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I smile, remembering our first encounter. Drugs and alcohol would definitely explain his arrogance, and now that he’s clean and sober, it also makes sense why his personality changed so much. He’s finally being his real self.
“Despite all that, I couldn’t stop thinking about you,” Garren says, then chuckles. “I’ll admit that those thoughts weren’t of the kindest variety, especially when I was ordered to clean all the toilets.”
“You deserved it,” I tell him, speaking up for the first time and participating in his speech.
“I really did,” he agrees, giving me a gentle smile that’s nothing like his usual infuriating and insufferable arrogant smirk. “You keep me balanced and in check. You bring out the best in me. If we ever get out of here, I would like only one thing.”
“What’s that?” I ask, then hold my breath as I wait for his reply.
“I want us to give this a try,” he says with a soft but sure voice. “I would like to give our bond the opportunity to form. If we get out of here, would you be willing to do that?”
I bite my lower lip, starting to realize the magnitude of what he’s asking of me. I’m literally more or less being offered the position of ruling by his side as his queen. This whole thing is incredible and quite frankly, impossible. In fact, it’s so crazy, that I’m starting to believe that I might be under some kind of a spell. Maybe I’m having my mind invaded right now and I don’t even know it.
Whatever it is, I like it, and I’m going to go with the flow. If it’s a mind invasion, the effects of it are a lot better than the pain and a headache.
“If we get out of here,” I echo, giving him my answer, while at the same time not wanting to forget our situation.
Garren’s face lights up, the edges of it softening to a degree that makes him look several years younger. During these last few weeks, his wolf successfully healed away the traces of his drug and alcohol abuse. His high cheekbones aren’t covered with the redness that accompanies the drinking and the bags under his eyes are smoothed into their flawless state, making it clear that he’s getting a good amount of sleep every night.
“Speaking of, we should come up with a plan,” Garren says, his brows furrowing as he looks at the unbreakable rope around his wrists. “Any ideas?”
“Actually, while you’ve been busy keeping the witches distracted, my wolf went to look for a way for me to tap into my abilities,” I explain, still missing her presence.
“Any luck?” Garren asks, but his face tells me he already knows the answer.
I’m about to shake my head to confirm his assumption when a wave of energy washes over me with sudden and intense force. My eyes widen at the sensation, and my lips slowly curl up when I realize what it means.
You’re welcome, my wolf says, riding the wave up to the surface.
I push down the joy and laughter that’s threatening to burst out of me. We’re already making enough noise, and I don’t need the witches to put their guard up or storm into our small prison.
Garren raises his eyebrow in question, understanding that something has happened, but he knows better than to ask and call attention to us. I give him a small nod, wordlessly answering all of his questions.
My eyes narrow in concentration, and I take a deep breath to calm myself down. Time’s running out, but I shouldn’t let it affect me. My focus needs to be strong and uninterrupted.
While transforming into my wolf shape would get me out of the chair, it would also cause too much commotion. My best bet is to cut through the unbreakable ropes as quietly as possible, then use the advantage of surprise when the witches return.
I have no trouble calling on the dark shadows around me, manipulating them with Umbrakinesis. The damp room is full of them because the witches have been overly confident with their spells, and they didn’t bother to try to extra bind us by setting up strong stadium-like lighting.
With some fairly simple manipulation techniques, I create a shadow knife. The level of sharpness depends on my skills, and considering that this isn’t my first shadow weapon, I’m quite confident that it will cut through the ropes. They might be unbreakable, as the name suggests, but they’re possible to cut through. I hope.
I briefly meet Garren’s eyes, and he grins. He looks more proud than impressed, which just shows me that he expected me to be able to do this and probably much more. Well, I didn’t become an Alpha for nothing.
Beads of sweat gather at the edge of my hairline. Shadow manipulations such as these would usually need even less than an ounce of my focus. I grew up playing with Umbrakinesis, and it comes to me as naturally as breathing. This time it’s different though.
My head still feels heavy from the spells the witches had put me under. While my wolf gave me a straight path to my ability, it’s the concentration that is causing me problems.
With deep, controlled breaths, I keep my heartbeat level. I have to be very careful, otherwise I might hurt myself by accident. The knife is sharp, and the ropes are tied up very tightly around my limbs.
“You can do this,” Garren says encouragingly in a low whisper.
Slowly and carefully, I bring the knife down to my right hand and then start moving it left and right.
“It’s working,” Garren tells me with a big smile on his face. I don’t dare to react, afraid that my focus will waver.
After several seconds, I successfully cut through the ropes. I allow myself a small smile before focusing on moving the knife to the other hand. I repeat the whole process, struggling to keep my concentration. It becomes harder when I’m down on my last foot, but I power through it.
“Done,” I say, pointing out the obvious when I get free.
