AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I smiled as I took everything in. Mom would love this! With that thought echoing in my mind, my smile immediately disappeared. Sadness and the painful reality of my situation yet again fell over my shoulders. Violet and Dom chatted and joked around behind me, but I couldn’t join them. It didn’t matter how nicely the two of them treated me—I was still a prisoner, and they’d essentially told me as much. I was alone, without my mom or anything familiar, and I couldn’t let myself get pulled in by the banter or the beautiful deck or the supposed kindness of these wolves.
I needed to keep my eyes and ears open for a way to escape.
Dom stayed around for another hour while the three of us drank tea and ate bread with delicious fruit preserves. I kept my pillow in my lap and tried to stay engaged with the conversation. By the time Dom left, I believed I’d managed to hide my sadness well.
“Bryn,” Violet began, turning to me. “I didn’t want to say this in front of Dom, but I don’t want you to think of this place as a prison, no matter what my son or his team says.”
“Do you know how long they plan to keep me as a prisoner?”
“I really can’t say.”
I stared at her. Violet seemed like such an open, soft person, but she could be as unreadable as her son when she wanted to be. And right then, I couldn’t tell if Violet knew the answer to my question. Then again, the fact that Violet was being obtuse at all meant that she was hiding something from me, didn’t it?
“I want you to feel as at home as possible while you’re here,” Violet said. “So, you are free to use all of my home. There will be no locked rooms unless you decide to lock them yourself. Of course, the front and back doors and all of the windows will be locked, and you won’t ever be alone, but you’ll at least be able to use the restroom or cook or get a drink of water when the need arises without having to ask first.”
That actually sounded pretty nice—at least compared to how I was living in Night’s cabin. It was a bit of freedom, and it would surely make my escape so much easier.
“One other thing.” Violet pushed away from the table. “You sit tight for a moment. I’ll be right back.”
I thought I’d have a bit of time to myself to explore on my own, but Violet really was gone and back within just a few seconds. The older woman was much sprier than I had thought.
“I found you some clothes.” She held out a pair of jeans and a blue plaid blouse. “There are a few more clothes for you in the dressers and closet in your room.”
I left the pillow at the dining table to eagerly accept the clothes, and Violet let me use the restroom to change. It was amazing what having clothes that actually fit did for my mental state. I’d been on a rotation of Night’s baggy shirts and pants for days and had begun to think of myself as more of a clothes hanger than a woman.
Violet explained the finer details of the house, such as where the cleaning equipment, spices, and books were kept, before she led me through the back door. My eyes lit up as I saw the garden out back. It wasn’t as large as the one that Mom and I worked on, but it was around an acre of land with plenty of crops to work on and love.
But the excitement I felt was tinged with more pain. What would Mom have thought of the space, of the house? What would she have said?
“Bryn?” Violet came around to look into my face. “I’d hoped the garden would make you happy, but you seem so sad.”
“It reminds me of my mom,” I muttered, my eyes beginning to fill with tears. “It reminds me of the garden we tended. It was the only thing I really, truly enjoyed about living in the Kings’ pack. But now it’s…it’s hundreds of miles away.”
“Oh, honey.” Violet teared up a bit herself, which surprised me. She took my shoulders and gave me a smile. “I wanted to let you know that you’re free to work in the garden whenever you like. We really could use an extra pair of hands tending to the crops. Would you like that?”
I nodded. I would like that a lot. Working in the garden would not only be a wonderful way to pass the time, but it might also make it easier for me to escape.
Just as I had that thought, Violet said, “But there’s something else you should know.” She pointed to the tree line.
At first, I didn’t see anything. But as I continued to stare, I realized with a chill that there were two wolves hidden among the trees. They looked familiar, somehow.
“Those sentries will be around twenty-four-seven,” Violet explained. “They’ll let Night know when you’ve tried to escape, and Night will be able to catch you and bring you back within minutes.”
As Violet spoke, I remembered where I’d seen the wolves before. They were the ones I’d seen standing outside my window when I was first locked in Night’s cabin. No wonder they hadn’t helped me when they saw my window message.
“Anyway,” Violet went on, “it’s far, far better to let fate play its hand than to waste your energy trying to fight it.”
I had no idea what the hell that was supposed to mean, but there was something comforting about it. The words themselves were not reassuring, but Mom had often used vague, cryptic messages when she talked to me too. I tried to keep the tears at bay, but everything about Violet, the garden, and the cabin made me miss Mom so much it hurt to breathe.
“Let’s get you back inside, girlie,” Violet suggested, seeing my discomfort.
I went back into the house without a fight. I suddenly felt drained, both emotionally and physically—I had no energy left to think of a possible escape plan.
After I set my pillow on the bed, I helped Violet take care of the dishes from breakfast. We ate lunch together, and dinner, and finally, as the sky turned the rich, dark blue of night, we sat next to the fireplace. After the garden, the rest of the day had passed by without my having to pay much attention. I was still thinking of my mom.
Eventually, I felt something warm drape across my shoulders. I looked around in the firelight and found that Violet had covered me with a pink and blue knitted throw. Violet settled down at my side and offered a cup of hot lavender and chamomile tea. I accepted it and took a deep sip. To my surprise, Violet had sweetened it with honey. That bit of kindness was all it took to push me over the edge.
As I lowered the cup, tears filled my eyes and slipped down my cheeks. I hated being Night’s prisoner because it meant I wasn’t free, but had I ever known true freedom? In the Kings’ pack, I had been ignored, belittled, and underappreciated. I hadn’t known a day of peace living under the thumbs of the Terrible T’s and Troy. My home was never my home, but at least my mom had been there to take care of me when I was hurt or lonely or scared.
