Prologue: Escape
Fifteen Years Ago
[Astasia’s POV]
“Astasia…sweetheart…you must wake up.”
My mother’s urgent voice and gentle shakes rouse me from my sleep. I open my eyes and take her in as she hovers above me, her eyes sparkling with fear, her hands pulling at the blanket around me.
“Mommy,” I murmur, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. “Mommy, what’s wrong?”
“Sweet girl,” my mother murmurs, standing and looking toward the door behind her. “You must get up, okay?”
“Okay,” I nod, turning my gaze toward the window only to find that I am not greeted by the sun. “Mommy, the moon is still up.”
“Yes,” my mother smiles. “The moon is still up and the sun has yet to make its accent into the sky, but you must get up.”
As she speaks, her voice wavers and then there is a loud thud just behind my bedroom door. A yelp of fear escapes me as I look in the direction of the disturbance.
“Mommy,” I whisper. “What was that?”
“Time’s up,” my mother murmurs, grabbing a satchel from the floor. “Astasia, come with mama. It’s time to go.”
“Go where?” I ask, throwing my legs over the side of my bed and then hopping to my feet. “What’s going on? Mommy, I’m scared.”
My mother doesn’t answer my question, instead, she reaches out and grabs my hand and gives it a tug.
“Astasia,” she murmurs when we reach the door. “You must do mama a favor once we step out of this room, alright?”
“Alright,” I respond.
“Good girl,” my mother nods, wrapping a pale white hand around the door’s knob. “You must not look anywhere but at me as we move, understood?”
“Yes, mommy.”
Satisfied, my mother yanks the door open in front of us just as a loud roar rips through the air, but as we move out into the hall, I don’t dare to look in the direction that the sound has come from. Instead, I keep my gaze fixed on my mother’s back as promised.
“This way,” she murmurs, leading us toward the room that she and my father share. “In here.”
“Is daddy waiting for us?” I ask as another roar rips through the air followed by a loud thud. “Mommy.”
“Daddy isn’t here,” my mother responds, pulling me into the room and then slamming the door shut. “He will be coming to join us shortly.” She continues, grabbing a spear from the wall and then jamming it into the door handle making it hard for those beyond the door to get inside. “For now, we must go, okay?”
“Okay.”
I don’t know exactly what is going on, but from my mother’s desperation and the fear that she doesn’t bother to hide in her eyes, I know that I must not ask questions.
Even after hearing the sounds of struggle in the hall we were just in and even smelling the slightest hint of blood, I don’t ask questions, because I understand that now isn’t the time for that.
As the daughter of an alpha, I grew up being taught to always be prepared for the worst and to know how to handle such situations. It was engraved in me from the minute I was able to properly understand, and now was most certainly one of those situations that I was conditioned for, but even then, I can’t stop the rapid beating of my heart, or the slight shaking of my hands.
“Come here, Astasia,” my mother announces, grabbing the edge of a portrait of our family.
Doing as instructed, I move forward while watching her pull the portrait forward revealing a hidden passage behind it.
“Climb up, sweet girl.” She tells me, holding her hands together. “Quickly now.”
Nodding, I do as I’m told and once I’m in the small tunnel within the wall, I turn my gaze to my mother.
“Take this,” she tells me, passing me the satchel she has brought.
As she does, something large and hard slams into the door. With wide eyes, I watch as it bucks and bends against the force, and when another bang sounds and it starts to splinter, my mother desperately looks from it to me.
“Astasia, listen to me.” She breathes, her voice so low that I’m certain only I can hear it. “You must take this tunnel to safety.”
“What about you and daddy?” I gasp. “The two of you are coming, right?”
At my question, my mother opens her mouth to speak, but stops as another bang sounds and another, and when it is clear that the door will give way any minute, she gives me a look of pleading.
“Do as I’ve said, sweet girl.” She tells me, tears sparkling in her eyes. “You must move as fast as you can. Once you are out, go to the small cottage at the edge of the lake. You know the place, yes?”
“Yes,” I respond. “The place that me, you, and Daddy go to get away.”
“That’s right,” my mother nods. “Wait there for us, okay? Daddy and I will come to join you as quickly as we can.”
“But, mommy….” I begin only to be stopped by the sounds of wood cracking.
“Go,” my mother hisses, turning her gaze toward the door that is beginning to bend in. “You must go now!”
She doesn’t wait for me to say anything before slamming the picture frame she is holding in my face so that I am cocooned in darkness.
I remain in place, fearful for my mother who I can hear snarling just beyond the tunnel's entrance..
“Mommy,” I whisper, knowing that I should listen to her and begin to move, but the thought of leaving her scares me. I fear that if I do as I was told I would never see her again. “Mommy,” I repeat and then scurry backwards as something hits the portrait in front of me.
You must go now.
My mother’s last words repeat themselves again and again in my head and when they finally settle in, I’m turning and crawling, making as much distance as I can between myself and whatever is taking place in my home.
I don’t know how long I move before sparks of moonlight appear, beckoning me forward with the promise of escape.
I quicken my movements, growing closer and closer to the exit and when I reach the scent of wood and earth attack my senses.
A tree. That’s the only thing I think as the large trunk of the apple tree that my mother planted beside the packhouse comes into view.
I slow my movements as I examine the trunk and when I find where the moonlight is coming from, I push against what I realize is a hidden door.
It takes a bit of strength to get it to finally move, but when it finally does the scent of smoke and blood attack my nose.
Gagging, I lift a hand to cover my nose and mouth as I slowly peek around, making sure the coast is clear, and once I’m certain that it is, I climb out of the tree completely and push the door shut once more.
Once I’m out, I begin to rise to my feet and once I’m upright, I take in my surroundings once more and that’s when I notice a large gray wolf running toward me, I turn and begin to run toward the forest.
