Chapter 3 – Escaping

ZARA

Today is like every other day. Wake up cooking and cleaning. Thank god Samson let me be today, and there was no cleaning in the Master and Mistresses room. So after washing dishes after lunch, I was back in my room until I needed to cook dinner.

I get nervous when I hear the lock turn, and it’s not time to cook yet. When the door opens, it is not Samson but another man I have never seen before. He looks around, and a flash of anger comes and goes in his eyes so fast that I am not sure it was there.

“Zara, it really is you.” The man says, surprising me by saying my name. But I know better than to look up or answer.

“My little girl. Thank goodness you are alive.” He continues, but I still don’t react.

The man sinks down on his knees in front of me, slowly reaches out, and caresses my cheek. I slowly raise my head, looking into the man’s blue eyes. He seems strong even though he also looks old and somehow friendly. He takes my hand and looks at the bracelet I wear. I have worn this for as long as I can remember. Masters witch have tried to take it off, but they failed.

“Zara, I am your grandpa. Your parents and brothers have searched for you for a very long time.” He tells me, but I shake my head.

“They gave me away and didn’t want me,” I whisper.

“No, Zara, they didn’t. You were kidnapped when you were a little girl. And everyone misses you.” He told me, and I looked at him.

“Why?” I ask him.

“Because you are special, Zara. Blessed by our moon-goddess. Your parents tried to protect you, but they were betrayed.” He tells me, and even though I try, I see no lie in his eyes, and something is making me feel like I know him and that he won’t hurt me.

“I will get you out and get you back home to our family.” He says.

“How. I am always guarded. How did you even get in here?” I ask him expecting Samson to come rushing in at any minute.

“I took care of your guard. I am your guard tonight. I will need to take you down to cook dinner. When you do, slip this into their food, it will make them sleepy.” He hands me a little vial with some powder.

“When they are asleep, I will get you out of here. And then we run. We have a long way back to our home. And I know you won’t get your wolf before tomorrow night, but we need to get out before that.” I am not sure what to do or say. But if this man can free me, I want to go with him. And as he said, I will get my wolf tomorrow night. After that, I can run away from the man if my wolf doesn’t like him.

“Okay.” I nod my head.

“Don’t worry, my little princess. We will get out of here. When we get close enough to home, I will mindlink your daddy. And he will come help bring you home.” He says, and I nod again.

“For now, you need to go cook dinner.” I nod, and we stand up.

He follows me down to the kitchen, and I begin to make the stew I am to make today—perfect food to put in the powder the man gave me. When the food is cooked, two other wolves come as usual to take it to the master and Mistress. I begin cleaning and wait for the dishes to return so I can clean them. When they come back, I see they ate it all up, and I hurry to clean it. When I am done, I softly knock on the door, and the man opens. We walk back down the hall where my room is. He let me in and told me he would be back soon.

-

The door opens, and the soft light from the hall floods into my room. The man is back, carrying a backpack.

“Zara, are you ready.” He whispers. I nod my head. He hands me the backpack.

“You need to carry this. When we get out, I will shift to my wolf, and you will sit on his back, and then we will run away. Okay?” he asks. I nod.

He looks outside the door. He then motioned for me to follow him. I take on the backpack and go to follow him. He led me down the halls until we were in a room where he opened a big window.

“We will get out here. It is close to the forest. And you won’t have to run yourself too far.”

“Okay.”

He jumps out before helping me out. I have not been outside for a year. Usually, I am only outside when Ziva takes me.

The man motioned me to follow him again, and we hurried over to the trees and walked deep into the forest. Suddenly two wolves come running, snarling and showing their teeth. I got scared and let out a small scream.

But the man isn’t scared and attacks them before I know it, he is a big gray wolf, and the two other wolves lay dead on the ground. The gray wolf crawls closer to me, not wanting to scare me. I gently scratch it behind its ear. It looks at me and points with its snout to its back, and I know it wants me to get up.

I carefully sit up on the wolf’s back, and he stands up. He whimpers a little as if asking if I am okay. When I nod my head, it starts running away from the master and mistress.