CHAPTER THREE

Aria's POV

My ankle was killing me.

The forest held so many secrets. Secrets I didn't want to know about. The rustling in the bush got louder and louder. I hugged myself, staring at it. Suddenly, a rabbit jumped out of the bush.

"Thank goodness." I heaved a sigh of relief.

Continuing the walk that seemed like a journey without an end, I couldn't see any sign of human being, only trees stretching further into distances of darkness. How long would I journey before I would be able to see any signs of houses or people living around? I asked myself, sighing in agony.

Still aware of the excruciatingly annoying pain in my ankle and the fact that I had been walking on foot all this time, the thought of perhaps taking a little rest came to me, but I just couldn't. Not in a forest like this, where no one could tell what each tree and shadow held.

Shifting into my wolf, I decided to take a run. Feeling the wind in my hair, I tried my best to ignore the pain in my ankle. For hours, I ran with hopes of getting out of the forest or glimpsing anything that looked like a sign of hope. A few times, I felt like I heard things. Other times, I felt like I saw shadows running with me, taking refuge behind trees. I immediately turned to look at them.

I ran for hours, meeting nothing but more and more trees. Ignoring the pain in my ankle already making my feet numb, I amplified my speed, eager to find an opening or something like it.

After what felt like hours of hopeless seeking, I reluctantly slowed down beside a tree about nine feet long. When I finally slowed down, I sat at the foot of the tree, taking refuge behind its shadows, my mind wandering back to all that had happened.

Clutching my heart, I could feel the pain I had felt when Alpha Kane rejected me all over again. It was nothing like I'd ever felt in my entire life as an omega. The shouts of anger and disgust that came from the people as I was dragged out, how I reeked of both alcohol and dried food, and sweat all from the food and alcohol that was thrown at me.

How my plea had fallen on deaf ears, how I was banished for being Alpha Kane's mate, how my life had taken a drastic turn aside from it's usual turns in just a night, brought clumps of tears to my throat that I had to force myself to push back.

"Your main priority is to find a way out of here as fast as possible, not cry." I told myself as I was trying to rise from the floor to continue my journey.

The pain that hit me from my ankle was so strong that my body went still while my mind went blank for what felt like a minute. The pain was so intense that I had to sit back down to take a look at it.

It was swollen and sore from all the dragging and rough pushing I had received, including the sprint I had taken a few hours back.

"Just a few resting minutes." I told myself to rest on the tree. "A few minutes of rest, then I continue."

*****

I could hear the twittering of birds and the rustling of bushes as something ran by across my leg. Against my cheek, I could feel something nestling close to me.

"Day break?!" I yelled to the forest as I opened my eyes, causing the squirrel beside me to scamper away while sending the birds on the tree I was sitting under into a flight of fear.

I had just decided to take a short break before continuing my journey, but I had slept off till morning. Looking at my ankle, the swelling had gone down, so the red color had faded.

Rising to my feet, I continued walking. As I kept walking, I saw what looked like a stream a few kilometers away from me. Walking cautiously, careful not to stress my injured ankle, I got to the stream. Kneeling down, I drank to my fill.

"Gosh! I haven't eaten since yesterday." I realized this after I heard the grumbling in my stomach. There were no fruit trees in sight, but squirrels, along with other little animals, were running around.

I shifted into my wolf to hunt, so I targeted the first squirrel but failed to catch it. Finding a new target, I was twice as focused as I was on the first one, catching it this time.

After about three minutes, I had three bush animals in my possession. All that was left was a fire to roast them.

Moving around the stream, I found dry sticks, which I set together in preparation for a fire. It remains how to start a fire now. I had heard of methods of using stones to make fire. But I don't know if there were stones of a special kind reserved for tasks like these.

Finding the first two stones three steps from where I stood, I struck them together. Nothing. Finding another stone, I struck it with two of the stones I had already found, but still nothing.

I walked around the stream searching for stones, striking them together until I struck a particular set and saw sparks. Striking them harder again made the sparks bigger. And by the third time, I had made a fire.

Sitting beside the fire, I stuck a stick through the first animal I had caught to roast it. I did this for all three, ate them, and drank from the stream. By the time I was done eating and resting, the sun was already high in the sky.

Getting up, I walked until sunset. Still, I saw no sign of an end to the forest. At this time, I didn't even know where I was or where I was headed. All I could think of was, "If only I could just find an opening."

Night came, then another day. There was no sign of an opening.

Another night, another day. Still nothing except trees and trees that stretched on forever.

"Would I really die out here in this forest? Is this what's meant to be my fate?" I asked, limping from the pain in my ankle from the long walks I had subjected it to.

Walking further, I heard the rustling of bushes and then the breaking of a twig behind me.

"It's just another rabbit." I told myself to continue what seemed like a walk of endlessness.

Suddenly, I saw movements beside me. At this point in time, I could feel the hairs at the back of my neck rise. Without thinking much, I began to run.

I ran, looking back every now and then to check if I was being followed. After about fifteen minutes, I stopped running and turned in the direction I had run from. I was all alone.

Walking backwards, I bumped into a tree. "Thank goodness." I breathed, sliding down the tree, only to land on feet and not roots. Before I could turn to find out who I had bumped into, I had become surrounded by men armed with weapons. Almost immediately, I was knocked out.

*****

I woke up to the sound of voices giving orders, footsteps, and chatter. Sighing, I was finally safe.

"Is she still asleep?" I heard someone say

"What do you think?" A second person responded.

"Let her be." The first person who had spoken said, "Let's leave. Lock back the dungeon."

The dungeon?!? I gasped, my eyes flying open, just as they were both locking the dungeon I was in.

"Wait!!" I yelled, scampering over to the door they were locking. "What am I doing here? I'm not supposed to be here."

"You should have known what you signed up for when you trespassed." The one locking the door, which sounded like the second person before said.

"Trespassed? I don't trespass." I said, grabbing the bars of the dungeon.

"You trespassed upon the grounds of Moonlight Pack." The first man spat. "Satisfied?" He asked, shooting daggers at me through his eyes.

Moonlight Pack. A pack of warriors. A pack where the strongest of the strong wouldn't dare to carelessly enter. A pack where trespassers were not treated lightly. Run by the fearsome Alpha Lucas, a man who trained all the members of his pack, including the women, servants, and maids, to be warriors. This was where I had trespassed into.

"I can't be here!" I screamed, shaking the dungeon bars.

"Keep an eye on her while I get Beta Cole." The second man said to another guard.

No. This cannot be happening. I thought as my mind dug into the possibilities of what this place held in store for me.

"Did I just move from one trouble to an even bigger trouble in just less than four days?" How bad could my life get?

My heart sank immediately. I saw the guard that was sent to call Alpha Lucas' beta come in with someone.

The guard moved to the cell where I was and pointed at me.

"Pleasure to meet you. I'm Cole."