I had to run.
This was one of the rare nights my baby slept soundly, undisturbed by noise or restlessness.
Not a single footstep. Not a shout.
I watched my baby's chest rise and fall, sleeping peacefully. My heart pounded in my chest, caught inbetween a lot of thoughts as I laid in my bed.
Relief? Fear? Or a mixture of both?
He was still young and innocent. And I had brought him into this world. Into a life of pain and terror.
My child and I didn't deserve this. We deserved to befree from fear and pain.
Not constantly looking over my shoulder, terrified of what the Alpha might do, whenever he pays me a visit.
Alpha Zakes. The man who had turned my life into a living nightmare. For the past couple of months, he had been coming to my cottage at night.
On a daily basis, he came angry and violent. He blamed me for not taking birth control pills among other things. I had been scared, hoping that he wouldn't hurt me and my baby.
As he had some pack duties to attend to, the previous night had marked the first time he hadn't come to my cottage during the night. Thank the Moon Goddess, my baby had slept perfectly peaceful.
Zakes and I had shared some sweet moments. But when he'd discovered that I was pregnant for him three years back, everything changed.
He told me that I should keep the baby a secret. He had me relocate from the packhouse to an old cottage at the edge of the pack territory.
But I couldn't let this continue. My child could'nt grow up in fear, like an outcast. Not when there was a chance for a better life.
A life where he wouldn't have to remain hidden in a cottage at the edge of the pack territory, afraid of the man who was supposed to protect him.
The bed made a creaking sound as I got off from it, almost waking my baby up.
After I took a quick bath, my hands got busy with grinding herbs under the pestle. But my mind was far away from what I was doing.
The moon had been shining fully the previous days. I knew travelling at night would be easier for me. But this seemed to be just the perfect timing. I would start running and give myself a day's travel before anyone noticed..
I grabbed a stool. I stood on it and looked through the window to make sure no one was in sight.
My baby stirred in the bed. Before he woke up, I jumped off the stool and knelt by his side. "Soon," I whispered to him, "Just a couple of hours longer..."
I had started stashing food underneath the loose floorboard near my bed. It was nothing too noticeable. Just a handful of dried meat here and some fruits.
My hands trembled as I began packing my stuff into the bag. But I had to do it. For him.
I couldn't stop replaying the routes that I had memorized from the old maps. One path led straight into the thick woods.
Dense enough to hide in, but it was too risky for my baby with the rogues that constantly roamed around.
The other, was longer but safer. It followed the edges of the Silverfang pack. A pack known for its ruthlessness. So I prayed to the Moon Goddess, that I would be able to time my escape, with a change in their guard patrols, so that no one would notice me as I entered into their pack.
After I finished changing my child and feeding him extra food, I furrowed my eyebrows as I turned my attention towards a familiar sound.
The fast paced crunching sound of small twigs and leaves on the ground of footsteps that were headed towards my door.
The door creaked open. A woman stepped inside, tightly holding a child in her arms. Her face was hidden by her hood.
"Please... my child. She needs help." Her voice sounded desperate.
My eye focus shifted towards the girl, who looked like she had been greatly affected by fever.
"Put her down here," I instructed, clearing a space on the table. "I'll see what I can do."
The woman obeyed, but she kept her face turned away.
I smirked to myself as I applied the ointment to the girl's chest. "Not the first time someone's come to me hiding their face. You all look down on me, call me a worthless dwarf, but when you need something, suddenly I'm useful, huh?"
The woman stiffened, but said nothing.
My hands continued to move in circular motion, "Anyways, I guess it doesn't matter when your precious pups are sick huh? Pity the Alpha doesn't appreciate."
She shook her head and remained silent before I continued, "Not that he'd care. He never cared. Not even when—"
"Enough!" The hood fell back, revealing the irritated face of Elara, Alpha Zakes' sister.
"Yo- Your highness?" My heart sank into my stomach.
"You dare speak of my brother like that? After everything he's done for you?"
"Done for me?" I scoffed a little before I continued, "He's done nothing but treat me like dirt since the day I -"
"Since the day you fell pregnant for him?"
I creased my eyebrows as I looked at her, suprised and speechless.
"What? You thought I didn't know?" She looked at me from head to toe, "And now you've proven you deserve it," she snapped.
She looked at my baby, and she noticed the pack of dried meat and fruits in the open bag that I'd been packing.
"You think you can take what belongs to him and disappear little one?" she hissed before she started heading close to my baby, "No, no, you won't get far."
My blood ran cold. "No... please."
She drew close to my baby. "You'll stay close to my brother. No more hiding in your little shack. And if you try to run, I'll make sure you never see your child again because from now onwards, he shall be staying with me, you are free to come see him anytime!"
I opened my mouth to protest, but the words died on my lips.
She picked up my baby and my knees almost gave out beneath me. My son. My baby. The only reason why I had kept enduring for so long.
"I'll…. I'll stay. Just don't take him away from me." I pleaded with her as tears started running down my cheeks.
She stepped even closer to me, her face drawing closer to mine until it was just a few inches away. "You will get your child back. Just prepare the ritual that Zakes needs. You know the one I mean…."
I could barely breathe. The thought of being near him after everything he had done to me made my skin crawl.
I shook my head backing away. "No, I can't-"
"Yes you will complete the ritual. You will give my brother the power he deserves. Or I will make sure you never see this baby again. Your choice!" she stepped forward again, forcing me against the wall.
My heart raced even faster.
The bonding ritual. It was dangerous, draining and it would tie me to him in ways that went beyond the physical.
I had heard about the ritual, how it made Alphas stronger and how it would tie a person like me, to him in a bond that I would never be able to escape.
I failed to speak. Tears burned in my eyes, but I wouldn't let them fall, not in front of her. I shook my head and my voice became barely a whisper, "Why? Why are you doing this?"
She tilted her head, and narrowed her look towards me, "Because you need to know your place. You need to know that you are nothing without this pack and without him. And I'll make sure that I remind you daily while I hold your child as a guarantee."
The tears that I had been very much trying to hold back suddenly slipped free, but I quickly wiped them away.
Then I thought of a way out of this nightmare, for my son, for me...