2: RUN!

A faint sound of footsteps echoed through the room, there was still someone there, lingering in the room. Serena and Eve stood still in the dark passageway, not making a sound for fear of discovery. The walls were thin, and it was a risky move to make any sound while there was someone in there so they had to wait.

Thankfully, Serena didn't have to explain this to her, she could just tell, judging by how easily it was to hear the guards from here. Perhaps if they went farther away from the entrance, hearing them would be harder but for now they couldn't move.

Eve’s heart pounded in her chest, full of fear and doubt. She didn't want to believe whatever it was she had heard Zane say, but she also couldn't pretend she didn't hear it either or it wasn't bugging her. It was.

They wanted her dead, and if Zane was personally carrying this order out, then surely it must have come from Kai, which meant that he wanted her dead, and that didn't make any sense to her.

Why? For Juliana? Would he really do that? Would he betray her for Juliana? Would he?

She swallowed the lump in her throat, breathing slowly to ease the tension growing inside her. The air in the passageway was stuffy, and she could almost taste the dampness of the earth in the back of her throat. Yuck! It made her feel queasy.

But more than the tension, there was the exhaustion. Her legs felt weak, and her entire body was still aching so badly. She needed rest very soon, but the situation right now didn't look promising. She wasn't sure how long she could last before she passed out or something, but she was surely nearing her limit.

“How did they get out of this room?” Zane’s voice echoed through the room. His voice sounded so close to the entrance of the passageway like he was standing right in front of it. Eve felt a quick pound in her chest, her eyes fixed on the entrance as she swallowed hard.

“Aren’t you curious?”

“What do you mean?” another guard responded to Zane. It sounded like it was only the two of them in the room.

“There are guards everywhere. They couldn't have gotten out of this room without being spotted. What does that tell you?” Zane questioned, his mind working hard.

The guard was quiet for a moment. “They had help?” He suggested a while later.

“No, Tyler. Nobody is that stupid to help them right now,” he replied.

“Then how?” Tyler asked him.

“My best guess is…..” Zane trailed off for a moment, “They never left this room.”

“What?” Tyler blurted, “That doesn't make any sense. How did they get out then?”

“Good question,” Zane smiled, “My best guess is that there is a secret passageway somewhere in this room—”

Eve's heart dropped to the floor. He knows. She darted her gaze to Serena whose face she could barely make out in the dark. What was she thinking? What was their next move? They needed to move now.

“What? A secret passageway?” Tyler echoed, “The palace has such a thing?”

“Of course, it does. It's an old building. The beauty of that is they always have some kind of secret exit somewhere in the room.”

Eve’s heart was thrumming faster and faster now. Zane finding them was only going to be a matter of minutes now, and they had to go before they were discovered anytime from now. They needed to move, but Serena wasn't making any move. What was she thinking? Eve wanted to ask her, but speaking would only alert Zane.

“But if that's true. How did they know about it?” Tyler asked.

“The midwife. She grew up here. It must be her,” Zane replied.

“So where's the entrance?” Tyler asked, and Zane didn't answer quickly unlike all the other times, and it suddenly hit Eve then.

He had been answering all of Tyler's questions in the same spot the whole time, at the entrance. He knew where the entrance was already.

How?

“Can't you smell that?” He questioned.

Shit! Realization hit Eve almost immediately. The blood on her dress. He could smell it. She opened her mouth to tell Serena that they had been discovered, but she beat her to it.

“Eve, Run!” Serena yelled as the entrance creaked to open. “Run!” She roared and Eve broke into a sprint, Serena running behind her.

“Tyler, send the guards to the woods now,” Zane commanded.

Eve ran with all her strength, pain searing through her thighs, but she didn't stop. She couldn't. They turned a couple of left, the passage getting thinner and harder to run through which was helpful in slowing Zane down.

“Keep going,” Serena yelled from a distance, and Eve realized that she wasn't behind her so she stopped, turning back.

“What are you doing?” she asked, panicking.

“Go!” Serena yelled, “I'll buy you time.”

Eve shook my head, “They are gonna kill you. Come with me,” She insisted, bursting into tears. Everything felt so fucking real now, and Zane was getting too close.

“You need to go!” Serena yelled at her, “Think about your son! If you're ever going to see him again, you can't die. Get out of here. I'll be okay. I promise,” she thundered, and as much as Eve wanted to stay and argue with her she found herself turning around, and running, tears pooling down her face as she left Serena behind.

She pumped her arms as fast as she could, her legs aching as she reached the end of the passageway, hesitating a second and looking back for any sign of Serena before bursting into the woods. The trees blurred together, their branches whipping past her and she ran like hell.

“There she is,” a guard shouted, and she could hear their footsteps getting closer. She couldn't let them gain otherwise it was over for her.

She would be dead, and she would never see her son again. She couldn't let that happen.

Her mind drifted to Kai momentarily. She couldn't help it. Was this really all his doing? She still couldn't believe it, but the thought kept haunting her. Why would he do this to her? Why? What was going on?

She didn't understand anything, and not knowing was driving her crazy.

She tripped over a root and stumbled, her hands scraping against the tree. She cried out in pain, but didn't stop as she scrambled to her feet and kept running. Her entire body screamed in protest, the exhaustion eating away at her. She was already at her limit, and she wasn't sure how much longer she could hold out before she passed out or something.

Every step felt like a knife stabbing through her stomach, and judging by the wetness trickling down her legs and the burning sensation in-between her thighs she could pretty much tell that her stitches had ripped opened. She was bleeding. But she couldn't stop. She had to get away at all costs. She had to survive.

Her movements began to slow down on its own, her strength failing her. She pushed on, but it was no good, her vision had started to blur as well, the entire forest spinning before her. She ran regardless, almost blind, the path before her a complete blur. Eve couldn't see where she was headed, or what could be before her, but she was too scared to stop, knowing she might not be able to pick up the running again once she did.

Suddenly, she collided into something hard, possibly a tree, and just as she began to fall backwards she felt something grab her—quick reflex, hands, strong arms. She was suspended in the air, her eyes fixed on the blur view of the sky.

Who was it?

Was it a guard?

Has she been caught?

Her mind reeled with multiple thoughts, and fear. Then, she felt a pull forward, and his arms were holding onto her tightly.

He wasn't a guard, she concluded. She doubted that a guard would waste any time saving her from falling, which meant he wasn't.

“Please,” she whispered, helplessly. “Help me. They're going to kill me,” she begged, the rustling in the woods and footsteps getting closer, and louder.

They were coming.

“Help me,” she whimpered, growing light-headed, and dropping her head on his shoulder.

She caught his scent the second her face was pressed to his clothes. Wait, this scent? What was it? It was sharp, and beautiful, arousing something deep inside of her that she had never felt in her entire life. All her senses came alive for a moment, and for the first time in her life she heard a weak voice inside her head.

“Mate!”

That was the last thing she heard before the exhaustion swallowed her, and everything went pitch black.

She had finally passed out.

The guards bursted out of the woods just then into the clearing, their gaze caught by the long haired man whose face was hidden under the hair, the Luna they were after, in his arms.

One of the guards stepped forward, “Give us the girl, and we will spare your life,” he said to the stranger.

The man raised his gaze from the woman in his arms who had caught his interest to the guards. By his count they were about fifteen of them—fifteen dead men.

He lowered the woman to the ground, brushing her hair gently, as he soaked up his gaze with her face, sure he would never forget it. He stood up, and turned to the guards.

“Who’s first?” he asked in an icy voice.