The Luna's Escape

Chapter 10 - An Escape II of II

Jasmine

I was virtually pressed to the SUV’s window like a child, experiencing one small, peaceful segment of the outside world in over four years. The pockets of lakes, ponds and coppices of short trees throughout the small city gave the feeling of a rural community in the wilds; it was no surprise that it grew into a popular ecotourism destination. The colourful wood-slatted homes and storefronts whirled on by, passing slower as the driver pulled up to park.

A female warrior opened my door, the tinted window giving way to the full brightness of a midday sun and the chilly gust of a spring breeze. Plenty of people hurried past, mostly the hiker types with backpacks, thick hats, coats and phones out following their maps. I took note of what they wore, as these people could soon be my cover.

“What first, Luna?” the warrior from the passenger seat asked, slamming his door shut. The other seven crowded around me, all awaiting my decision.

“Umm, how about I buy us all something warm to drink?” I flicked my gaze to the cafe two buildings down. “Tea, coffee?”

There was a rush of offers to do it for me, to carry everything and even buy the whole order. It was obvious they had instructions that I wasn’t to lift a finger. Trying to slip away undetected was going to be trickier than I envisioned, and I hadn’t envisioned it going smoothly at all. A prickle of guilt pinched the nape of my neck and unsettled my stomach as I conceded to three warriors who insisted they go, and even more so when they came back with my chai tea and a blueberry muffin. What would happen to each of them if I were successful?

I sipped my tea and bit into my muffin, deducing where I wanted to start. I couldn’t just run at the first store, as my guards would be on edge looking for potential threats. Perhaps they would relax the longer I went without incident?

The clock tower of the small city’s community hall chimed as it struck the hour. I glanced at the distant clock face partially hidden by a taller tree, realising I only had thirty minutes until the first bus I had a ticket for, which was not looking hopeful. I had memorised each of the three tickets on the ride home with Rafe yesterday, as well as the time it took from the main street to the station. The stand number, time of departure, bus number, destination of each bus, every turn of the street to the station were burnt into my memory without the need to double-check. I couldn’t risk being caught on account of my poor preparation.

The next ticket was for the early afternoon bus to Anchorage, which left in under two hours at one forty. My last chance ticket was for Fairbanks at four p.m., leaving me with more time than I knew what to do with.

Throwing my empty wrapper and cup in the nearest recycling bin, I put my nervous plan into action, finding my pulse racing with force as the minutes ticked by. I started with a simple walk around to ‘stretch my legs’ and orientate my surroundings. From the main street, the bus terminal was roughly a fifteen-minute walk – less if I hurried. What I needed was my guards to not hover over my shoulder at every given second; I was drawing attention from around.

“Can I go inside alone?” I peered through the window of a furniture store specialising in handmade items. Between the side glances and twitching facial expressions, my guards were mind-linking and the answer wasn’t going to be in my favour. “Please? Having a crowd around me is making me stand out. Wouldn’t it be safer for me to blend in? And the storefronts are all glass. You can see me from anywhere and even hear me from inside, right?”

Time was running out. An hour was all I had left to persuade them to let me go alone because the next store sold clothing and had changing rooms, which was my best bet to put my escape into action.

Precious seconds ticked by, each spanning a lifetime when only five had passed before a wolf male finally spoke, “Okay, Luna, but only if you make sure to message all of us if you have to go anywhere out of sight. Bathroom, changing room; whatever it is, let us know.”

“I will.” I took out my phone from my back pocket, clutching it to my chest to show I had it in reach.

A warm gust of the store’s heating washed over my face as I entered, the small bell above the door raising the head of a member of staff. I meandered, undisturbed, around the larger pieces and past a few other people, tourists by their appearance. There was one little collection set up in the corner of the store, one that pulled at my heartstrings: a crib and rocker. Both were painstakingly carved in minute detail, with small animals and little plants woven around the spindles.

They would look perfect in a nursery… in my nursery. I could see the crib set up with pale green bedding, lots of wolf plushies to play with, a spinning mobile above chiming lullabies and my son sleeping peacefully inside. I ran my fingers along the back of the rocking chair, swaying it a little on its curved legs and picturing myself breastfeeding my baby in it.

“Can I help you with anything?” The abrupt question shot me into the air while I was a mile away in a daydream, and I clutched my chest. “Sorry, there. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

A man appeared behind me, all smiles and pleasantries. The green and gold name tag pinned to his chest read ‘Andrew’.

“Oh. No, I’m fine. Just in my own world, I guess. This is beautiful work.” I brushed my hand along the chair again.

“Thanks. I made them both, and my wife did all the carvings.” He nodded over to a woman serving at the register. “Is it your first? Forgive me if I’m presuming, but you have that glow about you.”

My cheeks flushed, and I wasn’t quite sure why. “Yeah, it’s a boy.”

“Congratulations. I bet you and the father are excited, ay?”

I hummed in a false agreement, trying to conceal the twitch as my smile screamed to break because the father was excited. If Dominic hadn’t been the manipulative and controlling monster he had been, we could have been happy. I wouldn’t have had to run. I wouldn’t need to do this alone.

“I have to go.” I checked the time on my phone, blinking the burn of tears away and realising time was ticking. “But these are tempting.”

“Well, come back anytime. And we can make arrangements to deliver to Tundra River packlands.” The man nodded to the unsubtle eyes watching me through the glass. “These here,” he slapped an arm across the crib’s edge, “are built to last. You can pass them down as your family grows and your little boy gets a sibling or two.”

I know the gentleman meant it as some sliver of comfort or as a testament to his quality of work, but all it did was trigger my indecision again. My baby wasn’t going to have a family. No father figure. No home. No pack. All he would have was me. Would I be enough? My baby would be half wolf, and he would be born as a rogue, a wolf that was normally cast out either by choice or by force. Is that all anyone would see my baby as?

Dominic could be so tender and kind…

He often spoke about what he wanted to do with our son…

How much time he wanted to spend with him…

No! Those rose-tinted glasses were working their way back on, wanting me to believe all good times and minimise the bad. This was Dominic’s influence speaking, whispering its poison that I was weak when I wasn’t.

I kept the image clear in my mind as I stepped out of the store, the loom of my guards following me at a thankful distance. Dominic wouldn’t be good to our son; the frown and distress on my grown son’s face was proof of such. But my secret green-eyed man… he was the one I needed to find my way to. For whatever reason Gaia was pulling its tendrils around us on the moon goddess’s behalf, I needed to find him. And it wouldn’t happen if I kept wallowing on an easy path attached to Dominic’s chain.

“I just want to have a look in here for maternity clothes.” I thumbed towards the store at my back and placed my palm on my stomach. “Everything I have is starting to get a little tight around the midsection.”

“Okay, but this might have to be the last one.” A male warrior stepped forward and looked across the blanket of cloud in the sky that let an occasional fragment of blue poke through. “There’s a blizzard warning for tonight, and we need you home safe for the Alpha.”

I nodded, fumbling for the looped door handle behind me. “And I’ll remember to message you guys if I go out of sight, like the changing rooms.”

Disappearing inside, I got straight to work with less than forty minutes on the clock, and fifteen of those were needed to get to the bus station. There was a small maternity section on the back wall, and I browsed through a few pairs of pants. It was a decent idea to grab a pair of these to change into. All I would have were the clothes on my back, and who knew when I’d be able to buy another set of pants that would give at the waist for a growing belly.

I casually skimmed through more of the racks, pulling out random items to fill my hands with no mind paid to what they were. Out of the corner of my eye, I gauged how closely I was being watched and grabbed a backpack from a low-hanging hook, hiding it under the folds of clothes draped over my arm. I took out my phone and sent a message in the group chat that I was heading to the changing room, raising my haul so my guards could see. As they glanced down at their phones, I grabbed the first large bobble hat that was in reach, a navy one with a white pompom on top.

The changing rooms were around the back corner of the store, busy with customers going in and out with purchases. Two of the eight women’s stalls were empty, and no one was waiting ahead of me either. In the little nook where unwanted try-ons hung to be returned to the shop floor, a thick outdoor jacket hung. It looked more than big enough to fit, and if it had been tried on by another, it would be covered in their scent. Perfect.

I hurried to the furthest changing room and hung the items on the wall to draw the curtain closed. Rafe’s advice hung in the air behind my ear: the more I naturally sweated, the more my scent would seep into anything it touched. And currently, I was sweating buckets from nerves.

I unlaced my boots and stripped as fast as I could down to my skin, ignoring the chatter of a group of what must be four women, each in separate stalls, laughing and telling each other all their gossip and what they were trying on. Once I was fully naked, I fished out the scent cover in the lining pocket of my bag and drenched myself in it, misting it over as much of my hair as possible and over all the major points of scent on my body. While my damp skin dried, I sent another message that I had a lot to try on, so I would be around thirty minutes. By giving the warriors a timeframe, I hoped it would give them little need to check on me and give me plenty of time before they knew something was wrong. In thirty minutes, I would be on a bus heading out of Bethel, and the warriors would be tearing apart the shop looking for what wasn’t there.

Kitted out in some stretchy jeans with a large elastic pouch for a growing belly, a hooded sweater and a coat, I collected all the price tags and pulled out the money to pay for them, leaving them in a small pile. If I couldn’t go to the register, I could still pay and have a clear conscience that I hadn’t been a thief. I tucked as much of my blonde curls under the collar and pulled the jacket up to hide them, tugging the big bobble hat over my ears afterwards. The only article of original attire I had to keep were my leather lace-up boots, with no other option.

I emptied my purse, cramming the large lunch into my backpack along with the money.

“For your long trip,” Tessa had said, a knowing quiver in the way she nodded and pushed the food container into my hands.

I had hugged her, thanking her for it and wanting to thank her for more than she knew.

I shoved the bus tickets into my pocket and gripped the map in my hands. If I could wander out of here looking like a tourist and with my scent masked, I could fade into the background right under the guards’ noses.

And speaking of guards, there was one thing I could try to save them from Dominic’s wrath. They weren’t bad people; they were just doing as they were told. I would be leaving it behind, and he would go through every article I owned, so it didn’t seem ridiculous to leave behind a note on my phone since I didn’t have pen and paper.

Dominic,

I planned this alone. Nobody helped me. Please don’t hurt the guards you sent with me, because I fooled them the same way I fooled you. I lied when I said I loved you. I don’t, and I haven’t for a long time.

It was only brief, but it was all I could type out in a hurry. I set the phone down on top of the pile, taking a deep breath to either run for freedom or run from wolves.

As I whipped back the curtain and slung the backpack around my shoulders, the gaggle of four women in the other cubicles did too, with no items in hand and everything left in disarray in the changing rooms.

Loud and rude.

Perhaps I could use loud and rude, a ‘hide in plain sight’ sort of deal.

Leaving everything behind – my clothing, my purse, my phone, the only life I had known for the last four years and the last shreds of my nerves if the sickening panic clawing at my throat was any indication – I kept as close as I could to the group of four, not one of them even noticing I existed. We marched out of the store, the door flying open with a bang, and the chatty group jogged across the road to head to the nearest cafe. I ducked into a gap between two buildings before they did so, my heart hammering in my ears and rattling my ribs, waiting for boots on tarmac to capture me.

A shaking gasp in and a laboured breath out, the expectancy of a chase hovered like a knife, to be found, to be dragged to the SUV and be presented to Dominic with what I had tried to do.

None of it came.

It couldn’t be that easy… could it?

Or had I just built it up in my mind to be some great battle, and reality was far more simple?

I didn’t have time to ponder my fear; time was slipping, and I had twenty minutes left.

I snatched open the map and found the time marked by Conan on the map – sixteen minutes to the bus station from where I was, but less if I ran. I took off down the alleyway, dodging the dumpster, and made the necessary left down and then across the street.

The sidewalk blurred, as did the faces, but my target remained focused in my mind. Huffing in exertion, I caught the rustic slatted wood of the bus terminal building, a clock displaying the three minutes I had left. I could not run as fast as I thought, and I possessed far less stamina than I realised, too.

At the first stand, the 38 to Anchorage was idling with the charging cord plugged in at its flat front. The driver was taking it out, getting ready to depart. I dug around in my pilfered jacket pocket for the printed bus tickets and only pulled out two.

Where was the third?!

A flash of white caught my eye as it drifted on the breeze, clear across the other side of the lot. In dismay, I checked the tickets in my hand, finding I had the one I needed. The paper must’ve been my missing ticket that I dropped in haste. I didn’t need it, so it could stay behind.

I ran for the bus, my ticket in hand, calling for the bus driver as he was about to swing the doors closed behind him.

“Wait! Wait!”

I caught my breath, trying to keep my face angled away from the cameras. When Dominic discovered I fled, he would demand every feed of camera footage to track me down. I wasn’t just fighting heightened werewolf senses. I was fighting the technology of a modern world that was everywhere.

“You made it just in time, young lady,” the driver chuckled and took his seat, clicking his compartment shut. “Scan your ticket.”

I held the QR code under the red light of the scanner, and it beeped in confirmation. I smiled and hurried to the back bench seat, the other passengers paying little attention to me.

The bus reversed out and began to pull away, my heart pounding again, waiting again for a pack of wolves to come charging around the corner. I peered out of the back window, expecting a mass of fur and teeth to appear from the fading bus station. The thirty minutes I had given my guards would be up any second, and they would know I was missing. They would find everything I had left and would know I had intentionally run.

Seconds ticked and spun into minutes. Bethel vanished into the trees, leaving nothing behind but the road. They had to know by now. How long until they contacted Dominic?

Any backup the warriors have is hours away in Tundra River, and a blizzard is incoming.

My scent is covered, and they never saw me leave.

These were the affirmations I repeated as the bus coasted along the road, heading east. I didn’t want to celebrate too early, but I couldn’t keep the smile from tugging at my lips or the tear of happiness slipping down my cheek. I had almost forgotten what real hope felt like – a warm bloom unfurling in my chest.

I wrapped my arms around my middle, stroking back and forth over the area where some strange sense told me my baby was. Despite all the stress, my little one fought alongside me – my little warrior. And somehow, with him, I would find a way to heal from all this. That would actually make a beautiful name for my son. My tiny warrior and healer… Kaison, Kaison Woodvine, after my blood-kin name.

~~~~~

A heads up that this book will move to PTR around the end of May and the chapters marked for PTR content will be chapter 12 onwards.

Because the price of chapters are tricky as h.ell to figure out, I may have to start splitting chapters into parts so that readers who use bonus coins can still purchase parts of a chapter without struggling to build up coins.

I won’t stagger parts of chapters for release, they’ll all be published at the same time, so anyone using paid coins won’t be left with only part of a chapter. I won’t guarantee no cliffhangers though, as I do need to tor.ture you guys at some point :P