The Runaway and her Twin Alphas

The Unbinding

Today was the day. The day of the harvest. Esme was constantly flipping between extreme excitement to finally be free, and extreme anxiety at the thought of being caught. Esme was summoned twice after she took the stone and each time she was sure she had been caught. The Alpha had noticed the stone was gone and now she'd be beaten and starved or worse. But, it never came.

As soon as she got the stone she had passed it on to Derrick so he could start the spells to bless the stone. He did it himself in the dead of night he told her he had snuck out into the woods and performed the spell under the full moon. She immediately became anxious worried someone had seen him leave the house but he assured her, no one was ordered to follow him as they were her. There was no need to worry. They had begun to meet every chance they got planning every detail of both spells. Because of the simplicity of the cloaking spell it would only take a matter of seconds to complete. While the unbinding could take anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour depending on the time that went into casting it. Complicating things, Esme could remember every detail of the spell but, as it had replayed again and again in her mind she could no longer say how long she actually lay there waiting for the binding to be completed.

The whole town came alive for the festivities. For one time a year the pack was an open house for everyone to see. For the witches it was the only opportunity to see the inside of the packhouse and vice verse for the wolves who wished to see the inside of the coven house. The pack house was booming with people, and for the entire morning Esme ran around ensuring snacks and drinks were in full supply. Then around noon as the open house came to an end she returned to the kitchen to help Alice and the other servers prepare for the feast. When Esme entered the bakery and saw Alice elbows deep in bread dough she couldn't help the tears that pooled in her eyes. It would be the last time she saw the only positive adult influence in her life and it broke her heart she would never be able to say goodbye.

Alice froze were she stood looking up and seeing Esme in the doorway with tears in her eyes. Alice was shocked. She had seen poor Esme literally and figuratively dragged through the mud by the Alpha and his men. Never once after every beating she had suffered after starving for days on end, Alice had never once seen her cry. Alice quickly checked the room for any of the alphas men and seeing the room clear she let out a high pitch whistle. Everyone bustling about the room stopped dead in their tracks and turned to look at the old pastry witch.

"ESME I TOLD YOU TO BE BACK HERE BEFORE I STARTED THIS BREAD. I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY TIMES I HAVE TO TELL YOU TO BE ON TIME!" Alice yelled trying to put on her best 'how dare you voice'. Because it was far and few between Alice ever raised her voice the whole room seemed to understand and immediately emptied. Now Alice stood alone with the girl made of stone who seemed to finally be cracking. Whiping her hands on her apron she quickly rushes to her brushing a long curly strand of hair behind her ear.

"What did he do to you now?" Alice whipsered rage evident in her voice. She knew it was only a matter of time before the Alpha claimed Esme as his, as he done numerous times with his past 'playthings'. He tormented them until there was nothing left so he could have complete control. "You give me the word Esme, and I swear to you I will take you far away from here. My husband and i have been talking about this for a long time. You tell me you want to go and I will take you."

Esme couldn't stop the sob that escaped her lips. Even at the end, as Esme plotted and schemed her escape, Alice was willing to sacrifice everything to save her. Which was exactly why she could never be involved. Esme looked into the beautiful round face of the woman who showed her what goodness was and she couldn't even say goodbye.

"No matter what happens tonight I just want you to know I love you Alice. I can never thank you enough." she whispered through her hiccups and sobs. She wrapped the older woman in a quick hug and before she could respond or ask what Esme could possibly mean the workers began to mill back in and resume their tasks. Alice shot her a questioning look but, all Esme could do was force a smile and begin her duties.

It was now close to sunset and Esme knew the towns center would soon be filled with the hundreds and hundreds of members of the Moon Blood Pack. They would gather there to distribute the harvest and begin the blessing ceremonies. Even bound as she was Esme could feel the magic vibrating in the air. The thought of finally having access to her own magic filled her with a kind of excitement she had never known, the kind of excitement she imagined you might feel upon reuniting with a long lost friend.

Due to the fact that the entirety of the pack was gathered in one place it made it extremely easy for her to slip through the crowd and into the woods unseen. Though it was her first time stepping foot in these woods, she had the map Derrick had drawn for her fresh in her mind as she picked her way through the dense foliage. After a nearly twenty minute walk she came upon the clearing where Derrick sat waiting tapping his foot clear anxiety written on his handsome features.

"Finally. I was worried you had been caught." he whispered seeing her enter the clearing. He stood slowly taking her in for what was likely to be the last time. She was a beautiful girl. Eyes that shown bright like emeralds especially when she laughed. Elegant high cheek bones made her look far older than fifteen. Beautiful full pink lips all framed by red hair that shined so bright in the sun it looked like crimson flames dancing. Derrick would miss her to be sure, and part of him would worry for her forever. However he wouldn't worry half as much as would were she to stay where Marxus could get her.

Derrick had prepared the clearing for the spell for hours. He checked every detail of his circle over and over again to ensure every detail was right.

He told his mother he was not feeling well and would be skipping the festivities and that was all she needed to hear to leave him alone. He was the least powerful of her sons after all, to her his presence wasn't required. He just hoped the story would hold when everyone realized Esme was missing.

Esme did not reply to his greeting. She was to wrapped in her own thoughts to even register his words properly. Silently she began moving about the circle checking the details of the circle and referencing it with the spell book page she had remembered by heart.

"We need to start Esme, the harvest ritual will begin soon." Derrick whispered. She only knodded as she finally entered the circle. She drew in an unsteady breath realizing when she stepped from the circle she would have her powers back. She would finally be free. It was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. Where would she go? She had no idea but, she was ready for this new chapter in her life to begin. One where she was the writer dictating the story and not someone else.

"I just want to say before we start that I'm gonna miss you." Derrick said crouching and closing the circle with Esme inside. When she said nothing he looked up slowly to see tears rolling down her beautiful pale white cheeks. For a few long moments he was dumbstruck.

"Promise we will see each other again. Promise you'll leave this horrible place forever and that we will see each other again." Esme whispered barely audible even in close proximity as they were. His icy blue eyes met her emerald eyes that shown even brighter as the moon began to rise.

"I promise." he whispered back.