15: My Sweet Little Girl

Rachel.

My sweet little girl who still sucked her thumb when she was tired, who believed witches turned annoying people into frogs and who had spent part of the carriage ride asking why her mama and papa didn't kiss enough.

They were standing here discussing her future like she was a piece of land being traded between kingdoms. Worse, this monster was already looking pleased by the idea that one day she would belong to him.

"That will never happen," I said.

RJ's attention snapped towards me, and he studied my face for several seconds before smiling.

"You must be the Luna."

"I'm Rachel's mother."

"Then I suppose we'll be family."

"No."

His smile faltered slightly as I stepped towards him.

"You will never be her family. I don't care what agreement your father made with Alastor, and I don't care what either of them promised you. Rachel will never marry you."

The room gradually became quieter around us, and even Roland stopped laughing.

RJ's red eyes seemed to brighten as he looked at me, and for one horrible second, he reminded me of Alastor. It wasn't because they looked alike because they didn't. It was the entitlement and that absolute certainty that whatever they wanted should eventually become theirs simply because they had enough power to take it.

"Careful, Luna," RJ warned. "You better get a grip on your tongue."

"Or what?"

"Ava," Trenton rasped weakly from the floor.

I ignored him.

RJ's smile returned. "I can see why Alpha Drexel has so much trouble controlling you."

"Maybe that's because I'm not a fucking dog."

Roland growled while Alastor's eyes flashed dangerously from across the room, but I didn't care anymore.

I looked at Roland, then at Alastor, before my attention returned to the young monster standing in front of me, and for the first time, I wondered what had happened to our kind.

When had strength become permission to be cruel, and when had leadership become ownership?

Everywhere I looked, there seemed to be another man with power convinced that being stronger gave him the right to destroy anyone beneath him.

Was this what our Alphas had become?

My father hadn't been like this.

Adam Redclaw had taught me that an Alpha didn't stand above his people simply because he was stronger than them. He stood in front of them because if danger ever came, he was supposed to be the first person it reached. An Alpha protected his people, listened to them and served them because leadership wasn't about how many people you could force to kneel before you.

My father had been everything these men weren't, and looking around that room made me miss him so badly that my chest hurt.

My gaze drifted towards the doorway because I needed to see Rachel.

More than anything, I needed to hold my daughter in my arms and remind myself that she was still mine to protect. I needed to look into those innocent brown eyes and know that she was safe because, after listening to these monsters casually plan the next eleven years of her life, three days suddenly felt like an eternity.

"Where are you going?" Alastor demanded when I turned away.

I didn't answer him.

"Ava."

I kept walking.

"Ava-Rose!"

My pace quickened, and when someone reached for my arm, I jerked away before they could grab me and broke into a run.

Shouting erupted behind me, followed almost immediately by the sound of footsteps.

"Luna Ava!" Dwight called.

I ran faster.

The hallway I'd entered looked nothing like the one we'd travelled through earlier, but I didn't care. I took the first turn I saw and then another, desperately searching for anything that looked familiar, but nothing did.

Where the hell was the playroom?

"Rachel!" I shouted as I hurried down another corridor.

No answer came.

"Rachel!"

The footsteps behind me grew louder, and I immediately knew Dwight was gaining on me.

Alastor's loyal fucking dog was coming to drag me back into that banquet hall where everyone apparently believed I should stand quietly while two men planned my daughter's life without me.

I wasn't going back.

Not yet.

I needed a few seconds to think and figure out where the hell I was.

I grabbed the handle of the first door I passed, but it was locked. The second one wouldn't open either, and by then Dwight's footsteps were close enough that I could hear the heavy rhythm of his boots against the floor.

"Shit."

I rushed towards another door and twisted the handle.

This one opened.

Without thinking, I slipped inside, quietly pulled the door shut behind me and pressed my back against it while trying desperately to control my breathing.

Dwight entered the corridor seconds later, and I covered my mouth with one hand.

"Luna Ava?"

His voice echoed through the hallway, close enough to make every muscle in my body tense.

I didn't move.

"Don't make this worse!"

His footsteps slowed near the door, and for one terrifying second, I thought he was going to stop, but instead, they continued down the corridor.

I remained completely still until the sound finally began to fade, and only then did I lower my hand from my mouth.

My fingers were trembling.

My cheek still burned where Roland had slapped me, Trenton's blood was probably still staining the floor of that banquet hall and my daughter was somewhere inside this fucking mansion with people who had already decided who she would marry before she'd even lost all of her baby teeth.

For months, I'd built my entire escape around those three days. I'd waited for Alastor's hunt, planned the safest route I could think of, made arrangements with Winifred and forced myself to be patient because one careless mistake could get both Rachel and me killed.

But standing there in the darkness, I wasn't sure three days was something I could afford anymore.

A part of me wanted to find Rachel, grab her and run from this place tonight, but I knew better than to confuse desperation with a plan. We were an hour away from Drexel Forest, surrounded by Roland's wolves, and Alastor was somewhere behind me. If I ran blindly with Rachel now, there was a good chance we wouldn't make it out of Sharptooth territory.

I couldn't let my fear get my daughter killed.

I needed to find her first, hold her in my arms and think.

After that, I would figure out the rest.

All I knew was that Rachel was not spending the next eleven years waiting to become RJ's wife.

Not while I was still breathing.