Chapter 1: Chased by Death

“Is she still alive?”

I’m feeling dizzy and my body feels sore everywhere but I still did my best to open my eyes. The first thing that met my gaze was a bright light. It blinded me for a moment.

Am I in heaven?

That’s possible. I remember falling off the cliff after being chased by my pack. It’s just reasonable that I’m dead by now.

I felt a warm thing that touched my face. A finger, perhaps. It pressed on my cheek, which startled me.

I moved my eyelids up, this time wider. There’s still that blinding light but as I try to focus my gaze, I realize it’s the sky.

“She’s awake.” I dropped my gaze on the little boy on my right. He’s quite young. Around four or five, I guess. He stared at me with curiosity and worry in his bright brown eyes.

When the cold wind blew, that was when I knew I’m soaking wet. I looked on my left and saw an older boy. He’s obviously younger than me. He has the same bright brown eyes the small boy has, so I assume they are siblings. Both of them are wearing shabby clothes, which are commonly worn by people from the lower class. They also smell like corn. There are no corn crops in the place I came from, the sixth district pack. This indicates the river must have brought me to another district.

“Can you move, miss?” the older boy asked. “You have wounds all over your body.”

“I think it’s better if we bring her home, Fred. Her wounds need to be tended,” said the younger one.

“I’m Fred and this is my brother, Caleb,” the older boy introduced in a tone without a slightest hint of hostility.

Even if I’m feeling sore all over, I pulled myself up. I leaned on the tree at my back and took a deep breath when the wound on my legs brushed on the rocky ground where I laid.

My white dress is filled with dirt that it looked gray. Due to the torture I received in prison, some parts of the dress were torn including the sleeves, which made the violet bruises on my arms visible. The lower part also got torn when I escaped and ran to the forest, leaving only my thighs covered.

I feel numb and cold.

I looked around. We are near a lake and I figured this must be the countryside of Vallenshire.

Vallenshire is one of the biggest wolf cities in Washington, consisting of twelve districts. Each district is led by an alpha, but those twelve alphas are under the rule of the Supreme Alpha, or the chief in command of the entire city.

I was never given a chance to visit other districts as Alpha Roger didn’t allow me to. It was one of those rules he strictly wanted me to follow, and I listened. I had always listened to him ever since. After all, he’s the father I have known since I was eight, and I’ve always looked up to him.

“Where am I? What district?” I asked.

“Fifth,” Fred answered. “You’re in Raven Village.”

Fifth district. So I’m still close to my pack. But they must have stopped hunting for me, right? They surely wouldn’t think that a wolfless girl like me would survive that.

“The village houses are just nearby. Our mom is probably in our house. She can tend to your wounds. Can you walk?” asked Fred.

I nodded but on my first try of standing up, I couldn’t feel my knees. I almost fell back, but thanks to Fred, I somehow managed to stay on my feet.

“Here, I’ll hold you.”

“Thank you,” I said as I took a step.

This time, I felt my feet. The soreness of my soles is evident as I have no footwear and my ankles still hurt because of the shackles around it, but I have to endure the pain. It was a miracle I survived what happened. I shouldn’t waste this opportunity to stay alive.

“Why is she chained? Is she a prisoner?” Caleb asked innocently.

“Let’s ask her later, okay? For now, we should help her,” answered Fred and I was relieved. I don’t think I can answer all the questions in their mind with my state.

Not so long, we arrived at a small wooden house surrounded by other village houses. I noticed the curious gazes of the people around as we walked in. A few even asked Fred who I am. Fred didn’t entertain questions and focused on sending me inside their house.

A middle-aged woman wearing an apron marked with dirt went to us upon entering the house. I assume it’s their mother.

“What happened? Who is she?” she’s soft-spoken and her eyes held tenderness as she looked at me. No doubt she raised these two boys who didn’t hesitate to help me even when I’m shackled, an indication of being a prisoner.

“We found her by the lake, mom. I’ve never seen her before. Maybe she’s from the town or from another district,” answered Fred.

“Follow me in my room.”

Their mom, later I knew as Edwina, helped me get a new dress since mine was torn and wet. She then tended to my wounds.

The family was kind enough to let me stay with them for a few days until I recovered. They also asked someone to free me from my shackles. I didn’t tell them what I had been accused of and just said I was being treated unfairly in my family’s house. It was complicated and I didn’t want them to think of me as someone who could bring harm to them.

But I knew staying longer would put their life at risk. If Alpha Roger would know I survived, he’d surely search all the corners of Vallenshire to find me.

So the night after my fifth day in Edwina’s family, I left their house in the middle of the night with a letter to thank them for all the kindness they had shown me.

Wearing a black overcoat and a cap, I went to the town of the fifth district to have a ride that will take me to the first district, where the Supreme Alpha resides. No one in my pack will listen to me because they all listen to Alpha Roger. If there is someone I should convince to hear my side of story and open an investigation, it is no other than the Supreme Alpha. He is, after all, the most powerful man in Vallenshire.

“Can you take me to the first district?” I stopped a cab and asked the driver. His brows furrowed and gave me a quizzical look.

“Cabs don’t take people to another district, miss. Planes and the train do,” he answered like everyone knows it.

“Oh,” I nodded and bit my lower lip, embarrassed by my lack of knowledge. “Where is the train station, then?”

“Cross the street and head right. Just a few kilometers and you’d be in the station.”

“Thank you,” I said and hurriedly followed his instruction.

After crossing the street, I was about to head right when I saw who got out of the black car a few meters from where I was.

It was Philip, a beta in our pack and a trusted man of Alpha Roger.

Before I could move my head to the opposite direction, he already saw me. Coldness seeped through my bones. I forgot where I was going. All I knew was I had to make a run for my life.

He didn’t expect to see me there. I knew from how his eyes slightly widened at the sight of me. All of them must have thought I was dead. None of them cared.

I ran and ran. My heart is pounding hard on my chest and I’m chasing my breath. I need to see the Supreme Alpha first and bet my life on him before any of them can convince me to just let myself get killed for a crime I didn’t commit.

I turned to an alley and was about to reach the end of it when a hand grabbed a handful of my hair forcefully, making me shriek in pain.

“You can’t outrun me, you traitor.”