CHAPTER 170 — THE SMELL OF FREEDOM

BRIELLE.

"What is happening?" Brielle overheard the question, as many guards entered the cell with troubled expressions.

"There is a very big problem." One of them spoke, and despite her weakness, Brielle managed to stretch her ears enough to hear what they were saying.

"Which is? Can someone fucking talk to me?" Another guard inquired, and the whip in his hand tumbled to the floor. It fell with a resounding thud, and the sound echoed off the cell walls.

The air seemed to cool even more. The room was silent for a long time until one of the guards spoke up again. "Master Draken and Lord Darius are…"

Brielle's heart sank when she heard Darius's name.

"Goodness gracious please, let nothing happen to him…" The words came out of her mouth unexpectedly, almost in prayer, and a stray tear streamed down her left cheek.

The guards resumed discussing, but this time in quiet tones, as if frightened Brielle would hear them. It irritated her, and she wanted to yell. She wanted to question them and know what was going on. What was happening? What were they on about? But she couldn't.

Brielle also noticed some guards sprinting past with rifles raised in the air through the open cell door, and it indicated one thing.

Danger. It meant danger and chaos. Brielle swallowed the lump down her throat.

"What should we do now?" A guard asked, the panic evident in his tone.

Brielle strained to hear the response, which was delivered in whispered tones. Then they suddenly began to leave.

Every single one of them, and as they left, they banged the door loudly behind, leaving her alone once again.

In seconds she went from being tortured to being abandoned, and her body itching, Brielle began to feel restless.

Her entire body ached badly, and she tried to get up, but her eyes widened in terror when she noticed something on the floor.

"No way!" She gasped and crawling with her chained wrists, she approached the item on the ground.

It was a key bunch,

Brielle gripped the metallic item with shaky hands and stared in bewilderment.

'It must have fell from one of the guards' pockets.' She contemplated silently before an idea struck her.

Was this a hint that she needed to figure something out and see if she could get away from this hellhound? What was the damage in trying to flee for her safety?

If she was captured and killed, that would be OK. At the very least, it was preferable to being in this cell, which was already torture for her.

Brielle quickly began fumbling with the keys in her hands, attempting to free the chains first.

After numerous failed tries, she eventually triumphed, and the chains around her wrists broke apart. As soon as they touched the ground, the chains around her ankles automatically slipped away too, and with her feet free, she stood up, only to collapse as dizziness struck her brain like a hammer.

She gazed down at the floor, feeling her entire world swirl and bend. After a few painful breaths, she forced herself upright again.

"What else? What else?" Brielle mumbled, attempting to force down the dizziness. "I need to leave. I need to find my way out of here."

But how would she even go?

She gazed around, her gaze drawn to the little slit of a window where light flooded in. That would be her best option, right? But it was so high up, and there was literally nothing she could use to climb up.

Her sole escape route was the door, which was tightly sealed. Or was it?

She wouldn't know unless she checked, so Brielle trudged over to the door and rested her hands on the metal handle. She murmured a small prayer before pushing.

Shockingly the door opened, and Brielle let out a gasp. For a brief second, she was struck with both terror and excitement.

But the high sensations vanished swiftly, and she peered out, looking left and right. There were no guards in sight, and the dimly lit hallway seemed strangely vacant.

"The fuck?" Brielle murmured under her breath as she cautiously stepped out.

Her heart raced, and excitement poured through her veins as she took another step forward, and then another.

There really wasn't anyone around. This side of the mansion was strangely quiet, and the only sound in the corridor was the faint padding of her own bare feet against the tiled floor.

‘Run, Brielle. Run.' Her wolf unexpectedly spoke up for the first time since today. ‘Run, and don't stop. Don't stop. Just run without looking back.’

And just like that, Brielle was off. With her wolf's voice reverberating in her mind, she dashed away as fast as she could.

She could smell freedom.