Chapter 5 Escape Night

That night, I climbed to the top of the falls to clear my head. I want to bathe in the light of the moon as if I was receiving energy from it the same way humans get theirs from the sun.

They say that creatures of the night like lycans are born as creations of the moon, which is why we are more powerful whenever the moon is full. Humans would hide during those nights and hope that the lycans would not appear.

I take a deep breath for the last time as I gather my thoughts before I proceed with my plan. The Alpha expects me to give him my answer when the sun rises, which means that I no longer have any time to spare. I must deal with this right now.

It stinks that I have to go against the alpha’s wishes, but it is not like I am not doing this for the sake of the pack. If things go as planned, maybe the alpha will forgive me. At least that’s what I hope will happen.

I start to turn back, following the path that the alpha and I took earlier to head for the dungeon where they kept Holly locked up. I make sure that I am light on my feet because I do not want the other lycans to find me.

Since it is the full moon today, most of the lycans are probably running up the mountain for some exercise and hunting. It’s not the best night for me to be sneaking around, but it’s not like I have any other choice.

I sniff the air, checking if there are any lycans in the area. Unfortunately, there are about two of them. I am confident that I can take them, but I was hoping that I would not have to confront anyone around this time.

I peek behind the trees to check who the lycans guarding the little girl are around this time. I was going to go for the waiting game until I smelt something. 

Blood. It’s not lycan blood, I am sure of it. This is the blood of a human. 

But wait, isn’t there only one human here at the moment? Come to think of it, the place seems deserted and the smell is coming from the forest. There’s a scream coming from the direction of the forest that snaps me out of my thoughts.

“Holly!” With a gasp, I abandon my reluctance and run in the direction the scream came from. Never before have I been able to run as fast as I am right now. Once I get there, I see Holly lying on her side with a bloody head. She looks like she is fading in and out of consciousness.

One of the lycans has  bloodied claws while the other is nudging Holly with his foot, like he is trying to see if she is still alive.

The one with the bloodied fist is the first one to notice me. He looks back at me with a surprised expression.

“Beta, what are you doing here?” There’s no ounce of respect coming from his tone, as I would have expected.

My gaze goes to Holly and then to the lycan’s fist. I switch my attention to his face. “What do you think you are doing, Elduran?” I am not able to hide the malice in my voice when I come to address him. “Explain the situation.” I added when the two seemed to hesitate on answering my question. 

“We found the little girl trying to escape. We tried to bring her back, but she was resisting us. There was no other choice but to knock her out.”

“No other choice?” I turn to him, my eyes narrowed so dangerously that even they were flinching out of fear. “That’s a kid that you just knocked out.”

“Does it matter? She’s just a human!”

“Yes, she is just a human, but she is also a kid.” I breathed out. I don’t even know why I am explaining to them when Holly’s life is in danger. I should get this over with quickly. I don’t know how severe her injuries might be. “There’s a favor that I need you two to do for me.”

I hear them sigh. One of them even rolled their eyes at me. “What now, beta? Just say it already. It’s not like we can disobey you anyway.”

“Good. You won’t mind falling asleep for me, would you?” The two lycans get confused and tilt their heads to the side. They are momentarily paralyzed until I start to go after Elduran, hitting the side of his head with enough force to immediately make him unconscious. The other one, Valdry, looks stunned. He meets my gaze frightfully and immediately morphs. He knows that he has no chance against me in this match, so he did the only thing that he could do given the little amount of time that he has. 

He howls, signaling the others for help. Valdry barely manages to finish when I strike him in the same spot as where I hit Elduran, knocking the other lycan unconscious as well.

I turn to the kid next and see her still lying motionlessly on the floor. I immediately rush to her, checking for any head injury that could be fatal. I breathe out a sigh of relief when I see that the blood just comes from a scratch on her face. Even so, it is still very fatal if it gets any infection. I have to get her somewhere safe first before I worry about cleaning up her injury.

“Stop right there, love.” I freeze on the spot. Damn it. Out of all the lycans that I could encounter right now, it had to be him.

“Max.” My eyes adjust to the dark, and I can see Maxwell emerging from the shadows. He walks over with his arms crossed over his chest while assessing the situation in front of him.

Max just raises his eyebrow at the situation, as if he sees something that’s out of place but does not see it as urgent. He just raised his head until he’s looking at me. “Before you touch the person, would you mind telling me what you are doing?”

I keep my distance from Holly while I face off with Max. “Nothing that you should be worried about.”

He grins. “Shouldn’t I be? It seems like you are betraying the pack.” As of the moment, Max is now right before me, and he is close enough that he’s able to touch and play with my hair. “Belle, as the next Alpha in line, what do you think I should do to a traitor?” His hand glides until his hand is around my neck.

The spell of being the pack’s beta was starting to take its toll on me. I cannot harm anyone with the blood of the Alpha, so even if I want to save Holly, it is going to be useless if I cannot fight him. 

“It’s…not what you think. I was just…” I pause. My tongue is getting tied out of guilt and fear. I feel like I no longer know how to lie, and I just keep on stuttering. “...I just…”

My body shivers when Max leans down to place his nose on my neck. “Yes, Belle? Is there something that you need to say?”

“This is all a misunderstanding! The…The child is someone important to humans. With her help, I can get in and destroy…”

“Yes…?”

“...destroy them from the inside.” I whisper in shame. “I look like them when I don’t shift. I can do it.”

“Is that right?” Max steps back to tilt my head up so I’m looking at him. “Is that really your plan?”

It’s not my main plan, but it is my backup plan in case my negotiation fails. Still, it is not a lie, which makes it easier for me to nod my head. 

“Yes. I’ll do anything for the pack.” Finally, my voice sounds confident, which I am thankful for because it only helps to convince Max that I am telling the truth.

Max grins proudly. “What a good girl. You’re making me fall for you even more.” He tucks my hair behind one ear and inches back. “Here. You are going to need this.” He hands me a small pot of medicine. “This will help to clean the child’s wounds.” He places it in my hands with a laugh. “I always carry it with me in case a damsel needs saving. Sadly, it’s not for the damsel that I was hoping for. Get her out of here. I’ll explain the rest to my father.” His smile fades when he lay his eyes on the child. 

I felt so terrified for Holly that I immediately headed over to her and carried her in my arms. Just as I am about to leave, Max calls for me.

“Belle,” I freeze on the spot and turn to Max. He now has an ice cold expression on his face when he regards me. “Don’t even think about doing something else like betraying us. You might be temporarily out of danger, but your father is still in the pack. If you know what I mean.” I have to fight myself not to flinch when I see him giving off a menacing smile. All I could do at that moment was to give him a respectful bow.

“Yes, young lord.” I say before running off and rushing to the woods. For mine and Holly’s sake, I just hope that I have put enough distance between us and Max and he cannot hear the terrified beating of my heart.