25

I wasn't sure how long I had been locked in this room. Kate had left me after our conversation, although she had untied me first.

With my martial arts and strength I could have overpowered Kate, but why? I had no idea where to flee to. Besides, I sure would have had a hard time knocking Kate out. In my eyes, she was clearly a victim. A victim of cruelty in our world. She would not be happy either among wolves or among humans.

At least I knew there was a place reserved for me among the wolves. A place at Cyrian's side and as the Luna of his pack. For the last few weeks I'd pushed the thought of my new rank completely aside, after all it was of no use to me here. But now I had more than enough time and nothing to do. So I thought of Cyrian, of the wolves, and of everything else besides the betrayal I wanted to commit. They would kill me for it, I was sure of it.

But Cyrian wasn't the only one that bothered me. My thoughts also turned to Thomas. I despised my brother's actions, that was clear. But he was still my brother. The more I thought about him, the more I realized that he had always protected me.

Back when we were kids, he always had his eye on me. He was there when classmates annoyed me or when I quarreled with my friends.

He helped me with my homework and studying. He was always there for me.

I had to admit that that hadn't changed either. He had stood up for me on the council and had looked out for me since I was in the village.

What do you think he was discussing with the Council? Did he still stand up for me? And how about if I were in his place?

If we were with the wolves, would I stand up for his life? Stand up for him?

Everything he did was bad, wrong and cruel. On the other hand, he had been trained by our parents since he was a child.

Was he really the perpetrator or the victim?

A slight stabbing heralded a headache and startled me out of my thoughts.

I didn't even realize I was up. I paced nervously up and down the room.

And what about Joffrey and Nero?

I would stand up for Kate, but also for her children?

Actually, the two of them had only been victims. Raised in a war-torn world, trained to hate and kill wolves.

I shouted.

Loud, angry and desperate.

First once, then twice, and then a third time.

Then I got better. So much had accumulated in me over the last few years, but I had never had the chance to really deal with it and get upset about it. For the last 10 years I had always had to be careful and fought for my life.

And in the last few months everything had happened so quickly. Finding out about my family and also everything that had happened to Cyrian. When did I process all this? Did I even process all of this? Probably not, otherwise it wouldn't all come up again.

My steps led me in front of one of the wooden walls and I began to work off my anger on her.

Every time one of my fists hit the wood, it hurt a little, but it helped.

The movement helped and so did the pain, but the confusion in my head remained.

What is right? What is wrong? What should I do?

I started hitting faster and harder, somehow trying to shut out the thoughts in my head, but of course it didn't work.

A strange feeling stopped me. I ran my hands over my cheeks in confusion. They were wet.

I only vaguely remembered the last time I cried. It must have been the day I went to my village and found out the truth. Cyrian had comforted me.

Again and again my hands run over my face in the hope of getting rid of the tears. I didn't want to cry. I didn't want to be reminded of Cyrian either. I just wanted my brain to stop thinking.

I thoughtfully looked at my bleeding hands. Funny that Kate hadn't checked on me, she must have thought I was tearing the whole house apart.

Or Thomas or Joffrey or Nero. Outside it was the dead of night, where were they all? Or had my brother told his son and stepson not to see me?

Still, it was strangely quiet in the house, even though it was night. My screaming must have woken someone up.

I stepped closer to my window and looked out. But I saw nothing. only black. But there was something odd about it.

Then I suddenly realized what it was that confused me so much.

Normally from this room I could see the big square and see the torches burning there. But the torches did not burn. Otherwise they burned day and night.

"What the hell is going on here?" I heard myself whisper softly.

But then I heard it. It cut through the silent night like a sharp sword. Dark, angry and menacing.

I had heard that sound once, and that was a long time ago. In the battle arena. It was Cyrian's roar.

I had already opened my mouth to call out to him, but stopped just in time.

No torches in the square, the house I'm in is empty and the others around here are probably deserted too. After all, everyone must have heard the roar, and yet no lights were on and no movement showed that they were people in their homes.

This was definitely a trap and I was the bait.

I had to get out of here and as soon as possible. My mind was racing, but I couldn't think straight.

Only Cyrian hung in my head, making it impossible for me to think about my current situation.

He was here and he would save me. My big, strong mate had finally found me. Everything would be fine.

Another roar echoed across the square. This time it wasn't Cyrian, it sounded like another wolf.

I exhaled in relief. He hadn't come alone. Surely a large part of his pack was with him and would make sure that nothing happened to their alpha.

Nevertheless, I urgently needed to get out of this house. I didn't know what exactly this trap looked like, but I was sure that Cyrian would die if he got near the house.

But the door was locked. However, that was not the only path to freedom. The window could also be a possible way out. It was very thin glass and would certainly break easily.

At some point Thomas had explained to me how they made it, because here in the forest it was quite difficult for people to get hold of such a product. They had found another way to make something similar to glass, but unfortunately it was quite thin. Luckily for me.

Even though my hands were already hurting from hitting the wall, I didn't want to risk smashing the glass with my hands.

Instead, I grabbed the only chair in the room and threw it against the window with all my might.

The rattling sound of the shattering window gave me hope. In fact, a large part of the pane had broken off.

Without wasting another thought, I ran to the window and looked out. The darkness still made it difficult for me to see, but fortunately I could see at least a few meters.

At least my sight had to be enough to climb out. I exhaled tensely. The room I was in was on the second floor. I should be able to jump out without hurting myself badly. Hopefully.

I carefully swung a leg over the window. The second followed shortly after. Now I was sitting on the edge of the window and my feet were dangling in the air. Now all I had to do was jump.

If you consider what I've done and endured over the last few years, this jump shouldn't be a problem for me.

I had fought against others with the sword and suffered one or two injuries in the process. However, I was afraid to jump now.

I thought briefly of the stories I had read in Cyrian's library. Most of the protagonists were brave and would never hesitate to jump to reach their one true love.

But in real life, jumping out of the window is more scary than it is described in the books. Suddenly there is a deafening howl.

The sound makes me flinch, losing my balance and falling.

When I try to brace my fall with my legs, but then fall, I painfully realize again that this isn't some cheesy romance novel. No one caught me when I fell, my clothes are now filthy and the tugging in my left leg proves that a second floor jump does hurt.

Cursing softly, I get back on my feet. There are now more important things than my dirty clothes and the slight pain in my leg. Where is Cyrian?

Just as I'm about to rush off to find him, I remember why I'm not calling for him. This is probably a trap. If there really is anyone waiting to kill Cyrian, I'm sure that person would kill me if I just started running.

Then again, why hadn't anyone attacked me before? After all, you could hear the splintering window clearly and it must have been noticed that I had jumped out of the window.

I decided to risk it and took a few steps forward, all the while being careful to keep quiet to hear if someone did attack me. Or should I go back inside to look for a knife? But how much would a small kitchen knife bring me?

A soft sigh escaped my mouth and I slowly walked on.

It was a horrible feeling, knowing that something was very wrong here, but not being able to do anything about it. I could only fall into the trap before Cyrian did.

And then the trap snapped shut. I had imagined something more spectacular. Maybe the whole place goes up in flames or a rain of arrows that pierces my whole body. But none of that was the case. It was only one arrow and it was shot badly.

Instead of going into my heart or my head, the wooden arrow, which had undoubtedly been fired from a bow, buried itself in my thigh.

A terrible pain crept up my leg and a high pitched scream of pain rang out. It took me a moment to register that it was my scream.

When I heard the wolves growl in anger, I realized the shooter hadn't missed me after all.

The arrow wasn't meant to kill me, but to lure the wolves here. Cursing softly, I tried to keep running. I had to get out of here so the wolves wouldn't fall into the trap. But the approaching noise showed me that this was not possible. The wolves were almost there.

Despite the panic coursing through my body that Cyrian would go exactly where people wanted him to go, there was something else. joy, happiness, hope. I couldn't stop a smile from spreading across my lips. Only a few seconds separated me from Cyrian.

And then there he was. I'd rarely seen him in his wolf form, but I would always recognize that silver fur and matching eyes.

For a brief moment the world seemed to stand still. It was just him and me. Everything else seemed to fade and only Cyrian mattered. His silver eyes shone and I was sure that the same luster was reflected in my eyes as well. love, relief and happiness.

But it wasn't over yet. Another arrow pierced my left leg, in the calf. I screamed again and this time the pain made me fall.

I wanted to shout to Cyrian not to come to me and stay under the cover of the trees, but the pain made it impossible for me to get a clear word out.

So Cyrian stormed into the meadow with his pack, straight to their doom.