Chapter 13: Billie

Chapter 13: Billie

Under the cover of rain, Colt and I stayed in my room and devised my escape. The manor was quiet with both David and Catrina gone, leaving us to plan without interruption to a backdrop of thunder and lightning, turning the world ominous as though to challenge whether or not I truly wanted to venture into it. I sat beside my window and watched the downpour, imagining myself caught in the rain, but only felt harmony with the weather. My wolf was growing restless; rain or shine, I wanted to be outside.

After making a list of necessities that I’d bring in a backpack, Colt helped me figure out how to get the items. A paper road map of Colorado, a cheap rain jacket from a gas station in Dalesbloom, a bag of deer jerky Colt would put together ‘for a packmate’, an extra sweater—his. “I saw the gun on Catrina’s waist,” I pointed out. “Where’d she get it?”

“Dad got a crate of handguns he’s been keeping in his office. I saw he’s given some to the perimeter scouts. I don’t think the guns are staying there long, but if you want one, I could grab one for you. He’d know it was me, but… you could use the extra protection,” Colt decided.

“I don’t want you to be punished for helping me,” I muttered.

Colt shook his head and laughed. “Maybe I won’t be around to get punished.”

I searched him for a hint of truth behind what he’d implied. Would Colt really run away, leave his family and home behind… for me? He must have sensed me wondering that because his laugh faded and he looked away.

“It should be tomorrow,” he said, busying himself with the list. “You should go tomorrow during the hunt.”

So soon? I chewed it over. “It’ll still be light out during the hunt,” I said, since the pack usually hunted during the evening before sunset.

“But a lot of us will be preoccupied with the hunt—Catrina, Gavin. He won’t be able to intercept you, especially if you’re leaving through the north. I’ll be with them so I can keep them on track and give you plenty of time to run,” said Colt. “David will likely have another meeting. There’ll be one or two people here to keep an eye on you, but you can escape through my window. It opens onto the veranda’s roof, which you can climb down from the trellis on the west end. You should be able to see us from there with the binoculars too.”

I nodded, imagining the route Colt was talking about. In summers past I’d found gouges in the ivy adorning the trellis that I questioned the origins of; now I knew it was Colt damaging the plants while sneaking in and out of his bedroom. To do what, I wondered?

“Tonight, let’s gather some of your supplies. Tomorrow I’ll go into town to get everything else for you.” Colt set the handwritten list down and came to stand beside my bed, both of us drawn to the patterns of rain against the window. “Are you ready, Billie?”

My life was about to change—by running away tomorrow night, I’d never be able to go back to my old life with the Hexens. I could die by doing this, but it was a risk I was willing to take. “I’m ready,” I said with a nod. “I can’t stay here any longer.”

Colt’s face softened with sympathy. “You deserve to be free. I can’t just stand by and watch them mistreat you anymore. Even if this is all I can do…”

Even if he couldn’t run away with me, just helping me was enough. I smiled and hugged him, savoring what could be our last moment of sibling solidarity.

Sighing, he hugged me back and stayed quiet.

The silence lingered for a long time that night, the weight of my impending escape hanging off of us both. By the time Colt left me to go to bed, I wondered if he was second guessing making these plans with me; but I believed I could trust him to follow through.

The next day was cool and grey, the effects of yesterday’s rain felt in the damp air and muddy puddles. Carefully throughout the day, Colt and I continued preparing my backpack of supplies. To my relief, Catrina was nowhere to be seen. David was in his office until noon, then left for a meeting. Colt deposited the handgun and ammunition with a wary darkness in his eyes, and I prayed I’d never have to fire it.

As the start of the hunt drew closer, I heard Colt chatting in the parlor with the packmates who would be keeping an eye on me. There were two like we’d predicted. Colt told them I’d be mostly cleaning upstairs. They checked on me around 7 PM, only to find me scrubbing lime off the bathtub in the second-floor washroom.

After my packmates left me alone, my phone buzzed with a text from Colt, ‘Hunt starting soon. No Cat or Gavin. We’ll start without them… They’re not at the manor, right?’

I stuck my head into the corridor and listened. ‘Not here.’

‘Ok. Wait for my text than make a break for it.’

My heart hammered with excitement. I left my task still in progress, my crumpled rags and spray bottles frozen in time while I changed into Colt’s black sweater, donning my backpack with the binoculars around my neck. In Colt’s bedroom, I reminisced about our childhood where Colt used to sit me down and talk about his latest favorite video game or book he’d read or his opinions on the drama that Catrina started. I used to think he just liked the sound of his own voice, but after listening enough, I realized what Colt appreciated was the company of someone who actually just… listened. We’d spent much more time together than me and Catrina; I supposed that was why we were better friends. Our friendship led to me back into his bedroom where I now pried open his window, waiting for the fateful text that read, ‘We’re taking off. Go now.’

I popped out the screen and climbed cautiously onto the sloped veranda roof, noting Colt’s stale smell woven into the shingles and toward the western trellis. I followed in his footsteps to the edge of the veranda, absorbing the late evening sun filtering between leftover rain clouds. Golden light illuminated the yard and trees and the valley below where the wolves were hunting. I’d never known I could see them all the way from the manor; Colt had never shared this secret with me before. Through my binoculars, I glimpsed the pack passing through the shadows in the woods as they encroached on a lone moose. Then I cast my gaze south, longing to speak with Muriel one last time but accepting that I’d be giving her up to Gavin. Then I thought about Gavin who I’d be abandoning too, but we were better off without asserting the pressure of our fated bond on each other. I barely existed to him before; he’d move on easily. I stopped myself from dwelling too long by looking north, where I’d flee and disappear into the wilderness. With a brave inhale, I descended the trellis and followed the scent trail that Colt left behind, like a past version of him was leading me away to my future.

The trail delved into dense pines and a den under an arching bough of pine needles. This was where Colt would store his clothes and transform, where I would do the same. On a soft bed of dead brown needles, I stripped off my clothes and packed them away, then I closed my eyes and summoned my wolf. It wasn’t immediate. The frantic beating of my heart and racing thoughts made it hard to concentrate, but once my body jerked and pain bloomed in my bones, I knew the transformation was underway. I waited, focusing on the soothing sunlight while my body warped into the form of my beast.

Five minutes later, I was still dizzy with pain, but I couldn’t waste any more time. I got to my feet and collected my backpack in my jaws. My limbs ached, and in my heart was an urgent sorrow that begged me to reconsider what I was doing, but a life caged in the manor just wasn’t sustainable for me. Not anymore. If I wanted to be true to my wolf and find happiness… I had to run.

Navigating by the setting sun, I ran north, leaving Colt’s hollow behind. I waded through waving ferns and bent conifers, keeping the setting sun to my left side. The sun dipped beneath the horizon but it wasn’t long before I was stopped in my tracks. A pungent odor crossed my path—the dragons were in the northern half of the territory!

I paced, undecided over pushing through or going around. There was too high of a risk for me to get caught; then I’d either die or be given back to David, and neither option appealed to me. I’d have to go around.

Heading west, the stench of the dragons intensified. I stopped again, growing anxious at their prevailing scents that followed me the further I ran. Night was steadily falling and I’d lose my most reliable source of direction; there was too much cloud cover to tell the position of the moon. I kept walking, afraid of sitting still for too long, growing claustrophobic as every direction within Dalesbloom became saturated with the presence of dragons.

The night darkness had a way of playing tricks on me. I was startled, even with my newfound courage; snapping twigs and growling wind hastened my steps through the woods until I’d lost track of what direction I was going. A distant chorus of wolf howls rang out to my right, and I feared it was David rallying my packmates to look for me. Of course, they’d know I was gone by now. I was supposed to be out of Dalesbloom, but I couldn’t find a safe route to leave without treading too close to dragons. I could still be within sight of the manor for all I knew.

Rising panic had blinded me to my surroundings, failing to recognize the throat-closingly sweet smell that came in on the breeze until it was too late. A rhythm of paw steps portended the projectile body flung my way out of the trees, catching me completely off guard. A svelte ebony physique melted in and out of the shadows, snarling and snapping teeth at my back until she’d dragged me to the ground. I thrashed as Catrina pinned me with her body weight and grabbed a hold of anything she could—my ear, my muzzle, my paws—and then clamped down and shredded. Agony budded everywhere her teeth punctured my skin. My thick fur protected my neck, but she wasn’t trying to kill me. I realized while defending myself on my back that Catrina wanted to make me suffer. She wanted to make me bleed.

I barely had time to wonder why she’d been gone all day only to tear into me with a vengeance. The thought flashed in my head before I was overtaken with terror, then nothing mattered as much as getting away from her. I kicked at her maw and pushed away, but she ensnared my ankle and twisted her teeth, eliciting a whimper from me. I squirmed, pulling, and it only tore the wound deeper. She snarled and wrenched her head side to side, blurring my vision with pain.

Had she been waiting for me? Searching for me? Expecting me to run so she could have an excuse to rip me apart? I welled up with anger and betrayal, but it was stupid of me to feel betrayed; I meant as little to Catrina as I did to Gavin. Of course, she’d want to hurt me. She always wanted to hurt me. This was why I needed to leave! My anger flared hotter than anything else I felt.

Catrina wasn’t going to stop me.

Fighting past my pain, I twisted around and dragged my teeth across the bridge of her muzzle. Satisfaction rumbled to life inside me. It only made her angrier, rebuking my attack with a deep bite on my haunch on the same leg she’d mangled my ankle. When she unhinged her jaw, my first instinct was to get to my feet and run from her, but the agony lancing through my leg left me limping instead. I couldn’t outrun her like this. I heard her growling behind me with volcanic rage, felt her teeth clipping the tip of my tail.

No. No…! I was so close!

As if the Moon Goddess herself felt me, the pressure of Catrina behind me suddenly fell. Then a snarl like lightning cut through the forest. A heavy thud made contact with Catrina, generating a storm of vicious barks and squeals; my mind reeled as I feared what had attacked her. Dragons? My steps faltered, my body lagging as my injured leg went numb. I stared into the violent darkness until finally, I recognized what had pierced Catrina like an arrow—a hot masculine musk, the scent of Dalesbloom faint and the scent of Grandbay stronger—I was at the perimeter of the neighboring territory. I’d brought a sadistic, wrathful Catrina straight to Grandbay. And the wolf that had once again come to my rescue was…

Gavin!

Hysterical from the adrenaline still racing through my veins, I kept running deeper into Grandbay, praying I’d find my way out through their border. Catrina wasn’t going to stop me from escaping, and neither was Gavin.