Chapter 4

Emma watched out of her bedroom window at the staff as they set up tables and chairs on the back lawn. She opened the window so she could smell the freshly cut grass, she loved that smell. The staff was getting everything prepared for Dylan’s shifting ceremony that was happening tonight. All the Alpha’s would gather in the back yard and eat, and once the moon was at its highest, they would watch Dylan shift for his first time.

She was excited that she would get to see Logan, even if it was through her window. He would at least be close and she could see him in person. Logan had talked her through how to video chat, so they got to see each other and talk to each other through the phone, but it wasn’t enough.

She wanted to touch him and hold him and kiss him. She couldn’t do that through the phone. But they did at least learn a lot about each other. He taught her a lot of things about the outside world that she hasn’t had a chance to experience yet. Logan told her that he was going to try to talk to Dylan tonight if he could get him alone.

She was still standing there when her father walked into her room.

“What are you doing? You know you can’t be at the window with it open! You could be seen!”

“Dad, the only people here are our regular staff, they all know who I am.”

“Alphas are starting to arrive. Get away from there. You can leave it open for now but once the ceremony starts and we are sitting at the tables, you need to have it closed.”

Emma sighed and turned away from the window and sat on her bed.

“I only came up here to tell you that your bathroom is fixed finally, so you don’t need to go down to the third floor anymore.” He turned around to walk out the door before he turned back. A little pang of guilt hit him when he seen Emma sitting on her bed, looking like she was going to cry.

“I will have one of the staff bring you up food from the ceremony.” He said then he walked out and closed the door behind him.

Emma wasn’t even in the mood to eat, she just wanted to be free. She longed to go home with her mate. She had had enough, and she thought of a plan. She grabbed a bag and filled it with clothes and anything else that she wanted to take with her. Once the bag was full, she stuffed it under her bed. She would wait until everyone was watching Dylan shift and she would sneak out and hide in Logan’s car.

She would have to text him and ask him which car was his. Praying to the moon goddess that everyone, including the staff, would be outside and that she could get out of the front door and to Logan’s car without anyone seeing her. She was doubtful about this plan though. Her father wouldn’t let all the staff abandon their posts to watch the shifting. He would keep the staff where they were so I couldn’t sneak down.

Moon goddess, please help me. Please help me be free to be with my mate. Emma silently prayed.

Then it hit her. Wait, Dylan’s room, she thought. She remembered Dylan telling her how he would climb down the trellis and sneak out with his friends. She was sure she could sneak down to Dylan’s room and then climb down the trellis from there. His room faced the side of the house, so once she was down, she could make her way around to the front to Logan’s car. She would have to wait until after one of the staff brought up her dinner, she would eat and then take the tray down to the third-floor guard.

After he left, she would have to figure out how to get down to the second floor to Dylan’s room. She picked up her phone and texted Logan and asked him what kind of car he drove and explained her plan to him.

Are you sure you want to do this?

Yes. I can’t stand being locked up anymore. I want to be free. I want to be with you. This is the only way.

Ok, I will send you a picture of it that way it will be easier for you to find it. I will leave it unlocked.

Thank you.

You don’t have to thank me. I will do anything for you. I just want you to be sure.

I’m sure. I will see you soon.

See you soon, and be careful.

I will.

She put the phone on the charger, she wanted to make sure it was fully charged. Once it was, she would pack the charger and the phone in the bag. Her phone chimed with a message from Logan, the picture of his car. He also said that he was the only Alpha that had that car so it would be easy for her to find. He would park as close to the side of the house as he could.

Emma smiled. She was nervous and excited at the same time. She prayed to the moon goddess again that she could get to Logan’s car without any trouble and without being spotted. 

The sky was finally dark, and the back yard was lit up with string lights. It was beautiful. She was a little jealous of Dylan at this moment. This should have been her ceremony. Although she never wanted to be Alpha, she just didn’t want to be locked up. She wanted to be around people and have conversations. She was so lost in her thoughts she almost didn’t hear the knock on her door. She expected it to be the staff with her dinner, but when she turned to look, she was surprised to see her brother standing in her room.

“You ok sis?” Dylan asked.

“No, not really. I am tired of being locked up.” she said.

“I know. This really isn’t fair. But you know as soon as I am Alpha, I’m commanding Dad to let you go.”

Emma sighed. She wanted to tell her brother her plan, but she wasn’t sure that she should. She finally decided to tell him, she didn’t want him to worry when they found out she wasn’t there.

“I’m not waiting that long Dyl. I’m leaving tonight.” She told him.

“What? Wait, how? You won’t get past the staff.” he said.

“I’m going to sneak down to your room and then climb down the trellis.”

“You still won’t make it out of the gate.” he said.

Emma wasn’t sure if she should mention Logan’s involvement, but in the end, she trusted her brother not to rat her out.

“I have help.” she sighed.

“Who? The only people that are here are Alphas and our staff. None of them are going to help you.”

“Alpha Logan.”

“Emma, why would Alpha Logan help you. How does he even know about you?” he asked.

“He is my mate, Dylan.” Emma then explained everything that happened the week before at the Alpha and Beta party.

He ran his fingers through his hair and looked at his sister.

“Your mate, huh?” Dylan smiled at his sister. “I’m happy for you Em. But you know Mom and Dad are going to be worried and Dad will be pissed. And if he finds out Alpha Logan helped you, it’s going to start a war, one we can’t afford.”

“I thought about that. I will leave a note for them and tell them that I am ok and not to look for me. Then after a while we will say that I met Logan somewhere and that’s when we realized that we were mates. Dad can’t do anything about that.”

“Just make sure nobody sees you get into his car.”

“I am going to get in the back and lay down. That way just in case, we can say Logan had no idea that I was back there. It was just the first car that I got to.”

“Wow, you have really thought this out, haven’t you?” Dylan asked.

“Yeah, I have. I can’t wait nine months to be with him. This past week has been absolute torture. I just want to be happy. I have to go.”

Dylan walked over to his sister and wrapped her up in a hug. He buried his face in her neck, trying not to cry.

“I’m going to miss you.” He told her.

“I’m going to miss you too, but you can always come and see me. And I have a phone now too.” She said.

“Really?”

“Yeah, Logan gave it to me last week.”

“Hand it here and I will put my number in for you. Do you know what your number is?”

Emma shook her head and handed Dylan the phone.

“No worries, I’ll just call my phone from yours and then save your number.” and he did just that. He handed her back the phone and she put it back on the charger. He wrapped her up in another hug.

“I love you, Emma. I’m glad you are happy, but be careful. I will distract the guard on the second floor so you can get to my room. Text me when you are ready, and I will make my move. I will text you when the coast is clear. Don’t get caught.” He kissed her on her cheek.

“I love you too. Thank you.” And she kissed him back on his cheek.

Dylan let her down and looked at her and smiled. “You know if Alpha Logan ever hurts you, in anyway, I’ll kick his ass.”

Emma laughed. “You could try.”

Dylan laughed too. “Damn right, anything for my other half.”

“Anything for my other half.” Emma repeated.

Dylan walked away from his sister, not knowing when he would get to see her again. But he was proud of her. Hell, if it had been him, he would have run away a long time ago. The moment he turned 18, he would have been gone. But Emma was too gentle, her mate bond with Alpha Logan has given her a strength that she has never had before.

A little while after Dylan left, she could hear everyone talking outside. One of the staff knocked on her door and brought her tray, she had already eaten and was just waiting for the right time, and it was now. She grabbed her bag out from under her bed, put her phone charger in her bag. She sent Dylan a text to let him know she was ready and then put the phone in her back pocket and made sure the hoodie, which used to be Dylan’s so it was big on her, was covering the phone.

She put the bag on her shoulder and picked up the tray. She cracked open her door and peered out, making sure nobody was there. She walked to the top of the steps and put her bag down by the steps and then walked down to the third floor. She handed the guard her tray and asked him to get her something else to drink and she turned and walked back up the stairs. She watched around the corner for him to go downstairs. She had to wait for Dylan to let her know the second-floor guard was gone before she could make her move.

Finally, the phone vibrated and she quickly pulled it out of her pocket, coast is clear. She put the phone back in her pocket, grabbed her bag and ran down the stairs, making it to the second floor. She heard the third-floor guard coming back up. Damn it, she thought. She ducked in the nearest room.

“Here, I will take it up to her. You can just go back to your post.” she heard Dylan say.

She breathed a sigh of relief. She waited until she heard them go up before she came out. She ran to Dylan’s room and closed the door. She sat her bag down by the window and opened it up. She walked over to the bed and sat down. Now she just had to wait for Dylan to start shifting and she would start her climb down. All of a sudden Dylan’s door busted open and Dylan came barreling through.

“GO!! NOW!!” He yelled then ran back out, closing the door behind him. She didn’t hesitate. She grabbed the bag and started the climb down the trellis. It wasn’t as easy as Dylan made it out to be. She was trying to be careful so she didn’t fall. She could hear her father telling everyone to gather around that it was time.

She was halfway down the trellis when all of a sudden, she was hit with this blinding pain. She tried to push through the pain and kept making her way down. The pain was getting worse and she couldn’t fight it anymore. She screamed and then everything went black. She never felt hitting the ground.