Infuriated by my big brother’s persistent rules, I jumped from my bed and slid on my shoes. I needed to be stronger; I needed to train. I had so many questions, and if no one else would give the answers, then I’d go look for them myself.
But first of all, I needed to be strong enough to run away from the pack.
It had been five years. The pack had changed since that night, and so had Ethan.
I had been living at Vicky’s house ever since, but my brothers still stayed in the pack house, even though they didn’t get along well like before.
Sotis I would hear Soren argue with Ethan, saying things like, "You need to tell the truth," but Ethan never answered him no matter how hard Soren pushed. I had a feeling that they were referring to Mommy and Dad.
It wasn’t like I missed my parents–I didn’t know what parents really ant until I started living in Vicky’s house.
I learned that kids didn’t get punished for every tiny thing they did; I learned that, even if kids made mistakes, they didn’t need to be beaten. Families were not just about children being obedient and strictly following everything their parents said to the letter.
While I didn’t particularly miss my parents, once in a while, I still got curious and went to ask Ethan where they went. He’d just say that it wasn’t my concern. If Soren was there when I asked the question, he would get into a big fight with Ethan. So slowly, I learned to avoid this topic.
Things seed to slowly go back to normal, until one night, we were attacked by rogues... and Soren went missing.
I took a deep breath and stepped toward the window, then I opened it and looked down at the ground below. I was fortunate enough to have a drain pipe near my window, and slinging my leg up onto the window ledge, I shimd my way outside, then down the pipe.
My feet hitting the ground brought a smile to my face, and I took off toward the training grounds.
At this ti of night, they would be empty, but the equipnt they used would still be there for . As I broke through the small stadium entry way, I found the field dimly lit with stage lighting.
Shadows still crested the edges of the arena that neared the woods, but with the warriors out doing their rounds, I didn’t fear the dark.
Move after move, I maneuvered myself around the training grounds and landed hit after hit on my targets. The obstacles in place were for more advanced training, but after weeks of coming out here to practice, I had learned my way around.
"Nice hit." a voice called out in the distance, followed by my clapping that echoed across the field.
Stopping in my tracks, I spun to face the person in question. My heart raced, realizing I had been caught.
But when my eyes landed on Talon, I let out a breath in relief. Thank the Goddess it wasn’t my brother!
Ever since Ethan had beco the Alpha of the pack, Talon took on the role of Beta, and they had been very busy. The last ti I’d seen them was almost a month ago.
"Welco back! Wha–what are you doing out here?" I stuttered.
"?" Talon chuckled. "What are YOU doing out here?"
"Just training..." I tried to make it sound convincing.
"Training in the middle of the night?" he asked as he stepped closer and squatted in front of . Although I had grown taller compared to five years ago, I was still tiny next to Talon.
He gently reminded , "You could get hurt out here by yourself."
"Then, that’s why you’re here!" I gave him a big smile and titled my head. "Please?"
He dotingly tapped the tip of my nose and smiled/ "Peach, you’re old enough to know you’re breaking the rules." His deep green eyes were fixed on .
I froze for a second, and I didn’t know why, but my face started to heat up and my heart started pounding. It was a strange feeling. I wasn’t afraid of him at all, so why would my heart beat so fast...?
"Co on. Let’s go ho," he said as he took my hand. And I heard my heart beating even faster. What was wrong with ?!
Before I could figure out my own problem, though, a howl resonated against the wind that caused the hairs on my arms to stand straight out. It was a warning howl, and that only ant one thing.
Rogues had gotten through the borders. Again.
Before we could run away, two rogues ca running toward us, snarling.
Panic flooded . Neither of us could shift yet!
Talon cursed under his breath.
I should have followed the rules. I should have stayed in my room like I was told. But now I was going to die, and what’s worse, I’d also dragged Talon into this!
As one of the wolves bounded up into the air, Talon pulled into his arms. Then both of us were knocked down on the ground. Talon made sure that I landed on his arms and he shielded with his entire body.
The wolf was frustrated and bit down at Talon’s side; I saw blood pouring out. Even so, he didn’t let go of , and I was still wrapped under his body.
I trembled as I heard Talon whisper, "It’s okay. I’ve mindlinked Ethan... he’s on the way."
My vision blurred as the wolf bit into Talon again, trying to have Talon let go of . More blood splattered and I scread as tears flooded out. "Ethan—help!"
"Oohoo—!"
Before the rogue wolf’s teeth could sink into Talon again, though, a massive wolf cast it off, and I realized that Ethan had finally arrived.
"Talon!" I scread in panic as I realized that Talon’s body had crushed down on mine. He had fallen into unconsciousness. "Please... please wake up..."
Then I was shuffled aside when other warriors joined the fight.
What had I done...? What if... what if Talon died...
My brain was empty, and I was so horrified that I couldn’t even cry.
Soon, both Talon and I were escorted to the pack hospital, but I couldn’t rember what others were talking to about. Everything seed to be just buzzing in the background.
"Georgia!" My brother’s roar snapped out from my trance.
I sat on my hospital bed and looked up to face him. Never had I seen him so angry, but scared at the sa ti. "What the hell were you doing out there?!"
"I–I was j–just trying to t-train." I sobbed as I tried to keep myself together. "I’m sorry—"
"Training at this hour when you knew you shouldn’t? They could have killed you had Talon not been there!" he yelled at as he slamd his fist into the wall. "Talon almost died for you!"
Talon. Hearing his na sent panic through .
"Is Talon okay?" I cried. Please Goddess, please help him! "If Talon... If Talon..." I couldn’t even make up a full sentence.
"You both are lucky that we got it there in ti," he said, glancing over / "He’s alive."
With this confirmation, I was able to breathe again. I said a prayer to the Goddess, and then I apologized. "Ethan... I didn’t an it, I’m so sorry—"
"Now you know to be sorry?!" he interrupted , "How many tis have you been breaking the rules? How many tis did I have to tell you to stop acting out like a child?!"
"I just..."
"You just what?! Stop finding excuses for yourself, Georgia! You’re 13 now, and you should’ve known better than to be a burden to T..."
Burden! My eyes opened. Finally, finally he said it! I knew it!
I could no longer hold back, and I retorted, "Burden?! Finally you admitted that I’m a burden?! I just wanted to help!"
Ethan frowned. "Georgia, that’s not what I ant..."
"I didn’t ask you to take care of !!" I yelled. "If you don’t want around, just tell ! I’ll leave just like Soren!!"
"What the hell are you talking about?! Soren was kidnapped by the rogues..."
"How do you know?! They said you caught all of the rogues but you couldn’t find him! Do you know why? Because he ran away! He couldn’t deal with you any more just like !"
"Georgia, what the hell are you talking about?" he scolded.
"You’re just a tyrant!" I spat. "You always dismiss us. You never talk to us anymore! Had you spent more ti with Soren, he wouldn’t..."
"Georgia, listen. This is none of your concern." He pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Yes it is! He’s also my brother!"
I knew that Ethan was upset. I could clearly see the blue vein on his forehead. He growled, "Georgia, this isn’t the ti..."
"Then when is the ti? You’ve dismissed Soren, now you are going to dismiss ? Why couldn’t you just tell us what happened?!"
"Georgia! Enough! How many tis do I have to tell you?! This isn’t sothing you need to know about!"
"Ethan, I know you don’t like us anymore! That’s why you fought with Soren! If you hate us just like you hate Mom and Dad—"
"Enough!" Ethan roared. "Get out!"
He forgot that this was my ward, but it didn’t matter.
"Fine! I didn’t want to be here anyway!" I declared and ran out of my ward, down the hospital hallway, swearing to myself that one day, soon, I’d be strong enough to get away from the Drogomor pack, and even Ethan couldn’t stop .
Then when I slowed down to wipe my tears off, it struck that I should go to check on Talon. I owed him an apology for putting him in danger.
"Georgia," Estrella gently waved at , gesturing to go over. I knew she was looking after Talon. "Good timing. Talon was just asking about you."
I paused for a second and quickly dried my face so that I didn’t look like a ss. As soon as I entered the room, I was greeted by a warm smile. "Peach, co over here."
I walked over to sit next to him.
Talon rubbed my head and said gently, "I’m glad that you didn’t get hurt."
And just like that, the tears I had just dried off flooded out again.
"Talon," I choked, "I’m so, so sorry..." I couldn’t even dare to look at him anymore. I couldn’t imagine how it would have been if anything worse had happened to him....
"Apology accepted. Don’t cry."
But I just kept shaking my head, crying harder.
"All right, all right. Don’t be afraid. The rogues are all gone," he smiled. "I promised to protect you, rember?"
Yes, of course I rembered. He told that when I was eight and I knew he would keep his word for the rest of his life, just like he kept all of his other promises to anyone else.
He was my brother’s Beta, and he was my knight. But I didn’t want to be a princess.
I wanted to be a warrior, so that one day I could fight alongside Talon instead of being protected by him.
More than ever, I wanted to be stronger!
"Talon...would you train with when you’re better?" I asked him. "I won’t take too much of your ti, but once in a while, if you can check on my progress..."
His smile was deeper. "Of course, as long as you promise to follow the rules."
I stared at his smile for a second and again felt my face heating up. To hide it, I quickly lowered my head to look at the floor and nodded.
But what I didn’t expect was that I’d never get the chance to execute my ambitious escape plan... or to train with Talon.
Three days later, I was sent to a boarding school in Feringore, one of the Denali islands.
It was known for its secluded and well secured location, as well as its prestigious courses designed to prepare young royals and high society students for everything they needed to know for their positions, from etiquette to fighting skills.
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