Escape at Midnight

Elena

***** That same moment *****

The moment Chase’s footsteps faded again, this time down the opposite end of the hallway, my lungs finally released the breath I didn’t realize I had been holding.

Weak.

The word kept ringing in my skull like a hammer.

He threw it so easily, yet it hit deep. Too deep.

My chest still ached from it.

But I couldn’t think about that now.

Not when dawn was creeping closer.

Not when the window for escape was tightening around me like a noose.

I tightened my cloak around my shoulders and slipped the escape pouch into the inner pocket. The faintest pulse of my twins fluttered inside me again. A reminder. A warning. A push.

I whispered in my head, Just hold on. Just a few hours, and we’re gone.

My wolf was still silent.

Still broken.

But the emptiness didn’t paralyze me anymore.

It fueled me.

I moved quickly around the room, checking corners, checking shadows, checking the hall through the crack of the door. Everything felt heavier tonight. Every sound louder. Every second sharper. My instincts screamed that if I didn’t leave now…..right now, I might never get another chance.

The healer tunnels were the only route out without alerting guards. Only old healers knew about them… old healers and former Lunas. Ones who bothered to learn them.

Seraphina would never look where she would never bother to study.

That was the only reason this might work.

I grabbed my boots, not bothering to lace them fully, only enough so I wouldn’t trip. Then I slipped out the door quietly, inching it closed without a sound.

The hallway was dim, the torches burning low. Good. Most wolves were drunk or asleep from the celebration that has been going on since yesterday.

I kept my steps careful and even. Not too fast. Not too slow. Wolves could hear panic. They could smell adrenaline. I forced my breathing steady until my heartbeat slowed into something normal.

At the end of the hall, I reached the stairwell leading down to the lower levels, the abandoned healer section no one used anymore. Even Chase barely stepped foot there.

I descended the stairs slowly, my hand gliding along the cold stone wall. My stomach twisted again, nausea rolling harshly, but I swallowed it down.

Not now. Not here. Please, not now.

When I finally reached the bottom floor, darkness swallowed everything. The torches had long burned out here. Dust coated the floors so thick my footprints showed instantly. I avoided the center path and stepped along the edges where the dust was thinner.

Every small movement echoed.

Every shift of air felt like eyes watching me.

Every heartbeat felt like it would give me away.

But no one came.

When I reached the end of the service hall, I found it….. the narrow wooden door, half-rotted, barely hanging on its hinges. It looked like nothing. Like a forgotten closet.

That was why it was perfect.

I pulled the small knife from my pouch and eased the hinges free. The wood groaned softly, making my skin crawl, but not loud enough to alert anyone two floors up.

Behind the door was a pitch-black tunnel. Cold air drifted out, smelling faintly of earth and old herbs. Exactly what it should smell like.

I stepped inside and pulled the door gently closed behind me.

Darkness swallowed me whole instantly.

No lights.

No torches.

No glowing fungi.

Nothing.

I fumbled through my pouch until I found the flint stick. I struck it once, twice…… finally producing a soft spark that lit the small path ahead of me. Enough to see maybe three feet.

Barely enough.

But enough.

I took the first step.

The tunnel was narrow, too narrow. I could feel the walls almost brushing my shoulders. I forced my breathing to stay calm, even though the claustrophobic pull made my chest tighten.

Keep going, Elena. Keep going.

The tunnel twisted sharply, then descended. The air got colder, thicker. More damp. I could hear dripping water somewhere far ahead. If I remembered correctly, this tunnel led directly to the western cliffs, deep in the forest and nowhere near the guarded gates.

But that was only true if the tunnel hadn’t collapsed in the last few years.

I kept walking, one careful step at a time.

As I moved deeper, my nausea intensified. A wave of dizziness hit so hard I nearly dropped the spark stick. I pressed my hand against the wall until it passed.

I whispered to the twins, “Please… just a little longer. I need you to be okay.”

They fluttered again, answering me. Not painful, just… there. Present.

I pushed forward.

After several minutes, the tunnel widened slightly. The air felt fresher. I allowed myself to hope….

A sound cut through the tunnel.

Not dripping water. Not shifting rock.

Footsteps.

Fast. Heavy. Multiple.

My blood ran cold.

No.

No.

No.

They found me.

I snuffed out the spark instantly and pressed my back against the wall, forcing my breath silent. My heart thrashed violently in my chest, but I prayed the earth swallowed the sound.

The footsteps grew louder.

Echoing.

Rapid.

Approaching.

“Her scent ends here,” a voice growled. Not Chase. A warrior.

Another replied, “Alpha said to bring her back alive. Don’t screw this up.”

Alive.

Not unharmed.

Alive.

I closed my eyes, panic threatening to tear me apart. Chase must have realized I wasn’t reporting to the infirmary. He must have sent them.

My hands shook.

I couldn’t go back.

Not now.

Not ever.

When the voices reached the corner, I pushed myself forward…… running blindly into the dark.

The tunnel floor was uneven. My boots slipped on loose dirt, my shoulder slammed into a stone wall, but I didn’t stop. Couldn’t stop.

Behind me, voices shouted.

“She’s running…. GO!”

“She’s close….. don’t lose her!”

“Alpha will skin us if she escapes!”

My legs burned, but fear was stronger than pain. I forced myself faster even as tears stung my eyes.

The tunnel suddenly opened into a wider chamber. Moonlight spilled faintly from a crack in the ceiling, just enough to reveal a set of stone steps leading upward.

The exit.

My heart surged. I ran toward it…..

An arrow shot past my cheek, grazing skin.

Another embedded into the wall beside me.

They were shooting to stop me…maybe kill me if necessary. Alive didn’t matter if I was injured.

I stumbled up the steps, grabbing rocks, clawing my way upward. Another arrow hit the step near my hand, shattering stone.

“STOP RUNNING!” a warrior roared.

“SHUT UP!” I screamed back without thinking.

My voice echoed loudly in the chamber.

More footsteps thundered behind me.

I reached the top step and shoved against the loose slab of rock blocking the exit. It cracked open, letting in cold night air.

I squeezed through….

An arm grabbed my ankle.

“Got you!” the warrior snarled.

I kicked wildly, screaming, my nails scraping at the edges of the rock. He yanked so hard my hips slammed painfully against the stone.

My stomach twisted in agony.

“No….. stop…… PLEASE….. ” I cried, kicking harder, terrified he’d hurt the babies.

He dragged me another inch….

And then…..

A growl shook the air.

Deep.

Low.

Inhuman.

Everything froze.

The warrior’s grip loosened.

Another growl…..closer, louder, vibrating the ground beneath me.

The warrior stuttered, “W-what is that…..”

He didn’t finish.

The sound that followed was brutal. Flesh tearing. Bones cracking. A short scream cut off suddenly.

Then silence.

Cold, terrifying silence.

My entire body trembled. I didn’t dare move. Didn’t dare breathe. Whatever killed him was still there.

Slowly… very slowly… I crawled the rest of the way through the crack and collapsed onto cold grass under the open sky.

My lungs burned, my limbs shaking violently. I scrambled backward until my spine hit a tree trunk.

Then I saw him.

Standing a few feet away.

Tall.

Unmoving.

Watching me.

A man….no, not a man..stood with blood dripping from his claws. His eyes glowed a fierce, unnatural silver that didn’t belong to any wolf I had ever seen.

His voice was deep, calm, almost too calm for what he had just done.

“You’re safe now,” he said.

I blinked hard, unsure if the world was real.

He stepped closer, the glow in his eyes softening just enough to look almost… gentle.

“I won’t hurt you,” he added. “I came because your heart was calling for help.”

My breath caught.

I didn’t know him.

He wasn’t from this pack.

He wasn’t from any pack I recognized.

But his presence made the forest feel less suffocating. Less deadly.

And for the first time all night, I felt something other than fear.

I felt hope.

Before I could speak, my vision blurred. The adrenaline crashed out of me. My legs gave out entirely.

He caught me before I hit the ground, lifting me as if I weighed nothing.

“Rest,” he murmured. “You’re safe with me now.”

And then darkness pulled me under.

The last thing I felt was his steady heartbeat against my cheek, and the faint, strange warmth radiating from his skin, like magic.

The stranger with the glowing eyes had saved me.