The War Goddess with Her Triplet Mates

Chapter 6 Running Away

Soraya's POV

PRESENT TIME

As the memories of the seemingly perfect childhood I'd had with Luna Vivienne and her family filled my head, my heart broke a little more. Getting adopted by the Luna was a turning point in my life. It was the point where things began to get better, where I felt like I finally had people who loved and cared about me.

But I was wrong. I had been wrong about them from the very beginning. It was all a big, fat lie.

The tears in my eyes welled up to the point where I could not see a thing. The sobs broke out of me painfully, reaching every nerve in my body. I thought I knew what pain and heartbreak felt like, but this was the height of it. I could not breathe. It felt like my heart was being torn in half with every pa*s ing second.

I shut my eyes tightly, trying to process all of it. For a second I wondered if I'd heard Alpha Michaelson wrong.

Yes, I must have misheard him. Maybe they knew I was hiding out here and he was just trying to hurt my feelings. There had to be a reasonable explanation for this. Luna Vivienne could never betray me like this. I knew her, I know I did.

Tears of denial split down my face. Maybe my mind was playing tricks on me. Just maybe.

But I knew it was no trick, everything I heard was the truth. They had played me, every single one of them. I had taken Ryder and Alpha Michaelson as my family, that's how much they meant to me. They were everything I had, and never had there been an ounce of pretence. But it was a different story with them. To them I was just an a*s et, and putting up with me was their price to pay for the end results they desired.

The more I thought about it, the more absurd it sounded. All the good times we spent together was just part of a routine they hated. Again, my eyes stung with tears. What was it about me that made everyone hate me? I wondered. What exactly was it?

I paced aimlessly around the room, my head spinning with thoughts. I felt like I was going crazy. At the same time I felt completely overwhelmed, nauseous and too teary to do anything. Every now and again I would shake my head vigorously as if to push out the bad thoughts and wake up from this nightmare. But it only continued to sink in more and more.

Maybe if it was just the Alpha, it might have been easier to deal with. Perhaps it would not have been so painful. But, Luna Vivienne? My heart felt like it was being ripped out of my chest. She was like a mother to me. She was there for me when no one else was. She comforted me, made me feel like I was worthy enough to exist. She helped me through the darkest times of my life. My brain could not place that Luna Vivienne with the one I was hearing about now.

How could she? It was scary to think that she could switch up when she was with me but then go back to hating me when I wasn't there.

How could it all have been a facade? All the warm hugs she gave me, all the times she wiped my tears and held my hand when I was scared. All the love and affection she showed. It was because of Luna Vivienne that I was able to live through my father's hatred for me. I remember thinking to myself almost everyday how grateful I was to have her; even if my father didn't love me, Luna Vivienne did. And now I was finding out that she hated me the whole time. She was no different from my father, only better at hiding it.

I felt played, stupid. I was just a pawn in their pursuit of power. A tool that they only tolerated for the sake of their cause.

I felt my knees give way at that moment, but I did not let myself get to the ground. I fled Ryder's room, tears streaming down my face, and I ran. I ran until my chest began to hurt, but not once did I stop. I didn't know why I was running, or where my destination was, but I just needed to get away. I wanted to get away from everything, from the d*mning reality of my childhood. It was all too much for me.

I was running so fast and not even watching where I was going that I lost my footing and slipped on a flight of stairs. I landed hard on the floor, putting all the weight on my ankle. It sent a sharp pain shooting up my leg, but I still did not stop running. The physical pain was nothing compared to the growing hole in my chest. My wolf, distraught, was crying out in agony, but I tried to block her out. Every time I tripped and fell, I would take the pain, hoping it would silence my wolf's cry.

I did not know how long I was running for, but soon, I saw the clouds darken. The sky had become gloomy and overcast in darkness, and before I knew it, I heard the rumbling sound of a lightning strike in the distance. Then came the rain. It poured down in large heavy drops that slapped against my face like a razor-sharp blade. For the first time since I started running, I paused. It was as if the pain in my legs from falling so many times immediately manifested, and I nearly fell to the floor in agony. But I pushed that out of my mind.

I was standing in the pouring rain teary-eyed and with a shattered heart. I had no idea what I was supposed to do now. I had no one now. For the first time in my life, I was completely on my own.

"Where do we go now?" I heard Paige whimper. Her voice was small and broken, and I could tell that she was sharing in my pain. "We don't know of anywhere else where we are wanted."

Her words broke me because they were true. I stood wordlessly for a while, trying to think of all the options I had right now; there were not many, seeing as I had not known anywhere else apart from Lockheart pack.

"I don't know, Paige. But one thing I'm certain of is that we are not going back there. I can't bear to face Ryder or Alpha Michaelson after this. Never again."

Fresh tears filled my eyes as I spoke. There was nothing left for me there, so what was the point in going back? The one thing that had held me back was the love I had for their family, and ever since the death of Luna Vivienne, I could not part with the core memories we made in that mansion. But all of that had been obliterated to nothing.

I let out a steady breath, trying to calm myself down. I had to make a decision one way or another, and the first step would be leaving the Lockheart territory for good. I could not let this break me to the point where I would be stuck and stagnant.

With a newfound determination, I looked at the borderline in the distance. As soon as I crossed it, I would leave the Lockheart territory forever.

"There's always a place for us to stay, Paige," I told my wolf. "We'll make a way. We just have to leave first."

She agreed, and slowly, I began to take quick steps towards the border. I weaved my way through the thick trees in the wilderness, deciding to put off my worrying till I crossed.

I had not even gotten very far when I heard a sudden movement close by. I froze, high on alert, and I listened. I could hear the thumping, as though a group of people were racing towards me.

I heard Paige growl lightly within me. "Be careful, Raya. I can sense a powerful surge of malice. Something is coming, something dangerous."

My senses were already heightened, and I carefully observed my surroundings warily. Just as I turned in the direction of the trees, the stench hit my nose, making me grimace in disgust. I knew that stench anywhere; the foul rotting odour of rogues' bodies. And I could tell that it wasn't just one rogue. There was a whole group of them.

"Brace yourself," I heard Paige whisper, and I immediately knew what was coming next. A sharp pain tore through me as Paige surged within me fully. The familiar sound of my bones cracking rented the air as I shape-shifted. I noticed that I was beginning to shape-shift more quickly, and it didn't feel quite as painful as it did the first time.

But I had not time to ask Paige about it. Danger was imminent, and I could feel it in my bones. It had become eerily quiet, but I still stood at the ready, carefully watching.

And then, chaos ensued.

It happened so fast that if I hadn't been vigilant from the start, I would have missed it. A large rogue suddenly sprang out of the woods to my left, letting out a deadly snarl. It was huge, bigger than any wolf I had ever seen, and it was mangled in shape, covered in dirty grey fur that was leaking with so much moisture that it stood like spikes. I had never seen anything so ugly in my life, I could barely look past its rabid eyes and the thick saliva leaking from its mouth.

Before I could register what was happening, I saw the rogue extend its sharp claws thickly covered in blood and mucus, and it lunged at me. Going right for my throat.