Chapter 7

Freya

“Lily?” I say between gasps “What happened?”

Alpha Adrian slammed his phone on the desk, then growled at me like I was the cause of the bad news. He shoved me out of the way before storming out. I followed him. My legs move without permission from my brain.

Alpha Adrian moved fast through the hallway, his shoes clicking faster until he disappeared down the corner.

Is he that fast or am I moving too slow?

A wave of nausea washed over me. Breaths hang between my lungs, beads of sweat cover my forehead and the hood of my lips. The hallway seems to stretch endlessly and begins feeling like I was running on a treadmill.

The large, badge-shaped windows moved past me repeatedly in a fast motion of blurred movement.

High pitched ringing filled my ears as the hallway windows whooshed past me like trains on a very high speed.

Soon, the hallways stretched so thin it practically felt like I was running on air. Then the blinding lights came piercing from all angles as the ringing intensified.

I opened my mouth to call Alpha Adrian but only a gasp escaped me. A desperate suck for air like my lungs were stolen.

“Mama, don’t let them take me,” the whisper echoed all around me. Soft, quiet and desperate.

“Lily?”

Then the lights became too bright for my eyes to bear. My eyelids sealed shut from the intensity, and when my eyes blinked open, I’m no longer in the castle. The walls and badge shaped windows were now completely gone.

I sat up in a field, wide and spread around like a large carpet of green life. The leaves of the grass were unfeeling, but they were there.

My head whipped around. Nothing was in sight on the endless field of short, lemon-green grass. Except….

A willow tree far in the distance. I squinted my eyes, straining my neck. “Lily?” I whispered, my voice barely audible.

The silhouette was that of a little girl. Even though her back was turned to me, I could tell from the wild brown curls that it was her.

I shot to my feet, practically sprinting towards her.

“Lily! Lily! Are you okay?”

But even as I got closer and screamed louder, she either didn’t hear me or chose to ignore me. My feet came to a screeching halt as I reached her.

“Darling, are you okay?” I asked through heaving breaths, my hand outstretched to touch her shoulder. But she whips around before I can.

I shrieked at the sight of my own face staring back at me.

My hands fly to my mouth. My brows shot up, eyes widening in mortified shock.

She tilted her head before I could recover, and said in a distorted, cracked tone. “Mama, why did you let them take me away?”

A sob burst from my lips, tears freely began spilling from my eyes. I shook my head, burying my face inside my palms.

“Please, find me……find me before the big bad wolf does….”

What?

I let my hands down from my face, but I’m shocked to find myself in the castle again.

I was still in the same spot where I had watched Alpha Adrian disappear from. Did I just go into a trance?

“Now, that stupid Freya will see what I’m capable of. She’ll learn never to mess with me.” A familiar voice murmured from downstairs.

I stepped closer to the window to see Celeste pacing around what seems to be her car. The trunk was popped open and the hem of a dress peeled from the edge.

Like she had a sixth sense, Celeste’s head snapped upwards. Our eyes met, and instead of her usual paranoid expression, a grin formed on her lips.

She held a middle finger up at me, then she slammed the trunk with a finality that made me flinch—slightly.

The trunk.

Lily.

The dots connected in my head, and every instinct in me screamed ‘you’re right!’

Celeste quickly jumped into her car, and that suspicious movement urged me to burst into a sprint downstairs. I take two steps at a time.

The heavy front doors groaned from the force at which I pushed it with. The cold night air assaulted my face, throwing my hair in a frenzy.

Alpha Adrain isn’t in sight but almost all the guards were busy. Rays of bright flashlights swung around as everyone checked dark corners and bushes.

“Princess Lily.”

“Young miss.”

Different voices called out her name as they practically flipped the castle inside out. But I knew where she was and who might have taken her.

My attention snapped to the sound of the engine igniting. I hadn’t realized I was barefoot until I jumped onto the compound, chasing after Celeste’s car that was now heading towards the gate.

“Stop her!” I waved at the guard. “Don’t let her through!”

But he was too far away and couldn’t hear me. I increased my pace, hot breaths escaping my lungs, my hands swinging left and right with more force. My dress and hair dashed backwards like a flag in the wind.

Fortunately, the guard demanded some sort of identification and that seemed to wipe the smile off her face.

I got to her in time to find her rummaging through her bag.

“This is ridiculous. I’ve told you, I'm one of the contestants for the Luna trial. My name is Celeste Vane. My father is the Alpha of the Bloodmoon pack, don’t you have any respect?”

She found her invitation card and flashed it close to the guard’s face.

The guard remained unfazed by Celeste's unnecessary piece of information. “I’m sorry ma’am, but the ball ended hours ago and all contestants have been escorted out. I need you to step out of the vehicle, please.”

Celeste scoffed. “Ugh….. dad is so done with this pack.”

Reluctantly, she climbed out of her car. She cursed under her breath before offering me a death glare.

The guard blasted his flashlight into the car windows, walking round and scanning with slow deliberate steps. And when he got to the trunk, he froze.

Hanging out of the closed trunk was a piece of fabric. My heart slammed against my ribs with eerie anticipation. I don't even know why I haven’t spoken a word since.

The guard latched onto the trunk handle, and he yanked it open with one swift move.

I gasped.