Chapter 3 Rogue Moonlight

The days passed in quiet dread.

I was out of the dungeon, but the East Wing did not seem like freedom. It was like the cage of gold. My room was big and clean and warm, such as I used to dream about, yet the guards standing outside my door made me remember that it was not a reward.

Containment was what it was.

And since that day in the cell he had not spoken to me.

Damien was giving me the cold shoulder and yet I could sense his presence everywhere. The smell of him was in the halls. His thugs kept watch on my movements. Even when I could not see him he was watching.

Amara visited at night, and spoke to me through the little round hole in the wall between the servant-corridor and my room. She sneaked in food, vitamins and above all - hope.

One night she said to me, "He is obsessed." But he is combating it. The Bond was not torn by the rejection. Not completely."

I don't want him, I thought, stroking my stomach. All I want is to preserve this baby. Amara hesitated. Then you must go.

I glanced up. "How?"

"Tomorrow night. Full moon. Outer guards are rotated in the blood rite ceremony. I can get you out by the west watchtower. But Ivy..." She came up nearer. This time he will kill you, if you get caught.

I gulped and nodded my head. I had sooner perish in an attempt to run away, than languish here.

I slept not that night.

I was torn between fear, guilt and longing. What sort of a mother will my child get? A runaway. A lover refused. A nobody.

But let us suppose that... I would be able to provide them with a life that I never experienced.

At the appointed time I was prepared.

A cloak. Quiet boots. A food satchel. I could hear my pulse roaring in my ears as I obeyed Amara, and went with her through narrow servant passages, past kitchens and storerooms, and out into the chill of the night.

It was a pine and moonlight smell of air.

We sneaked between two Guards, who were laughing at something, (they were drunk with bloodwine) and stole under the crumbling arch of the watchtower.

I ran.

I ran the fastest I ever had in my life.

Across the wood. Beyond the boundary stones. Branches cut my arms and my legs were scalded. My wolf pushed me, although she still did not speak. She needed to get out. She desired liberation.

However, freedom never comes easily.

I heard them and then I saw them.

Rogues.

Twisted, guttural howls tore the night. They were close. Quick. Ravenous.

I swung round and plowed through a clearing, almost tripping over tree roots. I gasped in breath. I would not be able to outrun them. Not in this way. Not pregnant. Not alone.

I tripped and fell on the forest floor with a cry of pain in my side.

I endeavoured to crawl, when a weighted foot came down on my back and held me to the ground.

A voice had raspied above me: "Well, well..." What is this?

I howled (hoarse, despairing).

and a hand with claws reached towards me--

Then it ceased.

It is something that hit my attacker and sent him flying back with a snarl that rattled the ground.

Another wolf.

Not a wolf raider only, No --. A beast.

Huge. Silver-furred. Fire-eyes.

He dashed through the rascals as though they were paper. One attempted to run, and the silver wolf broke his back with one blow.

There was a silence on the clearing.

And then... the monster changed.

He was a tall person. Shirtless. Blood-slicked. War marks on his chest scars.

Slowly he walked toward me. Cautiously.

I endeavoured to crawl off, but my sight failed me. My physique collapsed.

He got down on his knee beside me. I was struck by his smell first - -familiar.

The bar. The stranger.

"You," I choked.

He blinked. "It's you..."

then the blackness drew me down.

I awoke on a cushy bed. Warm blankets. A fire popping in the background. The smell of herbs and wolves and...

Him.

He was sitting on the side of the bed looking at me as though I were something rare.

He had said, "I supposed you were dead."

I attempted to prop myself up, but he laid me back again very tenderly.

"Don't. You're hurt."

Where am I?

"Silver claw territory", he said. "I am the Alpha, here, Leon.

Leon. The man of that evening.

The man who is the father of my child.

I was too much breathless. "I'm... I'm pregnant."

his eyes bulged.

There was an ugly silence between us.

Then-

His hand reached slowly towards mine.

"My pup?" he croaked, his voice filled with feeling.

The door blew open before I could reply.

One of the warriors entered, breathing hard.

Alpha--the Crimson Moon patrol has entered our land. They are looking for somebody.

The eyes of Leon deepened.

He looked at me.

"What are you Ivy? Who are you really?