Is This Really How I Die

Reya’s POV 

Hiding in plain sight was one of the many things I was good at. 

Because of my father’s constant drunkenness which always led to humiliation, I perfected the art of blending in and making sure I wasn’t seen by those who wanted to taunt and mock me. 

And now, I was hiding from Lycan Tristan and all the men he was using to search for me. 

For someone who never seemed to give a shit about me or what I did, he seemed quite persistent in finding me. His men were everywhere, and recently, the men of other Alphas as well. Marking them out was a trouble in the beginning and I had to stop travelling for a while.

But now, I could easily pretend to be someone else and they would never know. 

Afterall, the woman they were looking for wasn’t pregnant, neither had she added a few pounds of weight. 

I had survived the past seven months travelling from one small town to the other and I was beginning to discover that there was a whole new world outside what I believed. 

I glanced at the high road beyond me and sighed. Between the past seven months, I had become a vagabond and wanderer. I had no clear destination in mind. I simply went where the other rogues went. 

Thankfully, they always got the most legit information about where to scavenge food. 

“Move your ass,” someone hissed behind me, breaking my train of thoughts. “Don’t you think this is a dangerous place for a pretty girl like yourself?”

I shuddered, wrapping Helen’s coat around my baby bump. “I’m not alone,” I lied. “I live over there and my husband is home.”

The man’s gaze followed my finger to the dilapidated hut I pointed at and he snarled. “You wish.” He said, pushing past me. “That child of yours is a bastard. I’m sure you can’t even remember who his father is…” he murmured and thankfully, kept walking,

Honestly, I did wish I wasn’t doing this alone, but it was too late for wishful thinking. In one month, I was going to give birth and I wanted to make sure I gave my baby a better life. 

This world of wandering and travelling around with junk wasn’t what I wanted for my baby. I only had one month to find a pack that was willing to accept me as their member and then I was going to make everything heavenly for my baby.

“I will give you only the best,” I whispered, caressing my baby bump gently. “I promise.

The small hut I had pointed was only a stone throw away from where I stood and on reaching it, I was happy to find that everything was just the way I left it. Usually, other rogues would have come around to loot my things. 

Whistling happily, I spread the blanket Helen had packed for me and began munching on a stale bread that was my dinner. I flushed it down with water and lay down to sleep. Still, I was very conscious of my surroundings. 

One misstep and I was going to be dead meat, or the dead meat that was robbed and looted. 

But just as soon as I closed my eyes, I knew I was being watched. I got up slowly, but they were already in the room with me. In one swift motion, I was yanked off my mat and staggering on weak feet. 

“Aha! Found you,” a voice said. “You do know how long my friends and I have been looking for you? “

I asked as though I had no idea what she was saying. “You’re taking me to be someone else,” I said quickly, looking around the small room to check how many people she came with. 

I counted five people in total but there could be more outside. 

“Nah, I’m sure, it’s you.” She glanced at the picture in her hand and stared into my face for a minute before a smile broke out on her plain face. “You were hard to find, sweet heart. Even if it isn’t you and we’re mistaken, we could always kill you and dump you in a ditch somewhere. No one will come looking.”

She tilted her head. “Am I wrong?”

I swallowed. “Please, let me go –” I whimpered.

“No sweetheart, not with the hefty price they put on your head. Looks like you pissed a bunch of influential and mighty people and now they want you dead.” Her eyes darted to my stomach. “I really won’t enjoy killing you, but I have to. I was paid handsomely for it.”

“Please,” I cried. “Spare me, for the sake of my child. I beg you.”

“Yes, I have seen that you are pregnant.” She spoke.

“I am,” I confirmed, although I didn’t need to. The size of my baby bump was proof enough of that. “I promise, I’ll never go back there and you can claim the prize on my head, but please, spare my life and that of this innocent child.”

“You shouldn’t be pregnant.” She said after a beat. Her fingers reached out, settling on my stomach and a frown crossed her face. I inhaled sharply, holding my breath as her hand flitted over the bump. 

Throwing her head back, she barked out a shocking laughter that made me short of words. Pain seared inside me as her fingers began to dig into my stomach. 

“Then it is even better.” She laughed. “Ripping this child out of you and taking it back along with your head will even earn us more money.”

“What?” I stuttered, trying to move away from her but I was at the end of the house already. My back slammed into the wall behind me and pain ricocheted through my body. 

Shaking my head, I crumbled to the ground, facing the wall to hide my baby from the vicious killers Lycan Tristan sent to me. 

Was this how much he hated me?

He hated me so much that he couldn’t see me leave and would rather kill me. 

That was never going to happen, I told myself. Tears poured from my eyes, but that wasn’t going to help me now. These people were immune to pity and empathy. Those words likely didn’t even exist in their vocabulary.

The woman laughed again. “Oh, darling. You can’t cower from death. It is your fate. Your life was destined to –” the rest of the words died in her throat as I sprang to my feet, stabbing her with a rusty fork I found on the ground. 

Adrenaline and fear fired through me as the other jumped forward. 

“She killed Freda.” One of the men shouted. “Get her!”

I didn’t wait for them to get me. Leaving seven months of scavenging behind, I jumped out the window and was instantly on my heels. Behind me, cries and shouts echoed into the night. Swears and promises that my head was going to follow. 

I ran blindly, my arms flailing wildly around me. I couldn’t see a thing in front of me, still I didn’t slow down. I wasn’t going to let them get me or my precious baby.