Escaping

Chapter two: Escaping

The green velvet dress was tight against my skin, pressing into the welts from the whip.

I winced as I tugged at the neckline, trying to ease the pressure. The dress was supposed to symbolize purity—ha! What a joke.

Every inch of it clung to me like some reminder of the cage I was trapped in. The velvet brushed against my back, initiating tiny sparks of pain as I moved.

My hair was twisted up into a neat bun, not a single strand out of place. It was supposed to be perfect for the ceremony.

I stood in front of the mirror, staring at my reflection—a girl dressed up like a doll, pretty but hollow.

I hated every part of it.

'We look ridiculous,' Seven growled inside my head. 'This dress...this whole thing…it's disgusting.'

I agreed.

The dark green velvet made me feel like a prisoner wrapped in false honor. I didn't recognize the person in the mirror.

She looked small, fragile. Nothing like an alpha's daughter, nothing like someone who once dreamed of taking over.

"I have to get out of here," I muttered, feeling the tightness in my chest grow unbearable.

My heart raced at the thought of running, of escaping this cursed territory.

'Good luck with that,' Seven huffed. 'They're watching every move you make. You know they’ll catch us if we try.'

I flinched at the truth of her words. The guards were everywhere, lurking in the shadows, with their sharp eyes, always on me. Augustin’s orders, no doubt.

I was the prize for his son, and he wouldn’t let me slip away so easily.

But I couldn’t stay.

Not with Darius looming over me, not with the ceremony creeping closer, suffocating me with each passing minute.

‘I’d rather die than be tied to him,’ Seven growled again, the anger boiling just below the surface, like a fierce volcano waiting to erupt.

She was always ready for a fight, even when we both knew we had no strength left.

"Maybe..." I hesitated, biting my lip as I looked at the window. The sky was still blue, like the river next to our castle. "Maybe we could leave tonight, during the ceremony. They’ll be too focused on their rituals to notice."

Seven let out a low snarl of approval. 'Now you’re talking! When the others are distracted, we bolt.'

The thought of escaping gave me a brief hope. I could almost feel the cool air of the forest on my skin, the sound of the wind in the trees, the ground solid beneath my feet. Seven could run—she could outrun them, couldn’t she?

But then doubt slipped in, cold and unwelcome. Where would we go? Augustin’s reach was vast. Even if we managed to slip away, there was nowhere to hide.

‘Better to die fighting than live as his pet,’ Seven reminded me.

I took a deep breath, feeling my hands tremble.

Seven was right. I couldn't stay, no matter the cost. If I didn’t try, Darius would win. He would take me as his mate, claim me as his possession. The thought of it made bile rise in my throat.

My wolf stirred restlessly inside me, her energy was low but determined. 'Let me out tonight, Eris. I'll handle them.'

"I don’t know if we’re strong enough," I whispered, the weight of exhaustion started settling in.

The beatings, the constant surveillance—it had worn me down. My body ached, and my mind was a tangled mess of fear and defiance.

‘We’ll find a way,’ Seven insisted. 'We always do.'

“Hunter would smell you immediately, and Darius would catch us in no seconds.”

I looked at the door, imagining the guards standing just beyond it. I could hear their footsteps, down the hallway.

But tonight, during the ceremony, maybe they would slip up. Maybe they wouldn’t expect me to act.

"I’ll try," I said softly, more to myself than to Seven. The idea of leaving this place, of never seeing Darius again, gave me the smallest amount of strength.

‘That’s my girl,’ Seven purred.

The door creaked open, and my heart jumped into my throat.

One of the maids walked in, her eyes downcast, holding a tray of food. She placed it on the table without a word. I noticed her shaking hands.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked away, afraid she might see the desperate look in my eyes. Afraid she might notice that tonight, I was planning something reckless.

After she left, I stood by the window, staring at the thick woods beyond the stone walls of the pack’s territory. The trees beckoned to me, as if they were promising me freedom, if only I was brave enough to take it right now.

"Tonight," I whispered. "We make our move."

Seven’s low growl of approval vibrated through me, giving me the courage I needed.

*

The night had come.

The moon hung high in the sky, half-hidden behind thick clouds, casting a pale light over the castle.

The air was cool, heavy with the scent of pine and earth.

It was eerily quiet now—the kind of quiet that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

Everyone was down by the south side of the woods for the ceremony, leaving the castle almost empty.

The weight of their absence was in the stillness of the halls.

I moved slowly, my breath quickening with each careful step. The world around me felt charged, and the pounding of my heart filled the silence.

The dark green velvet dress clung to my skin, dragging against the floor. I hated how loud it seemed in the silence, every rustle making me flinch and turn back to see if anyone was following us.

I couldn’t afford to be heard. Not now. Not when escape was so close.

The castle felt like a tomb.

Stone walls stretched endlessly on either side of me, cold and unforgiving.

Every room I passed was empty, abandoned for the night’s festivities. The long shadows stretched across the floor, moving softly with the light, but no one was here to see them.

No one to stop me. Yet.

‘Faster!’ Seven urged with a sharp tone in my mind.

I quickened my pace, slipping down a narrow corridor that led to the back entrance.

My breath came fast and shallow, nerves tightening my chest.

The farther I went, the darker it became.

My pulse thrummed in my ears, loud enough to drown out everything else.

The south woods were alive with noise—distant howls and the crackling of fires reaching up toward the sky.

I could almost hear the faint murmur of voices from the gathering, but I needed to go the other way, to the north woods where shadows were thick and deep.

That’s where safety was. I had to get to the forest, away from the castle, away from Darius.

I reached the back door. It was old and heavy, the wood worn smooth from years of use. My hand trembled as I pushed it open.

The night air hit me like a slap, cold and sharp, filling my lungs with something fresher than the suffocating stone of the castle.

I stepped out onto the dirt path, my shoes sinking slightly into the earth.

The world outside felt vast, endless, and for a moment, it swallowed me whole. Everything smelled of damp leaves, pine, and the distant smoke from the ceremony fires.

The forest loomed ahead, it was dark. I glanced over my shoulder at the castle one last time, my heart clenching.

No one had followed. Not yet. But I knew it wouldn’t take long for them to realize I was missing.

“Now,” I whispered to Seven with a voice barely like a breath.

Without hesitation, I let her take over.

The change happened immediately, my bones shifting and stretching, my skin melting into fur. A sharp crack of pain shot through me, but I welcomed it.

It was better than the pain Darius gave me. My human form fell away, and in its place stood Seven, strong and sure-footed.

The night grew sharper in my wolf form.

Every sound, every scent, every shift in the wind became clearer.

My paws hit the earth, and I took off, the forest blurring as I sprinted toward the trees.

The air whipped through my fur, cool and refreshing. I could hear my own breathing now, heavy and fast, as my heart thundered in my chest.

‘Eris, we’re being followed!’

“What? Who?!”

‘Hunter!’

“We need to move faster, Seven, faster! How did he realize so fast?”

I was speeding up, and the castle fell away behind us, swallowed by the thick trees.

The wind roared in my ears, drowning out all other sounds as she raced forward.

‘Faster!’ Seven was pushing harder. We had to put as much distance between us and him as much as possible.

The trees flew past in a blur. I felt the earth beneath me, solid and grounding. The shadows wrapped around us, but Seven knew the way with her sharp instincts.

‘We, we’re leaving our territory!’

“Hurry up! We can’t let him catch us!”

Then, out of nowhere, I felt it—a presence.

Something fast, too fast, closing in.

Before I could react, before I could even process what was happening, I collided with something solid. The force of it knocked me off my feet, my body tumbling through the air before slamming into the ground.

The wind was knocked out of me, and everything spun for a moment. My mind went blank with shock, the world spinned out of control.

I struggled to get up, my legs wobbling beneath me, and blinked against the darkness, trying to see what I had hit.

But all I could make out was a shadow—a tall body standing above me. And then, everything went still.

“Awooo!” I heard Hunter’s howl in the distance, and another one, “awwooo!”

The wind suddenly stopped, goosebumps pricked my skin.

I looked back, knowing he was near but couldn’t come after me. The rules were clear—no one crossed into another kingdom’s land.

“Well, and who you might be?” He said in a low and intimidating tone.

I couldn’t breathe.