Time to Run

Snarls and the agonizing crunch of splintering wood tore through the council room. My father’s massive grey wolf crashed into Kaelen, sending them both tumbling across the polished stone floor. Chaos erupted in an instant. Shouts of sheer panic echoed off the high vaulted ceiling. Council elders scrambled away, overturning heavy oak chairs in their desperation to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the bloodbath in the center of the hall. The room offered little space for escape, trapping the ranked members against the cold walls. I remained frozen beside the ruined mahogany table, my hands clamped over my ears, my heart hammering a frantic rhythm against my ribs.

My father thrashed wildly in his shifted form. His massive, fur-covered shoulders bunched with ancient power as his jaws snapped just inches from Kaelen’s throat. Immense claws raked brutally across the Alpha’s flank, shredding his fine shirt and drawing thick ribbons of crimson blood that stained the scattered paperwork. Kaelen did not yield. Operating on sheer physical dominance, the Alpha fought the beast off in his human form, his muscles straining against the immense, crushing weight of a fully grown werewolf. He drove a punishing fist into the side of the grey wolf’s snout, pitting raw brawler strength against ancestral shifter muscle. The sound of snarling and snapping filled the air, drowning out the breathless gasps of the onlookers.

Kaelen gritted his teeth, huffing from the enormous exertion of keeping the snapping jaws at bay. He knew my father was strong, possessing legacy Beta power that rivaled his own. While Kaelen would eventually win a one-on-one endurance fight, the grey wolf would rip him to shreds along the way.

"Declan!" Kaelen yelled over the deafening snarls.

The Gamma did not hesitate for a fraction of a second. Declan launched himself through the clearing and grabbed my father from behind. He threw his extensive body weight over my father’s back, locking his arms tight to push the beast toward the ground. Kaelen pressed his immediate advantage. Together, the two highest-ranked men used their combined mass to pin the large grey wolf flat against the unforgiving rock floor.

Kaelen wiped a smear of blood from his torn, swelling lip. He cast a furious, sweeping glare toward everyone cowering along the edges of the room. "Get me silver cuffs and have him taken down to the cells immediately!"

The guards scattered quickly, rushing to obey the Alpha’s bellowing command, terrified of upsetting him any further. The metallic rattle of heavy chains pierced the tension in the room. I watched in hollow despair as warriors swarmed my father, clamping thick silver bands around his forelegs to bind him. The metal hissed against his grey fur.

Kaelen slowly turned his head. His cold, disgusted gaze sought me out in the debris. His green eyes crawled over my shaking shoulders, dismissing me as something foul scraping the bottom of his boots.

"And you. Get the fuck out of my sight and stay in your room until I say you can leave. You will remain there and conduct all of your business from within those walls. Do I make myself clear, Calliope?"

I could not force a single word past my throat. The terrifying certainty that he would send me down into the dungeons after my father, or slaughter me right on the spot if I misspoke, locked my jaw shut. I just stared at the blood on his knuckles. I bowed my head in mute submission. Gathering my trembling limbs, I turned and hastily fled the ruined chamber in a suffocating daze.

The trek up the Grand Staircase passed in a dizzying blur. Once inside my private quarters, I stood alone in the silence. Armed guards planted their boots outside my heavy oak door, trapping me within my own suite.

The days passed in a blur of mounting dread as I organized the final touches of my escape plan. The confinement offered a strange, isolated peace, free from the harsh stares and whispered insults of my pack members. I knew their opinions of me had plunged to new, abysmal depths now that my father had committed one of the highest offenses possible: attempted murder of the presiding Alpha.

Sitting at the small writing desk by the window, I packed my single leather backpack with methodical precision. I folded durable clothing, heavy socks, and compact nutritional supplies meant for long treks in the wilderness. Once the bag sat bulging beside my bed, I smoothed out a sheet of parchment and drafted meticulous instructions for my Luna duties to cover the upcoming weeks. I outlined the winter storage allotments and detailed the care schedules for the pack elders. The common folk did not deserve to suffer because their Alpha had driven me into exile.

Then, I took out another fresh sheet of parchment. Heartbreak clawed at the inside of my ribs as I penned a tear-stained farewell letter to my incarcerated father. I doubted the guards would ever let him read it, given his maximum-security lockdown, but the words needed to exist in the world. I begged for his forgiveness for leaving him behind. An attempt to break him out of the most heavily guarded cell in the territory would only ensure my immediate execution. I thanked him for standing up for me. After spending long, agonizing years believing he despised my existence, discovering his fierce, protective love right at the very end brought me a tragic, solitary comfort. I folded the letter tight and placed it on my bare mattress.

Nightfall finally arrived, bringing the annual summer pack celebration. The massive festival provided the perfect, chaotic cover we needed. Thumping tribal drums, roaring courtyard bonfires, and the high-pitched squeals of drunken laughter drifted up from the main square below, echoing against the stone walls of my prison. Guard patrols dropped to a skeletal bare minimum.

A soft click signaled the unlocking of my chamber door. Nadine slipped into the dim bedroom, closing the heavy wood silently behind her. Her face looked pale and drawn in the silver moonlight slicing through the glass panes.

I grabbed my leather backpack, swinging the heavy straps over my shoulders. My pulse hammered in my ears. The raw fear of getting caught threatened to freeze the blood in my legs, but the promise of final freedom pushed me forward.

"It's time to go," I whispered, my voice shaking with nervous anticipation.

Nadine gave a tight, mute nod, her eyes darting toward the corridor.

"Where did you put your bag?" I asked, scanning the shadows by the front entrance, noticing her hands were empty.

Before Nadine could formulate a reply, the heavy wooden door exploded inward, crashing against the wall with bone-shattering force.

A squad of pack warriors surged into the room. Their heavy combat boots trampled over the fine rugs. Before I could even register the intrusion, two massive guards lunged across the distance. They seized my arms in a brutal grip and shoved me backward. My shoulder blades slammed hard against the cold stone wall, driving the breath from my lungs in a sharp gasp. Rough, unforgiving hands wrenched my arms behind my back, immediately stripping the leather backpack from my shoulders.

Cold, heavy metal engulfed my wrists. The silver handcuffs snapped shut with a hollow, echoing clink. Searing heat instantly scorched my soft skin. I hissed through my gritted teeth as the caustic metal burned deep into my veins, suppressing my inner wolf with a localized, agonizing fire.

Warriors swarmed my bedroom, tearing through my private belongings, flipping cushions and tossing books to the floor, clearly searching for something specific. I turned my head over my aching shoulder, seeking Nadine in the chaos, checking to see if she had been harmed. Instead, I watched in pure horror as two other guards seized Nadine by the elbows and dragged her kicking and struggling out the doorway.

"What is the meaning of this?!" I screamed, pressing my face against the rough wall stone. "I am your Luna and I demand that you stand down and explain yourselves!"

A heavy, oppressive silence followed the invocation of my title. I felt the invisible weight of my Luna authority wash over the soldiers. The warrior pinning me to the wall hesitated, his iron grip loosening by just a fraction of an inch, but he did not let go. The rejection of my direct command meant this raid stemmed from a supreme authority. Kaelen himself had sanctioned this assault.

The heavy crunch of boots echoed from the hallway. Declan stepped through the shattered doorway, scanning the ruined room in a split second. The Gamma's face resembled a mask carved from blank granite, devoid of any sympathy or hesitation.

Declan glanced toward me. "You can ease your grip and turn her around."

The guards spun me by the shoulders to face the Gamma. I searched Declan’s dark brown eyes, hunting for an explanation.

A warrior stepped out from the far side of my bed. In his large hands, he carried two distinct items. "We found these, Gamma. It also looks as though she was planning to run away before we caught her. She was wearing a backpack full of clothes and supplies when we arrived."

I recognized the first item immediately. The folded letter to my father. A sickening drop seized my stomach. The council would twist my words of gratitude toward a man who had nearly killed the Alpha into an act of direct, unapologetic treason.

Declan took the letter and scanned my handwriting, his face remaining a blank slate. Then, the warrior presented the second item. Declan brought the bundle up to his nose and sniffed the dried roots. He grimaced in disgust, jerking his head back from the pungent scent.

Declan stepped forward, showing me the small, foul-smelling bunch of herbs. "Is this yours?"

"I've never seen that before in my life," I spat back at him, pulling against the searing silver cuffs. "I don't even know what it is."

The warrior interjected, pointing toward the frame. "They were found in her bedroom, Gamma. Hidden under the bed.”

"What?! You're insane! I don't keep herbs in here. I don't even know the first thing about identifying the different types!" I shouted, the burn in my wrists flaring with every twist.

"It's Mortwert," Declan answered in a calm, flat tone, his dark eyes piercing straight through my frantic defense. "It induces miscarriages during pregnancy."

"What?" I gasped, the air rushing out of my crushed lungs.

My mind raced. Why would toxic roots be planted inside my room?

Declan squared his shoulders, delivering his verdict. "Calliope Danvers, I hereby place you under arrest for the murder of the unborn Alpha heir, and for the harm inflicted to another pack member, Daphne Hayes. You will be detained immediately pending trial in a week's time."

"What? Daphne lost the baby?" I whispered in mounting horror, my limbs going numb despite the silver's burn.

The pristine logic of their conspiracy crushed the remaining hope in my chest. Daphne had miscarried, and the pack needed a scapegoat. The entire territory would blindly believe the jealous, childless Luna had orchestrated the poisoning.

"Take her down to the cells," Declan ordered, his stoic mask slipping to reveal a deep, lingering disgust.

The warriors seized my biceps and pushed me toward the door. I threw my weight backward, kicking and thrashing against their iron grips.

"You're insane! You're all insane!" I screamed. "Where is Kaelen?! Let me see Kaelen and clear this whole thing up! I am your Luna! I demand you take me to the Alpha immediately!"

"That won't be necessary."

A deep, chilly voice rumbled from the shadows of the corridor.

I craned my neck around the guards to see Kaelen stepping into the flickering wall sconce light. The sheer hatred burning in his green eyes eclipsed any anger I had ever witnessed from another living creature. Pure, unadulterated fear gripped my spine. My legs nearly gave out under the weight of his murderous aura. He looked ready to step forward and snap my neck with his bare hands.

"Kaelen...," I cried, hot tears spilling over my cheeks. "I didn't do this, I swear. I didn't kill your baby. I didn't even want to be here anymore. I was giving up, letting you have Daphne just like you always wanted."

Kaelen stalked forward, closing the space. "So, you admit to trying to run away then."

His low growl vibrated off the stone walls. My confession of flight provided all the motive he required.

A row of senior council elders stepped out from the darkness, flanking their Alpha. A bone-deep chill ran down my spine, freezing the blood in my veins. The presence of the elders cemented my doom. Even the admittance of planning to escape carried a severe penalty, layering on top of the fabricated murder charges. The pieces aligned perfectly for his ultimate goal.

Kaelen raised his chin, standing tall, and invoked the ancient, devastating rite.

"I, Kaelen Lancaster, Alpha of the Boreal Mist Pack, along with the majority agreement of the elders present, reject you, Calliope Danvers, as my mate and Luna to this pack."

The bond snapped.

A blinding, searing agony detonated in the dead center of my chest, forcing me straight to my knees. The brutal, instantaneous pain eclipsed anything I had ever comprehended. My vision blurred into a swirl of white-hot static, erasing the corridor, the guards, and the elders. The faint, ragged sound of my own screaming slowly registered in my ringing ears.

Every single nerve ending inside me burned, scorching my very soul. The biological tether, the golden thread weaving my spirit into his for the past six years, was physically ripped from my marrow. I collapsed against the hardwood floor. I writhed on the planks, gasping for air that refused to reach my burning lungs, drowning in a sea of spiritual fire.

The torture dragged on for what felt like hours. When the blinding heat finally subsided, draining away the worst of the physical pain, it left behind a catastrophic hollow void pulsing behind my ribs. There was nothing left inside the cavern of my chest. No enduring love, no desperate desire, no lingering warmth. Kaelen had anchored a massive portion of my internal world, and without his presence anchoring the mate bond, half of my soul simply felt vacant.

The remaining half of my soul felt an abject, crushing terror.

The forced mate bond kept me blinded to his true cruelty. Without the rosy, desperate tint of the Goddess's magic, sensing his presence standing over me felt exactly like gazing into the open maw of death. The elders' presence confirmed the rare nature of the rejection, an extreme rite requiring no consent from the severed party, reserved only for extreme treason.

I pushed myself up on trembling, silver-bound wrists and looked up through my sweat-soaked hair. I expected Kaelen to be gasping for breath, reeling from the catastrophic backlash of the forced mate severance.

But Kaelen stood perfectly straight, an emotionless statue staring down at the floorboards.

He felt nothing.

The crushing realization hit me harder than the physical pain. He never loved me. He never felt the bond at all. He just looked down at my broken form with those icy green eyes, treating me as a stranger he had passed on the street.

Turning his broad back without the slightest tremor of regret, I watched Kaelen walk away into the darkness.

"Take her down to the cells," he ordered over his shoulder, never once bothering to look back.

Declan stepped forward, reaching down to hoist my trembling body off the floor by my elbows. I offered no resistance as the Gamma dragged me toward the heavy iron door of the stairwell. Every ounce of fight had bled out on the floorboards. I let him pull me into the subterranean dark, moving down into the damp, echoing prison I would call home for the next seven days.