Chapter 4 - The day everything changed.

Helena

My heart was beating in my throat as I turned slowly. The enormous number of possibilities of who it could be run through my mind in a split-second and I nearly fainted at the sight of the deer standing just meters away from me! My mind raced as I realized that it would be a great food source, but I wouldn’t be able to store any of it.

It would be a huge waste of a life … Like mine … I didn’t have weapons and I didn’t have enough time to shift! Before I could move, the deer darted off into the forest. My breath pushed out of my lungs. I had been holding it so tightly that it felt as if my lungs were about to explode.

All the possibilities of what could have happened flooded my mind as I set of in the direction I was going in again. I kept reprimanding myself. How could I have been so damned stupid?! It could have been a rogue! How on earth would I defend myself against one of those?! I found some berries along the way and dug in hoping I could find somewhere to stay for the night.

The only thing I knew for sure was that I had to keep moving. I had been cut out of the pack mind link the moment Liam exiled me. It was pure bliss, but it was also frustrating. I had no idea what the hell he was planning or if they were coming after me. I was also not being bugged by ridiculous requests from females who couldn’t do a damn thing for themselves!

I started moving down the slope of the mountain I had been climbing and, in the distance, I saw something. It was different to the rest of the scenery. Quickly making my way there, I nearly died when I noticed it was a small house. Slowly and carefully, I moved closer, listening for any signs of life, but there were none. I struggled a little but finally opened the door. It had clearly been abandoned a long time ago. There were no tracks nearby and there were no lingering scents hanging in the air.

The inside looked worse than I expected, but at least it was something. Everything was covered in old cobwebs and dust and I realized that even the spiders that made it a home had left. I could make this a home if I really wanted to. I looked around the dusty room. There was an old bed, but the mattress was almost non-existent. There was a fireplace in the center opposite to the door.

I opened some of the windows and one of the curtains disintegrated underneath my fingers. I didn’t have anything to clean with so I needed to figure out where I could find some water. If I don’t find water soon, I might have to leave this place behind in any case. It wouldn’t help me to hang around and die of thirst.

Grabbing my backpack, I set off. There had to be water somewhere. If I was going to survive, I had to take charge of my life. I breathed a huge sigh of relief a couple of hours later when I not only found a source of water, but a small town. I knew just enough about human towns to find clothes, a bucket and some water and quickly got out of there before anyone spotted me.

Returning to the small cabin, it took me all day to get it cleaned up, and it looked like a small home. In the evening, I took the chance to shift and hunt and by the time the moon shone high in the sky, I was sitting near the fire with a full stomach. I could do this. I could survive out here on my own!

I SIGHED AS I sat back in the rocking chair. It had been two years since my eighteenth birthday and, if I calculated correctly, tonight was my twentieth birthday. I didn’t have a cake or decorations, but for the past two years I have had peace. I scanned the shack that, after a lot of work, had become my home.

I have been living in peace since I found it … Mostly. I hated stealing from the people in the town nearby, so I tried my best to only take what they might not use. It took some doing and some time, but I finally built myself a home and I now even have a small vegetable garden. It was my birthday and I had food and a roof over my head.

I was blessed …

Liam

Helena was the last thing on my mind the day we were attacked. They burst through our borders as if we were nothing. I had heard of Lycans before but had never seen one myself. When their king stood towering over me on his hind legs … I thought he would rip my head from my body as he growled and basically announced that we had lost everything.

I had never bowed my head to anyone. Not even my father, but this beast forced me to not only bow my head. I was forced to the ground in front of him as a show of his power. For a split second, I wondered what had happened to Helena and if she was the reason behind the attack, but I couldn’t see any of our kind in the ranks of the Lycans. I wondered as my face was pushed into the dirt whether she was his mate.

If he was her second chance mate, it would explain the totally unprovoked attack! I should have had her killed all those years ago! I should have had her removed completely! Maybe that would have eased the pain I still felt just thinking of her. However, it very quickly became clear that Helena had nothing to do with this.

“I am King Oliver. The ruler of the Lycans.” The wolves who hadn’t been killed had all been gathered in the square and forced to lie down in the dirt. Nobody was treated better because of their rank. We were all in the same boat for once. “This territory is now mine. You are all mine. Even your precious alpha over here is now a slave of the Lycan kingdom. Don’t try to run. Don’t try to fight. We are stronger. Faster.” I didn’t have to look at him to know that he was sneering at me. “And far more ruthless than any of your kind could be.” He finished his sentence close to my ear and a shiver ran down the back of my spine. I had never felt fear like this before.