Pursued

Lyra's Pov

After I was done packing my things, I slung the bag over my shoulder and took one last look around my room.

My heart pounded louder in anticipation of freedom and fear of what might happen if I got caught trying to leave. I tiptoed to Calantha's quarters, to say goodbye to her before leaving the pack house. She would be worried sick if I suddenly disappeared so I need to give a heads-up. I opened the door, expecting it to be locked but to my surprise, it was not. I stepped inside and saw her sitting by the window, lost in thought, as she gazed at the moonlight. I walked towards her and gently tapped her shoulder to get her attention. She turned to face me, startled by my presence in her room.

"Lyra, why aren't you sleeping?" Calantha asked with concern.

"Are you still in pain, or do you need help with something?"

I ignored her questions and whispered, "I'm leaving. I'm getting out of here."

Her eyes widened in disbelief.

"What?" she exclaimed, "You are leaving? Where are you going?"

I hushed her, placing a finger to my lips, to keep her quiet, so as not to wake the others staying in the pack house.

She moved closer to me.

"You can't just up and leave! Where would you go?" she asked.

"I can't stay here any longer," I said, tears brimming in my eyes, "Please do not try to stop me. I am leaving Frostbite's pack tonight."

“Sweetheart, but why?" she exclaimed.

"I can't imagine the horrors I will face after what happened during the ceremony," I replied.

"I cannot let you go alone, it is too dangerous out there with rogues lurking around. Stay here where it is safe," she whispered.

"Safe?" I snapped, "I can't continue to stay here in fear of dying the next day or the day after that, and besides Father will surely kill me tomorrow, I would rather die trying than be killed like a spineless dog, so don't try to stop me," I said adamantly, not budging her pleads to fell on deaf ears.

"Alright, then I'm coming with you," she said.

I opened my mouth to argue, maybe change her mind, but I realized that she was just as determined as I was.

"Fine," I said, "but we have to leave now."

We walked silently to the kitchen towards the front door when she stopped me and said, "I know a secret passage into the woods. If we open the door, the guards will be alerted and attack us."

I was sceptical at first, so I asked her, still unconvinced, "Are you sure it is safe? What if we get lost or trapped?"

"If we take the secret passage, we can slip out unnoticed into the forest safely," she said and turned towards the secret passage under the staircase. I followed her, knowing it was our safest bet if we were to make it into the woods, but I was also bothered because I had never heard of a secret passage in the pack house.

The passage was pitch black, I had to bring out the torch I had packed earlier to light my way into the woods, it was filled with cobwebs, I cringed in disgust when I entered a web, I could see rats scurrying around the walls, as we walked further into the passage, we stepped into a tunnel, the air was musty and stale, showing the lack of usage, I clung to Calantha's side.

We had been walking for a while, in the tunnel when we reached the end of the tunnel, the gate was locked with a padlock, and a wave of disappointment washed over me. I turned to Calantha and said, "I told you so," but she gently pushed me to the side, brought out a set of keys from her pocket, and unlocked the padlock.

Now that I think of it, it occurred to me that she's in charge of the Frostbite pack welfare. She is the eyes and ears of the pack.

'Why wouldn't she have the keys?' I ponder to myself.

"Aren't you coming?" she snaps.

I snapped out of my thoughts and quickly passed the gate. As we slipped into the forest, a blast of chilly air hit my face, making me shiver in anticipation. This is what freedom tastes like, I thought. I felt as if an immense burden had been lifted from me.

We walked deeper into the woods. We were walking at the same time running; I was already getting tired, and my legs ache from walking for so long. I had never had to walk a long distance in my whole life. She was still moving cautiously in the woods. I leaned on her for support.

We were almost at the Crystal River, not far to the pack's outskirts, when one of the patrolling guards got a whiff of our scents.

He shouted, "Who's there?"

I quickly turned off the torch, and we stayed still for a while, scared of being discovered. We resumed our journey when we felt we were safe to resume our walk.

With no light to illuminate my path, I stepped into a bear trap, and suddenly let out a painful cry which I regretted immediately the sound left my mouth, which alerted the patrolling wolves of our presence, it confirmed their earlier suspicions, I heard one of the guards howl in signal to others of the intruders, I know our cover has been blown off when wolf cries filled the woods.

Calantha sat me down on a tree knelt in front of me, and wrenched the trap off my legs, I cried out in tears holding my fist to my mouth, but that didn't help matters, the pain was excruciating, and I had low tolerance for pain, I was already feeling dizzy by the time she was bandaging my wound.

She stood up and pulled me up quickly, urging me to run. However, I couldn't stand as the guards were closing in on us. She transformed into her small brown wolf and nudged me with her nose, whining. I managed to climb onto her back as she let out a low growl and sprinted towards the border at full speed, my body swaying on her back like a drunkard.

As we raced towards the outskirts of the pack, the patrolling wolves were fast, narrowing the distance between us. In the darkness, the guards' howls and footsteps grew closer to us.

After a few minutes, she stopped by an old gnarled tree with large roots snaking across the ground.

There she put me behind the tree and whispered, "Stay here, I'll lead them away," and made to move, but I clung to her shaking my head in disagreement, mumbling.

"No…" and she quickly pressed a kiss to my forehead.

"I'll come look for you. I just need to distract and lead them in the opposite direction," she promised, before running in the opposite direction, diverting the guards' attention from me.

I heard Calantha's voice echoing through the woods sending a chill down my spine. She had been captured, she had given herself up for me. Realising the sacrifice she had made for me, I vowed not to get caught or waste her sacrifice.

I stumbled out of the pack borders, overwhelmed and alone with no direction in mind. Exhaustion consumed me as I wandered through the forest. My legs were trembling. Suddenly, I heard a snap of twigs and I stopped, followed by a snarl behind me. I spun around and my heart froze when I saw a rogue with red eyes. Then, everything went black.