Chapter 2 Attempted Murder

• “You are needed in the left wing once you're done scrubbing the floors, Freya.” Diane’s stern tone hit my ears and I paused to look up at her from the floor I was working on.
• My fingers were bruised, my nails chapped from the hard labour. Sweat streaked down my body, a burning sensation coming from the ones that had escaped to my eye.
• My hair clung to my face, dirt smeared on my pale skin. I sniffed, wiping away sweat from the under of my nose. “Yes, ma'am.”
• She cast me a final gaze before walking away, satisfied with my misery. I always knew she had never taken a liking to me but over the past couple months, her dislike had grown more obvious.
• Not only that, so had my chores. I found myself lacking time to breathe because of the numerous summons I got in a day. I had placed on every possible outlet and that left me with little to no time for myself.
• My hair was dry and in need of proper care, my lips were chapped and full of cuts, and my body was begging for rest. My food had also reduced and I found myself facing my days hungry as a result of punishments that I did nothing to warrant.
• I felt hatred from every corner I turned. Everyone hated me and it made me wonder why. Not even my fellow maids were nice to me in the absence of any supervision, always pushed their work to me.
• Not like the supervision did much, the bullying wasn't any different when Diane was around. She was incharge of us maids and it was pretty much a free-for-all whenever she was around.
• I finished scrubbing and hurried to the left wing where a big mess was waiting for me. I got out my supplies and began sweeping and cleaning up.
• By the time I was done, my whole back was aching along with my entire body. My fingers were bleeding and I could feel the many splinters I had acquired.
• Hissing, I carefully climbed off the floor and hooked my hands behind my back. My bump was beginning to show and it filled me with restlessness because I feared being discovered by Blaine.
• He wasn't aware I had gone against his orders, I couldn't bring myself to take innocent lives and rather invested in bigger clothes. It took all the money I had but I was worth it to keep my child safe pending my escape.
• I had made sure to keep myself away from his sight and recent duty allocation made that easier for him. He didn't want me around him and it was obvious. I couldn't have been more grateful for it.
• I disposed of my cleaning utensils and gently padded across the hall till I had found my room. The moment my door closed, I heard a knock before I could release a sigh of relief from all the tension I had just experienced.
• Carefully I cracked the door open enough for my head to peer out of the door and I was greeted by the sight of my nextdoor neighbour standing with a tray of food in her hands.
• “Alpha had ordered me to bring this to you.” Her tone was brief, housing an undertone of jealousy.
• “Thank you.” I awkwardly accepted the tray that she was reluctant to hand me and immediately shut the door.
• I stared at the tray in disbelief because everything on it was my favourite. I found it very hard to believe that Blaine had gone out of his way to see to it that I was fed, much less with my favourites.
• Maybe before he would have but ever since I had broken the news of my pregnancy to him, he had changed. He had revoked whatever little privilege he had bestowed upon me and left me open to the wolves.
• A very brutal irony considering what we were, but it was no secret that wolves were very mean creatures. We never kept ourselves spared from it.
• Perhaps he had had a rethink? The thought had my heart growing elated. It was possible that he had decided to show mercy to me but to his child?
• Hunger overshadowed my thoughts and before I could give my thoughts proper attention, I found myself eating with tears flowing down my eyes.
• It had been so long since I had gotten food this plentiful. My shares were always small and barely enough and for a woman as pregnant as I was, I had become afraid for my child.
• I was growing more malnourished and the closer I drew to my due date, the more terrified I had gotten. My appointments with the doctor were limited, I couldn't afford to be seen going in and out of the infirmary a lot. It could rouse suspicions.
• I downed the juice in one go and barely seconds after, a sharp pain pierced my lower belly, making me hunch over my stomach and claw at my skin.
• A cry tore through my lips at the excruciating pain that twisted my stomach. Something was wrong, I could feel it.
• I scampered to my feet, sweating as I fought for my life. My hand clutched my aching belly as I waddled down the hallway fighting dizziness and nausea.
• I clamped a hand over my mouth, the food pushing out of my mouth. My eyes widened at the sight of blood and I hurried my steps. I needed to get to doctor Maurice.
• When I had made it out of the servant quarters, I paused, hiding myself behind a wall at the sight of Diane and the girl that had served my food.
• “Was it delivered?”
• “Yes, Mistress.”
• “Good because the alpha wants no mistakes. One slip up and your head rolls tomorrow.”
• My eyes widened, a small gasp escaping before it could be registered. Tears streaked down my face as I tried to hold in my cry of pain born from not only the discovery of Blain's awful conspiracy, but from the terrible pain I was fighting.
• “Keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't leave her room. Guards have been ordered to seal off every route leading to the infirmary so survival is next to impossible.” Diane's words rang in my ear.
• I bit my lip to muffle my cry of agony, trying to pull my thoughts together and make a sane decision. Pain ripped through my veins and my eyes widened at the sight of blood on blood on the hand that held my belly.
• Run. It was the only thing that echoed in my head.
• I needed to get out of here, they were going to kill me. I didn't need to be further told that what I was served was laced with poison. He was going to kill me like a dog.
• And here I was thinking that I had successfully hidden my pregnancy from him. I was such a fool to think that I could hide anything from him, he wasn't just a feared leader for no reason.
• Closing my eyes, I took deep breaths to channel my strength then when I felt that the coast was clear, I placed a hand behind my back and began running as fast as I could.
• There was a little route that stretched through the garden, I often overheard maids talking about how it led to a border. They often said that patrol commenced after night run howl. If I could just reach it before the howl, I could figure out my next move.
• My feet pumped as I dashed down the narrow road, looking behind me at intervals to check if anyone was coming. To my relief, I was in the clear.
• Pain radiated through me, I could only think about my child as blood continuously strolled down my legs. My gown was soaked, rips forming in the light fabric from the numerous twigs that had gotten caught in it.
• I paused and doubled over, cradling my belly. I was running out of strength but on the bright side, I was a fair distance away from the pack house.
• I looked back at the glowing lights and a swallow got caught in my throat. It was almost time for the run, I needed to move faster.
• Drawing a deep breath, I continued waddling through the thick bushes, wondering what the hell I would do when I got to the border.
• I could easily be intercepted and treated like a spy that was sent to infiltrate another pack and the sentence for that was always death.
• Was really escaping one death just to fall into another?
• My heart hammered in my chest as I ran, I could see a bright light in the distance. I was almost there.
• Forcing myself, I made it to the thick line of trees that signified the end of our pack lands and a little smile crossed my lips.
• The neighbouring pack was a long distance down once I crossed it and if I was intercepted by border patrol by then, I could manage till I had sought help.
• Taking one final glance back at the life I had always known I bit my lip as my heart ached. Everything I had was here which was funny because I had nothing.
• Not even a mate.
• I had no home, I had no family… I had nothing. There was nothing left for me here, I had given everything to Crimson Valley but I refused to surrender my life nor my child's.
• Rubbing my belly, I said with tears traveling down my face, “it's just me and you now, baby… just us.”
• I managed to waddle as fast as I could till I had crossed the line of trees. The road was empty, night critters filling the night with a serene melody.
• Unable to move anymore, I scanned the environment for any sort of help. I groaned, sweat beading my forehead at the pain that stabbed my stomach.
• I heard voices and I immediately slapped a hand over my mouth, to not draw attention to myself. I traced the sound and found cars lined by the corner of a road down my left.
• I didn't know who they were but they didn't seem to be from our pack. Their accent was sharper than ours from the little I could hear.
• Carefully, I crept down the road, moving along the grasses till I neared them. With my head ducked, I peeked at them, stalking them the best I could.
• I saw men dressed in black and they were saying something to each other. They sounded agitated but I couldn't make out what they were saying, partially because my vision was swinging between blurry and clear, and my ear was ringing.
• Blood seeped from my nose and my eyes burned. My breaths were like vapour and my lips had the metallic taste of blood.
• A loud howl echoed throughout the forest and my breaths caught in my throat. I didn't have much time to thoroughly think through my next decision, it was only a matter of time before they discovered I was missing…
• If they haven't discovered I was missing already. It wouldn't take long before they found me. I couldn't trust the men in front of me but anything was better than ending up in Blaine's hold again.
• Casting a final look behind me, I quietly crept out of my hiding place and slowly approached one of the cars. I began trying each door gently, being as stealth as I could to keep attention away from me.
• I tried a door on the second car and it gently opened. I bit on my lip to swallow the pain from my stomach then carefully climbed into it.
• If I couldn't make it to safety, the best I could do was to make sure my dead body never fell anywhere around Crimson Valley. I didn't want to give Blaine the satisfaction of staring down at my lifeless body with a smug look on his face.
• I rubbed my belly as I folded myself in a ball, “It's okay… we're gonna be okay.”
• Maybe it was a lie… but it was a lie I was willing to believe as the call of the void grew louder. My breaths began slowing down as my eyes gradually lost the battle of staying open.
• I let the darkness take me as I told myself Alpha Blaine was no more.