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"Yeah, I'm okay, really." I wave him off for both of our sake and stand on my own. My knees sting, but it's nothing that's going to slow me down. I didn't come this far in a fishy trash bin to be stopped by a few scrapes.
He nods, carefully stepping back to give me space. "Well, glad I could help. You'll be safe from here?"
"Yeah." I can't bring myself to say more than that. Eddie isn't exactly up to date with pack news, which made him the perfect person to help me escape. All I had to do was mention I was held against my will, and he was happy to help free me. He might be the only wolf in this pack who doesn't realize their Alpha is the one that's been keeping me here.
Everyone else certainly seems to know, none of the other men in the kitchen would even look me in the eyes. I only happened upon Eddie because I was searching for a backdoor through the kitchen.
The fates are on my side for once.
"Thank you for your help," I tell Eddie, already scanning our surroundings to make sure no one else is within view. He gives a salute and flips the trash bin's lid closed. As he turns back to the pack clinic, he starts to whistle again, none the wiser that the person he's just saved me from is Dominic.
I hope like hell Dominic doesn’t find out. But I also don't intend to stick around to find out.
Adrenaline floods through my veins as I step behind the dumpster and shed the new clothes—I'm not quite as upset about it now that they smell like cheap cod. I go to stuff them in the dumpster, then think better of it. Someone could find them easily there if they suspect I've ditched them. And if they do find them in this dumpster, they'll have a pretty good idea of which direction I ran.
Instead, I kneel, wincing as my knees dig into the concrete again, sans pants this time. I shove the clothes behind the wheel of the dumpster, just out of obvious view so that someone isn't likely to stumble upon them until after I'm a decent distance away.
You're going to be in danger out there.My wolf resists shifting, a first for me, though I've heard of it happening to others.
It's no more dangerous out there than it is to stay here, I argue.
The longer I stay here, the more likely Dominic winds up snapping when he realizes I intend to hold my ground. At least out there, I have the option to run. Dominic has made it clear he'll do anything to stop that from happening as long as he thinks he has a claim to me.
"Shift," I growl at myself.
Something weird kicks up in the air around me as I walk into the woods on two legs. I can feel the two parts of myself battling it out inside of me, and for some reason, it feels bigger than me. As if that energy is working itself into the outside, clogging up the air around me.
I don't know how to decipher whether there's a real warning here or if it's just a trick of my own mind, my wolf desperate to stay even after I offered Dominic my rejection.
I'm strong-willed enough that even though it takes longer than usual, I manage to set my limbs to shifting. I close my eyes so I don't have to watch as the transition becomes grotesque, fur sprouting from my arms before they've fully become my front legs.
You have to shift, I tell my wolf firmly. And finally, she does.
Once I can tell I've properly shifted, I open my eyes and test everything carefully, making sure the awkward shift and days in a hospital bed haven't affected my ability to run. I need my speed right now—it's one of the few upper hands I have.
I feel surprisingly light on my feet despite everything that's happened. Satisfied with that, I take off at a sprint, careful to check my speed so that I'm moving fast, but not so fast that I lose track of what's going on around me.
That's the mistake I made before.
I follow the straight path of trees toward the sound of the highway, just like Eddie said. It's an easy run, especially since it seems no one has realized that I'm running yet. I half-expected Dominic's pack to appear out of nowhere to run me back to him again.
In no time, I break through the trees in view of the highway. Cars slow as people notice me, fingers pointing through the glass. It isn't a first for me, but it isn't often that shifters go in plain view of humans in broad daylight.
A wolf in an otherwise developed area brings a lot of unnecessary attention. Unfortunately, I haven't been left much choice.
I wait until there's a break in traffic to dart across the highway itself, ignoring the cars that slow hoping to get a better look. I'm sure there will be pictures, so I mentally think through the need to change direction.
It won't be hard for Dominic to find out which way I started out if he happens to search online and stumble upon any of these pictures. I have all the neighborhood apps and city social media groups to thank for that. And since that's a very real fear, I run straight ahead, but turn abruptly the second I'm once again covered by the foliage.
Anyone trying to track me would expect me to run as far from the highway as possible right from the start. I can only hope that trackers won't come until the scent I'm leaving behind is too faint to follow. If so, there's no way they'll guess I turned and ran perpendicular to the highway.
I let the sound of traffic lull me into the closest thing I've had to a sense of calm since I looked at my family painting at the Luna Sovereign's house. My paws carefully pick through the undergrowth, a comfortable burn in my chest as I pick up speed.
For a short time, I feel the freedom I was looking for.
And then I hear spirits whispering on the wind, "War is coming, Luna."
They're the same words I heard from the hospital bed, only this time they're coupled with a feeling like I'm not alone. I slow, trying to get my bearings.
