The Day I Die

OPHELIA

Today is the day I die.

Panting heavily as I whip my head backwards, I confirm if they are still behind me. Well, I don’t have to check to know. They are right behind me.

“Goddamnit!” I hiss as I feel the dried twigs cut through my arms and knees. The large branches in the forest pose as obstacles but I don’t stop for a second, slapping them off my path.

I’ll die the moment I stop.

Terry and his wolves are still behind me. I can hear their growls and howls from just a little distance behind me and if I don’t find somewhere to hide as soon as possible, I will be doomed forever.

The only reason I’m way ahead of them is because I was able to sneak out of the tent after finding out Terry’s plan to intercept me in my sleep. That bloody wolf never planned on helping me in the first place!

I have been on the run for the past three days and I probably must be in another Pack now. I had stumbled onto Terry in the forest and I was wary of him at first. 

But he proved he meant no harm by offering me food and even a place to sleep. He told me he was a rogue wolf and I said I was a rogue too. I lied.

My knee-length dress is tattered and my hair probably looks like a bird’s nest. No one would believe I’m the stepdaughter of the Midnight Hunters Alpha.

My father was the Alpha’s Beta, his second-in-command, and after he died, the Alpha proposed to my mother. What struck me hardest wasn’t the Alpha’s swift proposal after his wife’s death but my mother’s unreluctant approval.

I thought she loved my father so much that she wouldn’t even dream of becoming a mate to another wolf. But I was wrong. 

I don’t know if she desired to live a luxurious life as the Alpha’s wife or if she was just lonely after my father’s death. Just after six months of being a widow, my mother got married to Alpha Duncan and became the Luna of the Midnight Hunters. 

And that’s when my life became a living hellhole.

Duncan treated my mother and me like trash. And I was bullied every single day by my stepsiblings. In public, Duncan was seen as a generous Alpha who married a widow and took care of her daughter but within the Palace, his true colors were revealed.

His children weren’t any better as none of them respected my mother as Luna. They never considered me as their sibling and neither did I. I hated them all but I only endured because of my mother. 

Because for some reason, she endured all the hardships they subjected us to without a single word. And each time I tried to fight back, she always held me back. 

She told me they all had a right to maltreat us. And that we deserved to be treated this way. I never understood why but I gave up on figuring it out after years of silence from my mother.

Then a week ago, Alpha Duncan declared that I was to be married off to the Alpha’s heir of Cryptid Pack. The same one who had killed his mother, the Luna of the Pack, after he was attacked by a fit of madness.

I had suspected before but that was when I realised that Alpha Duncan despised my mother and I. That was the only reason he would agree to marry me off to a crazy wolf whom I’ve never met.

A few days before the wedding, I ran away without even informing my mother. I knew if I did, she would have dissuaded me from the idea and told me to just endure. But I was done taking shit from Alpha Duncan and his children.

In the middle of the night, I used the camouflage potion I smuggled into the palace and ran away from Midnight Hunters Pack. Since then, I never looked back because there was no way I’m going back there!

Exhausted, I hide behind the trunk of a tree to catch my breath and think straight. My chest rises and falls as my breaths come out ruggedly.

I have to think of something. I can’t keep running like this. It’s only a matter of time before they catch me.

I could have easily changed into my wolf form and outrun them but I don’t have a spare of clothes. And I can’t continue my journey naked.

“Cars.” My wolf, Jade, says in my head.

“Where?” I ask and then, my ears pick up the sound of a highway close by.

I hear cars honking with a few wolves talking and laughing. Music from a bar fills my ears as well. 

“Get there and find help.” Jade mutters and I force my legs to rush down the forest.

Since I ran away, I’ve never taken time to stop. I don’t even sleep for too long. I am scared that if I do, Duncan and his men will catch me and take me back there.

I’m beaten down, hungry and thirsty but going back to Midnight Hunters Pack is not an option. I have to survive out here no matter what. I must survive.

That’s the only way I can go back and rescue my mother from the clutches of Alpha Duncan.

After I cover a few miles, I see the highway looking down at me. Thankfully, there’s a trail to get to the road.

“H-Help!” I try to scream as I reach the road. But none of the cars stop to help me. “P-Please.” I choke, gasping for air. 

“Get back here!” I turn back to see the werewolves rushing down the path.

“Oh, no.” I take a few steps backwards and a car slams into my side, throwing me off my feet.

Truly, today is the day I die.