A Heartbeat in the Darkness”
EIRENE POV
Thorns pricking her feet and tearing her flesh in a way that she could hear them searing didn't deter Eirene from running as she escaped into the woods in the dead of the night.
Howls of rogues in the distance made every step she took the most dangerous one as she ran away.
Hearing that she was going to be killed by the same man that had stared her into the eyes and apologized for the wrong he did without her knowing had to be the last thread of trust she had for me breaking off.
"Oh dear goddess, please just help me survive this night." She whispered, looking up towards the moon as tears streamed down her face. Definitely, she wasn't a tree that could hear it would be cut down and still remain at the same spot.
"Who's there?" She heard a low growl and instantly stopped running as her eyes began darting back and forth.
Heavy footsteps ruffled against the brambles and she slowly placed her hands over her mouth so she wouldn't.let even the sound of a breath escape. They were sniffing the area and tears streamed down her eyes.
This was definitely going to be the end of her, they would sniff her out and she would be a bunch of dead meat to rouge's that were blinded by starvation.
"Hey, over here." One of them called from an opposite direction and that distracted them. She silently thanked the goddess for saving her life for that minute; the night was still long.
Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain down her lower abdomen and she pursed her lips to stop herself from letting the shrill cry escape her lips.
Thanks to wolf vision, she bent to stare below her abdomen when she felt hot liquid running down her legs and bent more to have a good look.
That was red, hot liquid that looked like...blood? Was it really blood? Of course, it was.
The sharp pain in her lower abdomen and between her legs intensified by the seconds and it felt like her heart was shattering and she would lose her breath any minute.
She was feeling dizzy all of a sudden and she clutched a tree that was nearby no longer afraid of the rogues noticing her presence as she gasped for breath.
It felt like the entire forest was swirling as her face scrunched up and she didn't even know when she hit the ground and passed out.
"She should be up any time soon." She heard through the hazy blur of unconsciousness as the light rays emanating from the broken parts of the window shone on her face.
Eirene used the back of her palm to wipe her eyes as she wondered where she was. It looked like a tiny hut so the fear that she might have been taken back to Claws pack eluded her.
"Where am I?" She sat up immediately and her body tensed up while she stared at the aged woman who was sitting at the edge of her bed staring at her with genuine concern written all over.
"Lay back down sweetie, you'll hurt the baby. It's a miracle that you didn't lose it." What were they talking about? She stared at the woman strangely and scoffed.
"Where am I?" Her voice was more stern and she bit her lips wishing she could take back her words as the woman had obviously helped her.
She didn't remember anything after she fainted.
"You're at my house in the Green Wood Pack." Eirene's face lit up as she realized that she was far away from Claw's Pack.
"Green Wood Pack? Good to know." She whispered and tried standing up when the sharp pain returned and she winced.
"Sit still, child. You'll lose your baby." The woman warned and Eirene raised a brow.
"What do you mean 'baby' ?" She couldn't help but question as she was sure that the woman was absolutely crazy by just assuming that she was a pregnant woman.
"You're with child. Don't tell me you don't know." Eirene scoffed as she felt the woman was bluffing and tried to stand up forcefully again when blood flowed out.
"What's wrong with me?" The woman's face turned angry and serious as she forced Eirene back to the bed and gave her a warm herbal tea to drink that would curb the bleeding.
"Young ones don't listen. You're going to lose your child due to your stubbornness." Eirene searched the woman's face but she couldn't see any outline of a joke in it.
"You're saying I'm pregnant? How would you know? Are you a midwife?" Eirene questioned and the woman chuckled.
"I'm no midwife. But when you've carried up to three kids in your stomach; you would know what's pregnant woman looks like." Tears began gushing out of Eirene's eyes as she found it hard to believe what the woman was saying.
"If you doubt me, perhaps you can tell me where you're from and how you ended up in that forest. That is dangerous for a pregnant woman and from what I'm seeing, you look like you're about a month gone. Surely you have to tell the father."
Yeah! Tell the father that wanted to kill her and replace her with a maid simply because she was his breeder. Tell the father that could look her in the eye and lie to her that he fell in love with her and still is in love with her.
What a father.
She rolled her eyes and hissed and the woman patted her head.
"From the look of things, it seems like you'd rather not talk about the father. So let's make this clear, he's not worth you crying over him." The woman advised and Eirene stared at her.
"Thank you. I'll have to find my own way and destiny but I don't know where to go from here. I can't even think of going back..." She trailed off and the woman used her fingers to lift her chin.
"Did I tell you to leave my house?" Eirene looked up
in surprise as she understood what the woman meant.
So good people still actually exist and yes, she was with child