Chapter 5

Lyra’s Pov

After packing my belongings, I strapped the bag firmly to my back, and took one last look around my room.

My heart pounded louder in anticipation of freedom and fear of what might happen if caught. I tiptoed to Calantha’s quarters, eager to say goodbye before leaving the pack house. I twisted the doorknob, expecting it to be locked.

To my surprise, it was not. I stepped inside and saw Calantha sitting by the window, lost in thought, as she gazed at the moonlight. I wasted no time in approaching her. I gently tapped her shoulder to get her attention. She turned to face me, startled by my presence in her room, but she quickly covered it up with a concerned expression.

“Lyra, why are you not asleep yet?" Calantha asked, concern obvious in her voice. “Are you still in pain, or do you need help with something?” I ignored her questions and whispered, “I’m leaving, Calantha. I’m getting out of here.” Her eyes widened in disbelief.

“What?” she exclaimed. “You are leaving? Where are you going?” I hushed her, placing a finger to my lips, to keep her quiet, so as not to wake the others staying in the pack house.

As she moved closer to me, she said, “You can’t just up and leave! Where would you go?” I hesitated, but I was determined. “I can’t stay here any longer,” I said, tears brimming in my eyes, “Please do not try to stop me,” I said firmly. “I am leaving Frostbite’s pack tonight.”

Calantha’s face was filled with worry. “Sweetheart, But why?” she exclaimed.

“I can't imagine the horrors I will face after what happened during the ceremony,” I replied her.

“I cannot let you go alone, it is too dangerous out there with rogues lurking around. Stay here where it is safe,” she whispered with bated breath.

“Safe?” I snapped, “I can’t continue to stay here in fear of dying the next day or the day after that, and besides Father will surely kill me tomorrow, I would rather die trying than be killed like a spineless dog, so don’t try to stop me,” I said adamantly, not budging her pleads to fell on deaf ears.

“Alright, then I’m coming with you,” she said, her voice firm. I opened my mouth to argue, maybe change her mind, but I realized that she was just as determined as I was. “Fine,” I relented, “But we have to leave now.”

We walked silently to the kitchen towards the front door when Calantha stopped me in my tracks and said, “I know a secret passage into the woods. If we open the door, the guards will be alerted and attack us.” I was sceptical at first, so I asked her, still unconvinced, “Are you sure it is safe? What if we get lost or trapped?”

Calantha pressed on, explaining, “If we take the secret passage, we can slip out unnoticed into the forest safely.” That being said, she turned towards the secret passage under the staircase. I followed her, knowing it was our safest bet if we were to make it into the woods, but I was also bothered because I had never heard of a secret passage in the pack house.

The passage was pitch black, I had to bring out the torch I had packed earlier to light my way into the woods, it was filled with cobwebs, I cringed in disgust when I entered a web, I could see rats scurrying around the walls, as we walked further into the passage, we stepped into a tunnel, the air was musty and stale, showing the lack of usage, I clung to Calantha’s side.

We had been walking for a while, in the tunnel when we reached the end of the tunnel, the gate was locked with a padlock, and a wave of disappointment washed over me. I turned to Calantha and said, “I told you so,” but she gently pushed me to the side, brought out a set of keys from her pocket, and unlocked the padlock.

Now that I think of it, it occurred to me that she’s in charge of the Frostbite pack welfare. She is the eyes and ears of the pack. ‘Why wouldn’t she have the keys?’ I muse to myself.

“Aren’t you coming?” she snaps. I snapped out of my musing and hastily passed the gate.

As we slipped into the forest, a blast of chilly air hit my face, making me shiver in anticipation. This is what freedom tastes like, I thought. I felt as if an immense burden had been lifted from me.

We walked deeper into the woods. We were walking at the same time running; I was already getting tired, and my legs ached from walking for so long. I had never had to walk a long distance in my whole life. Calantha was still moving stealthily in the woods. I leaned on her for support.

We were almost at the Crystal River, not far to the pack’s outskirts, when one of the patrolling guards got a whiff of our scents. He shouted, “Who’s there?” I quickly turned off the torch, and we stayed still for a while, scared of being discovered. We resumed our journey when we felt we were safe to resume our walk.

With no light to illuminate my path, I stepped into a bear trap, and suddenly let out a painful cry which I regretted immediately the sound left my mouth, which alerted the patrolling wolves of our presence, it confirmed their earlier suspicions, I heard one of the guards howl in signal to others of the intruders, I know our cover has been blown off when wolf cries filled the woods.

Calantha sat me down on a tree knelt in front of me, and wrenched the trap off my legs, I cried out in tears holding my fist to my mouth, but that didn’t help matters, the pain was excruciating, and I had low tolerance for pain, I was already feeling dizzy by the time Calantha was bandaging my wound.

Calantha stood up and pulled me up quickly, urging me to run. However, I couldn’t stand as the guards were closing in on us. She transformed into her small brown wolf and nudged me with her nose, whining. I managed to climb onto her back as she let out a low growl and sprinted towards the border at full speed, my body swaying on her back like a drunkard.

As we raced towards the outskirts of the pack, the patrolling wolves were fast, narrowing the distance between us. In the darkness, the guards’ howls and footsteps grew closer to us.

After a few minutes, Calantha stopped by an old gnarled tree with large roots snaking across the ground.

There she put me behind the tree and whispered, “Stay here, I’ll lead them away,” and made to move, but I clung to her shaking my head in disagreement, mumbling “No…“ and she quickly pressed a kiss to my forehead.

“I’ll come look for you. I just need to distract and lead them in the opposite direction.” She promised, before running in the opposite direction, diverting the guards’ attention from me.

From a distance, I heard a loud commotion as Calantha’s voice echoed through the woods. She had been captured. Realising the sacrifice Calantha had made for me, I resolved not to get caught or waste her sacrifice.

Terrified and alone, I stumbled out of the pack borders, with no destination in mind. I roamed the woods in exhaustion until I heard a snarl behind me: a rogue with red eyes and I slumped.