Even though her heart was literally in her mouth and her lungs begged for air, she knew she shouldn't stop running.
"You bloody rogue!" a guard shouted as they almost caught up to her
"Stop at once!" another guard said but Abelia wouldn't stop, not unless she was ready to be the scapegoat
This was not the first time she would be going through this situation, but it was her first time in this territory after her one-month stay and she hated it, especially since it meant she would have to pack her stuff and be on the move once again.
Leaping through the sky like the wolf she is, she successfully dodged the wood in her path and turned her head without stopping, to check the distance between her and the guards following her.
It wasn't far enough and she knew that if she slowed down, it would only be a matter of seconds before she was caught and dealt with so just like anybody with a strong will to survive, she pushed her body further and faster, even though her body felt like it was on fire.
She would have changed into her wolf form, she badly wanted to change into her wolf form, but if she did, she wouldn't be able to make it out of the pack perimeters alive, as that'd increase her rogue scent and other guards in the vicinity will be alerted to charge at her, so instead, she kept pushing while praying that the guards have mercy on her and not change into their wolf form, and if it's their forgetfulness and not mercy that's delaying their shift, she prayed they don't remember.
And for the first time in ages, her prayers were answered
She saw the iron mesh which served as the pack's border and her heart lifted in joy. With the motivation to finish the race hitting her hard, she once again increased her intensity, turning back once a while to see if she had put enough distance between her and the guards
Seeing that there was now enough distance and that she was now almost in front of the iron mesh, she dashed to her left and searched for the loophole she had inflicted on the mesh, on seeing it, she didn't waste a second before jumping through the space without cautiously untying the iron thereby causing deep injury on her arms and legs but that was the least of her concerns
She quickly adjusted the mesh so it would look like it was before, did the little she could, cleaned the blood stain on the mesh, and then rolled her body through the mud on the outside before she ran away for safety while praying that the guards would give up their search
After hiding in the woods for close to or even more than five minutes without hearing anything or feeling anything close to danger, she slowly crept out of her hiding space
"Abelia Cassius. Why do you always find a way to put us in trouble?" Maya, Abelia's wolf said irritated at what happened
Abelia is one of the selected few who is blessed with the ability to connect with their wolf and she always thinks of how it is a shame that she was born a rogue because there are a lot of things she could use her ability for, but instead, she has to hide it while she uses it to steal and evade some certain unfortunate situation
"Speaking as if you don't love the chase," Abelia said before suddenly bursting into laughter as she searched her pocket for the items she went to steal
"I'm not talking about the chase right now woman," Maya barked at Abelia thereby making her jerk in shock
"Maya what the fuck" Abelia said annoyed but the wolf wasn't having it
"I'm talking about the fact that we would have to go hungry for the next few days, which is until we find another territory to camp around," her wolf said pacing around in her head, obviously irritated
"We won't go hungry; I have enough gold and pearls to cover for two weeks feeding and this week's rogue dues," Abelia said as she happily bounced her way to the rogue's camp situated a little far away from the pack borders
"Wait, do we still need to pay the rogue dues?" Maya asked after some seconds of deep thought
"Why would you even ask that?" Abelia said halting her steps, bewildered her wolf still thinks this way, even after several admonishing
"I've always told you, Maya," she continued still not moving from the spot she stopped "going against set rules is bad, and having an alliance is the best, without the dues, we won't get to be part of the group and that means no alliance" she finished and she would be lying to herself if she said she likes the way she had to repeat herself to her stubborn wolf
Maya had always been like that, ever since her manifestation at the age of ten, which is strange enough, she had always been disobedient, always following her mind and not listening to what her human part had to say
For Abelia, having a different mind from Maya is the hardest thing on earth, especially when they are engaged in a fight…
"I know, I know, that's not what I'm trying to say," Maya said but before could continue Abelia cut her off
"Then what are you trying to say?" Abelia asked
"Would you let me speak?" Maya asked in reply, clearly irritated at her stubborn and unreasonable human self who just keeps trying to act smart about certain situations
"Thank you" she continued after noticing that her human self wasn't going to speak up anymore
"Well, the guards already caught a whiff of your scent so obviously they know that there are rogues around and even if they decide not to look for you, you won't be able to go inside the pack to steal anymore which automatically means, no food and shelter"
"Hmm, so where are you going with this?" Abelia said as she tried to reason with her wolf
"All this means you would be packing out of the camp latest tonight, right?" Maya said, trying to incorporate what she was saying into her human brain
"Right" her human replied
"So, if you're going to be packing out of the camp tonight, why pay the dues? It's just a waste of money since you're still going to have to pay dues if you end up finding another camp far from here" Maya finished and Abelia could see the sense in what her wolf was trying to say
"Hmm, makes sense" was her reply as she continued walking towards the camp
"You, see? Try and listen to me before you jump to conclusion," Maya said while Abelia rolled her eyes, "how many…" she continued but stopped as her senses got heightened abruptly
"What's wrong?" Abelia asked surprised at the abrupt increment of her senses, something that had never happened to them before