chapter two : trapped
The twilight grew darker. Just like my life.
As I ran, forcing my tired feet to push the ground faster and faster, ignoring the pain of twigs and stones underneath my feet pricking, something told me it was that it became more cold, more haunting, because of the disappearance of the moon goddess. But I didn't care. I was too panicked, too stressed out, maybe scared, too, to be able to focus on anything except him.
Speed was always my strength. And, till that moment, I had found no one who could catch up to my pace. That always made me feel more depressed and lonely. Funnily, I had always cursed my abilities because if not for them, I would have had a home. A home where I would be loved and protected.
This moment, though, I was begging my feet to run quicker, scolding myself for not being able to do better.
The closer he came to me, the more fear rushed through me, tears burning in my eyes. If I was caught at this moment, my life would never be the same again. He was a monster, my mate, and he would mark me down, make me his prisoner, his slave. This was my only chance to escape.
Even without looking back, I could feel him. A large silhouette, deep breaths, strong growls, predator footsteps. He was chasing me and relishing in it.
Anger dulled my fear and I forced my head to take incharge. Simultaneously, it was a silent fight between me and my wolf, Izzie. She didn't want to run, and she was trying to manipulate me to stop fleeing from my mate, the one assigned by the goddess…to do what? Control and shatter me?
I dryly chuckled. Strategically, I conserved my speed; that wasn't working, he was stronger and was able to match mine. I changed the running course. It was straight into the forest. Bad for me, that forest was not only extremely dangerous and rumoured to be a lot of evil things, but also was right at the heart of the Capital. Good news- the forest is densely and impossibly vast, so I had better chances of escaping.
Besides, it was not open ground anymore.
Frankly speaking, despite my courageous facade, I was really scared, the thought of me getting caught despite everything shrivelling me, my face pale, my eyes wide open, and my bloodless hands shaking. But, I had to do this, only I could fight for me. I had to keep my head strong. I did not have a choice, I never had one.
I tried to get my breathing even. My eyes shut, feeling the sheer emptiness, the lack of light and even darkness calming me down.
Rule no. 1: take full advantage of your landscape.
And I did exactly that.
I shifted into a wolf, and staggered for a few seconds as Izzie went uncontrollable. And that few seconds cost a lot. He had shifted too. Into the largest wolf I had ever seen; I was flabbergasted for a moment looking at the sheer size and the rich black fur. It was such a contradiction to my much smaller form.
Well, I would make that an advantage, too.
I could feel my heart roaring in my ears. My short, raspy, uncertain breathing rumbling in my chest louder than ever. Izzie was growing mad; I was in her form and that had made her stronger. It was getting harder to soothe her down. She didn't understand. How couldn't she? How couldn't she understand that my whole life would be destroyed if I followed her seemingly perfect truly romantic plan of action? She should be able to…no one knew me better than her.
The Alpha used the few seconds I donated to him well. My speed was next to zero; it seemed as if my wolf were only jogging between the thin gaps between wayward trees. The aroma of the woods hit me, but it wasn't more prominent than his. I could feel him barely a few metres behind me. I was imagining his reaction when he would realise I just brought him deeper into the dense forest because, unlike any other omega, I had a plan. I could smell his confusion; he knew something was wrong. Smart wolf. Why wouldn't it be? Till now I gave him a great chase, one I knew even his beta would probably not be capable of giving, and suddenly, I was just giving up?Tut, tut, tut, it was sure fishy, but I also knew the arrogance of alphas. That would win against his sensibility.
