Maura

Don’t be a coward, Maura, I think to myself. A little farther, and you’re free.

Freedom.

It’s almost hard to remember what that is. Pressing myself into the stone wall lining the open courtyard that leads to the forest at the end of my pack’s territory, I barely flinch as it scrapes my skin. Pain is relative, and being the slave, plaything of Alpha Godrick changed that relativity for me a long time ago. This is my only chance to get away from him, from this goddess-forsaken pack, and everything else that does nothing but bring me pain.

Fuck them all.

Leaning forward, I glance around the open space of the yard again. I’ve planned this escape for months. Every time Alpha Godrick let me outside, even if I wasn’t alone, I watched the guards, took mental note of their shifts, movements—all their distractions. I’ve planned this damn thing to the letter, and I can’t crumble now, not after everything I survived just to get here. Hell, I even planned to ensure that this morning was laundry day so I could steal the clothes I’m wearing. They don’t smell like anything to me, but as a wolfless girl, my senses aren’t as strong as they should be, barely above that of a human. That doesn’t mean they won’t help throw off my scent for the guards and the Alpha when he realizes I’m gone.

I almost wish I could be a fly on the wall to see the look on his evil face when he realizes that the wolfless little bitch he wanted to take outsmarted him and his guards.

Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath, willing myself to calm down, focusing on my pounding heart to steady it. Everything is riding on this, and I need my wits about me.

Focus, Maura.

“Hey,” one of the guards yells to another across the courtyard. “I’ll be back in fifteen.”

Slowly opening my eyes, I allow myself just the hint of a smile. The same guard leaves at this time every shift to go hide on the opposite side of the wall where no one can see him so he can meet up and fool around with one of the underage she-wolves. Lust is a helpful little distraction in my plan. That and relying on the fact that the Thornwood Pack’s guards are unsavory and disgusting and care more about their dicks than their sense of duty.

Peeking out again, the remaining guard turns down one of the hallways on the opposite side of the courtyard. I can’t wait any longer. Moving around the way, my bare feet hit the dirt as I take off across the grass, focused only on the tree line. I just need to get into the shadows of those trees, and then I can run until my legs give out, and that will be far enough that I can afford to stop and breathe. I just have to make it.

Pushing harder, my jaw clenches together. I have to make it. Getting caught means death. Whether it’s slowly dying inside after being forced into Alpha Godrick’s bed or dying fast by beheading or being locked away and starved—it all means death. This is the only option that has a chance at life, even if it isn’t a long or important life.

I’d rather die trying to get free than die because I was too weak to stand up for myself.

Goddess knows if I’d run the night my father sold me to this monster, things might’ve turned out much differently.

But instead, that night was the beginning of the hell I’m trying to escape.

***

That Night

Dinner wouldn’t be so nerve-racking if my father wasn’t doing a neurotic drum solo with his fingers on the table. Taking a bit of my food, I glance up as his fingers keep furiously tapping away while he uses his fork in the other hand to push his food around his plate. It’s not like my father to dillydally over dinner. His rotundness is a clear indication that he indulges more often than not when it comes to food.

Ben Ellis, my father, isn’t anything special as far as wolves go. Average height, a little overweight, light skin, hollow brown eyes. He’s not a looker and spends more time kissing Alpha Godrick’s ass than doing anything useful for our pack. Not that I can talk. I’m the wolfless daughter who can’t seem to get anything right. Most of the time when I darken my father’s presence, he just reminds me that though I may be a rare red wolf, without actually having a wolf, I can’t ever amount to anything.

Such nice words from a father to his only daughter.

I can’t help but wonder if he’d be like this if I had a mother. Would a woman have softened him toward a daughter, or would he have treated her like shit and belittled her as well? I try not to dwell on those thoughts. I don’t have a mother, and my father hates me—or at least acts like he does—and that’s probably never going to change.

Sighing, I finally set my fork down on my plate. “Dad, if you don’t like it, I’ll have something else made.”

“What makes you think I don’t like it?” His tone is low and gruff—not unusual, but the way he refuses to look at me makes my nerves uneasy.

“Oh, I don’t know,” I say, sitting up a little and resting my arms on the edge of the table. “Maybe the fact you’ve taken three bites in the past forty minutes or the fingertip drumming on the table. Something is bothering you.”

My father forcefully drops his fork on his plate and grumbles under his breath. “We need to talk, Maura.”

My brows come together in confusion. “Uh, we are talking, Dad.”

“Damn it,” he growls, leaning back in his chair as he rubs both hands down his face. “You have to understand that I didn’t have a choice. This is the only way to fucking fix things, and I can’t go back. We can’t go back.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Panic seeps into my voice as my skin tingles. Something is very wrong, and whatever it is, it’s got my father scrambling.

The doorbell chimes, and his eyes widen in fear. Glancing at me as he stands, I swear there’s sorrow there…and pity. “I’m sorry, Maura, but this is how it has to be.”

He moves swiftly past me toward the living room, and I rip my napkin off my lap and toss it on top of my plate as I shove my chair back to follow him. “What the hell does that even mean? Dad? Answer me.”

Rounding the corner, I come to a halt as I take in my father standing in the foyer, the door open, and Alpha Godrick standing at the threshold. His menacing gaze locks on me and makes all the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

Alpha Godrick pretends to be nice when he’s in front of the masses, but in private, everyone knows he’s violent and cruel. Traits he convinces others are a necessary evil for the survival of the pack as a whole.

I’m pretty sure he’s just psychotic and power-hungry.

“Dad?” My voice is hardly above a whisper, but the way his face falls tells me that he very much heard me.

Alpha Godrick stomps swiftly through the house, stopping when his body is flush against mine. His aura pushes out, and I can’t stop myself from tilting my head back and baring my neck in submission to my Alpha. Everything in my body is screaming for me to run, though.

Godrick leans down and runs his nose along my neck as he brings his hand up and fists it in my hair. “Mmm, she smells delicious, Ben. Red hair, porcelain skin that glows like the Moon Goddess herself is running through these beautiful veins.” His tongue flicks out against my jaw, and I squirm, a whimper escaping my lips.

“Dad,” I cry in a whisper, “please don’t.” My entire body shakes as the Alpha stands, pulling my hair so I step closer, pressing his body into mine.

Bringing his other hand up, he places a finger over my lips. “Shush, wolfless.” He moves back just enough to run his eyes slowly down my body like he’s appraising livestock. Realization hits me like a tidal wave, and I try to move away. Godrick tightens his fist in my hair, making me cry out. “Half your debt, Ben. You’d get more if she had a wolf, but she’s rare and beautiful enough that she can buy half your freedom.”

Buy?

“Wait, what?” My voice comes out breathless, earning me another tug on my hair and a low growl from my Alpha.

With his free hand, he trails his finger down my chin and neck, flattening his palm at the hollow of my throat and gliding his hand down my chest. At first, he massages my skin in his hand, and I try to move away again. Then he squeezes painfully around my neck, yanking me forward.

“Not a fucking sound, beautiful. You’re mine now.”

***

Now

My heart beats erratically as excitement pounds against my chest at the same speed that my feet dig into the earth. The moment I cross the threshold into the forest, I push myself even harder.

I did it. I fucking did it.

The treetops here are dense, so I can’t see the moon, and everything is much darker than I anticipated. I can hardly see a foot or two in front of me, but I don’t care. Even the bramble and rocks digging into my feet with each step don’t bother me right now. All I can focus on is going forward, running as far and as fast as I can until my body can’t move anymore.

A smile takes over my lips for a moment until I slam into something rock solid and go falling backward, my ass and head smacking into the ground hard enough that little white spots blur my vision as I try to sit up. I can barely make out the silhouette of someone in front of me when a hand clamps down over my mouth.

I kick and try to scream against it.

I did not get this far to fail.

“Hold him,” a deep, cold voice says as the shadow in front of me moves, a slick, shivering echo of steel coming out of a sheath moving through the air.

All I can do is shake and shudder as the hand around my mouth disappears, my screams forgotten as two different scents reach my nose. They must be strong wolves if I can pick up on it— one spicy but crisp like a fresh morning fire; the other heavy, woodsy, and calming like being blanketed by Mother Earth herself. For a moment, my eyes droop until the rational part of me shakes my consciousness back into focus.

“Definitely not he, Alejo,” the voice next to me says as he moves around to kneel next to me.

I turn my head enough to see him just as he moves into the little bit of moonlight that’s found its way through the thinner treetops where we’ve moved. His hair is dark and shaggy enough that I could fist my fingers in it. The ends fall in purposeful disarray, curling just slightly toward the ends. His eyes are light brown with flecks of gold in them that almost seem to glow in the moonlight as they roam over my face.

“What?” the voice still in the shadow says as he moves closer. “A she-wolf?”

He steps into the light as the man next to me stands and moves next to him. I take in everything about the man I think is Alejo. He’s barely shorter than the other one, hair just as dark but cut closer and far more sophisticated. His brows are furrowed, partially shielding dark brown eyes. They’re not nearly as welcoming as the other man, but just as captivating.

My gaze darts between the two of them, making note of the way their muscles ripple as they move slowly toward me. They can’t be wolves. I’ve been around wolves my entire life and never seen any that were this beautiful, this…enticing. Sweat glistens on the one called Alejo’s abs as he comes a few steps closer, the knife in his hand catching my attention and making me shrink back, hitting the tree trunk behind me.

He pauses, glancing at the sword and then my face for a moment before passing it to the man behind him. With measured steps, he comes closer again, and the woodsy, calming scent fills the space around us, almost making me groan out loud. Instead, I bite my lip and refuse to take my eyes off the godlike man in front of me.

Bracing one hand on the tree above my head, he leans down so that his face is closer to mine. Sniffing the air briefly, he brings his other hand up and grabs my chin firmly, causing the shudders through my body to intensify. His eyes darken just a little.

“What are you doing out here alone, little wolf?”