Chapter 2 - Runaway Bride

Linnea POV

I didn’t like the odds and my heart sank.

Whatever was left of our army looked to my father for orders.

My middle-aged father seemed to age twenty years in an instant as the shock seemed to be hitting him hard.

“If we surrender, can you guarantee everyone's safety?” He said with a hoarse voice. “Including Linnea, who is now your wife?”

“Dad no!” I cried. “Don’t give in to him!”

Alpha Harald smirked.

“I have the upper hand now, why should I negotiate with you?” He sneered. “And do you think I’d spare this little beauty?”

“Then I have no other choice.”

A quick nod from my father, and everything turned to chaos.

The small part of the people still loyal to us were quickly gunned down, the sound of the bullets making my ears hurt.

I winced at the sound and covered my head to protect myself when I felt a bullet zoom past me, hitting a chair next to me.

When I saw my father being attacked by four at the same time, I lifted the dress and started running to him, but I felt someone tug at my arm.

I turned around and saw Wanda pulling me away.

“Come with me.” She whispered.

“But dad…” I protested.

Wanda turned around and looked at me.

“I’m sorry, Linnea.” She said. “But I need to get you out of here before they get to you.”

I still struggled against her grip.

“I can’t leave them.” I whimpered.

Wanda took both my hands in hers and looked at me sharply.

“You can and you will.” She said sternly. “Who will avenge them if you’re dead yourself? Who will save this pack from Alpha Harald if you are not around to do it.”

Before I could reply, she turned around and dragged me with her.

This time, I didn’t stop her.

Wanda pulled me into the chapel’s confessional and opened a trap door.

We got inside and closed it before running through the tunnels underneath the church.

The smell of damp mud made me scrunch my face up as we ran through the darkness. A streak of light grew closer and I sighed a breath of relief when we reached the end of the tunnels and emerged in the forest on the west side of the pack territory.

Wanda frowned at my wedding dress and started to take off her clothes.

“You stick out too much. You need to blend in.” She said as she handed me her shirt. “You need to put these on and go to the city of Malmö. It’s not too far from here and they won’t find you there.”

“No.” I said. “We go together! I’m not leaving you here.”

Wanda cupped my face.

“I can’t go princess.” She smiled softly at me. “I need to cover your tracks. If I use the dress, I can make it look like you’ve died.”

When I had finished changing, Wanda held up a large piece of charcoal.

“We need to do something about that hair.” She muttered.

I let out my hair and Wanda rubbed the charcoal on it to make it look darker. When she was finished, I put my hair up in a bun with a scrunchie that she gave me.

“Promise me that you’ll be okay.” I cried and hugged Wanda tightly.

“I promise.” She whispered. “Now go, princess. Survive. May the Goddess be with you.”

With that, she shifted into a small brown wolf and ran towards the packhouse, leaving me in the forest by myself.

I started running through the forest, not knowing that I was running towards a new danger I never could have seen coming,

I ran until I crossed the pack border and continued until I found myself in the Malmö suburbs.

Stoppning at the sidewalk to catch my breath, I glanced around to make sure no one was watching me.

I plucked out some twigs from my hair and dusted off some of the mud from the jeans I was wearing.

It took another hour of walking until I reached the bustling parts of downtown.

The city was home not only to werewolves, but several other supernatural creatures. Vampires, witches and faes were very common. The only times I went to Malmö was to visit the Emporia shopping center, but other than that, I didn’t really know my way around.

For the rest of the day, I wandered about the city, unsure what to do next. Somehow I hoped an opportunity would just magically show up in front of me.

Glancing at the sky, I saw that it had started to get dark.

I saw a group of guys walking together further down the sidewalk. They were carrying a pizza box with them. The smell made my mouth water. I hadn’t eaten all day and my breakfast had been very light since I was too nervous to actually eat anything.

Now I cursed myself for not eating. In my defense, I didn’t think that my wedding would turn into a massacre and that I would be starving on the streets.

Fortunately for me, I saw the guys toss the pizza box in front of an apartment building and I quickly walked past them. When they had disappeared out of sight, I quickly picked up the box and said a small prayer before looking inside.

There were two slices left and I did my best to fight the urge to gobble them down in one go.

I strolled down the street, nibbling on one of the slices until I spotted an alley.

Maybe I could sit there and eat by myself.

The first day on the run, and I was already tired of looking over my shoulder.

I just wanted to hide somewhere where I could relax.

When I walked into the alley, I quickly found it blocked by two men. They were both wearing black sleeveless vests. One of them had purple combed hair, showing off a row of earrings and studs in his right ear. I nearly bumped into him trying to get past them.

I quickly excused myself.

“Aren’t you a polite one?” He sneered.

I turned around to walk away, but found the other one blocking my way. He was dressed in the exact same way, but with short, blonde hair.

“Go away.” I snarled.

“This little cutie has a big temper, doesn’t she?” Another man with a bald head and a scar on most of the right part of his face said, startling me. “Let’s help you cure your bad temper.”

When they approached me, I threw the pizza box at them.

“Don’t come any closer! I’m warning you.”

I tried to keep calm, but fear crept into my confident facade and made my voice come out as a squeak.

“Warning? By what? Your super pizza box?” The purple haired man sneered.

I backed away and gasped when my back pressed against the cold wall. I was trapped with the three men closing in on me.

Just when I was thinking about whether to shift and bite off one of the arteries or kick someone in the balls, a man wearing a striped suit and single-frame glasses suddenly appeared.

"Stop it!”

All three of them miraculously froze in place.