Chapter 3

I stayed in my room the whole day, ignoring the knocks on my door from maids coming to bring me food and father coming to check up on me. I even ignored my brother I didn't want to face any of them. It was easier to just stay away from them. It would make leaving so much easier, and I wouldn't let my emotions get the better of me. That's one thing I hate about being a wolf. Your emotions are so strong, and they control nearly everything that you do. One of the first things you start to learn in wolf school is how to control your emotions so you don't snap one day and let your wolf take over and kill someone. It's one thing I have never been very good at. I have anger problems, and I've spent most of my life trying my hardest to keep them at bay. Because of this, I ended up getting my wolf really early in life. Most wolves only get there when they turn 16, some even later than that, but I was 6, and it was on my first day of school when one of the other kids started to pick on me because of my small size, which has been something that I have always hated. Being born a runt in a pack isn't a good thing. You are looked at so differently. Anyways, this kid was picking on me, and I snapped, which ended in my wolf coming through. 

After that day, most people just stayed away from me because they saw me as unpredictable, which I didn't mind because I never really liked anyone in my pack that much. That's kind of how I became friends with Elena and Lillie. They were scared of me and didn't care that I wasn't like everyone else. They were different, too, and had trouble fitting in in their coven or herd. It didn't bother us once we found each other. 

As the sun started to set, I checked to see if I had everything I needed for the millionth time today. Picking up my bag, I took one last look around my room. It was sad that this was the last time that I would be seeing it, but as I stood there looking at it, it didn't feel like mine anymore. 

A soft knock on the door snapped me out of my thoughts, and my heart began to race with the fear that I'd been found out.

"Winter, it's Sarge," my brother said from the other side of the door. I know you're mad about everything that happened today, but please come down and have dinner with us. Mum didn't mean to get so mad." 

A lump started to grow in my throat with every word that he said; it was breaking my heart to leave him. He was the one person here that I would miss. I swallowed deeply, trying to pull myself together so he wouldn't be able to hear the sadness in my voice. I knew that if he did, he would break that door down to come in here and find out what I was planning. "please, sarge, just leave me alone. I don't want to be around anyone right now" I tried to sound strong, like I was just having one of the little pissy fits that I'd be over in the morning. 

There was a long silence. The only thing that I could hear was my heart pounding in my chest. Every part of me was waiting for him to break down my door, but he finally spoke. "okay, well, if you need to talk, you know where I am. I love you, pipsqueak."

It felt like my heart was being ripped from my chest, and a few tears fell down my face. "I love you too," I choked out, knowing that my voice broke as I spoke, but I couldn't help it. My heart was breaking, leaving him here to deal with my family and take on everything alone. I knew that the things my family wanted for him weren't what he wanted, but he would never stand up for himself because family was everything to him. 

i stood there frozen for a few minutes making sure that he had gone before i pulled myself together and made my way over to the balcony throwing my bag over first i waited making sure no one heard or sore it before i climbed up on the railing ready to jump off it myself. i took one last look back at my door wondering if my brother was still standing out side it worried about me taking a deep breath i turned and jump down the two stories to the ground landing on my feet. I didn't waste any time grabbing my bag and taking off, knowing that one of the guards would be due to walk past here soon. After years of sneaking out nearly every night, I had got to know how to get past everyone.

I ran as fast as I could towards the forest, feeling free. As I did, a huge weight had been lifted from me. I no longer had to hide who I was from my family, not that I really knew who I was because I'd never been given the chance to find out. I could have moved fast if I had shifted into my wolf, but I knew that my sent would be easier for them to follow that way, and I was wearing my favourite pair of jeans that I didn't want to get ripped to shreds. I reached the edge of the forest, and the big spotlight came spinning around. I darted behind a tree, having the light only just brush the tip of my hand, i held my breath praying no one had seen me staying as still and as quiet as i could listening to see if anyone was coming after me. After a few seconds, I let myself breathe, stepped away from the tree, and started on my way to where we had agreed to meet. 

I hopped that Elena and Lillie had gotten away as easy as I had. I wasn't out of the woods yet; I still had to make it to them, and then we had to get as far away from here as we possibly could before the sun came up and our families worked out we were missing. i hadn't left a note or anything i was hoping that they would think that i was kidnapped or something not that id run away as much as i was angery at them i still hadn't the idea of them being angry at me. Getting closer to the spot we agreed to meet at, I slowed down, making sure to listen to any sounds that didn't belong in the forest. If someone was following me, I wanted to be able to lead them away from Lillie and Elena, which was the plan. If any of us were followed, we would meet up somewhere else when it was safe and we were no longer being followed. 

Finally, I saw Elena and Lillie's familiar figure up ahead and knew that I could now breathe with relief that they had gotten away safely. We quickly hugged, knowing that we were in this together now.

 We didn't have much time to stand around, though, as we needed to keep moving before anyone caught up to us. Lillies pulled out a small vial from her pocket. "here, drink this. It will break the bond between you and your family, so they won't be able to track you, but they won't know it's broken."

I took it from here, holding it in my hand and studying it; unscrewing the lid, I put it to my lips, but before I could drink it, Lillie spoke. "wait, are you sure it won't hurt her or even kill her?"

I looked at Lillie, uncertainty evident in my eyes. "Are you sure this won't harm me?" I asked, a hint of fear creeping into my voice. I hadn't even considered that a possibility.

"I mean, you have no control over your powers, so how can we trust your potions?" Elena asked as she stared at the vial in my hand.

"oh, for god sake, shut up, Elena. I aced potions class." she rolled her eyes. "It's safe. It will just break the tracking bond between you and your family. Trust me."

Taking a deep breath, I nodded and drank the vial. The liquid tasted bitter, but I forced myself to swallow it all down. As soon as I did, a strange sensation washed over me. It didn't hurt, but it did feel like a part of me was missing. Both of them stood there staring at me, their eyes wide as they waited to see if anything happened. 

"how do you feel?" Lillie asked nervously.

i raised my eyes brows at her. "i thought you said it was safe?"

"Look, I might have lied. I had no idea if it was safe or not. It could have killed you, but I knew if I told you that, then you wouldn't have drunk it."

"oh my god lillie you could of killed her" elena half shuted. 

"Shut up, Elena. You're missing the point here. I could have killed her, but I didn't," Lillie said, sticking her tongue out at Elena. 

Ignoring their bickering, I focused on how I felt. Surprisingly, I felt lighter, like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. It was as if a connection that had always been there was suddenly severed. "I feel different," I said softly, looking at them with wide eyes.

Lillie grinned triumphantly. "It worked! Your family won't be able to track you now."

Elena sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. Now we can focus on getting out of here without anyone finding us."

We quickly gathered our things and set off deeper into the forest, knowing that we had to put as much distance between us and our families as possible. The night was dark, but the moonlight filtered through the trees, guiding our path. We moved swiftly and silently, each step bringing us closer to freedom. But as we walked, I couldn't help but feel scared about what was to come. We were stepping out of the safety of our homes and into a world that none of us knew anything about. all I knew about the human world was that they did like any magical creature, and we would have to keep what we were from them.