Sleeping awfully all night, I get up early before sunrise. I make my way downstairs to the kitchen to make myself breakfast. Entering, I freeze momentarily, as Alice is there, cutting up fruit. Alice pauses and looks up to see me; she becomes angry and the knife in her hand shakes.
‘Good morning Alice,’ I say, politely. She growls in warning.
‘I’m just going to get myself something to eat then I’ll be gone,’ I say.
‘Permanently I hope,’ she mutters.
‘Alice, I get you’re upset, but I never planned any of this. I didn’t even know werewolves existed until recently. Maybe if we get to know each other we might come to tolerate each other. Maybe even be friends,’ I say. I yelp when her knife flies past my face and into the wall.
‘I will never be your friend, and you will never be my Luna! Mark my word, Vanessa will become the Luna of Shadow Crest! I suggest you save yourself the hurt and leave now. Because I can assure you, you won’t live to see your eighteenth birthday!’ Alice warns.
‘Did you just threaten to kill me?’ I ask, in disbelief; looking at the knife in the wall. Alice closes in on me; I steel myself for whatever’s next.
‘If you’re not gone from here by your eighteenth birthday, Vanessa and I will shift and rip you apart! And if you speak of this conversation to Alpha Ryker or anyone, I’ll make sure it’s the last day of your life!’ She snaps. My eyes well up.
‘Why do you hate me so much? Don’t you want Vanessa to be happy? How could she be happy with a man who doesn’t love her? A man who doesn’t want to be with her?’
Alice grabs my hair and pushes me against the wall.
‘Oh Astrid, you see, sometimes in life it’s not about love, but about other things like power,’ she says, retrieving her knife.
I’m anxious and scared; I force my tears back.
‘If I was you, Astrid, I’d get going right now, before everyone wakes up,’ she says, tapping my nose with the knife. She stares at me and holds the knife against my face; it’s a weapon. I nod.
‘Good! Well, it was nice meeting you, Astrid. I hope we don’t cross paths again,’ she smirks, and I leave the kitchen hysterical and affected.
She is going to kill me! She is going to kill me if I stay! I don’t want to leave Ryker or the others; how can I tell them without her finding out?
Bursting into tears I dress quickly in jeans and a hoodie. I grab a small pack, and pack another set of clothes in it. Do I just leave? Do I leave a note? Where will I go? I can’t go back to my step father’s house. Maybe I can camp in the woods for a few days, I can sneak food from the diner until I figure something out. The sun is starting to rise; I have to leave now.
I climb over the balcony and down the latticework beneath. I run in the opposite direction from the shopping strip hoping it takes me back toward Jim’s diner. A couple of hours pass me by when I’m deep in the woods, and I freeze at the faint howl of a wolf in the distance. I know it’s Ryker, realising I’m gone. Falling to the ground, I cry.
‘Please forgive me Ryker, I didn’t want to leave; I didn’t want to leave you,’ I cry.
Standing, I wipe my tears; they’re uncontrollable. I suddenly remember when Ryker explained he can smell my scent. I look around and grab some eucalyptus leaves from a low-hanging branch. Removing my hoodie and jeans, I rub the leaves down my legs all over myself. I put my clothes back on, sticking a handful of eucalyptus leaves into the pockets of my hoodie and jeans. I run further into the woods; after a while I resort to walking because I’m exhausted. Ryker would have followed my scent until I used those leaves. I should probably change course too in case he keeps going straight.
Changing my direction, I stop at a riverbank to drink some water, hoping it’s clean enough. The sun is starting to set. I have to find shelter soon before it becomes dark. I wander around until I find a large hollow log, on its side.
This will be perfect. I crawl into the hollow log and open my bag, covering myself with the other jumper to keep as warm as I can. I sleep curled up and use my bag as a pillow.
The sun rises; I’m surprised I slept all night. I jog instead of running, so I won’t tire so quickly. After a few hours I come across a familiar road. This is the road going into the city! I’ve definitely passed Jim’s diner. I stay off the road, because I don’t want to be found. I spot the black Mercedes in the distance. I sense it’s a bad idea to run toward it, but I do.
Out on the road, I watch the black Mercedes slow down to a halt. The back window rolls down.
‘Hello, Zenith,’ I say.
‘I was beginning to worry, Astrid. I haven’t seen you for a few days,’ he says.
‘I’d like to take you up on that job offer, if you’ll still have me,’ I say, nervously. Zenith smirks.
‘When can you start?’ He asks.
‘I can start now, if you like,’ I offer. Zenith looks me up and down, studying me; he is curious.
‘Has something happened Astrid?’ He asks.
‘I’m no longer living with my father, and no one here is looking to employ new staff,’ I explain, leaving Ryker out of the story.
‘I see,’ he says, scratching his half-missing ear. He opens the car door and gets out.
‘You may as well hop in; you work for me now,’ he says with a smile. I quickly look around to make sure no one is watching and climb into the car.
Zenith scans the area to see what I’m looking at, and doesn’t say anything about it. A young guy in the car smiles at me, and pats the seat next to him, motioning for me to sit. Sitting next to him, I click my belt in.
‘Astrid, this is John; one of my twin sons,’ Zenith introduces him.
‘Nice to meet you,’ I say, politely holding my hand out to shake his. John places a kiss on my hand as he takes it.
‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, Astrid,’ he replies, with a cocky smile. He looks a lot like Zenith, but less bulky and much thinner. He has the same dark eyes, dark hair, nose; a few days’ stubble grows on his face.
‘So, your business, Zenith Creations: what is it you do exactly?’ I ask. Zenith chuckles.
‘I do many things. Mainly, I have meetings with high profile clients. I go through their designs and make their products,’ he explains.
‘Oh, okay. What would I be employed to do?’ I ask.
‘I need a personal assistant to take some calls, book appointments, make me coffee, and run little errands,’ he says.
‘Okay,’ I smile. I look out the window. I wish things were different with you Ryker. I wish I was back in your arms. I wish Vanessa and Alice weren’t part of the pack.
‘Astrid, I need to talk to you about something before we arrive,’ Zenith says with a smile. ‘I must say, it’s very clever of you hiding your scent with those leaves. I suggest you leave them in your pocket.’
‘How do you know I’m a werewolf?’ I ask, surprised. Zenith’s eyes change into his wolf’s eyes.
‘I’m also a werewolf, and the Alpha of my pack.’ His eyes change back to his human irises; John is grinning. My chest suddenly feels tight and I start hyperventilating.
‘Stop the car please!’ I yell.
‘Ignore her, Ralph. She is just overreacting,’ Zenith says to the driver, placing his hand on my shoulder making me flinch.
‘Astrid, you are one of us. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m hoping you’ll even consider joining my pack. You’ll have our full protection from whoever you’re running from,’ he smirks.
‘I’m not running from anyone.’
Zenith sighs and pinches his brow bone with his thumb and index finger.
‘Astrid, you don’t have to play dumb. I know you’re running from someone. Who are you running from?’ He asks.
‘It doesn’t matter who I’m running from. I won’t see them again,’ I say, sadly, looking away.
‘Well, my offer always stands; become part of my pack and you’ll always have full protection,’ he repeats.
‘We’ve arrived,’ he says, as the car pulls to a stop. He opens the car door and reaches his arm out for my hand, to help me out of the car.
‘Thank you,’ I say, stepping out of the car, and feeling John brush up behind me, as he gets out of the car. I step forward to put space between us and ignore him.
