Chapter Three: Mercy.

Mercy.

It has all become clear to me now, what I have to do.

I have to run away.

The thought was exciting, and somewhat terrifying. I found myself sailing my head about how pathetic I was, thinking about anything that would make me still want to stay here.

School? No. Already done with that.

Friends? Did I even have any friends?

The rich culture, maybe? No. The pack here is drab and boring. Stories of other packs entertain me more than the annual competitions.

My very loving family?

The answer to that was very obvious. I had no reason to want to continue to stay on. The question now was where to go.

I had never left this pack before, but I knew Marcy had a few friends in the neighbouring pack. Maybe I could—

My thoughts were intercepted as I heard a loud bang. It was my room door, and Marcy stood at the entrance.

  "There's something called knocking, you should try it sometime."

  "There's something called a life, you should try to have one sometime." Was her lame retort.

  "My mom says you should come down to eat." Marcy said with a small shrug. "Eke and I are having a couple's party next week. You should come."

I ignored her.

  "There's space for single people, of course. I'd give you something to wear." Her grin was sugary.

Just like Marcy to end up with my mate and rub it in my face.

  "Yeah, yeah. That's great. Do you know any other packs except ours?" I asked her.

She raised a brow. Whether it was because I didn't yell at her, or it was because I was asking her a question, I didn't know.

  "I've been to two. Eke has a friend called Grayson in Southside Pack. That's the closest one here." Her voice was calm.

  "Okay, but—" She cut me off.

  "Stop talking to me, reject." And she took her leave, leaving my door wide open.

  "It's my last day in this house, so I better make it worthwhile." I mumbled and went out too, thinking about what I'd need on the way.

I was pointedly ignored at the table, as usual. And if my mom was surprised that I chose to eat downstairs, instead of taking it upstairs, she did not show it. My dad didn't talk at all. I expected him to scold me about the mate incident, but it was as if it had never happened.

  "Even if you guys have never treated me right, I still dont hate you." I started, causing everyone to look at me strangely.

I imagined giant red question marks floating above their head.

  "I mean, I don't love you, but I don't think I hate you. Marcy may be the—"

  "Shut up, I'm trying to eat here." Marcy said and my parents went back to eating.

So much for trying to be good.

  "That's it, I hate all of you, and I hope you rot." I pushed my now empty plate away from me and went upstairs, happy that they had give me the final push that I needed.

I took my bag pack and put in what I thought I'd need. Knife, two large water bottles, flashlight and snacks, three of my favourite books, and of course, my devices. I'd never done this before, so I didn't know what else to do.

And then I walked out the front door.

  "Where are you going, honey?" Mom asked me.

  "Marcy invited me to a party hosted by her and her boyfriend, and I'm going to see if I can make any friends of my own." I said and looked back. Mom wasn't there.

She had only asked for the sake of asking? I looked at Marcy one last time to see her smirking. She would do great as the villain in a movie. In fact, she was already the villain in my life!

  "Good luck!" She said in a sing song voice. "You'd need a lot of that."

  "You'd be unpleasantly surprised, dear sister." I sneered at her and put my middle finger on display. She returned the gesture.

I was unpleasantly surprised when I felt the drizzle. There had been no signs that it was going to rain, and I couldn't have gone very far. I hoped.

It was almost nightfall and I wondered if I would be able to find my way back to the house in time, and maybe embark on this journey another day.

I looked at the stretch of giant trees and shrubs and shook my head. It wasn't worth it, I was already lost.

But I knew that walking straight ahead would take me to a different pack. Hopefully, I'd find shelter there and move on tomorrow.

The drizzling had stopped, but I was still exposed in an unknown place. And it was already somewhat dark.

I had already given up hope on the idea of getting to another pack by now. I started to shed my clothes. If I could go to sleep in wolf form, some animals would not bother attacking me, and that would give me a sense of security.

SNAP!

The only reason I didn't take off running was that I was almost naked, and the idea of being seen by someone while running that way was too embarrassing.

Like i said, cowardly and vain. I see why everyone is ashamed of me now.

I start to put my clothes back on when I hear another snap, and rustling.

  "Please, just be a little rabbit. Please." I pleaded, wondering who I was fooling. The gentle thumping of paws and the feeling of predator eyes on me could not belong to any kind of rabbit.

I got my flashlight out and wore my backpack, ready to run. That's when I saw them.

Three large wolves, closing in on me. Teeth bared. With my good luck, it started to rain.

Note the sarcasm.

  "Are you werewolves, or just regular wolves?" I knew that fear was oozing out of me in waves. Heck, they could probably even taste my fear now.

They responded with angry grunts.

  "Please don't hurt me. I taste terrible." I bent down to pick a pebble, and I threw it at one of them.

I shouldn't have done that. Because, immediately they ran towards me and one grabbed my flashlight, nearly biting my hand off.

I was on the ground, swinging blindly with my backpack when a flashlight came on.

  "Please, help me!" I screamed. I couldn't die this way, especially not after everything Marcy had done to me. I had people to prove wrong.

One of the wolves bit my thigh through my jeans so hard that I couldn't feel my left leg anymore. They ran towards the bearer of the light.

The world was closing in on me but I struggled to stay awake. I heard four loud gunshots and I saw the outline of a man hovering over me.

He grunted.

  "It's always these stupid people walking by themselves at night." He lifted me up, and everything faded to black.

-

I woke up on a bed, tucked in. Everywhere smelled like balm. Not the soothing kind, the one that could hurt your eyes without you even touching it.

  "You are conscious, good." A man said. I hadn't noticed him standing so close to the bed before.

  "Marion!" He yelled, causing me to wince.

  "What happened to me?" I pulled the blanket down to see my body clad in my underwear, and I was heavily bandaged.

I covered myself back immediately, wondering if he was the one who had done it.

A plump woman appeared by his side and turned to look at me.

  "Shes awake, sir!" She fussed over me, checking my temperature and my eyes.

Everything came back to me. Eke, my family, the wolves.

  "You saved me?" I asked the man.

  "In the nick of time. You could have died out there. Why were you walking around anyway?" He asked.

  "I left somewhere."

  "Wherever you left is better than here. This place is dangerous for people." He said.

  "You're here." I retorted.

  "I'm special. I can be here. Are you hungry?" He asked.

  "I'd like something to eat, please." On cue, my stomach rumbled. The plump woman left.

I looked under my blanket. I didn't know that the damage was this much.

  "Yes. A part of your thigh was scraped off, and you have deep injuries on your arm and shoulder." He said.

  "Thank you."

I looked at him wondering if he was also a were, or a human. He looked like he was seizing me up too.

  "After your recovery, you can leave. You're in no condition to move after what you went through. Marion will bring something for you to eat."

  "Thank you." I said again, feeling silly for being unable to say more.

  "Always happy to help a sister." He said and walked away.

The plump woman I had seen earlier, Marion came in soon after he left.

  "Poor thing." She said, helping me sit up. I noticed her strange way of speaking and asked her about it.

  "I am French. My father wanted a son and so he named me Marion instead of Marionette. And everyone thinks I'm a man until they see me!" She complained.

  "I didn't think so." I told her.

She shook her head. "It is because you don't know it. Do you like bread?"

I nodded. "Yes, thank you. Can I ask some questions?"

  "Okay." She nodded, staring at me.

  "Where are we?"

  "You're in my master's house. Don't be afraid." She rubbed an aching spot on my face gently.

  "But where is your master's house?" I asked her, causing her to look at me incredulously.

  "I already told you. It's here!" She sighed. "No more questions now. Eat your food and I prepare your bath water so you can take your medicine."

I nodded and she disappeared into a corner in the room, and I was stuck wondering what I'd do now that my mission had been altered.

  "This room belonged to my sister." The voice of the man who had saved me startled me.

  "Oh." I said. He said belonged. Was she dead?

  "Yes. So I'd have to move you to a different room later today. Don't touch anything, just come outside with your bag after you're done with your bath." He said and walked away.

I looked at where he had pointed to. It felt comforting to know that he brought my bag too. I was going to have to thank him for that too.

   "You have finished your food?" Marion called out from the bathroom and I started to eat up before she would come in and possibly get offended.