Like the dead

Adira

I escaped through my room’s window, sprinting into the chill of the night with my heart in my throat, my bag pressed against my chest, and most importantly, my eyes on the lookout for anyone who could drag me back to that house. 

The hurt and the sheer absurdity of their words stuck to me like a sludge. Marriage with the Lycan King when I had barely turned twenty to a man who was probably in his 80s?

I hadn’t even gotten my wolf yet and they dared to bring up the proposal of marriage to me?

“Despicable people!” I spat, carefully running down the steep hill and the moment I landed on the forest floor, a twig snapped underneath my foot and sharp thorns pierced into my foot. 

I bit down on a yelp—if I made a sound or even went as far as making a whimper, pack members would be alerted and I would be returned to that hell-hole. 

Scalding hot pain radiated beneath my foot, a hand against my mouth as I slowly pulled my legs closer, steadying myself. 

“One…two…three” I pulled out the thorn, my screams muffled against my palm as tears dropped from my eyes and the fact that I was in this situation, exasperated me. 

My stolen money, the marriage, and having to remove a thorn from my foot? How pathetic could my life get? The moment the pack patrol members and their hunting dogs caught a whiff of my scent or even the tangy smell of my blood—It would be over me. 

So, I couldn’t afford to slack. 

Reaching for the bag, I scrambled to my feet, limping on one foot until I hit the main road—far from the pack’s territory— yet, it connected the surrounding packs. 

With every second that I remained on the road, my heart thumped in my chest. I had waved down cars, none had stopped for me and it would soon be dawn, where all hell would let loose when the shameless Lycan King came for me and they found out I had escaped. 

They would search for me and if they found me, I would be stuck to that old man for the rest of my life. If they didn’t find me, he would deal with my wicked uncle and his family mercilessly— the only befitting fate for them.

“Please stop!” I limped hurriedly after a car that didn’t even wait. I ran a hand through my hair as frustration gnawed on my insides. 

I was sure that I had been at this for the past hour. 

My throat parched, the pain from my foot was starting to be unbearable as the urge to give up and accept my cruel fate nudged at me. My shoulders slouched and the moment I swung my head to the side, white headlights pierced into my eyes, almost blinding me. 

I covered my eyes with my hands, shielding them from the light that exposed the desperation on my face. It was a four-door cargo truck. 

I moved to the side of the car, waving it down and luckily for me, it glided to a stop before me. My eyes widened in shock, my heart leaping for joy as I grabbed my bag and moved to the truck. 

The burly man in the driver’s seat came out, confusion in his brown eyes. “What is a young girl like you doing outside by this time”

The urge to blurt out my predicament almost left my throat but a lie slipped from my mouth instead. “Some guys are chasing after me, they want to kill me…”

A sense of urgency flashed in his eyes—albeit not failing to wander down my body before he beckoned for me to come in with a wave of his hand. Relief crashed over me and tears of relief pressed at the back of my eyelid. 

This was what emancipation tasted like. 

“Thank you so much, May the moon goddess bless you,” I said, stepping into the truck while he nodded, tossing me a bottle of water.  

The truck’s engine revved and as I stared out the window, catching a glance of the mansion my parents left for me sitting on the hill, a faint smile stretched the corners of my mouth. 

My parents had died on my third birthday under mysterious circumstances, although I didn’t remember much about them. My uncle and his wife had always blamed me for their death, claiming that I was cursed. 

As the mansion faded away, it made me wonder if they treated me that way because they believed that I was a curse or if they were just greedy.

I leaned back in the chair, attempting to toss the water bottle into the backseat when my heart skittered to a stop as soon as my eyes met with those behind the railing. 

That of a woman’s 

For a second, I thought my mind was playing a trick on me. Soulless eyes held mine, tears shining in them. With my heart scudding hard in my chest, my eyes flitted to the side and it dawned on me that it wasn’t one woman but more. 

The bottle of water trembled in my grip, and the men sitting at the back had a smug smile on their faces. Slowly, a word that had spread terror into the hearts of the pack members flashed through my mind. 

“Don’t come out after midnight or go for any run in the woods. Rogues have been kidnapping women, after midnight” 

Fear gnawed at me at the realization that I had just transitioned from frying pan to fire. The urge to scream tugged at me but I dropped the bottle of water, squirming while fixing my eyes on the driver whose eyes had turned black. “Can you please open the door, I forgot something important in the forest”

His lips lifted into a wicked smile instead and a scoff escaped his mouth. Before I could move or even process things, a hand shot out swiftly, pressing a wet fabric against my nose. 

There was no chance to struggle or even fight back. I passed out. 

***

It’s been a week since my life went from bad to worse, since I had been stripped bare of everything my life clung to. 

I had lost my life, my scholarship, and was reduced to the status of a woman whose hope was to be sold to someone good. 

There hasn’t been a day when women were not taken in and out of here to be sold as sex slaves. They had sent me into the fattening section where skinny women like me were forced to eat so we could get thick and appeal to the audience of men they catered to. 

I had cried, screamed for help until I lost my voice and my hope. 

The door creaked open, the light from the hall pouring into the darkened room. I took a simple glance at the door and fixed my eyes back on the wall. 

But, the sound of footfalls was approaching. Me?

Fear clawed at the back of my neck, my muscles tensed as a man dropped to his hunches and grabbed my chin forcefully. “I told you she is a replica. You don’t believe me” 

Confusion swirled in my mind, the woman with the cloak fidgeting for the flashlight in her bag. She turned it on—to my eyes. 

Suddenly, she gasped, almost stumbling to the floor as the flashlight fell to the ground. Fear and confusion warred inside of me.

What the hell was going on and why did she look like me like she had seen a ghost? 

She pointed the torch back at me, pressed the phone back to her ears, and cried. “Xander is correct, she looks exactly…” Her voice cracked and she took another glance at me in disbelief. 

 

“Like the dead young Alpha.”