Chapter 123

The shift change came every day at nine o' clock in the morning and nine o' clock at night. Morning escape was impossible, because even if she slipped past the changing guard, it would be daylight outside and everyone from here to the outlands would see her running across the estate's grounds. She had to make it a night getaway.

The good news was with the frigid weather and the frequent sleet and rough snowfall, her tracks would be covered easily, and her scent hard to follow. She was used to traveling in harsh conditions from the life before, and hadn't she managed that journey to Pandemonium City and back? It had been grueling, but she had done it. And, she thought grimly, she had already conceived by then.

Proof her child was already strong. Took after its father, and its mother, too. Beth smiled at the mirror, but it was razor-sharp and vindictive, not sweet.

She had no more sweetness left for the enemy. She and her child would get out of here no matter what.

***

One week of observation and taking careful mental notes of the routine. Shift change after shift change, she found excuses to sneak peeks so she could remember their faces, their mannerisms, and every little habit and tic she might be able to use to her advantage. But there was another reason for waiting so long. It was indeed to wait for the right opportunity, but also to make them lower their guard over time.

She made not a sound in her room and only came out to her bedroom door when the maids knocked, carrying the rolling cart of lovely food. That was when she glanced at the guards, taking note of who came when. And whenever they engaged in quiet conversation by the door among themselves, she pressed herself gently to the door to eavesdrop.

Yes! They were bored. That was ideal. Bored meant careless. Bored meant opportunity. Bored meant they underestimated her and expected nothing, and she would find her moment soon.

By the fifth day of observation, she noticed the guard change had become so sloppy her door was left unguarded for exactly six minutes. Six minutes was nothing for them since they thought she was simply some damsel in distress, quietly imprisoned in a bedroom like a captured princess. She would never get past the sentries outside anyway, would she?

But the truth was that six minutes was an eternity. Six minutes meant she could get across the grounds because she had the stealth to do so. Six minutes meant she could be free in half that time, so long as she leaped for freedom and never slowed down.

They were probably chatting down in the guard station on the second floor, taking their few stolen minutes to swap stories before they began their 'boring' shift. Well. They would find out soon enough 'boring' was the last thing they should think of her.

She pressed her ear to the door just before nine o'clock on the seventh night, waiting for the telltale sounds of heavy boots moving over the hardwood. And there it was. Thump-thump-thump. Retreating footsteps... and then it was time.

Andrew Troy had ordered the bedroom door to remain unlocked from both the inside and the outside. Despite all appearances of civil behavior from the men who surrounded her bedroom entrance all day long, the truth was that if they at all suspected anything, they wanted to be able to barge in without having to break down the door. And the reason for the door being unlocked from the outside too -- well. Andrew had to put on at least a sliver of a pretense that she wasn't a prisoner, didn't he?

And that was how she made her escape. Making others underestimate her was easy since all of these people assumed she was nothing like her reputation claimed, and that she was just a weak and pampered she-Alpha after all. She had done nothing impressive yet, had she? Simply gotten herself captured, and easily too.

She would show them. She raced down the hallway on the balls of her feet for minimum noise, relying on all her hard-earned training in stealth to keep every footfall as silent as possible. She had just under six minutes to get the hell out of here, and she wasn't about to trip and make a ruckus so someone could poke their heads out and raise the alarm.

There. At the end of the hallway was the servants' stairs, the ones the attending Deltas were ordered to use so that only important guests and the major members of the pack would use the main stairs. How pompous, how selfish -- and how convenient. The servants' stairs that the maids always came and left through weren't unlocked, and Beth was willing to bet there was an attached side door that exited the manor.

Her bedroom door was closed, and dinner had been two hours ago. The guard would not bother to enter the room and check in on her until the morning even though they were supposed to. But even if they did, she had rolled up the blankets and bent them in such a way that they would look like her sleeping form as long as they didn't come too close.

She was getting out of here. She was truly doing it. Six minutes -- six minutes was enough.

She shoved open the door leading to the side of the estate, heart pounding, and emerged into the night. It was dark enough that she could avoid detection so long as she stuck to the shadows and avoided direct moonlight, and the cloud cover was perfect. Go. Go! Go!

When footsteps crunched through the snow and frozen grass toward her from around the corner, she threw herself on the other side of the stone fountain nearby. It was wintertime; the water wasn't running. And that was how she overheard the hushed conversation... between Andrew Troy and another man.

"It's too risky. They'll change their minds after we give her up. This is another game they're playing to test my resolve."

"But Alpha, this is the best chance for you to take over. A violent coup is only going to make it harder for you to consolidate your authority. Your original plan to come in as a savior to ingratiate them all to you, I still believe in it. We just have to make the sacrifices to get there."

"Far too many sacrifices. We've made so many concessions to the rogues that they've become bold enough to defy me like this. I'm not going to roll over for them like an obedient dog. I'm the one who secured their services, their cooperation, the entire collaboration. I will not become the submissive partner in this partnership that is becoming increasingly lopsided."

"Alpha, please. Be calm. There could be listening ears."

"No. I dismissed the patrol tonight on this side, we're alone. I doubt anyone wants to bother me while I'm in such a mood anyway."

"Of course."

"But yes, you're right. I'm only speaking like this because of the frustration needing to vent itself. I'm aware that we have little strategic advantage to gain by dragging our heels. The rogues are only demanding her for continued cooperation, and that's of little loss in terms of strict... value."

"Alpha. I know you're becoming quite attached to her."

"Indeed. She's quite a spitfire, and intelligent to boot. What a waste. The rogues will waste all of her potential and reduce her to a breeding female for their leader. They see the value in her Alpha lineage and fighting prowess, but no more than that."

"But they have kept all their promises until now, Alpha. We should look forward to that, and the rewards we will reap for it."

"If only the damned leader hadn't gone to head the Tahoe invasion himself. What were the chances he would run straight into Elizabeth Rokley? If she hadn't trounced him in combat and exposed how strong she was, they wouldn't know about her at all. They wouldn't have thought to demand her as a gift to ensure their cooperation."

Oh, no.

Tahoe.

This all traced back to Tahoe... and when Beth closed her eyes, she could remember that gray-streaked wolf that had rushed in at the head of the others. She had gone to intercept him directly, knowing only another Alpha could go head-on with him, and that was the beginning an end of their brief encounter. One bloody fight later, a dozen other rogues had come to his rescue and surrounded him, forcing her to back off before she was overwhelmed.

That was who it had been? The leader of the rogues? What were the chances! And she knew perfectly well what happened to all the female werewolves the rogues kidnapped. Moon Goddess, she had to protect herself and her child.

But who would have thought Andrew Troy was thinking of selling her to the rogues!