*Isla*
What the hell do I think I’m doing?
I can’t answer that question because if I pause to ponder the absurdity, I will turn back immediately.
Who in their right mind sneaks out of the castle after sunset when some crazy woman who has already tried to kill her is on the loose? And I don’t even have a fucking clue where I’m going!
But… I keep running anyway.
Because… at this point… do I even have a choice?
As soon as Poppy left my room, I tossed a few items into a backpack that I knew I could carry on my back in my wolf form. I’m not used to shifting. I’ve only had my wolf for a short amount of time. Most of us don’t get them until we are fifteen or sixteen.
I got mine at eighteen.
And there was never any reason back home to shift. I was always too busy working in the factory or wherever, and that requires thumbs.
I have shifted a time or two in my life, but I’ve never really let my wolf run. Now, with the darkness of the forest enveloping me, I run as fast as I can.
Sneaking out was easier than I expected. I guess everyone was out looking for Zabrina and Alpha Jordan or whoever was still missing. I didn’t even know if they’d found anyone that day, other than Maddox’s pregnant lover.
I’d gone out the door closest to the garage, the one I’d been dragged out of by Private Wylie a few days ago when I didn’t understand why anyone would want to take me, when I thought perhaps Maddox was hurt, but I didn’t know….
I’d run right out as fast as I could, looking for guards that never appeared. Then, I’d shot across the castle grounds to the fence and managed to climb over. It wasn’t that hard. If Zabrina could do it, then so could I.
Once I was in the woods, I’d undressed, stuffed my clothes into the backpack, and shifted. I put the bag back on and took off.
All I have with me now is a couple of outfits, whatever cash I had in my wallet, and a few pieces of jewelry I thought might be worth something.
I didn’t take Maddox’s credit card. I felt bad about taking it for one thing, and the other reason was I didn’t want him to be able to chase me down. The cash, I didn’t mind so much. After all, I had done some work for him. It wasn’t like it had been my idea to quit trying to be his breeder. He’d made it clear to me that I was no longer needed.
Now, as the woods narrow in around me, the brush growing thicker and reaching out to snare my light-colored fur, I have to wonder where the fuck I think I’m going.
I’m running away from somewhere, not toward somewhere.
I don’t know if I should aim for my hometown or if I should try to make it to the port and see if I have enough money to catch a boat to Maatua. Do boats even go to Maatua? I have no idea.
What I do know is I can no longer stay in the castle and see Maddox, even if it’s just from time to time, and pretend that it doesn’t bother me that he no longer wants me. I love him too much for that.
This way is better for all of us.
I continue to run, knowing the castle is growing smaller behind me, and the world is growing larger and scarier in front of me.
All I can hear is the sound of my own breathing, the rustle of the leaves around me, and the call of the nightbirds to one another.
And… maybe the sound of paws hitting the ground in the distance….
*Maddox*
I am spinning around in the center of Isla’s bedroom trying to figure out what the fuck is going on when Poppy walks in with a serving tray in her hands. She doesn’t even bother to tip her head to me anymore, we’ve grown so used to one another over the last few days with the adventure we went on.
But she does look confused. “Where is Isla?” she asks me.
“I was going to ask you the same thing,” I say. “Do you know where she went?” My heart is beating a million miles a minute as I wait for the maid to respond. I am hoping this is all some sort of misunderstanding. Perhaps Isla has gone into Poppy’s room to rest because she is angry at me and doesn’t want to speak to me.
Poppy hastily sets the tray down on the table and rushes over to Isla’s chest of drawers. She pulls open the top one and yanks out a credit card. I recognize it as the one I have given Isla to use. I am confused, but I take this as a good sign. The fact that the credit card is still there makes me think that she hasn’t left the castle. Surely, if she was going to attempt to run away, she’d take that with her.
“Shit!” Poppy says, dropping the credit card on the top of the dresser like it’s made of lava.
“What?” I ask, not understanding.
“She’s gone!” she exclaims.
“I know. But where is she?” I ask, thinking it’s obvious that she’s not in the room.
Poppy shakes her head and gives me a look that makes me feel stupid for the first time in many years. “No, Your Majesty. I mean she’s gone! She’s taken off.”
“How the hell do you know that from finding a credit card?” I ask, not convinced.
“She took her wallet, all of her cash, but left this.” She picks it up again and waves it at me. “It makes sense that she wouldn’t take your credit card. You can track that!”
I suddenly realize that the maid is right. I hadn’t been giving Isla enough credit. Of course, that would occur to her.
“Where the fuck do you think she went?” I ask, panic washing over me again.
Poppy shakes her head. “I don’t know, but she was so upset when you yelled at her and brought that little pregnant slut into the castle! Please tell me that’s not your baby, Alpha Maddox!”
I want to growl at her. Since when do I have to answer the questions of the maid? “No, I did not impregnate that girl!” I say, snarling at her. “Are you saying that Isla thought that I was the one who knocked the girl up?”
The maid stands her ground, folding her arms across her chest and shrugging. “What else was she supposed to think?” she wants to know. “You yelled at her for using your office, something you’d previously given her permission to do, and then you stroll in with a little girl who’s clearly about to pop.”
“Son of a bitch,” I say, dragging my hand down my face. I know that Isla was upset at me for losing my temper, and I don’t blame her for that. And I can even see her questioning who the father of Sydney’s baby is. But I can’t imagine she would ever think that I would do something like that!
But then… Isla hadn’t known me that long. She’s only been here a short time. She might’ve thought that I had used other breeders, despite everyone telling her otherwise. She might’ve even thought that I’d inadvertently gotten another girl pregnant, and even though Sydney looked even younger than she was, she isn’t that much younger than Isla.
“I don’t have time to continue to stand here and argue with you, Poppy,” I say. I turn around and head out of the room, but before I get very far, I stop and turn around. “Do not use the mind-link to try to find her!”
“Why not?” Poppy wants to know.
“Watch. Your. Mouth!” I snarl, lifting my hand. Not that I would ever hit her, but she doesn’t know that, and she recoils. “Because I fucking said so!”
“Yes… Your Majesty!” she spits at me.
I turn and sprint down the hallway, sniffing the air. Where did she go? I can smell her everywhere outside of her door now, and I know some trails are stronger than others.
I pick up on her scent headed down the hall that leads to the door that exits near the garage, and I pick up speed as I follow it. As I run, I call out to the guards on duty. Has anyone seen anything? Did anyone spy the door opening or someone climbing over the wall?
I get an answer as I open the door and fly outside. “Yes, sir. We have footage of a girl climbing over the wall around the castle grounds,” one of the guards tells me.
Thank the Goddess some of our cameras are still working!
He tells me it was fifteen minutes ago and gives me the coordinates of where she was when she made her exit. From her description, I know for certain, it’s Isla.
I shift mid-stride, tearing my suit into a thousand pieces and not giving a fuck. When I reach the wall, I leap up and over it, despite the fact that it’s ten feet tall. My wolf is tall, strong, and fast.
And I can smell her.
Over the scent of the pine, the wet ground, the fallen leaves, the animals, and everything else that hits my lungs as I take off running at full speed through the forest, I can smell Isla’s scent.
Then, something else hits my nostrils, and another ripple of fear pulses through me.
“Seth!” I shout using the mind-link. “I need reinforcements, and I need them immediately!”
“Of course, Alpha,” he says in my head. “I know where you went over the wall, but you’re so far ahead of anyone I can send. The guards that are on duty have been detached. But… what’s the situation so I can warn them?”
I don’t have an answer for that. But in the forest around me, I can smell other wolves. Their odors are strong, so they have been here recently, and they are still close by, and the further into the forest I run, the more I can hear them.
The more I can sense them.
I could use the mind-link to warn them that I’m coming and they’d better stand down, but if I do that, Isla will get the message too, and I don’t want to scare her. Originally, I simply didn’t want her to know I was on her trail because I wanted her to feel comfortable, like there was a chance I didn’t realize she was gone, so she’d run slower. But now….
Now, I don’t know what to do.
Ahead of me, I hear snarls from between the trees. I hear the pounding of a frightened heart.
I feel her ahead of me. I feel her presence.
I feel her fear.