Nothings making sense at first. I'm laying on something, hard. My whole body hurts, and I'm sure my hip is out. I can't take anything more than short, shallow breaths, and they hurt like a bitch. I hope I haven't punctured a lung. But how did I get like this?
There's so much growling all around me that I can feel the earth beneath me shake and quiver.
“Faith, get up! Get up now!” in struggle at first, but I manage to open my eyes; a few moments later, the fuzzy, colourful blobs settle and come to settle.
My father is kneeling over me, and his hand is tapping my face. He stops when he sees me looking up at him. Relief washes over him.
“We need to get you out of here.” he slips his arms under my armpits and starts to lift. I can't walk because of my leg, so he has to do all the heavy lifting for me.
“What's going on?” It’s chaos.
Declans at the top of the stairs, I've never seen his wolf before, but I know it's him the same way I know that grass is green. His father and his uncle have also shifted. I knew their wolves well. We saw them in training all the time and before pack runs.
Decalns wolf is facing me, spittle is flying from his mouth as he barks and growls at me. His father and uncle are in front of him on either side and doing their best to shield me from Declan with their bodies. I have no doubt that if he's to get past them, then he will kill me. His ears were flat back against his head, and his eyes were feral.
“Faith, help!” my father snaps at me. He's panicking. I can feel his hands shake against my body as he drags me towards my room.
“I have mind linked your mother and the pack doctor. They're going to meet us in your room. We're going to set your leg. I know she's weak, but your wolf is going to have to heal you the rest of the way, and then you're going to have to run.” my father explains hurriedly.
Of course, I was. I was already prepared for this outcome. I didn't expect it to be quite like this'll be honest, but I knew that once I rejected him that Declan and I would never be able to co-exist in the same pack.
I wish I had put some actual planning into this, organised a place for myself to go or something. It's utterly idiotic of me not to think ahead.
Now, where was I going to go?
Just as we reached my room, the door swung open and smacked loudly into the wall. My mother was already in the doorway. Tears were streaming heavily down her face, and her hair was a mess. Eyeliner stained her cheeks, and there were streak marks in her foundation from all the tears. I have never seen my mother look less than ready before. Even first thing in the morning.
“What the hell happened?” she cried.
“I rejected him.” I managed to choke out.
Immediately she rushed towards and helped my father carry me the rest of the way. Just as they lay me on my bed, Luna Cassidy and Doctor Charles barged into the room.
Great, who told Luna Cassidy to come?
I don't hold any ill will towards my Luna, she has been kind to me, but with everything that's happened between Declan and myself, there was a level of fear there now.
“Mom.” I whimper. I hope she gets the hint and asks Luna to leave. How could I be open with them, with her here? We needed to plan my escape, and we needed to plan it now. One look at my father, and I could tell he was thinking and feeling the same thing as I was.
“I’m right here, baby, I’m right here.” her hands encircle mine, and she rests them against her chest.
“I'm sorry.” I'm not sure what I'm apologising for. It was the right move to reject Declan. I guess I was sorry for all the heartache it was going to cause our family. My parents have worked hard for their position in this pack. I hope this won't change any of that. It's not like it killed Declan.
“What happened?” she took big deep breaths as she tried to calm herself. Luna Cassidy moved in closer, nosey much.
“Could I speak to my parents alone, please.” it was risky asking her. It would probably give her the idea that I was planning on running. I mean, I totally was, but I didn’t want her clued on, but if I didn’t, how could I speak privately with my parents?
“Oh, I don’t.” she tried shutting me down immediately, but Dr Charles saved me.
“Actually, Faith, I’m going to have to your pants off to reset your joint here.” he indicated to my leg, so I was right. It had popped the socket. “Luna Cassidy, with all due respect, if Faith is uncomfortable being on display like that, I will have to ask you to leave. You can see the patient once I’m done.”
Her lips were pressed and thin, and her smile was fake, but she smiled non less, “Of course, Doctor Charles.”
I didn’t miss the glare she shot me as she left the room, but my parents did. It wasn’t my fault her son was a crazy psychopath.
The door clicked shut behind her, and I finally relaxed. Good, she was gone.
“Mom.” I squeezed her hands. “I have to go.” I rushed out.
“What happened? I thought you were going to try and talk it out?” She shook her head in disbelief. “I was hoping.”
My father cut her off. He was a man of business. He knew there was no fixing this, and talking it out certainly wasn’t going to help. I was here on borrowed time now.
“Your mom told me what happened after you left her outside the packhouse. I had a feeling things would go this way. I rang my sister Amy. She's agreed to take you in.” a tear slipped from his eye. “We can't get you across the border, things are only going to get worse here, and we will be doing everything we can here to keep anyone from following you.”
To keep Declan from following me, I knew what he meant.
“Your uncle Amelio will meet you somewhere along the way. He's preparing to leave already.” At least I was going to rogue.
“Once you get across the border, denounce the pack.” He wanted me to do what?
“Stop worrying and listen to me. I have a plan.” He stares straight into my eyes. I love him. How did I treat him badly these past few days? I was letting this thing with Declan change me.
“Once you get across the border, cut ties with the pack. They will have a harder time tracking you. If you have a pack, you have ties. If you have ties, you can be followed.” He explained. That made sense, I guess. I’m so glad they were here for this. I wouldn’t know how to do any of this on my own.
“Once you get to Amy’s, her Alpha will have you swear your allegiance because you would have already broken the bond here. He won’t need Alpha Jackson’s approval to initiate you.”
Dad stared down at Doctor Charles like you wouldn’t believe. I was almost afraid for him at this point.
“The only people who know where you’ll be are in this room. I’ll kill anyone who gives you away.” I was shocked by the threat.
“I’ll take it to my grave, beta.” Dr Charles places his enclosed fist over his heart, a pledge to my father. I wonder why he would keep my secret for me, but I am in no position to question him.
“There’s a backpack out our tree just passed the border.” I knew exactly what tree he was talking about. We lived in a safe area, so we crossed the border often just to explore and sometimes we would get lost. Dad marked up one particular tree with his claws from the base to as high as we could reach. It was a meeting point. Find the tree. Wait to be found.
“It’s got food, a spare change of clothes, and enough money to get you by until you get to Amy’s house. I’ll take care of the rest from there.” Wow. This was a lot to take in.
“Got it.”
Dr Charles polity shoved my father out of the way so he could get close.
“I managed to clean up the rest of your wounds while you and your father were talking, but your hips are starting to heal now, and it’s not in place. I can’t put it off any longer.” I can tell by the pitying look on his face that this will hurt like a bitch.
“Okay.” I nod. I was lost for words. This was all becoming too much.
“Beta Mitchell, can you move to Faith's head, please? I’ll need you to hold down her shoulders. She’ll try and fight this, so I need you not to let her do that, okay?”
With a sickening crack, my leg was back in place. They moved so quickly that I didn’t even realise they were about to do it. I guess that was better. It didn’t give me a chance to be afraid then, but dang, some more warning would have been nice.
“I’m going to give you this.” Dr Charles holds up a large needle with a metallic purple liquid inside.
What the hell was that?
“It’s for your wolf. She needs all the extra strength she can get right now.” Before I could argue, he jabbed the needle into my thigh and emptied the liquid.
“What the hell was that?” I exclaim as I try to jerk away.
It didn’t take long to feel the effects of the purple liquid. I don’t know what the hell was in that syringe, but whatever it was, it was working.
“What was that? I have never seen or heard of anything like it before.”
“It’s sort of like adrenaline for your wolf. It won’t make her better, but it will give her the boost she needs to get away until she can recover. You should already feel the effects of it working.”
The sudden shouting drowned out the sound of Dr Charles in the hall. I could make out each of the Alpha family's voices and a few others. There was so much shouting it was impossible to tell what was being said or by whom.
We need to get out of here. We need to get out now. Sapphire shouts. If I weren’t so panicked, I might feel relieved to feel her come back.
“We're out of time.” My mother cried.