He stood in the doorway, with a sack in one hand, blood dripping from it.
“Ikrus—” The man in front of her started to say but Ikrus turned away, he ripped the door out of its hinges and left.
Stupid man. He could have just used the key.
Before the man in front of her would decide to go after Ikrus, considering that it looked like they knew each other, Aniya stopped him with her words.
“He was the beast, he attacked me! Please, you have to help me out of here. He would kill us next time. Have mercy on my child.”
“It was a mistake. Please, forgive him. It will not happen again.”
By Ignas, what stupid— she would have to try something else!
“Who were those? The ones that attacked us.”
There was a woman among the attackers. She needed to know if the woman was alive or if the earring she had with her was useless.
“Some of the Alpha’s men.”
Well, that was a general term.
“They were all dead.” She patted Arlo shakily. “Male, female, their faces—”
“Female? Ikrus said they were all male. Maybe there is still one attacker— impossible—”
“I don't know what I saw, I was too scared.” Aniya called after him, but the man was too fast and just as quickly as he had left, he was back.
“There is no one there. Ikrus killed them all. You can be at peace.”
He rested a reassuring hand on her shoulder and Aniya wiped her tears away.
At that moment, Oana stepped in, walking over the door that was now on the floor, some physicians behind her.
She was wearing a yellow nightdress and a yellow scarf around her head.
“How dare they disturb your sleep? You must have been so scared,” she said as she came to her with open arms and pulled her into an embrace. “I would have been so scared too.” She whispered, then she pulled away and the physicians took Arlo from her.
“Are you alright?”
Oana asked her a couple of questions to which Aniya responded. Somewhere along the lines, the man who had saved her had left the room, but not before Oana had thanked him for what he had done.
His response to her was short and he vanished almost immediately.
“You cannot stay here. You will sleep in my room tonight. Let's go.” Oana held her wrist and Aniya flinched, only now noticing that she had hurt her wrist.
“By the Moon, are you alright?”
“I will be. You do not have to worry about me. I—”
Oana pulled her into an embrace on de again.
“You are suffering too much. You are too weak for this. I am going to get you out of here, I promise. Once you leave, everything will be back to normal. Soon.” She patted her back. “Very soon.”
They spent more time there, with the physicians attending to Aniya’s wrist. After that, Oana led the mother and child to her room, where they would have a refreshing bath and good sleep.
While Oana led them to her room, all Aniya could think of was the earring.
She hadn't told anyone of it yet and she intended to keep it that way.
This was a weapon for only her to use.
None of the werewolves found were females, so she was certain that the owner of the earring was alive. If she could find her, then maybe she would be able to escape. Using this as a leverage. A power over someone. A bargain was the best way to abscond. She didn't want this life. A life where there was no peace between the father and son, a life of blood and violence.
A life that promised something worse than her past.
She wanted none of it.
All she had to do now was find the owner of this earring. That beast would be her escape.
___
___
{Gaya’s Garden}
Belladonna tried to scream but she could not.
The tightening grip of the tree’s branches around her was starting to make her bleed. It was as if the trees were trying to make them merge into the wooden creatures.
Suddenly the grip of the tree around her mouth loosened and Alaris was pulling her out of the leafy boundage.
Belladonna struggled to get into his grip, as he sent his fire slicing through the branches that wouldn't let her go.
Then finally, she was free and in his arms.
The leathery sound of the wings gave her hope as he moved them further and further away from the trees, but the branches extended, blocking his path no matter how high he flew, and how hard he tried to fly his way through them.
In rage, he set the small forest ablaze and the branches fell to the ground.
But the victory was short-lived.
An angry rumble shook the ground and this time, with the fire that now laced the branches, it latched onto them like sharp razors, digging into their skin, burning Belladonna who now lacked magic.
Screams filled the air, along with the angry rumble and lashing of the tree’s branches that had now forced them apart.
What Belladonna saw before she was dragged back was the flaming branches around Alaris neck, his wrists and his wings, as the trees tried to rip them apart.
She could almost hear the trees laughing as she cried in pain.
The next thing that happened was a blur. She didn't know how Alaris escaped from the trees, nor did she know how he had freed her but they were in the air again, but his wings were failing him this time.
It seemed the trees had stopped briefly to mock them, resuming their torture just as quickly, too many branches were after them and it didn't help that Alaris was slowly falling.
Fear consumed Belladonna and she buried her face away so she couldn't see it. Then suddenly they crashed.
“Nightshade!” Alaris called out. She looked back to notice that they had fallen only some distance away from the forest. Quickly, she backed away from the approaching branch, trying hard for it not to get her.
It was so close… so close, By Ignas!
But not enough.
She heaved a sigh of relief when she realized that and she laughed, tasting blood and sweat in her mouth.
She laughed loudly at the trees.
Then she hurried to Alaris, who was seated on the floor, with his head between his hands.
“Alaris?”
“Are they gone?” He asked, his voice broken.
“What?”
“My wings. I can't feel my wings.”