Chapter 2: The Escape

(Xander POV)

My heart was pounding.  We were doing this.  We were really doing this. 

The alpha in me was excited, but the man in me was worried.  I have never defied my father like this before, and Leo Bloodstone was not someone that I normally wanted to piss off. 

However, in this case, the risk was worth it.  Piper was worth it.  I just prayed that my plan worked.

Piper quickly changed into leggings and a hoodie while I sprayed myself with a de-scenting spray.  We then grabbed our backpacks —which I also brought with me— and left the room.

After saying a quick prayer to the Moon Goddess and making sure that the coast was clear, Piper and I made our way downstairs.  We “hid” Piper’s wedding dress behind a bush near the side exit, and I threw her high heels as far as I could into the field.   Our goal was to make it look like Piper fled across the meadow towards human territory.  That would be the fastest, most logical exit route.

Once Piper’s dress was fake-hidden, it was Piper’s turn to use the de-scenting spray.  Next, we made our way to the basement and through the industrial laundry room.  Everyone was busy working on final wedding arrangements, and so the place was empty.  We took the underground tunnel from the laundry room to the omega living quarters.  

The omegas lived near the eastern borders of the pack territory, so reaching their quarters meant that we were halfway there.  Unfortunately, the eastern borders were marked by steep, rocky cliffs.  They are dangerous to navigate when you have time to be careful; they are practically lethal when you do not.

When I first told Piper about my escape plan, Piper begged me to let her do this next part by herself.  I would not hear of it. 

I told her that I was not going through all of this trouble just to have her die in a ravine… but that was not my real reason.  Piper has always been an unusually skilled hiker, so I knew she would be fine. 

The real reason that I insisted on accompanying her to the end was that I was afraid she would change her mind.  Convincing Piper to run away had not been easy.  She is one of the kindest, most generous she-wolves that I have ever known.  Her loyalty to our pack and to the people she loves runs deep.  She would not think twice about sacrificing herself if it meant protecting the lives of wolves she cared about.

Once Piper and I reached the cliffy area, we removed our clothes and shifted into our wolf forms.  I stole a glance at Piper while she was stripping, and it was all I could do to suppress my urge to pull her close and kiss her.  In that moment, any doubt I may have had vanished.  Stopping her wedding was definitely the right thing to do; there was no way I could have allowed her to marry Leo Bloodstone. 

We navigated the rocky terrain as quickly as we could.  After about an hour of hiking —and several close calls— we finally made it to the border.

We located a small resting spot where we could sit down.  We shifted back to our human forms; I stole another look at her perfect body; and we put our clothes back on.

I pulled a bottle of wolfsbane vodka out of my backpack.  I took a swig out of the bottle and then offered Piper one.  I could tell she was still feeling nervous and unsettled because she all too eagerly accepted.

“This is it,” I said sadly.

“This is it,” she repeated back.

“Why did you bring the vodka?” she asked.  “I do not remember drinking being part of the plan.”

I smirked.  “Two reasons.  One, I knew you would need it.  Two, it is my cover story.  I told my father that I would not go along with the wedding, and if he insisted on forcing you into it, I was going to go to the strip club to get drunk instead of attending the ceremony.”

Piper gave me the side-eye.  “The strip club?  At 11 am in the morning?”

I laughed.  “It is the perfect alibi.  There is one located a 15-minute walk from here in human territory.  Anyone drinking at a strip club at 11 in the morning is most likely incapable of remembering what time I got there.  As long as I am nice and toasty by the time my father comes there looking for me, no one will be any wiser.  If I start drinking now, even if they find me before I get there, I can pretend that I got drunk and lost.  The alcohol will also cover up for the fact that I have no scent.”

“I bet Amanda is thrilled with the idea of you going to the strip club.”

I shrugged.  “We broke up.”

“What?  When?  Why?”

“Eh, a couple of weeks ago.  Amanda isn’t my mate.  It was bound to end eventually.  Better to end it before it got too serious and feelings got involved.”

Piper put her head on my shoulder.  I looked down at her, and I could tell she was trying to hold back tears.

“Are you okay, Piper?” I asked.

“I just realized that this is probably going to be our last conversation.”

No, it would not be.  That was why I was doing this.  We were going to spend our lives together. 

“I promise you that we will talk again, okay?  This will not be the last conversation that we have.  You will always be in my life.”

Piper wiped a couple of tears away from her eyes.

“Promise?”

“I promise.  As soon as the threat from Bloodstone is resolved, I will come for you.”

Piper stood up.

“Do you have everything?” I asked her.

“I think so,” she said as she took a quick look through her backpack.  “I have my wallet; money; the fake ID; the burner phone; directions to Moon Shadow Pack; the herbs you gave me…”

I watched Piper reach for her locket —something she did often when she was nervous or scared— and then she burst into tears.

“Piper, what is wrong?”

“My… my locket.  It is gone.  Xander, my locket is gone,” she said in a panicked voice.  “I… I can’t leave without my locket!!!!”

Oh, Goddess, no.  No, no, no.  We did not come this far just for Piper to turn back now.

“Penelope says it is a sign.  She thinks we should go back,” Piper wailed.

URRRGGHH.  That d&mn wolf.  I was trying to protect Piper and here she was messing everything up.

“Piper, calm down.  Please.  Relax.  I will find your locket.”

“You will?”

“Of course, I will.  I have never let you down before, have I?”

“No… But… but Xander… it could be anywhere.”

“Yes… but I will find it.  I promise you.  But not now.  I will find it and bring it to you.”

“But I can’t leave without it, Xander.”

“YES, YOU CAN!” I shouted, a little too aggressively. 

Piper stopped crying, but took a step away from me.  She was clearly startled.

I tried to calm myself down.  “Piper, I am sorry for yelling.”  I grabbed both of her hands.  “But you have to understand… you have already missed your wedding.  They are already looking for you.  Do you understand how angry Leo Bloodstone has to be right now?  If things weren’t already bad, can you imagine how much worse they will be if you go back now?  He will know that you tried to escape, and….”

Piper frowned, understanding what I meant.  I had previously told her the stories of Leo Bloodstone and what he has been rumored to do when angry. 

“Look, Piper.  Your mother gave you that locket because she loved you.  She would not want that locket to be the reason that you never meet your mate.  Nor would she want that locket to be the reason that you lead a miserable life or get hurt at the hands of Leo Bloodstone.  Please, Piper.  Trust me.  I will find the locket.  But you have to go.”

Piper wrapped her arms around my waist, hugging me again.

“Thank you, Xander.”

“I love you, Piper.  I always will.  Now let’s go.  Say the words.”

Piper released me from the hug and stood up straight.  She looked at me one more time for reassurance, and I nodded my head.

“I, Piper Monroe, hereby reject Blue Ridge Pack and its leaders.  I rescind any links or ties that I have to the pack and declare myself a rogue.”

I felt the pack link to Piper break, and I knew my father and the rest of our pack members felt it too.

“Okay, now go Piper!  Hurry!”

Piper began running, and I felt a part of my heart following behind her.

****