Chapter 48 LET'S GET OUTTA HERE

Chapter 48 LET'S GET OUTTA HERE
I gasp and clutch the letter to my chest. It has been so long since I heard his voice in my head and it nearly shatters me. My legs feel like jelly and my chest aches with the gap that was left by him leaving. I haven't allowed myself to think about Samuel very much, afraid of what it might do to me if I let my thoughts linger there too long. I know I would fall apart. But now...now I can't help it. I have to think of him. His letter. His words. His hands have touched the very same paper as mine did. I briefly wonder if I might catch a scent of him on it if I try hard enough to find it.

"Grace," Dylan says softly.

He brings me out of my stupor. I look at him. I haven't realized there are tears in my eyes until he reaches out and touches them with the back of his hand. He briefly wipes them away only for them to be replaced by more cascading down my cheeks.

"Talk," I say. "You told me you would. I want answers." I wipe the tears away viciously with the letter gripped tight in my hand.

He sighs and drops his head. "Of course you do."

"What happened? How did you end up here?"

"I'll tell you. But first you have to agree to hear me out before you do anything rash. Like hit me again."

I smile a bit at the thought and nod. "Okay."

He slumps to the ground, keeping his back against the lighted post and stretches out his legs before him. "Grog came to me about four months ago. Back when Samuel was..." he looks at me. "Well you know."

I nod.

"I was in charge of my pack, acting as the best Alpha I could, given what was going on and all. I followed Samuel's lead for the most part, doing everything I thought he'd do and doing everything he'd want. That was until Grog showed up. He was looking for people to join him. He'd heard about Samuel's leave and he'd made a big speech about not following leader and everyone being equals. That was his persuasion speech of course. That's the speech he gives everyone to get them to come to his side. I was no different than them.

"Though, I knew the real reason why he was building his army. Not to overcome oppression, but to seek revenge. He isn't done with our pack and once they're annihilated, your former is next."

"But what happened to 'the son should not be punished for the sins of the father'? It was Samuel's dad who made the mistake to stand by an out of control pack, not his. And besides, hasn't Grog's Pack done enough damage to Samuel's Pack?"

"Grace, not everyone believes the way we do. You of all people should understand that." When I don't speak he goes on. "When he came to me, he knew I was the Beta, and he wanted to do everything he could to hurt Samuel. If I sided with him, it would kill Samuel and that's exactly what he wanted, pain for him. Samuel had lost his parents, but not nearly as much as Grog had."

"He really thought you'd join him after he killed Samuel's parents?"

He smiles. "Probably not, which is why I'm sure he was surprised when I did."

"And why did you do it? Join them I mean," I ask.

"I thought it was better to be on the inside of everything that was going on than the outside. That way you don't get caught by surprise on their next course of action."

I stare at him in disbelief. "So you're telling me it was all for the pack. You did this for them? I can't believe Grog trusted you."

"He didn't. Until now that is. I returned to him what was his and that, more than anything, is a pledge of my loyalty to him. I passed the test."

"So what was your plan when you got here?" I ask him. "Were you gonna just take me without them even knowing? They may trust you now, but that doesn't mean they trust me. At least not yet."

He raises his brow. "And how do you plan to change that?"

"I have a plan."

He laughs and runs a hand through his hair. "Well things on my end are looking pretty bleak, so please, share."

"Do you have any plans tomorrow? I need you to give me away."

He looks puzzled. "Give you away?"

"During my mating ceremony tomorrow," I explain. "It's the only way we'll be able to see each other before it happens."

Dylan looks at me like I was someone he barely even knew and stands up abruptly. "Grace, no. I was sent here to retrieve you, not give you away!"

I hold up a hand to his protest. "Relax. I'm not going through with it. We're going to escape while it's in progress. The protection of the pack will be at its lowest during the ceremony. No one will be looking for us until it's time for us to make our appearance. By then we'll be far enough away that we'll stand a chance."

"It's madness," he says. But it isn't with protest, only admiration. "It's a hell of a lot better than what I've got. Let's do it."

"Tomorrow I'll have Amelia collect you and bring you to me. While everyone is distracted with start of the ceremony we'll be on our way. There's just one more thing I forgot to mention. We're bringing someone along. A girl. A child."

"Now that is madness," he says. "We can't take a child. We can't let anything slow us down. We'll send someone back for her."

"No! She goes too. I'm not bargaining on this. If she stays they'll kill her. I won't live with that on my conscience. Not when I could have done something to save her."

He looks at me and sighs. "I guess I should have expected no less from you. Alright, fine. We'll take her. But no one else, only us. And we're getting the hell out of here."



From the distance, I can hear the start of the ceremony or the practicing. I still have some time yet before everything begins. The music plays softly in the background while people mill about talking and laughing, taking it all in. I look up at the large concrete walls that surround the compound, my mind running rampant with ideas to get us out of here.

I already know we can't just walk out the front of the compound unseen or unspotted. Mating ceremony or not, Grog isn't stupid. He has some wolves still on guard.

No one will suspect anything though until I don't show up. By then, it will be too late. I hope.

Next to me Dylan shifts, his eyes trained on the high wall in front of us. I am quite in awe of it myself. I have never really gotten close enough to them to know the walls even existed. I have never been able to roam around on my own long enough.

Besides the fact the walls were designed to keep us in, they have a certain amount of safety to them. It also keeps things out. Besides Grog, there are far more things in these woods to be afraid of. The rabids are just one of the things among others.

I shiver at the thought and caused Dylan to look at me.

"Having second thoughts?" he wonders aloud.

I shake my head. "Not at all. Just thinking about everything that's out there."

He nods and turns his attention back toward the concrete and block mass.

"That's enough to give anyone second thoughts. Try not to think about it. I'll be with you. I won't let any harm come to you. Samuel would kill me if I did. It's my job to protect you."

His words comfort me slightly, but I still can't shake the feeling that this escape will not be as easy as all that. There will be some complications along the way."How long do you think the journey will be? How far away is our Pack?" I ask. I am almost afraid to know the answer despite the need to.

Dylan meets my eyes with apprehension as if he hadn't expected me to ask.

"I can handle it, Dylan. Nothing is going to change my mind."

Again he looks back at the wall. "It's not a quick trip by my standards and I'm used to spending days at a time in the woods. If we walk it'll be much slower and Grog and his wolves may very well catch up on us."

I know he is referring to the little girl that I insisted must come with us. And maybe he means me too. I can't be in my wolf from until I space myself away from Logan, until he no longer controls my instinct.

"We can do it. It'll be hard, but we can," I say. I think I needs to hear myself say it..

"You'll need to pack some supplies and food for the girl. If she refuses to shift she probably won't want to sleep and eat like a wolf. As for us, we'll be fine. We can hunt our food and sleep on the ground. We're more used to this life
than she is."

"I have it covered. Amelia packed us a couple of bags. They should be easy enough for us to run with them on, even in our wolf forms."

Dylan lets out a slow, steady breath and the silence lingers between us for a few minutes, then he faces me. "None of this is going to be easy. We'll be running for days, possibly a couple of weeks if we don't shift. It's going to be rough on our bodies and we'll be tired and irritated and you might feel like giving up sometimes."

I furrow my eyebrows at him. "I'm not gonna give up."

"Even so, I just want you to know what you can expect. Grog didn't hide himself away from everything for no reason and he's done it well. This whole place might as well be underground. It's too hidden. No one could find it unless they knew what they were looking for. The vegetation around this area is full and prospering. It's easy to get lost out there unless you've been taught the area."

I try to look over the wall to see something, anything, but it is just too high for that. I look back at Dylan. “If I didn't know any better I'd think you were trying to talk me out of leaving."

"I don't want to sugarcoat it," he explains. "Not for you. You need to know exactly what you're getting yourself into."

"I know, and I get it. But to me, it's worth whatever waits for us. I can't spend my life here like these wolves. I won't blindly follow Grog and I won't mate Logan. I want to get back to Samuel and I won't stop trying to do that, even if it kills me."

His expression is grim. "Alright. Hopefully it won't come to that, but as long as you're prepared. I'll protect you for as long as I can or I'll die trying. You have my word." I mimic his expression. "Hopefully it won't come to that for you either."

He nods and so do I. We don't spend any more time at the wall. After a brief discussion of our meeting place and how we might climb over the wall, we go our separate ways until it was time for him to come for me.

The bedroom is quiet, a peaceful quiet. It gives me time to think about everything. My mind goes over all the different scenarios. All the different ways this could go wrong or right. What might be waiting for us out in the wild?

I haven't spent as much time in the woods as other wolves. I had only started exploring the deep outdoors of the Samuel's Pack when I was taken. I miss it there. Every time I think about my days there I am overwhelmed with the weight of grief.

I want to be there again. I want to be with Samuel. I want things back to normal, if that's what they even were. There's a soft knock on the door then and Amelia pops her head inside the room. "It's almost time. Everything is in place. We're just waiting for everyone to be seated. The excess guards are being pulled away from the walls now."

I nod. "Okay."

I pick up the three bags that lay on the bed and hoist them over my shoulder. Amelia has tried to keep them as light as possible, but that is no easy task. There are blankets and food and even flash lights and lanterns for when we will be traveling in our human forms. She has even packed some vitamins for me to take along the way. She has thought of almost everything. Even the canteens packed in the very bottom of the bags.

"I brought the girl from her dwelling. I briefly explained to her what was happening, but you may need to fill in the blanks." Amelia peers outside the door, into the hall then back at me. "I thought you might want to get better acquainted with her before you leave."

"Yeah," I say, delighted. "That's a good idea. I need to get her to trust me."

Amelia glances back into the hall then steps aside leaving a small space for the girl. No one is there at first then very slowly the child starts to come into view. She rounds the doorway nervously. I can sense and see the worry in her. She is scared.

I kneel to the floor on my knees hoping to match her height so she might feel less intimidated by me. "Elsa." I smile at her.

Her blonde hair hangs in two long braids by her ears. It reaches well past her shoulders. She shakes slightly as she approaches me. Amelia sends a pitied glace at the girl then turns and disappears from the door, closing it behind her.

"Are you Grace?" she asks in a barely audible voice.

I nod. "Yes." She looks at the floor and moves her foot along the carpet timidly. "Are you really going to take me away from here?"

She looks into my eyes then and I smile gently. "I am.”

"Are you going to take me to my mommy?" Her hands fidget.

I lean back a little on my heels and almost topple over. I haven't been prepared for her question, hadn't expected it. Surely she knows what became of her mother. She has to know why she is here. Her mother is dead.

I can't bring myself to say it though. It is harsh. Instead my heart drops into my stomach.

"I don't know where your mother is, but if she's out there we'll find her. For now, I'm going to take you somewhere safe. Somewhere no one here can reach us."

At least not yet. I am under no illusions they won't come for Samuel's pack when they have the numbers.

She only nods. I don't feel any better by that.

This little girl's mother is gone and there is nothing me or anyone else can do that will change that. I hate feeling so powerless.

"I need you to trust me, Elsa. I know that's asking a lot from a stranger, but you have to find it inside you somewhere to do that. It's going to take that to get through what we're about to do. Do you think you could?"

I don't know what I will do yet if she says she can't or won't. I just hope it doesn't come to that.

She looks at me for a minute, apprehension hanging over her. "You're not like them? You won't...hurt me?"

My heart drops again. Is that what they have done? did they hurt her?

"No," I say softy, afraid the slightest raise in my voice would scare her away from me. I want to scream though. I want to scream at anyone who has touched her. "I'm not one of these people. I was brought here against my will too, just like you."

Her eyes become little less wary at that. Hope sparks from them. "You were?"

"Yes. Everyone I love and care about is waiting for me back home and I have to get to them. And I'd like you to come with us," I explain.

She stills again the same apprehension seeping back in between us. "Us?"

I can see now that trusting people isn't something that will come easy to her, now or probably ever. Not after everything she's seen and been through.

"He's a friend of mine. You can trust him. He comes from my pack. He was sent here to retrieve me. He won't hurt you either." She settles down a bit then, visibly relaxed.

I continue on. "So, do you think you could trust us? Could trust me?"

I close my eyes and pray for a miracle. If Elsa doesn't trust or cooperate with us, we'll all be killed.

Then her little voice speaks up again. "I think so."

We are almost there. I open my eyes. "That's a good start. I'd like to know more though. I swear to you on my life, Elsa, I won't let anyone hurt you ever again. You have my word."

Her eyes come to life again. Her deep blue orbs sparkle like night settling on still water. I see hope in them.

"I trust you," she says. She sounds more sure than she has been about anything since she arrived. It makes me smile.

"Good." I start to stand up when one of the bags slides off my shoulder and hits the floor. I reach for it, grabbing the straps, but before I can, Elsa beats me to it.

"I can carry one. I'm strong," she says proudly. She throws the bag on her back and fastens the straps around her.

"I can see that," I laugh.

There is another knock on the door then and something inside of me panics a little. Acting on instinct I stand and step around Elsa and make sure I am blocking her body from whoever was outside the door.

"Grace?" It is Dylan's voice and I immediately relax and blow out a breath. That was close.

"Come in," I manage to say. "Elsa's here with me."

He opens the door and stands looking between me and the younger girl. He takes a step forward and holds out his hand to her. I am surprised when she doesn't flinch or back away.

"The name's Dylan. So you're Elsa?"She nods and smiles slightly, taking his hand. "Yes. It's nice to meet you."

Dylan looks at me in surprise as he straightens himself up from her level. "The girl's got manners."

There is another knock on the door and this time it is Amelia. "It's time to go. Everyone is in their place." She looks between all three of us with a mix of sadness, worry and desperation. "Be careful, all of you. And good luck. Don't let anything happen to the little one."

I freeze in place looking at her then Dylan. Then I realize that he doesn't seem to suspect anything and I breath a sigh of relief. For all he knows,
she could have been talking about Elsa. And she very well may have. I glance at my stomach.

"We'll take care of her," Dylan says to her then looks at me. "We need to go now. We can't afford to waste anymore time."