ESCAPADE
988 Words
CHAPTER 6: ESCAPADE
I woke with a jolt—dragged like a sack of meat across the frozen earth. Dawn hadn’t even broken properly, yet the chill bit deep into my bones. Two guards had me by the arms. I didn’t fight. Even if I could, what would be the point? My strength had long since withered, stripped away by betrayal.
When my vision stopped swimming, I saw him.
Theodore.
His silhouette strode ahead of us, back straight, gait commanding. Every pack member who laid eyes on him bowed in deference. They whispered his new title like it tasted sweet on their tongues.
“Good morning, Gamma,” they greeted, eyes downcast.
So, he rose with her. My lips curled bitterly.
“Still clinging to her skirts, I see?” I called out, my voice dipped in venom. “I thought I knew you better, Theo.”
I made sure it landed like a slap. I wanted to see his mask crack.
“Shut up!” he snarled, the civility in his face crumbling. That perfect mask twisted in disgust, and the second I said her name—Cassidy—his fury flared.
“You’re in bed with her, aren’t you?” I barked, raw and reckless. I didn’t care anymore. I was done playing their silent scapegoat. My voice rose. “What did you trade for it, Theo? My life? My place? My name?”
He stiffened. His shoulders coiled like a snake about to strike. But the eyes on us kept him in check. For now.
We reached the prison gates. The doors groaned open, and the moment we passed through, the guards dropped me like dead weight. Theodore pounced.
His hand clamped around my throat.
No hesitation. No mercy.
I gasped as his nails tore into my skin.
“You still think you’re above me?!” he spat, eyes burning. His grip tightened until black spots danced before my eyes.
“No,” I choked, barely able to smile, “I think you’re pathetic—for selling me out like a dog.”
“You b***h!” he roared, shaking me like a ragdoll. “I should kill you now—the pack would praise me for ridding them of a murderer!”
He meant it. I saw it in his eyes. He would’ve done it too, if not for—
The guards hesitated. A glance passed between them. Doubt bloomed. My skin was turning blue, my lungs screamed. And still, no one moved.
But the bond—they still felt it.
With what little air remained, I summoned what power I could. My voice rang out, low and commanding.
“S—seize him!”
He laughed—cruel, mocking—until the sound of silver cuffs snapping shut made him freeze.
“What the—? What the hell are you doing?!” he roared.
But it was too late.
“F—f**k!”
The silver burned. He dropped to his knees with a strangled cry, the metal hissing against his skin like fire on snow.
“You’ll regret this!” he growled, his voice breaking.
I collapsed, coughing and trembling, gasping like a drowning soul. My own brother had tried to kill me.
One guard knelt beside me, worry etched into his features. “Are you alright, Luna?” he asked, more fearful for my well-being than his own punishment.
I blinked up at him, confused. “Why…why are you helping me?”
Why now, when I had already made peace with death?
“We were at the trial,” he said solemnly. “We never believed you could do something so vile—not when you had every right to seek justice. You may not remember me, Luna, but you once saved me. From the rogues.”
His voice broke. “My name is Klay.”
Klay. That’s why his face haunted the edge of memory. Years ago—when Noah was away—I defended our pack alone. I nearly died that day, but I stood my ground. And Noah, the great Alpha, never even visited the infirmary. Too busy playing protector to the others.
“We need to move,” the other guard said urgently.
“That’s Bardo,” Klay added. “But he’s right—we have to go. Now.”
I hesitated.
To run was to confirm guilt.
To stay was to accept death.
Then I heard footsteps—too many. I clenched my jaw, found that dying ember of defiance deep in my gut, and stood.
“Let’s go,” I said. “Before I change my mind.”
***
“What do you mean she escaped?!”
Cassidy’s voice cut like a whip.
Theodore stood before her, wrists raw and red from silver burns. His eyes blazed with rage—and humiliation.
“She had help,” he snarled. “I didn’t know the guards would turn on me!”
“Of course you didn’t.” Cassidy’s voice dripped disdain. “Useless.”
“It was your plan!” he snapped.
SLAP.
His head whipped to the side, stunned.
“Don’t you ever raise your voice to me.” Cassidy leaned in, her grip cruel as she seized his jaw. “I’m the Luna. You? You’re just a pawn. A Gamma with delusions of grandeur.”
He said nothing.
“Now listen to me, and listen well,” she hissed, nails digging into his skin. “You find Catleya—by hook or by crook—I don’t care how. But if we go down, you’ll burn first. Got it?”
“Y—yes, Luna…”
She released him with a shove.
But her fury simmered. The plan had unraveled. The punishment she crafted, the spectacle she craved—slipped through her fingers like sand.
You stupid little b***h… Cassidy seethed.
Catleya wasn’t supposed to fight back.
And yet—she had.
- Writer
