Alpha Gabriel's Redemption

The wolf.

Feyre.

It’s late at night when I escape my room. I walk carefully down the stairs, avoiding the weak spots in the floor that create a groaning sound whenever weight is put on it. The house is dark and quiet – it has been that way since the hasty dinner earlier, with all the hunters leaving immediately after and Father retreating to his study. Becky and Grace had retired to their rooms, the sound of soap operas and reality shows drifting from their rooms. Silence had finally descended an hour ago but knowing the late hours Grace kept glued to her cell phone, I’d taken extra precaution and waited for a while till I was sure she’ll be asleep.

I walk past the kitchen and remember that although I’d cleared the table and kept the dishes away, I’d forgotten to wipe down the table and put the chairs back in their places, my mind had been too preoccupied with the details of my escape plan to deal with that then. I’m pressed to rush back to the kitchen to complete that chore but steel myself against it. Becky and Grace, and even Father, had made me a slave to do their bidding in this home and were about to make sure I do the same thing in Franco’s house – if not worse.

I quietly unlock the back door and push it open gently, swiftly sliding out and closing the door with a soft thud that sounds too loud. I make my way around the house till I stop in front of the shed. The backpack I carried with me drops to the floor noiselessly and I squat, rummaging through the contents I’d stuffed inside till I take out the wad of sticky notes, the top paper having the code to the shed. Becky had written it down for me when she first got here years ago so she wouldn’t have to continually help with the work she’d given me. I hadn’t known the code to some of the rooms in the house, to the cars space, the shed and Becky needed to be able to send me on errands to these places without me saying anything back to her.

It turns out to be in my favor because I now type in the seven digit code and hear the soft click of the mechanisms sliding into place. I pull a flashlight out of my backpack and push the door open, immediately rushing for the spot that swords and axes are kept. I lift an axe, my arm going limp at the weight and the axe falls from my hand, making a sharp clang on the floor. Hissing, I rush to the door of the shed and shut it close, turning off my flashlight and staying still for a couple of minutes, my eyes trained outside the window to the main house to ensure that no one awakens by the sound.

I relax when after a while, the house is till shrouded in darkness. I turn on the flash again and pick up the axe again, this time expecting the weight and grounding myself. I rush out of the shed, locking the doors and half dragging, half lifting the axe to the backyard, to the wolf.

It’s eerily silent when I get to the hedge of brambles and I wonder if the wolf had somehow gotten itself free and escaped. I don’t expect the sharp pang of hurt that comes with that thought especially as I was here to free it and let it go myself. Frowning, I point the flashlight into the thicket, my eyes quickly adjusting to the now well lit area and immediately sighting the wolf, who stares back at me with those solemn grey eyes. I don’t hesitate in doing what I have to do next – putting all of my strength into it, I lift the axe overhead and bring it swinging down on the thorny vines that hold the wolf hostage, hoping I don’t harm it in the process. The vines fall off easily and I frown when I see that it wasn’t the real thing holding the wolf back from escaping since. A trap had been laid out for it and it now gripped the wolf’s ankle with its teeth.

I let out a little sob and crawl forward, putting all of my energy into prying the machination open. When I’ve gotten a little c***k open, I push the handle of the axe through to hold it open and begin to gently pry the wolf’s leg out. It lets out a grunt and its ear twitches. I barely have time to understand what’s happening when I hear a scream come from behind me, the wolf scampering back into the thicket.

“What the hell are you doing, Feyre? Oh My God, get away from there.” I turn slowly to see Becky glowering from her spot by the door, one hand gripping the door frame and the other holding her night robe closed. I scramble to my feet, hurriedly walking towards her, thinking that I might be able to placate her and get her to lower her voice before father came down to see what the whole hubbub was about. But before I can reach her, she turns on her heels and flees inside, yelling for my father.

“Alistair! My God, Alistair, get down here quickly.” My whole plan crashes down before my eyes and I stay rooted in my spot till father comes down, not knowing how many minutes has passed or what has become of the wolf, if it had freed itself. Judging from the hateful glare father throws behind my back, I can tell that the wolf is still there.

“Call the other hunters, Grace.” It’s then that I notice Grace standing behind Becky, a worried expression on her face. She jumps at father’s command and runs into the house. Father looks at me for a long while and in a couple of strides, has seized my arm, pulling me into him till I can see his veins standing out on his forehead. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Feyre. Helping a vermin instead of killing it. You shame me.” He pushes me to the floor and my hands come out in front of me to break my fall, the skin scraping against the stones beneath the grass.

“You help this thing when all they do is kill? Do you know what could’ve happened if Becky hadn’t found out sooner? You think you’ve made a pet? You think you wouldn’t be gobbled up the first chance it gets? You stupid girl.” He’d bent down during his tirade and at the end of it, smacks me hard across the face. His nails catch on the skin around my eye and I feel that area smart.

I’m still laying on the floor, sobbing and listening to father’s yells when voices fill the backyard and I look up, shocked that the hunters had arrived so soon. “Bring out that beast.” Father says and I watch in horror as Scott grins eagerly, taking a step forward.

“Stop it!” I yell, pushing up till I’m kneeling in front of Scott, my hands wrapped around his calves. Scott shakes me off and when I don’t peel myself off from him, slaps me hard across the face. My head snaps back and I loose my vision for a while, Scotts blow stupefying me. I slow regain my vision and watch in horror as Scott and another hunter drag the wolf out, tearing the trap off the wolf’s leg and leaving an ugly gash.

I sob uncontrollably as it lets out a pained howl. I make to stand, but father smacks me hard across the face again and I kiss the earth once more. Something shocking happens then. I don’t know if it’s because of the numerous blows I’ve taken to the head or because I’m desperately willing for something to occur in my favor, but I swear that the wolf just morphed into a man. A beautiful man.