Her Rejection's Revenge

CHAPTER TWELVE: ON THE RUN

“Zelda!” Isaac shouted as he waited for me to jump for I was hanging again on the edge of the window, about to take the decision of my life. “What the hell are you waiting for woman?” he cried out from the ground. “Jump!”

What indeed was I waiting for? I knew, despite all that had happened, I knew that I was still waiting for that damned man to exhibit some sort of repentance. That man had plundered my body for three years while being in love with my best friend behind my back. He’d set me up in a way that I was never going to be able to defend myself. He’d rejected me and ousted me from my own home.

How could he not feel anything? How could he hate me so much that I was not even worthy of his pity?

“Zelda, come on!” the voice sounded more urgent as footsteps were approaching. I didn’t have much time. Perched on the edge of the window for several seconds seemed like a lifetime with the time frozen as I stared into the frigid icy clits. No emotion whatsoever.

When Braxton moved towards me, I didn’t hesitate. I jumped to join Isaac at the bottom of the tree, and he grabbed my hand in desperate urgency. “You’re insane! Come on,” he tugged my hand forcefully. “Let’s go!”

I had no choice really as he practically grabbed my hand as some of the Alpha’s guards followed us closely. It was late in the night, but the full moon gave us enough light to manage our escape. We crossed the Thain Family Forest to get on Crotona Avenue, but at such an odd hou, there was no sign of life.

I knew Isaac could shift to his wolf, and the fact that I couldn’t was only slowing him down. “Run!” I shouted as I sprinted beside him, my flimsy bones protesting violently at the strenuous exercise.

“I cannot leave you here,” he protested, matching my slow pace and I increased my laps to make us go faster. The guards were gaining grounds on us, and we were about to reach the Crotona park. There was no alternative way, and if we went through the Tennis Center, we were doomed.

“Come on! We can make it!” Isaac said like he was reading my mind. I didn’t know his intentions, but I turned to catch the guards still on our trails, the only positive thing was that they hadn’t shifted to their wolves forms yet. If they did, as they were far more superior then us in ranks, they would outrun us in seconds.

There was no way we were going to make it to Brooklyn where the other rogues would be able to help us. I threw a desperate look as Isaac as my steps grew slower, and I started to falter. I was only human and running so many miles was impossible for my pathetic self.

Then, something happened. Isaac transformed into his wolf, and I was sure that he was going to leave me behind to save his a**. It was what anyone else would have done anyway. I turned to face my fate.

“Wooooah!!!” I shouted as I felt the earth move under my feet, and my vision rotating into an odd angle. Isaac’s wolf was carrying me in his mouth, and I clung to its big neck in sheer desperation.

Earlier, I had been too engrossed in Braxton’s reaction that I hadn’t given myself the time to feel afraid. Now, as I was snuggled against the big animal’s fur, I closed my eyes in silent plea to the Moon Goddess. If only she would help us!

Living in the urban life, I had never been a great believer of the Moon deity before, but now I was desperately calling out for her in my heart. As we crossed some bridge, I could no longer recognize the area which meant that we’ve left West Bronx long behind.

Blinking in the dark, I tried to check whether the Ocean Howl pack members were still on our trail, but I could discern neither their voices nor their scents. But then I had lost my wolf, so maybe my judgement wasn’t so reliable. I didn’t say anything until we reached another park that air started to travel into my lungs.

“I think we’re safe,” I muttered to the wolf, my arms were clinging to the large furry neck now, feeling comfort in the warmth. My hands caressed the velvety hair as I tried to offer some kind of solace in return of his heroic rescue.

I felt my body being gently placed on something wet and when my eyes opened, Isaac was standing in front of me stark naked. Although I was used to seeing Braxton and the rest of the pack members all the time in their natural state, I blushed violently at his nudity. He was a fine specimen, but I looked away.

Romance or s*x no longer interested me. I was too raw to be attracted to anyone in that way again. Come to think of it, I would never be ready to gift a piece of my soul to anyone ever again.

“Are you okay?” Isaac panted breathlessly, his hands on his hips as he took the moment to compose himself. I nodded vigorously to assure him of my health. I was no longer terrified now that we’d lost tack of Brax’s hounds. So, I took the opportunity to glance around us.

We were surrounded by trees again, but there was no sense of a soul from miles. Yet, I found myself asking. “Have we lost them?” I didn’t trust my wolf sense at the moment, since Itzel was a no show.

“I cannot smell them. But they would be catching up on us soon. We need to make it to the Rogues club. We’ll be safe there as no Alpha would attack on rogues voluntarily. Especially not your Alpha since it would draw attention to his wonderful decoy world.”

“He’s not my Alpha anymore,” I protested more vehemently than I was supposed to. Then, I caught myself just in time. Why was I venting my anger on Isaac anyway? He’d just saved me from a terrible fate, and I couldn’t blame him anymore. “I mean,” I sighed in a resigned manner. “he’s ousted me from the pack, remember?”

Isaac nodded briskly. “Hard to forget. How are you faring?”

In truth, the pain was still blinding, and I was still smarting from a horrendous headache which refused to subside. I had the feeling that if I stopped and allowed the agony a passage in, I would not be able to sustain it.

“I’m okay,” I lied, wincing as my shoulders gave me hell with another fresh bout of agony slashing through my bones. “We need to keep going,” I said bristly, not willing to linger with my plight.

Isaac responded with a nod, and we went on our way, with me struggling to keep up with his rapid strides as I fought against the fatigue combined with the pain. It was definitely not a given and after a few minutes, my legs were dragging along with the little energy I had left.

“Do you want me to carry you?” Isaac asked for the fifth time, and I grew even more irritated with him.

“Why can’t you tell me who paid you? I’m sure you know more than you’re letting on?” I asked again with a sharp tsk. We both stopped which allowed me the advantage to catch my breath.

“You look ashen,” he commented suavely, walking towards me to lift me up, but I stubbornly took a few steps back.

“No!” I objected robustly. “I want to know who bribed you to attack Alpha Braxton. If someone is after him, then I could warn him of the imminent danger and find a way back to the pack out of gratitude.”

That made him gasp in stupefaction. “You really want that? Zelda, they humiliated you in front of the whole community and nobody said a word. Why would you want to go back to the ones who betrayed you?”

I understood his consternation – he was a rogue who would not understand the ignominy of being outcasted from one’s family. “How would you feel if your family calls you back? If your Alpha decides to punish you for whatever crime you’d been unjustly accused of?”

He sighed, so tellingly that alarms pricked my skin.

“What?”

I watched the Adam’s apple bob up and down, and a dark sense of foreboding overcame me. Was there more?

“What?!” I repeated in a more assertive voice, but it sounded more desperate than autocratic. “What are you not telling me Isaac?”

He sighed defeatedly, took my hands and urged me to walk. “It’s not a completely true story,” he started when I resisted his pull. As soon as the truth started to spill, I allowed him to tag me along as he told his story. The true one this time. Hopefully.

“Your Alpha rejecting you, you mean?” I asked suspiciously. “Were you a beta?”

“I was. When I failed to protect my Alpha, he outranked me. Made me a hunter instead. I was enraged. Several generations of my ancestors have been loyal betas and one mistake…” His hand pressed the bridge of his nose, an action explicitly displaying his regret as we continued our journey on a more slackened pace.

“I was too blind with rage to see reason. My fiancée left me a few weeks after my demotion, and I lost it. I vowed to avenge my humiliation, and I tried to murder the Alpha.” He grimaced with self-reproach, and his white teeth gleamed under the moonlight.

“An unpardonable act it would seem,” he added wryly. “That was why I was ousted from my pack. When the new beta saved the Alpha, I was brought to trial, and almost everyone voted to throw me out. I was the ultimate villain, and I said nothing in my defense.”

A sense of déjà-vu washed over me. That was exactly what had happened to me. Was it all…?

“Yes,” he answered my unspoken question, making me stagger as another bout of pain gabbed me. Isaac had also been part of the plan to defame me? Our stories were too similar for it to be a coincidence. They must have concocted it together.

“Who?” I croaked, knowing deep down who were the culprits but still wanting to hear it from his mouth. “Who paid you to lie about your story? To give the idea to outcast me in such an innocent manner? To use the opportunity to kick me out from my own home? To use all ammunitions to humiliate and reject me like an overused doormat?” Who did this, Isaac?”

I wasn’t aware of the tears this time. They streamed unchecked over my cheeks, and I just stared at the rogue in a desperate plea for him to spare me that last meltdown. If ever what I was suspecting turned out to be true, there would be no hope for me.

Before he could say anything, I cried out in shock when his body surged forward in a violent shudder towards me. I held him against me, preventing him from slumping to the ground but his body weight was much heavier than mine.

When he fell to the ground, I found an arrow pierced right in the middle of his large back, and my eyes flew in the direction of the oncoming blow to see a group of werewolves approaching us.

Braxton and his hounds had caught up with us.

“Isaac?” I cried out helplessly. “Isaac, can you hear me?” I begged, dragging her large body across the road as I was still running. There was blood smeared everywhere on the pavement and I could not care less. My only objective was to get both of us out of there safely. Given the speed with which the troupe was approaching, escaping did not seem possible.

“You see that red door over there,” Isaac pointed towards the street corner, his teeth rattling with the effort. Despite the fact that from that angle, I could see no door, I nodded avidly with more tears spilling from my eyes. I attempted to block the blood from spilling, but it was futile, Isaac had been shot right in the chest piercing through his heart. “That the rogue’s club. You go in there and look for Everett Becker. You tell him that Isaac sent you. He will protect you. Now go!” he urged.

I shook my head adamantly. I could not leave him behind to die. Not for me.

“Zelda!” He shook me violently despite the fact that he was nearly dying. “Braxton is the one who paid me to attack his own father. He will not think twice before eliminating you. Everything was a set-up, and he does not have any feelings for you. If you want to avenge yourself, look for Everett Becker. He will find the protection of a more powerful Alpha to help you fight that asshole.”