Castro’s parents finally admitted that they understood and that they would have done the same thing in my parents’ position.
My parents loved me above all else, and they only cared about keeping me safe. They felt Castro was a danger to their daughter—their princess.
After a long discussion, my father asked Castro’s parents to leave the pack and take Castro far away from me. My mother apologized profusely and held Castro’s mother as she sobbed. They had no choice, though. My father was the alpha, and his final decision was law. They couldn’t stay in Heather Falls, and they could never come back.
My memories of the night of the attack had been distorted, and I suddenly realized how the brain had a funny way of protecting a person from the trauma they’d experienced. Now I could see everything clearly, and it had me shaking down to my bones.
I tried to steady my breathing, but my teeth chattered as the truth came rushing back to me.
Ty held me close, his strong arms only bringing me a minuscule amount of comfort. There was a war raging in my mind as the past and present collided, leaving me to reconcile fact from fiction, true memories from reimagined scenarios.
“What’s wrong, Liza? Talk to me,” Ty asked.
I stared at the monster who stood only a few feet from me. “Ty, your father might have killed my pack, but he didn’t kill my parents because they were already dead when he got to them. Weren’t they, Castro?”
Ty stiffened and held me at arm’s length. “What are you talking about?”
Castro’s eyes narrowed on me. He no longer tried to hide his true personality, and his kind smile contorted into a sly grin that made the hair on the back of my neck rise.
Fear consumed me. Castro was a sick bastard, and there was no telling what he’d do to get what he wanted. In this case, he wanted me.
I clutched my chest, gasping for air. Another panic attack tried to pull me under. I closed my eyes, attempting to focus on my breathing and not allow Castro to dictate my emotions.
My true memories came to the surface, my wolf whining and whimpering. She tried to comfort me and calm down my racing heartbeat, but it was no use. It was as if I had just lost my parents all over again, and the grief threatened to consume me.
Ty squeezed my shoulders gently, pulling me out of my head. “Liza, whatareyou talking about? Please. Talk to me.”
My eyes burned with tears, though I wasn’t sure how I had enough water left in my body to cry anymore. “Castro came to my house covered in blood. He said his parents were dead. That bad men had gotten into the house and killed them. We could hear the noise coming from the other houses and smell the smoke in the air.”
I took a breath, trying to process the memories before I spoke them out loud. Thinking of them was one thing, but putting them out into the universe was another. I had to be sure that I was getting it right.
“My dad cursed and told Castro not to worry. He said our family would protect him, keep him safe. He told us to stay put while he handled the situation. I hid behind my mother’s legs while my father made a phone call. He said that the pack was being attacked and instructed his army to make a move immediately.” I looked up at Castro and forced myself to recallthe worst moment of my life. “I hadn’t seen it until it was too late. Castro had a gun. My mother had turned the corner, her eyes wide with panic. She asked my father what they needed to do because they had to keep me, their princess, safe... no matter the costs.”
I stopped talking, closing my eyes as I remembered that moment, the scene playing out in front of me like a movie.
“You all need to go to the boats. Wait for me there,” Dad instructed us from across the room, his face flushed with apprehension. “I’ll take care of everything. Don’t worry.”
But we wouldn’t make it to the boats. Not because the bad men had arrived at our front door, but because Castro had shot both of my parents.
I looked down and saw Mom on the floor, trying to cover her stomach wound as she bled out. “Run, Aliza!”
She wanted me to run from Castro, to run for my life. So, I did.
I ran. My heart broke, and fear consumed me, but I ran as fast as my short legs would carry me. Branches smacked me in the face as my tears distorted my vision. The screams of our dying pack members rang in my ears, and all I could see were my parents dying on the floor of our living room in the home that used to bring me such a sense of security.
It was the only home I ever knew, and I could never go back.
Instead, I ran for my life.
Glancing over my shoulder, I caught a glimpse of Castro as he closed the gap between us. He was much older and taller, so it didn’t take him long to catch up to me.
He grabbed my hand, holding it so tightly that I didn’t stand a chance of pulling away from him. We both ran, attempting to outrun the bad men who seemed hell bent on killing every person in Heather Falls.
Castro’s ankle didn’t break by accident. I saw an opportunity and I took it. Even at the age of four, I knew I couldn’t hesitate when an opportunity presented itself. I let my instincts guide me when I noticed a hole in the ground. With every ounce of energy in my tiny four-year-old body, I shoved him toward it. He stepped in and twisted his leg, immediately falling to the ground and crying out in agony.
He was so angry at me, cursing and yelling, “You are mine, Aliza! Come back!”
I ran, never looking back, as far as I could, finally hiding in the brush when my body gave out from sheer exhaustion.
