slowly looked up coming face to face with glowing red eyes.

I jolted awake panting, the scream still lodged in my throat as I grasped at my fast-beating heart. Glancing around, my eyes darted to every dark corner making sure I didn't see the glowing red eyes from my dream. Luckily I was alone. Wiping the sweat from my face, I glanced outside to notice it was pitch black. Time to go.

I went back to the water heater and grabbed my bag, slowly I crawled out of the window and lowered it down making sure it shut. There is no turning back now. I turned and sprinted off to the forest, quickly I stripped from the potato sack shirt I had on, and stuffed it into my bag. Closing my eyes I called Kairi forward. A strangled gasp left me as pain caused black dots to fill my vision. It had been so long since I've shifted. "Your okay, just a little bit longer. We're almost there." Kairi said to comfort me, pushing me to hold out.

Finally, we were shifted, I glanced down at myself. Large white paws, black stripes going down my legs. I glanced behind me to see my long white and black striped tail flicking slightly. Okay, everything seems to be in order. I bent down taking my bag into my mouth, soon bolting further into the woods. I ran for what seemed like ages, I kept glancing back to make sure we weren't being followed.

We finally made it to the creak and I sighed, I tossed my bag over it before looking back towards the direction of the pack house. I looked up at the night sky and closed my eyes. "Moon Goddess be my witness. I Lilliana Ellis cut ties with the Black Fallen Pack, may you pass judgment fairly and accept the choices made." I felt the mindlink being broken apart at the seams, as my bond to the pack was broken and my mind was torn from the link. Finally, with unshed tears, I finished up the last of what I had to do. "I Lilliana Ellis accept Macy Barkley's rejection as my mate. May the moon goddess have mercy on our souls." Instantly I felt whatever ties I had left to my mate snap, and was overcome with pain.

I heard a pained howl in the distance and knew that it was my time to leave. I jumped over the creak and snatched up my bag. Finally sparing one last look, I took off with something stirring in my chest. Hope.