Ronan's pov.
Eira is... Challenging. Why doesn't she understand? She should know better. I hope that killing the little fucker who dared to touch what's mine was enough to finally put her in place. I am so sick of her being like that. I've never met the wolf who could defy me before and that actually drives me crazy.
But at the same time, I like the challenge. I like seeing her struggle around me, I like how torn she is between wanting to disobey me and knowing she can't really do that without being punished. She knows the risks. She knows what I can do.
And still, she's so stubborn. Such a spitfire. She won't let anyone push her around. She's perfect for me. A strong mate for a strong Alpha.
And now, I want her to finally properly meet the others. She only talks with the females and, as far as I can see, she made friends with Hanna. Good. I'll need to talk to her and make sure Eira won't try to involve her in anything stupid. I know she is tempted try.
As I walk to my best pack members, Mira catches up with me. She lowers her head in respect. Why can't Eira be like this? ''Alpha, I need to talk to you about Eira''. Oh god, what did she do now?
''What is it?'' I ask. Mira's eyes are looking around, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. ''I don't want to sound disrespectul, but she doesn't act like one of us. I was disapointed in her during the hunt. As your mate, she should have at least tried to help us and not just stand there doing nothing! What does that behavior say about us? It makes us look weak!''
I don't hesitate. I slap her. She falls. Good. I hope it will hurt for a while. No one will ever disrespect me, especialy a female. ''Listen up, you stupid girl. You come talk to me like this ever again and I'll have your guts spilled on the ground. And Eira... She has only been here a few days. So shut the fuck up, get your ass up and go help the others prepare for our party, yes?''
She nods her head and stands, walking away. I know she won't take this personally. She broke the rules, she got punished. She should be happy that her bones weren't broken. We deal with any kind of disrespect by force. She knows that. Everyone does.
I keep walking to my best warriors - my Beta Rick and Gammas Theo and Ragnor. They are gathering wood for the fire. As I aproach, they nod their heads and lower their gaze. I look at my Beta. ''Rick, I need to talk to you''. He drops the wood he was carrying down and comes forward. ''Sure, Ronan''.
Rick and I were best friends since forever. He's the one I trust most. And now I can see something's wrong with him. Lately, it was hard for him to concentrate on his tasks, his mind always somewhere else. And I need my Beta to be on top of his game.
As we walk , I remember his mate. I didn't see her in a while. ''Where's Katherine? She wasn't at the hunt. She wasn't around here at all lately. Everything's fine? You look like shit recently. And I need you to give a hundred percent.''
Rick looks a little grumpy. He too found his mate recently and looks like Katherine is not ready to comply with her new situation. Rick pinches his nose bridge. ''I literally had to tie that woman to bed with a damn chain. After that, she finally she started to be a little more compliant. I'll let her come to the party tonight. But damn, it's hard with her''.
''Damn women'' is all I say and friendly bump his shoulder with mine. Finally, we reach my office. ''Now, I want you to put some men in the woods. There will be a lot of booze tonight and Eira might try to do something stupid as she has tendency to do stupid shit she might later regret. I want someone standing in guard''.
I doubt Eira would act out tonight. But with that head of hers... I want to be safe.
*****
Eira's pov.
Stupid Ronan. Stupid pack. Stupid party. All I wanted was to sleep forever and drown myself in oblivion, but Ronan came and dragged me outside. It was fully dark and damn freezing, so I wanted to go back inside and put on a coat, but my dearest mate made me put on his jacket instead. How romantic.
At least he left me with Hanna and went to drink beer of whatever with his pack members. Please, choke on it and die.
As soon as he left my side, I could finally breathe normally again. Even his presence is too much for me to handle without switching myself to a damn full panic mode.
However, now I focused my attention on my friend, who took my hand and walked me to the girl I've never seen before. Her red hair was down, framing her pretty heart-shaped face. But despite how pretty she was, her eyes held, what it looked like, the whole world's sadness.
''Eira, this is Kat - Katherine.'' Hanna nodded towards the girl ''She came here pretty recently too.'' The girl came closer to me, putting her palms in her pockets, her eyes fixed on mine. ''So, the dogs took you too, huh?'' I instantly liked her. I shook my head. ''Yeah. The main bitch got his dirty paws on me.'' Katherine gave me half a smile. ''Come on, let get you something to drink.'' Her voice sounded a little more cheerful this time.
We left Hanna with the other girls and went to grab some beer. I picked a can and started sipping, however, Katherine did not take one. I did not ask her, only lifted one brow. She sighed. ''Rick would kill me.'' She basically spat the Beta's name. ''He thinks I might be pregnant.'' Oh.
''Are you?'' I asked, not knowing what else to say. Katherine closed her eyes for a second, taking a deep breath. ''He raped me every night for a whole month keeping me chained like a dog just because I didn't want to do things he demanded me to do. I'm stuck here forever now. I will never escape, I carry his spawn inside me. But Eira, you can. And if you won't, the same thing will happen to you, too.''
I stared at her, my eyes filled with horror. If the Beta could do things like that to Kat, I was sure Ronan could do even worse. ''I.. He...'' But Kat interrupded me ''He beat you, killed your friends, threatened you?''I nodded my head. Kat looked at me with those sad green eyes of hers, but she stood tall and straight. She was not afraid. I, on the other hand was scared shitless.
''You've been here for what? A week? Less? It took him 10 days to snap and do this to me'' she pointed at her stomach. ''I doubt Ronan will be more patient. I heard you attacked him in fornt of the whole pack'' She smiled at me and suddenly I felt proud of myself. Yeah, I guess I actually did attack him...
''I have a feeling you won't stop fighting him, just like I did. And look where it got me. Some girls can accept this, like Hanna did, but you and me, Eira... We won't stop fighting. The biggest difference is that you can still win. I've already lost. We know each other for, like, five minutes and it's kinda weird to tell you all of this stuff, but you can't stay. Take this opportunity. Everyone will be drunk as hell tonight. Use it. Or you might lose the battle too.''
I looked at her not knowing what to say. She doesn't know what she's talking about! She's telling me to run, just like that. I don't have any plan, I don't know how to reach my house, I need more time to find out...
Find out what? The monster will never let me leave, he will never tell where exactly we are... And what plan? There's only one way to escape - to run. And as Katherine had said... I'm not the one who just stops fighting.
I'm stupid, I'm reckless - I've told myself million times to make Ronan trust me, to fake that I accepted all of this shit... But I can't make myself to even fake submission. And Ronan will not tolerate it for long. I don't want the same thing that happened to Kat happen to me. And tonight... No one will see me, no one will notice. It was time.
I look at Katherine, knowing that she's right. ''Will you help me? I'll need a distraction.''
*****
Everyone is drunk. Everyone is celebrating the lifes they took away today. Fun. I, on the other hand, am not having fun with them, I am searching the house for money. It was a pretty hard task as I didn't turn on any lights. No one must suspect a thing.
Earlier, I went to Ronan, met some of his friends, instantly forgetting their names, faked to have a good time and then told the monster that I was tired and want to go to sleep.
The stupid mutt was over the moon that I spent some quality time with him and didn't suspect a thing. He drank his whiskey, getting drunker and drunker, while I faked drinking my beer. I spilled it all in the bushes later. I didn't want to be tipsy tonight. I need my head to be clear.
After an hour trying to fake being a good little mate, the monster finally kissed me goodnight and escorted me to the front door, telling me to get some rest. I won't rest any time soon, dear Ronan, I have a long trip ahead of me.
Finally, I found a stash in Ronan's office. I didn't waver - I grabbed the money, stormed to te kitchen, shoved some food and water to the backpack I took and looked at the clock. It was time. I quietly opened the back door and stepped outside.
I stopped, expecting to be instantly caught. My heart was beating so loud I thought everyone could hear it. But no one came. I could only hear the laughter on the other side of the house where everyone was still partying. Then, I heard Katherine starting to shout.
She screamed something about Rick being the biggest dick in the world or something. I couldn't argue with her. It was now or never. I took a deep breath, getting ready to move and jogged to the woods.
I was well aware that there would be patrols in the forest - Ronan was too paranoid. And he had every right to be. I must be careful.
I knew I couldn't shift, at least now. My smell was stronger as a wolf, besides, I could be more stealthy in human form. So I went from tree to tree, locating men that patrolled the territory and quietly avoiding them. I was good at this.
I heard the thunder in the distance. Fuck. Everyone will want to go inside. The luck was not on my side tonight. I must hurry.
I ran for about fifteen minutes and then it started pouring. The rain instantly soaked me, wet chlothes clinging to my skin. I hated that feeling. I ran to the south through the dark forest, trying to hear patrols through the thundering sky.
As I reached the river, I decided it was time to shift - I quickly undressed, threw all the clothes to the river, shifted, grabbed the backpack with my teeth and started running. I knew I had to be fast.
I ran and ran and ran - the rain had stopped, the night started to fade. And finally, the forest started to welcome me again. I felt so much lighter now, so alive. It was home. The early hours of the morning were my favourite - the forest was filled with mist, gentle light seeping through the branches and leaves. I could finally relax. I can make it.
But then, I heard paws behind me - a wolf. It sounded as he was alone. At this point, all the serenity I felt instantly disappeared. Now, I was shitting my pants. I was so close and they have found me. I can't go back to them, to him!
Adrenaline was singing in my veins, my heart racing, my legs pushing me as hard as I possibly can. I tried to listen to my pursuer's steps, trying to guess what size he was, if I could win in a fight against him. I was too afraid to even look back - what if I'll stumble and fall?
The paws beating the ground sounded heavy. I knew the wolf wasn't some teenage boy. This wolf was a warrior. I didn't dare to try to fight him - I was too exhausted from running. But I still ran faster than I have ever had and finally I saw my village.
I didn't know what to do, how to get rid of the wolf. And I couldn't think straight. I was stupid. I ran straight to my house. I could hear the beast running just behind me. I fucking showed him my damn house!
But as soon as I reached the door, I had a crazy plan in my head. I shifted back, ripped the door open and reached for my old bow and arrows that I knew I left just near the entryway that day Keenan and I went hunting. I turned just in time to see giant beast ready to jump on me, mere feet away from where I stood.
In a split of a second, my instincts working for me, I aimed and released.
The huge wolf stumbled and fell in front of me. His scull was perforated by my arrow. Dead. I killed him. I killed a werewolf.
I stood there for a second, naked, with a bow in my hand. Then I dropped everything on the ground, screaming for Keenan and mom and ran upstairs to my room. I quickly got dressed and stormed to the corrindor to find Keenan standing in the middle of it.
I screamed for him to grab the most important things and run. We both knew we didn't have time for pleasantries. As we both ran to the old car our neighbour had, I dared to ask Keenan about our mom. He only shook his head.
Keenan didn't ask about the giant wolf laying dead in the front of our door. Keenan didn't ask about my sudden appearance. Keenan didn't ask about the car that we were stealing right now. He just grabbed some wires, did something with them and we tore off down the road.
And only after the half an hour I dared to speak, to break this eerie silence. ''Keenan... Where's mom?'' I was afraid of the worst. I wasn't ready to loose my mother, too. But what Keenan told me was almost as bad as her death. Our mother, appearantly, disapeard in the middle of the night, leaving a note for Keenan that she has to sort things out. Basically, she ditched us.
I closed my eyes, trying to digest the news I just have heard. My mom was sick. Since my father died, she became different. I can only hope that she will find some help wherever she is right now. And for now, we have bigger problems to deal with.
As we drove to the nearest airport, I told Keenan everything. I didn't hide a thing. He deserved to know. And damn, it was so good to finaly be able to talk to him. I missed my brother so much. I missed my friend. Though it was only a few days, it felt like months.
And now, with the money I was able to take, we are going to leave this place forever. Away from him, away from the village. Away from the past. Now, we only have the future.
A/N
Well well well. Another day, another chapter! I was really inspired to write today, so there you go xd Actually, I wanted to let Eira chill a little in this chapter, poor lassie had a lot on her plate already, but damn, I changed my mind and now she escaped! I'm so excited to write another part, but the work I have to do for uni is ridiculous, so I think the next chapter will show sometime next week.
As always, let me know what you think in the comments!
Thank you for reading!
Love,
J.