The Guardian's Mate

Chapter Five: Caught Again

Sophia Pov

The moment I jumped, I regretted it. Pain shot through my right leg the instant I hit the ground.

A cry escaped my lips as I collapsed onto the grass.

For several seconds, I couldn't breathe. The impact rattled through my entire body.

My ankle twisted beneath me, and tears stung my eyes. Stupid.

The drop had been much higher than it looked from the window. I rolled onto my back and stared up at the mansion looming above me. The room I had escaped from was now just a dark rectangle against the side of the building.

Part of me expected alarms to start blaring.

I expected lights to turn on. I expected wolves to come running.bNothing happened. The estate remained silent.

Slowly, I pushed myself into a sitting position. My ankle throbbed painfully. It wasn't broken. At least, I didn't think it was.

But it definitely wasn't happy.bI gritted my teeth and stood. The world tilted slightly. I waited for the dizziness to pass.

Then I started limping away from the mansion. Every step hurt. But pain was nothing new. Pain was familiar.bPain was manageable.bBeing trapped wasn't.

The night air cooled my skin as I made my way across the property. My heart pounded with every step. Any second now.

Someone would notice. Someone would stop me. Someone would drag me back.

That was how it always happened. I escaped. They found me. I escaped. They caught me. Over and over again. The cycle never ended.

As I moved farther from the mansion, something began to bother me.bThe silence. It felt wrong. At Damien's estate, security was everywhere. Guards patrolled the grounds. Wolves monitored the gates.

Someone was always watching. Always.

Even going outside required permission.

The first time I tried sneaking away, three wolves caught me before I reached the property line.

The second time, Damien had installed additional patrols.

The third time… I squeezed my eyes shut. I didn't want to remember the third time.

A shiver ran through me. I forced myself to focus on the present. On escaping. On surviving.

Still, the silence continued. No guards appeared. No wolves emerged from the shadows. No alarms sounded.

The farther I walked, the more confused I became. How could a werewolf estate have no security? It didn't make sense.

Unless Ethan truly wasn't afraid of people leaving. The thought irritated me. My mind kept trying to find reasons to trust him. I refused. Trust was dangerous. Trust was how I ended up trapped for two years.

I reached a tree line near the edge of the property and paused. The mansion was now farther away. Moonlight illuminated the grounds. Everything looked peaceful.

Normal. Safe.bA bitter laugh escaped me.

Appearances meant nothing.

I knew that better than anyone. Eventually, I spotted the front gate. Hope surged through me. It wasn't heavily guarded. In fact, it wasn't guarded at all. I frowned. That couldn't be right. I approached carefully. Still nothing. No guards. No wolves. No patrols. Just a large iron gate standing between me and freedom.

For a long moment, I simply stared.

It felt like a trap. Everything about it felt wrong. My instincts screamed at me to be cautious. But my desire for freedom screamed louder.

I reached for the gate. My hand trembled slightly. Then I pushed. To my complete shock, it opened. Just like that. No security code. No guards. No one stopping me. The gate simply opened. I froze. Waiting. Listening. Nothing happened.

The realization hit me slowly. Ethan hadn't locked me in. The gate wasn't there to keep people trapped. It was there to keep unwanted visitors out.

The difference should have comforted me.

Instead, it made me feel guilty. I pushed the thought away. This wasn't the time.

Freedom stood on the other side of the gate.

I wasn't turning back now. Taking a deep breath, I stepped through. Outside. Actually outside. Not a courtyard. Not a fenced section of property. Not a supervised area. Outside.

A strange feeling settled in my chest. Relief. Disbelief. Fear. All tangled together.

For the first time in years, nobody was controlling where I went. Nobody was watching. Nobody was ordering me around.nI was free. At least for now.

I began limping down the road. The darkness stretched endlessly ahead. I had no destination. No plan. No money. No friends I could safely contact. Nothing. But I was moving. And somehow that felt like enough. The night remained quiet.

The only sounds were my uneven footsteps and the occasional rustling of leaves.nMinutes passed. Then more. My injured ankle continued protesting every step.bSweat beaded along my forehead despite the cool air. Exhaustion weighed heavily on my body. I had barely eaten. Barely slept. Barely recovered from the chase through the forest. Yet I kept going.

Because stopping wasn't an option. Not anymore.

Eventually, headlights appeared in the distance.bMy stomach tightened. A vehicle. Coming this way.

I immediately stepped off the road. Fear clawed at my chest. What if it was Ethan?

What if he had discovered I was gone? What if he came looking for me? The thought should have relieved me. Instead, it filled me with panic. Because whether Ethan was good or bad, I wasn't ready to belong to anyone again.

The vehicle slowed. Then stopped. My pulse hammered. Something felt wrong. Very wrong. The driver's door opened. A familiar figure stepped out.

My blood turned to ice. No. No. No. This couldn't be happening. Not again.

The man standing beneath the moonlight smiled. A smile I knew far too well. A smile that had haunted my nightmares for two years. Damien. My entire body froze.

The fear I had spent hours suppressing came rushing back with brutal force. Several more doors opened. Men emerged from the vehicle. Others stepped from the surrounding trees. Wolves. At least a dozen of them.

They surrounded the road without saying a word. As if they had been waiting. As if they knew exactly where I would be.

Damien slipped his hands into his pockets.

His expression remained calm. Almost amused.

"Hello, sweetheart."

I took a shaky step backward. My injured ankle nearly gave out. His smile widened.

"Did you really think you could run from me?"

Terror squeezed my chest. Suddenly, everything made sense. The party. The escape. The chase. He hadn't stopped looking. Not for a second. It was almost as if he had realized I was gone the moment I disappeared. My breathing became uneven. I slowly lifted my gaze.

Damien stood directly in front of me. His wolves spread out behind him like a wall.

Waiting. Watching. Blocking every possible escape. And for the first time s

ince leaving his estate, I truly understood one horrifying fact. I had never been free at all.