The escape

SHANE’S POV

Don Simon’s face broke into a horrified scream as I ran.

“Stop him!” he yelled after me unsuccessfully, while staying planted to the ground. “Somebody stop him! He is one of those magic users!!”

He wasn’t going to chase us. I didn’t expect him to.

Now that he knew what I could do, he was no longer the wicked man with a whip. Now, he was simply a man and I was a sorcerer.

I held Nina tighter as I ran through the fields. My lungs were burning and my muscles were screaming, but I couldn’t stop. Not if I actually wanted to survive this.

The familiar dirt road was blurry as I rushed to my shack, my heart was racing so loudly that it drowned out everything else. By the time I reached our door, I dropped Nina with trembling hands, fumbling for the keys.

“Shane?” Nina’s voice broke through my racing thoughts.

I couldn’t bring myself to even look at her.

Sighing to herself, she grabbed the keys from my shaky hands and opened the door.

“Shane!” she called after me as I shoved her in, slamming the door shut behind us. “Shane, you shouldn’t have done that.”

I paused immediately, turning to her in disbelief. “What do you mean? Should I have just let you die?”

“Yes,” Nina nodded, her eyes moist. “ Because now, you have killed us all.”

With a frown, I turned away from her, heading to my room. “Wake Abigail up and start packing,” I said with a note of finality. “We aren’t dead yet.”

Nina tapped Abigail awake, who lay fast asleep in a corner, unaware that our world was about to end.

Abigail groaned as she sat up, rubbing her eyes. “You guys are back so early, what is it—”

“There is no time, grab only your important stuff, we are leaving immediately,” I called out from the room, already shoving things into a satchel. Clothes, scarves, Abigail’s medicine, and the small pouch of coins which contained all my savings. There wasn’t much to take.

“I don’t understand,” Abigail replied, stared at me then at Nina. “Where are we going?”

“I don’t know, okay!” I said louder than I intended and Abigail’s bottom lip quivered like she was going to cry.

Nina quickly pulled Abigail into her arms, rubbing her back. “Stop yelling at her Shane!”

Nina held both her palms in hers.

“Let’s just say we are going on a family adventure.”

“Really?” Abigail smiled excitedly.

“Yeah,” I added, forcing a smile back.

Nina packed up her stuff in less than a minute and just like that, our shack, the place we had called home all our lives, was empty.

We took the back road towards the pack gates, walking as fast as we could without raising suspicion. My face was wrapped in a scarf as I carried Abigail in my arms, with Nina by my side.

Soon the gates were in view and I could feel myself gradually starting to relax. We could get out of this after all. Maybe Don Simon hadn’t notified the authorities yet.

If they caught us inside the pack, I was going to be executed for sure. And even if we managed to make it out, we had nowhere to go.

I couldn’t help but wonder if things would have been easier if I had just let Nina die.

The thought of that made me sick.

Instinctively, I turned to Nina and grabbed her hand, walking even faster. If I could do it all over again, I would still choose to save her, even if it ended up costing me my life.

We were about to reach the gates, when the sound of horns shattered the air.

I froze immediately, feeling cold dread drip down my spine..

Horses neighed as they rushed past us, heading for the pack gate. Mounted on them were pack warriors, armored in their long spears and large shields, beside them were fully transformed wolves.

“CLOSE THE GATES!” One of the warriors instructed.

The guards in front immediately pushed the gate closed with a loud clang.

Around us, pack members stopped in confusion, wondering what was going on.

I turned back immediately. “We can’t go now,” I whispered to Nina. “We have to find another way out.”

“STOP RIGHT THERE!” A command swung through the air, landing on my back like the familiar crack of a whip.

I refused to turn back. Instead, I handed Abigail to Nina, increasing my pace even more.

Nina’s hand was shaking in mine. “I knew it. You could have killed Don Simon when you had the chance.” She spat.

“If anything happens to me, take the money and leave this pack immediately,” I whispered, glancing at her face for what felt like the last time.

Without a second’s hesitation, I broke into a run. Leaving my sisters behind.

I figured that even if they caught me, as long as my sisters weren’t implicated as magic users, they would be okay.

Immediately, they turned their horses after me, the wolves beside them joining in the chase.

I wasn’t going to make this easy for them. I ran into the crowd discarding my scarf, hoping to confuse them a bit.

My plan worked and soon the wolves grabbed my scarf sniffing for my scent. The warriors chased me into the pack market. Just as I was about to turn into the road, the wolves blocked my exit.

Before I knew it, the pack warriors had reached where I stood. I was surrounded.

“Shane Lockwell,” the warrior I assumed to be their leader spoke, stepping down from his horse. “You have concealed yourself well, living as a miserable omega, when you are capable of such evil acts of sorcery."

Breathing hard, I raised my hands like I was about to conjure up a spell. “Don’t come any closer, or you will find out what I am truly capable of.” I threatened, hoping to scare them off.