Chapter 3: Escape
1241 Words
Kieran
Fuck.
I stared down at the unconscious woman and wanted to punch something. My pack was waiting for me to give the order. Kill her. End this. Get rid of the problem like I always did.
But I couldn't.
And it wasn't because I didn't want to.
"Alpha?" Marcus, my beta, sounded confused. "What do you want us to do with her?"
Good question. What the hell was I supposed to do?
I could see it around her. That faint shimmer in the air that nobody else could see. She was recently reborn, which meant she had protection. If I tried to hurt her right now, every single thing I did to her would happen to me instead.
I'd learned that lesson the hard way.
"Take her to the cells," I said finally.
Marcus looked at me like I'd grown a second head. "We're keeping her alive?"
"Did I stutter?"
He immediately shut up. Smart man.
I watched as two of my guys carefully picked her up. She looked so harmless lying there. Innocent. Like she couldn't hurt a fly.
Yeah, right. People don't get reborn for no reason. They come back because they have unfinished business. Usually the bloody, violent kind.
As they carried her away, I noticed Marcus still standing there with questions written all over his face.
"She's dangerous," I told him. "More dangerous than she looks. Double the guards around the cells. Nobody goes near her without my permission."
"How do you know she's dangerous?"
Because I've been through this s**t before. Because I know what someone looks like when they've crawled out of hell with revenge on their mind.
"Just trust me," I said instead.
Marcus nodded, but I could tell he wasn't satisfied with that answer. He'd been with me long enough to know I didn't usually take prisoners.
Hell, I didn't take prisoners ever.
My rule was simple. You trespass, you die. No exceptions. It kept my territory safe and sent a clear message to anyone thinking about testing me.
But this woman... she was different.
Not just because of the protection around her. It was something else. Something about the way she'd looked at me in that clearing. No fear. No submission. Just curiosity.
When was the last time someone had looked at me like that?
"How long will she be out?" Marcus asked as we walked back to the packhouse.
"Not long. Maybe a few hours."
"And then?"
Good question. I couldn't kill her while she had protection. But I couldn't let her stay either.
Not an unmated female. Not in my territory.
I'd made that mistake before. Let my guard down. Thought I could handle it.
I was wrong.
"Set up extra patrols," I told Marcus, pushing the memory away. "I want to know the second she wakes up."
"Of course. Should I tell the pack about her?"
I thought about it. My pack knew the rules about unmated females. They were forbidden in our territory. Period. The guys had their mates, women who were protected by their bonds. But outsiders?
They never last long around me.
"Tell them she's off limits," I said. "Nobody talks to her. Nobody goes near her. Anyone who disobeys answers to me."
Marcus nodded and headed off to spread the word. I stood there for a moment, looking back toward the cells where they'd taken her.
What the hell was I going to do?
Something about her made my wolf restless in a way I didn't like.
In all my lifetime, I'd gotten good at reading people. Good at knowing who was dangerous and who wasn't. But this woman...
She was a mystery. And mysteries in my world usually meant trouble.
Big trouble.
I headed inside, already planning. I needed to figure out who she was, what she wanted, and how to get her the hell off my territory the moment her protection wore off.
Because she couldn't stay.
Not here. Not around me.
I'd learned that lesson too many times to forget it now.
I was halfway up the stairs to my office when I heard it.
Three sharp trumpet blasts echoing across the territory. The emergency signal only met one thing.
Trespassers.
I spun around and ran back outside, my mind already racing. Who the f**k would be stupid enough to attack my territory? Everyone knew what happened to people who tried.
Marcus came running toward me, his face pale.
"Alpha!" he called out, but something in his expression told me this wasn't about the trumpet.
"How many?" I barked. "Where are they coming from?"
"That's not..." Marcus stopped in front of me, breathing hard. "Alpha, we have a bigger problem."
"What bigger problem?"
Marcus looked like he wanted to be anywhere else in the world. "The prisoner, Alpha. She's gone."
The words hit me like a slap. "What do you mean, gone?"
"The cell door was opened from the inside. There's no sign of her anywhere."
I stared at him, trying to process what he was telling me.
"How long has she been awake?"
"We don't know. The guards checked on her an hour ago and she was still unconscious. Next thing, the trumpet sounded and we went to check on her..." Marcus spread his hands helplessly. "The cell was empty."
I was still trying to figure out how to track down this mysterious woman when one of my guards came running toward me, stumbling like he was being chased by demons.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" I grabbed him by his shirt, anger flashing through me.
"The woman..." he stammered, fear written all over his face. "We spotted her... close to the border."
I released my grip and he stumbled backward.
"Marcus, get the guards," I barked. "She must not escape."
"But Alpha," Marcus looked confused, "isn't that a good thing? At least she's out of our territory."
"I didn't ask for your opinion, Marcus."
I took off running in the direction the guard had pointed. I hated unfinished business, and that woman had become my business the moment she stepped into my territory.
I shifted into my wolf form to get more speed, my paws hitting the ground hard as I raced through the forest.
And then I spotted her.
She was barely standing upright, swaying on her feet like she might collapse at any second.
But the moment she sensed me, the moment she turned and saw my wolf approaching, she started to run.
Or tried to.
Her legs gave out after just a few steps, and she crashed to the ground right at the border line.
I shifted back to human form and walked toward her slowly. She was trying to crawl forward, trying to cross into neutral territory where I couldn't follow.
"Not happening," I said, reaching down to grab her.
That's when she looked up at me with those impossible amber eyes, and I saw something that made my wolf go absolutely still.
Fear. But not the kind I was used to seeing.
"Please," she whispered, her voice so weak I could barely hear it. "I just want to go home."
For a split second, something twisted in my chest. Sympathy.
But then I remembered who I was. What I was. And why women like her didn't survive in my world.
"You should have thought of that before you trespassed," I said, lifting her.
I won't let you escape. Not now. Not ever.
- Writer
