Chapter 5

I ran away from my hideout before I would be discovered by either Antonio or my uncle.

Going back into the palace was completely out of the question because that’s where I was expected to be, and running to the exit gate would leave me open to my killer. So, I followed the path that led to the back of the palace instead.

As I ran, I kept looking over my shoulder to be sure that I wasn’t being followed. Just as I rounded the corner that would lead me to the safety of the palace backyard, I came face-to-face with my nemesis.

“So, it is true,” said Brianna. “The servants told me you were in the palace and I thought they were crazy but here you are. To what do we owe this unpleasant surprise?”

“Not now, Brianna. I don’t have time to chat with you. Please, get out of my way,” I said in-between panting.

“It’s you who’s in my way,” she said saucily, blocking my path as I attempted to get away from her.

“Brianna, please, let me pass!” I begged her desperately and looked over my shoulder to make sure that my uncle hadn’t sent a search party to fish me out of wherever I was hiding.

“Who are you running away from?” Brianna asked curiously. “What have you done this time and why are you even here? Where’s your savage mate?”

“I really can’t talk right now,” I said and pushed past her.

I heard someone yelling in the distance, ordering the guards to lock the gates. At that point, I knew it would take a miracle for me to escape the palace grounds alive.

Brianna too had heard the shouts and she followed me as I ran around the vegetable garden frantically, looking for a place to hide but there was none.

I fell to my knees and began to weep beside a tomato vine. My life was officially over and my mates were going to be killed tonight all because of me!

“Seriously, Jade! What did you do?” Brianna demanded. “Is someone looking for you?”

“Your father wants me dead,” I told her as I sobbed. “He has sent Antonio to kill me and he’s looking for me right now.”

Her beautiful face turned white from shock. “Why?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know,” I wailed.

“Please, Brianna, help me. I don’t want to die. I am carrying my mate’s child in my womb right now. Please, save my innocent child’s life. I’m begging you!”

“You’re pregnant?” She asked with a look of disgust.

“Yes, I am, and for the sake of this child, I beg you to help me. Please, save me and my baby from sudden death.”

We heard footsteps approaching and we both looked in the direction of the noise with wide eyes.

Brianna looked back at me and said, “Get up and hide behind the apple tree over there, quick!”

I got to my feet and ran to the apple tree that she had pointed out behind the tomato vines. From my hideout, I heard the footsteps get closer and then a man asked Brianna if she’d seen me.

To my surprise, she denied seeing me and claimed not to know that I’d come to the palace. The man instructed her to notify her father or Antonio if she saw me and then he left. I finally released the breath I’d been holding since I hid behind the tree.

She came to meet me and said, “You can relax now, he’s gone.”

“Thank you,” I said. “At least, I’m safe for now.”

“I can help you get away from here,” she said. “I may not like you but that doesn’t mean I should let you die with a baby in your womb. I’m not a monster like my father or Antonio.”

“You would help me?” I asked in wonder.

“That’s what I said,” she snapped irritably.

I was amazed. Not in a million years would I have ever imagined that a day would come when Brianna, my self-appointed archenemy would offer to help me when she could have easily offered me on a platter of gold to her father to be killed. What a miracle!

“There’s a secret passage at the end of this garden,” she said.

“It’s a small part of the fence that somehow got broken and was never mended. I discovered it many years ago and I’ve never told anyone about it. It’s my secret gateway to exploring the outback village whenever I feel like going on a little adventure.”

My awe doubled at this point because I could hardly imagine my arrogant cousin squeezing through a broken fence to hang out with commoners who lived on the disadvantaged side of the kingdom.

“I know someone there who can help you get away from Apex Woods,” she said.

“Oh, Brianna. Thank you!” I gushed and stepped forward to embrace her but she blocked me with her arm.

“We are still not friends,” she said, sharply. “I’m only helping you because of your unborn baby.”

“Thank you,” I said. “But what about my… my mate?”

“What about him?”

“Your father wants Antonio to kill him too.”

“Well, that’s not my concern,” she said flippantly. “He’s an Alpha, isn’t he? Let him save himself while I save you. Come on, let’s go.”

Not wanting to appear ungrateful, I suppressed my urge to beg her to plead with Alpha Barry on my behalf to stop this attack on my family and quietly followed her instead.

We walked a short distance until we reached the palace fence which was draped with climbing plants and surrounded by wildflowers.

“Here we are,” said Brianna with a flourish.

She bent down and pushed aside some of the hanging plants, parting them like a curtain to reveal a gaping hole on the wall with ragged edges. It was about sixty inches wide and barely big enough for either of us to squeeze through.

“I can’t believe that I am about to ruin my new dress just to save you,” she complained like a child. “We’ll have to get on our knees and crawl through the whole carefully.”

“Thank you,” I said, feeling grateful for her help so far.

“Don’t thank me yet. Wait until I get you out of here safely. Come on, let’s go.”

We got on our hands and knees and crawled through the small hole, and just like that, I was out of the palace grounds in one piece. The other side of the wall led to a dense bush that separated the Alpha’s home from the surrounding villages.

“Where are you taking me to?” I asked Brianna when we were only a few steps away from the nearest village.

“I have a friend around here who can help you get out of Apex Woods safely,” she said casually.

I was shocked. “You have a friend?”

She looked at me with a frown. “There are people who actually like me, you know. You’re clearly not one of them but that’s fine because you don’t count.”

I let the insult slide because my safety right now depends on this vile cousin of mine. We entered the village through a back road that looked like an alley and once we were in, Brianna began to whistle softly.

“Why are you doing that?” I asked because the sound made the hairs on my back stand on end.

“Shush!” She replied and continued whistling again.

Suddenly, a wolf ran out of one of the slums toward us, and from the size and colouring, I could tell that it was a Gamma. It stood on its back legs and suddenly shifted into a lanky man with dark hair. He was young and dressed in faded clothes.

“My Princess, I wasn’t expecting you here today!” He gushed. His eyes sparkled as he gazed adoringly at Brianna.

“I know, Zayne,” she said with a sweet smile.

“I came here to ask you for a favour. This is my…friend and she needs help with getting out of Apex Woods. I want you to help her cross safely to the Highlands.”

“The Highlands?” I gasped. “That’s so far away from here. What about my mates, I mean, mate? I can’t just leave him and run away to another country!”

Brianna glared at me. “You ungrateful lout! You should be thanking me for trying to save you instead of handing you over to my betrothed to slaughter you like a cow."

"Sorry," I whispered.

"Weren’t you the one that said my father had ordered the killing of your mate?" She continued. "So, would you rather go to the mountains and die with him or run away and give your child the chance of being born into this world? Which option makes more sense to you?”

As much as I didn’t like the idea of abandoning my mates and not even having the opportunity to warn them of their imminent death, I could see that Brianna’s offer made sense. I didn’t want to die or lose my baby either.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to annoy you,” I apologized to her. “I’ll go to the Highlands.”

“Good,” she said with a pleased smile. She looked at Zayne and said, “Take her with you. You know what to do.”

He nodded and looked at me. “Let’s go,” he said.

I felt a sense of unease instead of relief and it bothered me. Nevertheless, I decided to follow Zayne.

“Thank you, Brianna,” I said to my cousin as I passed her. “I will never forget this.”

“I’m sure you won’t,” she said with a smug smile. “Enjoy your new life.”

I don’t know why but something about her behaviour troubled me deeply. Was she truly helping me or was she setting me up?

As I continued to follow Zayne through some narrow passages between rows of pack houses, someone hit me on the back of my head with something hard and I fainted.