Escape

IRIS

Cold Liquid dropped on my face, first in sprinkles, and then floods of it came full all over my body, making me jerk awake. The water was so cold that I shivered as I regained consciousness.

Due to the force of my jerk, pain coursed through my body in torrents, my eyes were blurred, and my lips patched.

Slowly I opened my eyes, and the first thing I saw was a rat just at the edge of the room, running on a filthy wooden floor with so many dents that if it had lips, it would scream to be repaired.

The sound of men laughing had me examining my surroundings. My head hurt, and my sight blurred again. Reaching up to massage my head, I realized my hands were tied to the arms of a chair.

'What am I doing here?' I thought, trying to recollect my memories; the sight of the Gamma entering the compartment jolted my memory back on.

I had been kidnapped.

The Alpha wouldn't have sent for me if not; why am I not in the dungeon instead of this worn-out house that had me scared it might collapse on me any moment from now?

I struggled to escape the ropes, but they only dug into my skin like a razor. Goddess! It hurt so bad.

My mind went back to the night before, and a slicing pain slashed through my head when I remembered the effect of the fist on my neck. I looked up at the cranky old ceiling, recalling why father never came down to save me even though I was that loud crying for help.

I remembered his last words, ' I'm taking a little nap. Do not make a whole lot of noise. Was that coincidental? Or did dad know all along I was going to be kidnapped?

Tears filled my eyes at the thought that my father could betray me badly. Father who swore he would push through worlds for me, father who promised to protect me. But then here I was.

"Witch," the Gamma spat, now standing before me, so I could see every reaction he passed on. Ximena had the worst luck mating this guy's son.

"Weird," I said, spitting out blood. There was an injury at the side of my mouth. I realized it came from the force of the blow on my neck, making me bite that area.

"You can't be that ugly calling somebody a witch, sir."

The slap that followed it was blinding. I shook my head to see clearly, 'wow, this guy had some strength in his hands.

He wrapped his fingers around my neck and angrily said, "you don't dare insult a Gamma little girl, no matter how brave you think you are" I smiled at his hands, enjoying the feel of him being pushed beyond control "I got a clown job for you Gamma."

"Ok, now that does it" his scarred face turned ugly, and he tightened his fingers around my neck. I couldn't even struggle because I was bound. I jerked, pushing myself up and into the chair, hoping that might make him lose his grip on me, but by the goddess Artemis, this was strength.

"Aroid!" Luna's voice was heard behind us; Aroid turned to see her, he released me, and the chair landed on the dirty floor. Coughing intensely wasn't enough to stop me from perceiving the smell of piss. I almost threw up.

*SLAP* Luna's hand met with Gamma's face.

Callum, behind her, mumbled, "who doesn't love a fiery woman."

"Her Son?" I called out from where I lay on the floor, chuckling. I should have known it was the Luna. Cold and manipulative. She had everyone wrapped around her fingers. I felt pity for the Alpha; it was sad to see the way he adored her.

She looked at me, then at the Gamma, "pick her up."

The Gamma obeyed without asking questions; he pushed up my chair, settling me up. "Thank you, Gamma," I smiled cheekily, showing off blood teeth.

He gave me a killer look and moved aside for the Luna to come to me. She came close, lifted my chin, and smiled. "I could have taken anything, anything at all, but ruining Reid's life, you're going too far."

"I did nothing to Reid; I am not a Witch."

I felt the tears sting my eyes and swallowed the sob back in. I couldn't let them know my weakness. I couldn't let her know I wasn't immune to her words.

"Then explain Reid rejecting a mate because of you; Reid would never do that in his right senses" her eyes filled with hate as she came close. "I hated you the first day I saw you. I always knew you were up to no good."

Feeling bold again, I retorted, "I could say the same about you. I doubt you kidnapped me because of Reid. You want to get rid of me so I don't tell the Alpha you're fucking Callum."

She tugged at my cheek with her fingers. "You're so smart it's sad I have to kill you. But if you must know," she walked behind me, holding the chair, "Callum is not my biological son."

It all fell into place now. So instead of Callum, Reid was going to be the next Alpha. Silver Mystic was very fortunate

"...Talon found him, and since we still didn't have Cubs then, Callum gave me the thrill of a mother."

I gave a crooked smile "another dummy you manipulate," I mocked, looking at Callum. In a flash, his hands whipped across my face in two successions. My head was fuzzy with the pain, and blood filled my mouth again.

The Luna held his arm, and he shrugged her off like a petulant child that was denied candy. I almost scoffed at the sight. Annoyed, she looked at the Gamma and said the final words, "finish her off."

Then she left with Callum, holding onto his arm.

The Gamma looked at me, a smile tugging at the side of his mouth; he went away and came back with a knife that glinted under the dim light of the bulb.

I trembled. 'This is how I am going to die I thought as a lot of feelings coursed through me. 'alone with no one to even care. Not even my father,' The Gamma, was beside me. "Prepare to die, Iris."

Saying this, he raised the sword high ready to slice, when I shut my eyes, waiting for the feel of the blade on my skin, waiting for the pain. I prepared to feel my blood pouring out of my neck or the bounce of my head on the floor.

But instead, I felt the rope snap loosely on my hands. I opened my eyes, surprised and shocked to see him cutting the cord on my legs. "What are you doing?" I whispered

He put his finger on his lips, motioning for me to stay quiet, his dark eyes calculative.

When he was done, he helped me stand, climbed on a stool, and opened a window. The fresh air that hit me was a relief to my nose.

He motioned for me to come, and when I arrived, he whispered to me, "here, run away as far as you can. Escape to another pack, become a rogue or anything but never return."

I was stunned "why are you doing this?"

He sighed "your father. He begged me to do this, now, don't waste my time with that mouth that cut sharper than a blade."

All the strangulation was just for the sake of Luna? Dad knew all this would happen, and he had my back as usual, just like he promised. Stupid of me to think that dad would let me die without doing anything. I felt ashamed

I hurriedly climbed the window, about to jump to the ground outside; I remembered something and turned to him. "Uhm, Gamma, so that you know, I didn't mean what I said about the clown job."

"Just get out of here, Iris!"

My legs hit the ground with a thud, running past the thorns and shrubs as fast as my legs could.