To Be Free

5

It's been a few months since I started living in the forest. I'm not even really sure where I am anymore, but I've been safe all this time, so I can't really complain. I'm sure they haven't given up looking for me, so I make sure to not leave a trace of myself anywhere I set up camp. I won't lie, though I miss hot showers and a comfy bed to lay in at night instead of the hard forest floor. “Do you want to try going back into the city? We may not know where we are, but I'm sure we can find a hotel to stay for a while to take a break from being out here.” Xena says. I contemplate her suggestion as much as I want to and I'm not sure if it'll be safe for us to do so. I mulled over it while cleaning up my campsite.

“Eyes up someone heading this way.” alora states quickly. I finish grabbing the last couple of things and book it up a tree and wait. I try to slow my breathing down and stay as still as possible. I've narrowly avoided a few wolf packs along my journey. They won't act so kindly to a rogue like me and most would rather kill you first, no question. I focused my eyes on the far side of the clearing and saw a man emerge along with a couple of wolves. I take in his wavy black hair and strong jawline. I can't really make out his face since he's turned to the side, but I can tell he's very handsome.

The wolves are sniffing the ground where I was camping. Damn I didn't cover my scent before making my way up this tree. They'll find me in no time.” No they won't. I suppress our scent before you started climbing. If anything, they'll run right past us”, xena told me, which made me relax slightly. Turning my attention back to the clearing, I saw they were joined by a few more wolves, and they were whispering quietly to each other. “Widen the perimeter search someone was here for a while and their scent is still heavy they couldn't have gotten far. Find them and find out what they are doing here "Mr handsome tells the rest.

Shit they're going to be looking for me. I need to get out of here asap, but how are they too close for me to get away unseen? I might have to risk making a run for it, but my bag will definitely slow me down some, especially against these guys. After going through my options, I decided to leave my bag here and come back for it later. I doubt they'll expect me to come back this way, and I'm sure I can outrun them and disappear. Then I'll come back, grab my bag and head the opposite way. I make sure to remove my bag as quietly as possible to not alert them and fasten it to the tree so it doesn't fall out while I'm gone and slowly climb down. Once my foot touches the ground, I quickly crouch behind some bushes and wait for the best opportunity to bolt.

It doesn't seem like they've noticed me yet, so I take some steps back and start putting distance between us. A good head start could make all the difference. SNAP!! I froze realizing I stepped on a twig and everything went quiet for a moment before the sounds of growls made their way to my ears. I take that as my que to haul ass out here, and I take off pushing myself to go faster. I heard the pounding of feet and paws not far behind me and I pushed harder to try and put more distance between us. I'm jumping over fallen branches and changing directions at the last second, but they seem hell-bent on catching me.

Damn, these guys don't give up. I can't seem to lose them. I might have to take them out in order to escape. I let Xena take over while remaining in human form and turn to face them, letting out a viscous growl in warning. They all stop looking at me confused and let out growls of their own, although not as powerful as mine.

“ I'm Alpha Nick, who are you and why are you trespassing on my land?” asked Mr handsome as he made his way into the clearing. “I wasn't aware I was trespassing, but if you let me collect my things I'll be on my way. I was just camping for the night and planning to leave when you all showed up, and I would rather not have to kick all your asses, so if you don't mind leaving me alone, I'll be gone before you know it.” all the men looked at each other and then burst out laughing even the ones still in their wolf forms let out wolfish laughs. I gave them an irritated look and turned to leave. “ Woah woah woah I haven't dismissed you yet little girl. I still have more questions" says the alpha, and it's my turn to laugh. “First off, I'm not a little girl, and second, I have no intention of answering anything else. I haven't done anything to you or anyone in your pack and, like I said, I'm just passing through and believe me when I say our paths will never cross again if i can help it”, I responded.

Alpha Nick just looked at me amused, but I don't think the rest of them liked my attitude towards him and started to approach me growling slowly. I drop into my first fight stance and eye up my opponents looking for any weaknesses. I can take these wolves no problem, but their alpha might be a problem, so I'll keep him in my sights. “I'll lend you my strength so you can knock them out, but I don't think we should reveal ourselves too much.” Lara tells me. I keep scanning my opponents, but it's clear that no one is going to make the first move, so I decide to charge them head on. I go to the first wolf who's closest to me, catching him by surprise, which gives me the opportunity to throw a hard right hook at his head that sends him flying into the trees behind, and he slumps to the ground not moving.

I turn as the other wolves descend on me and do my best to avoid them while dealing blows to their abdomens and sides. I move back to create distance between us since I know they aren't out of the fight yet, but they are wounded enough and having trouble standing. I notice the alpha is just watching and not helping them, which I find odd, but I don't have time to dissect that right now. Once back on their feet, they charged towards me this time and I ran towards the one in front and flipped over him and landed a kick on the head of the one behind him. He skids forward a bit and lay motionless on the ground.

“I think we should stop now. I don't want to keep hurting you, but I will keep going if i need to.'' I told them out loud, causing the last remaining wolf to look towards his alpha. I looked at him as well and saw him approach me. I kept away to maintain our distance as I was unsure what he would do once he was close enough to grab me. “Stay away from me!” I yelled towards him and he stopped walking. “Why don't you smell like a wolf?” he asked. His question caught me off guard, but then I remember I masked my scent so they couldn't sniff me out. “That's none of your business and, honestly, I'm bored with this whole situation, so are you letting me go or are we going to keep fighting?” I responded. “ Well you just knocked out two of my top warriors and injured a third. I'm not very inclined to let you leave.” He says. “ That's your own fault. I did warn you and none of you listened. I only did what I had to do. Had you backed off like I said, I would be long gone from here." I retorted. “We don't let trespassers go without interrogating them and checking our facts, so how about you just come along with us and cooperate and if everything checks out we will send you on our way” he suggests. I snorted in response,” why would I go with you when your pack members attacked me? Besides, I haven't done anything for you to want to interrogate me for and there aren't any facts to check, so let's just skip all that and get to the part where you let me go on my way.”

I have to get my bag and get out of here, but how? They aren't going to let me go willingly and as much as, I don't want to reveal the rest of my abilities, I might have to. “ Let me take over. I can outrun these guys and get our bag and be gone in no time. There's no way they'll be able to chase us out of their territory without running into another pack land.'' Kara says. I throw them a smirk and let Kara have full control as we shift. Shocked wouldn't even begin to cover the look on their faces and I took that moment to make my move and leap over them, running back towards my bag. I hear them chasing after me, but I can tell they're having trouble keeping up, and I hear their footsteps fading away. I saw the tree I stashed my bag in and took a running jump towards it, grabbing it on the way and landing in the clearing I was camped in. I secured my bag on my back and took off towards the city. I was debating on it before but now it might be safer to hide out there while I figure out what to do next.

It takes about an hour to reach the edge of the forest and I shift back to my human form and make my way towards the towering buildings in the distance. I stick close to the treeline in case I need to hide quickly, but so far my walk towards the city is boring and uneventful. As I get near the city, I pull up my hood and walk towards the nearest motel. It looks run down like no one has done any outside maintenance on it. Places like this make it easy to blend in. They don't usually care for names and faces, as long as the money is good you can do pretty much anything.

I took a look around as I walked to the receptionist's desk where a gray-haired man sat reading a book. “One room please” I told him. “$150 for the week” he replied without looking at me, his voice sounding like he'd smoked his entire life. I put the money on the counter, and he handed me a room key all the while still not looking up from his book. “Room 305 the stairs to the left check-out is at 11 next Monday unless you extend it” he said.

“Thank you” I responded and grabbed the key and made my way up the stairs to my room. “ This place sure could use a coat of paint or some plants or a wrecking ball” Xena joked and I chuckled lightly in response. I make it the door and put the key in to unlock it and walked in locking it behind me and put the chain on the door. I looked around at the old dresser, and it looked like it could use some good sanding and staining. There's a full-sized bed by the window and a small table and chair in the corner of the room that look like they've seen better days.

“Lets move the bed away from the window and keep the curtains closed, and then we can enjoy the first hot shower we've had in months.'' Kara says excitedly. I nod my head and smile and get to moving things around. I take a quick peek out the window while being hidden enough just to take a look at my surroundings. There's pizza and Chinese restaurants across the street. I remember seeing menus for them on the nightstand by the phone. I look over the menu as my stomach is growling and decide to order a large pepperoni pizza and a large serving of house fried rice because why not. After placing my orders, they told me it would take 20 minutes, so I decided to take a nice hot shower. I grab the remainder of my body wash shampoo conditioner and a set of clothes and make my way to the bathroom.

The bathroom is pretty small with outdated wallpaper, a stand in the shower toilet and sink. I turn the shower on and let it warm up as I take off my clothes. Once the steam starts, I step in letting out a long content sigh as the scalding water hits my skin. I get to work washing my hair, scrubbing every inch of my scalp. I do this a couple of times to make sure I get everything and then apply my conditioner and work to detangle my hair. After months in the woods, it's gotten pretty tangled, but I have worked to keep it manageable while I was out there so it's not as bad as it could've been. After rinsing the conditioner out, I wrap my hair in a bun and stand under the water for a few minutes before grabbing my body and loofa. I can feel my tense muscles loosen after I start scrubbing, taking in the floral scent from the soap. I scrub my arms, chest , back and legs watching the dirty water run down the drain.

I step back fully under the shower head and let the soap run down my body feeling completely transformed and the most relaxed I've felt in a long time. My stomach growls loudly, reminding me that there's delicious food waiting for me, so I turn the water off and grab a towel to wrap my hair in and one to dry myself as quickly as possible and get dressed in a matter of minutes. I grab my coat, not caring for my wet hair and my room key, and make my way down the stairs out the door and across the street. It's not too busy outside and there aren't many customers in either restaurant and I'm back in my room in just a few minutes. I set the food down on the table and, took off my coat and shoes and opened up the pizza box first. The sight of thick crust, melty cheese and the smell of pepperoni makes my mouth water as I grab a slice.

I let out a loud groan of satisfaction as the first mouthful burned my tongue. Luckily for me, I grabbed a 2 liter bottle of coke at the pizza place and took a swig before returning to my piece of heaven. It's been so long since I've had food i didn't have to hunt, and I'm making sure i savor every cheesy, saucy pepperoni-filled bite. After a couple more slices and a bowl full of fried rice, I was ready to bust out of my pants. I haven't felt this full in a long time and that, coupled with my exhaustion of the day, I get ready for bed and fall into the covers.

I'm not going to lie and say this is the best bed in the world, but after months of sleeping on a cold hard forest floor, this is heavenly. I quickly get into a comfortable position and, after a few deep breaths, I feel sleep take me to dream land.