AWAY FROM HOME

 ASHLEY’S POV 

“I cannot believe you right now!” I yelled at the top of my voice, fighting tears as I walked out of his room, slamming the door behind me. 

“Come back here, Ashley. You do not walk out on me.” My father yelled back, following behind me aggressively. 

He was right. I had never walked out on him, nor had I ever slammed the door in his face, but that was because up until that very moment, I never had a reason to. 

 Arguing with him was breaking me into tiny bits, but I imagined the pain of arguing was nothing compared to being married to a stranger. 

I actually couldn't tell which was more heart breaking: that I was marrying a soldier, or that my father who swore to love and protect me all my life was the one giving me out to the stranger. 

“I thought you loved me.” A drop of tear trickled down my left eye. “All my life, I believed in your unfailing, unconditional love for me.” I said, 

“I love you, Ashley,” he responded softly, “and my decision is from that place of love.”

“No!” I yelled. I held my head in my hands. There was no way this was from a place of love. I knew what love was. I watched him and my mother for the first ten years of my life before she passed. My mother told the stories of their mating and the ceremony over and over again. They were in love, this was a stranger. 

“If the kingdom breaks, Ashley, If the rumors are true, only the strongest packs or those in alliance will survive.” My father explained. “This is not just about the pack, Ash, it’s for your safety too. Marrying him is for all our good.”

I stared at him in disbelief. ‘This couldn’t be the father that raised me all my life.’

“Please, leave.” I felt a sharp pain in my chest as I said those words to him. I couldn’t bear to look at him, I turned my face away. It was the first time my pink floral walls did not bring me comfort, nor did the view from my wall length window, east of my room. 

“Ashley,” he took a step toward me, but I pulled away and stopped him before he could come any closer.

“Leave!” I yelled, at this point, losing control over the tears that were streaming down my cheeks. There was a brief moment of silence, before my father walked out. 

I dried my tears and walked to the big window, east of my room. It had the most perfect and complete view of the pack and beyond the pack walls, the kingdom. 

I was raised within the walls of the pack house, because my father taught me that I didn’t need the world outside. 

As I went through thought after thought in my head, watching the pack get quieter and the night go darker, I found one thought in my mind I couldn’t let go of;

 “Run, Ashley! Run!” The more I tried to bury the voice, the louder it got. I only had one question at the prompt; where was I going to go? I had never been outside the pack house before. I wasn't raised to be curious about what was out there. Everything I ever needed, my father made sure I had it right at my reach. 

A prompt soon became a step and a step became me sneaking out of the pack house through the royal exit at the back wall of the pack house. My father said the royals were only to use it if the pack was under attack and we needed to get to safety. Being handed to a stranger felt like I was under attack and the pack house no longer felt as safe as it used to. 

It was the first time I was away from my father or the pack house and I was terrified. I looked back at the small door in the wall where I had exited from. I knew it wasn't late to go back, but instead I took a deep breath and sprinted in the opposite direction. 

I wandered into the woods and for the first few hours, it was fascinating. Soon, however, the chirping bird sounds became howling beasts and the crickets grew dimmer, like they had been swallowed up. My stomach was rumbling. I was starving. Leaving was not such a smart idea now, was it?’ I sighed. 

 Going back was no longer an option. I was deep in the woods, I couldn’t recognize a path. “What am I doing?” I broke down in tears and sat on the bulging root of a big tree. I cried all night and didn’t realize it, until the first ray of sunlight shone on me. 

I picked myself up, dried my eyes and tried to locate the path. “Watch where you’re going!” I heard a thick voice above my head. I hit his rock hard chest in a tight pink vest. It was my favorite color, the color of my room and the sight of it instantly comforted me. 

I lifted my face and beheld the most beautiful gentleman I ever saw. He had black, thick hair that was just about the base of his neck long and was light skinned, his ocean blue eyes had me drowning.  It was like I was I. In the presence of a god, I couldn't speak! I could barely breathe. 

“Move out of the way!” he said and then walked past me. His cold demeanor pulled me back into reality. 

“Hey!” I yelled, quickly turning around to call his attention. He paid no attention to me, he had his big headphones on, he wouldn't hear me even if I yelled at the top of my voice. I sighed, losing hope in my confrontation.  I did however notice him walking down a small foot path between the trees. 

‘What was he doing here with a backpack and who was he in the middle of nowhere? I traced every step with my eyes. ‘Maybe he was my way out of here.’ I hoped, but he only got farther and farther away. 

“Hey!” I began to chase after him when I could no longer see him with all the tree obstruction. I ran as fast as I could, but even when I got to the tree that covered him, he wasn’t there. 

I found myself between two paths. Both paths were big enough for two war horses side by side with each other. I heard a rattling sound from the right and quickly turned, hoping to find my mystery guide. I needed to go back home. This was a mistake and I realized it. 

“What is that?” My eyes caught it from a distance not very far off.