Chapter 5 : Escape And Visions

Selena

"I can endure no more of this torment," I whispered hoarsely to Hana as she tended to my bruised body. "We must escape this place."

Hana's eyes clouded with worry. "But where would you go, child? You carry the alpha's heir."

I placed a protective hand over my swollen belly. "Away from here. To my mother - she will take us in."

My human mother lived amongst her mafia clan, far from Blaze's territory. She had always loved me, even though I have the blood of a warewolf. With her, my child would be safe.

Hana hesitated. "The journey is perilous...and if the alpha tracked you down..." She left the consequences unspoken.

"I'll risk anything for my child to be born free," I said fiercely. "Better to die escaping than live one more day as Blaze's despised slave."

Hana saw the steel in my eyes and nodded. "Very well. I will help you in any way I can, Selena."

I squeezed her hand gratefully. With this loyal maidservant by my side, escape seemed almost possible.

We made quiet preparations over the next few days. Hana bring some of guards bringing food and smuggled me extra food and blankets, readying supplies for the journey ahead. I urged my frail body to grow strong again to withstand the demands of our flight.

Finally, our chance came on a moonless night when the compound lay wrapped in inky darkness. Hana unlocked my room silently and I slipped out, a shadow in the gloom.

My heart pounded as we crept through the drugged the guards and escape. At any moment we might be discovered and dragged back to the cruel confines of the dungeon.

Somehow we made it outside undetected. I wanted to sob with relief but stayed quiet, knowing the danger was far from over.

We stole towards the outer wall, keeping to the dark edges of the compound. Freedom beckoned close now, so close I could taste it.

But just then, a gruff shout broke the silence. "Stop, you two!"

A guard appeared, cutting off our escape route. Hana gasped but I refused to stop. "Run!" I cried, darting for the wall.

Shouts rang out as more guards converged on us. I scrambled desperately, hearing Hana just behind me. She would not abandon me now.

The exit loomed before us. With a burst of speed, I slipped through the gate first. But anguish filled me as I heard Hana cry out in pain.

I turned back to see the guards wrestling Hana down just shy of escape. Our eyes met, hers filled with sorrow and urgency.

"Go!" she cried. "Save your child!"

With a sob, I turned my back and vanished into the woods. Hana had given everything for my freedom. I could not fail her now.

I ran blindly through the shadowed forest, branches tearing my skin and clothes. But I pushed on, fueled by desperation, my unborn child cradled inside me.

When my legs finally gave out, I collapsed to the forest floor, spent. But I could not rest yet. Blaze would hear of my escape and send his fastest trackers after me. I had to put more distance between us before I could sleep.

Ignoring the screaming protest of my muscles, I pushed painfully to my feet again.

Stumbling onward through the darkness, I wept - for Hana's sacrifice, for the wretched existence I was leaving behind, for the unknown future ahead of me and my vulnerable babe.

Finally I have escaped and I'll survive this, putting several miles between myself and the compound before I finally collapsed at sunrise, concealed in a copse of bushes. As exhaustion took me, I prayed we had gained enough of a head start.

I'll go to safety from my Mom in the human world.

Chapter 5 - Visions of Truth

Blaze

The moon goddess came to me in a vision on the night of the full moon. Her radiant form appeared, piercing through my darkness.

"Awaken, my son," she commanded, her voice echoing through me. "The time has come to relinquish your pride and see the light."

I fell to my knees before her shimmering visage.

"I don't understand, Goddess. What do you ask of me?"

Her eyes were filled with sorrow. "You have strayed far into shadow. But redemption awaits if you open your heart to truth. Your fated mate has endured much by your hand."

My mate? I had bedded countless she-wolves, but felt no sacred bond with any.

"Who is this mate you speak of?" I asked in confusion.

The goddess gave a sad smile. "The little half-breed Omega you hold captive and abuse. She carries your heir, though you rejected her."

Shock reverberated through me. The filthy Halfling I had thrown in the dungeon? Impossible!

"She spouts only lies!" I protested. "She is barren, worthless."

The moon goddess silenced me with a look. "It is you who has been blind, my Son. Search your heart - you know she speaks the truth. Only with your true mate could you conceive an heir. You have wronged her terribly when you should have cherished her."

Her words resonated through my core with the ring of truth. Had I been so arrogant, so corrupt in my power, that I had pushed away a sacred gift from the goddess herself?

I lowered my head in shame. "I have been a fool," I admitted hoarsely. "And cruel beyond measure."

"Yes, but you may still atone, my son," the goddess murmured gently. "Reclaim your mate and child from the darkness you drove them into. Be the alpha you were meant to be - strong but merciful, commanding but just. Bring honor to your lineage."

Her form started fading. "Wait!" I cried out desperately. "Tell me how to make amends!"

"Follow the light in your heart," her voice echoed as she disappeared. "Your new path lies ahead..."

I awoke with a violent start, my body drenched in sweat, heart pounding. The goddess's words still rang in my mind, along with her command to seek truth.

Throwing on clothes, I tore through the compound, making for the dungeon where the Halfling had been locked away. But the instant I burst into that fetid cell, I knew.

She was gone.

Fury unlike any I had known flooded through me, a firestorm coursing through my veins. The goddess had spoken truth - the little cur was my mate, and now she had fled, stealing my heir!

A feral snarl ripped from my throat. I would hunt them to the ends of the earth if need be. No one stole from me! I raced back upstairs, bellowing for my guards.

The useless curs quaked before my wrath, scrambling to assemble tracking parties. But my rage would not be contained. With a roar, I hurled one into the wall, instantly breaking his neck. The others recoiled in submission.

"FIND HER!" I thundered, my alpha timbre shaking the very walls. No one rested until both my errant mate and my unborn child were found and dragged back here to meet their fates.

Realization hit me like a blow. The wofless hybrid had been right all along, and I had thrown her into the pits of hell. And my own flesh and blood now grew within her. If any harm came to them...

A small noise drew my attention. There, attempting to sneak away, was Elena - the she-wolf who had deceived me along with her father Lucas. The ones who had poisoned me against my true mate with their vile lies.

In one fluid move, I had Elena by the throat, pinning her against the wall. She clawed at my hand, but I only tightened my grip. Red rage filled my vision.

"You were lying about the hafling's barren state," I snarled viciously. "You knew she carried my heir yet said manipulate me!"

Elena gasped and gurgled, her face turning blue. I flung her contemptuously across the room, satisfied as she crumpled into a whimpering pile.

"Lock her in the pits," I commanded my Beta Jax. "And break all contract we have with Alpha Lucas. It's time they reap what they sow."

Then I shifted, my bones cracking and reforming, fur sprouting along my limbs as the wolf within broke free. I raised my muzzle and howled, a bone-chilling promise of retribution against any who dared steal from me again.

In wolf form, her scent lingered in the corridors where she had been kept. I followed it obsessively, tracing her frantic path to escape my fortress. It was torture, knowing I had driven my own mate to such desperate flight.

The trail led deep into the surrounding woods. But rain had fallen, washing away her footprints and weakening her scent trail. But I was Alpha for a reason. Failure was not an option.

I'll find you no matter what it takes.

...

Selena

Countless days after I left the shadow pack, the terrain turned to desert - barren and blisteringly hot by day. But I moved only at night now, struggling over endless dunes beneath the moon's watchful eye.

When my food ran out, I survived on what little vegetation I could scavenge from the parched earth. My lips cracked and my throat burned for want of water. But still I placed one agonized foot after another.

"It'll soon be over," I mumbled rubbing my baby bump.

After days after days of walking. Finally, impossibly, the night came when I spotted lights glimmering ahead through the darkness - the haven I had so long pursued. With my last dregs of energy, I stumbled into the oasis compound, into the arms of these I spent days of looking.

The human world.

I had made it across hundreds of miles to fall gratefully at their feet.

"Who are you," a man asked coming over.

Some of them exclaimed in shock at my condition but quickly took me in.

"Can you tell us who you're looking for?" Another asked.

I showed them my arm, where it had a tattoo of black rose with thorns.

"She's from the Thorn Queen!" A woman gaped.

"Thorn Queen? You mean the Fearful Mafia Queen?" The other woman asked

"Hurry let's take her there before we got over snap into two..."

I let a deep sigh as my vision blurry. There voices start to fade as my vision turn black.

I woke to sunlight streaming through an open window, the clean white sheets and pillows feeling like heaven after so long in the harsh desert. As my eyes adjusted, I realized I was in a small but cozy bedroom. The sound of approaching footsteps made me glance towards the door.

A kind-faced woman who looks just like me entered, her eyes lighting up when she saw I was awake. "Oh thank goodness! I were so worried," she exclaimed, rushing over to pat my hand gently.

I stared at her lost of words, before I can barely speak. "M-mom?" I croaked, my voice rough from disuse. Tears sprang to her eyes as she nodded, squeezing my hand tightly.

"My brave girl, I knew you'd find your way back to us. Thank God u have a big name, that anyone that's see your tattoo know Ms where you belong." She smiled.

"You gave me a heart attack when they carried you in a week ago, my heart nearly gave out! But you're safe now," she spoke soothingly.

My lip quivered and I felt hot tears spill down my cheeks. After everything I had endured, I was finally home, wrapped in my mother's comforting embrace.

"Mom" I whispered again before going into another deep slumber.

Finally I'm safe.