Chapter 51

(Maya POV)

When Eli and I walked through the door, several men had people kneeling on the living room floor. My father had Oliver by the neck and Oliver was struggling in his hold. I froze in fear that any movement I made would be the thing that caused my father to kill Oliver.

“Now, now Maya. Where are you running off to? And who is this? One of your mates I assume.” My father said squeezing Oliver’s neck tighter causing him to struggle in his grip.

“Please! Don’t hurt him!” I yelled.

“I’m sorry princess but this man has gone against his alpha, he has helped a prisoner escape, he brought a threat through our pack border, and caused a dangerous explosion on my land. There is only one punishment for such a person, and that is death.” He growled deeply and raised Oliver’s weakening body higher and squeezed his hand tighter.

“Please! I will do anything you ask, just let them go!” I beg him.

“No amount of bargaining is going to save these traitors. They all face death for what they have one!” My father voice boomed all around us, and the members of the pack cowered at the alpha’s tone.

They may cower before him, but I was not one of them anymore. This wasn’t my pack. The other men took out guns and pointed them to the heads of each person kneeled in front of them. They were about to slaughter members of their own pack like it was nothing. I turned my eye back to my father, and I could see something in his eyes that sent a chill through me. He only showed one emotion, rage. Rage was radiating from him even though he was smiling, even though he was not yet killing Oliver, even though his vice seemed steady. He was pure rage.

Eli had extended his arm in front of me, but his attention was on the men with the guns. What would happen when all of these people were dead? Would they turn their guns on us? Would they kill Eli?

I tried to step forward, but Eli grabbed both my arms and turned me to him.

“What are you doing?” He asks desperately.

“It’s me he wants. I fi go with him maybe he will let the others live.” I replied softly.

“You don’t know that. He may still kill everyone once you walk out that door.” Eli said tightening his hold on me. “I am not losing you again.”

“Eli, please. You need to let me go.” I say simply stepping back from his grip.

He lets go of me and watches me get closer to the crowed of men ready to kill everyone in thee room.

“I’ll go with you just let them go. Everything they did it was because I asked them to. It was not their idea, it was mine.” I lie.

“Aw, how selfless of you princess. Taking the blame for these idiots.” The father said with a smirk.

“Will you let them go?” I ask waiting for his reply.

“Sure, whatever you say.” He says lowering Oliver to the ground and releasing him.

Oliver collapsed instantly to the ground coughing and holding his throat. I run to his side instantly and roll him over.

“Don’t go with them!” Oliver croaks out with a horse voice.

“I have to, he wont stop. He will kill everyone if he thinks they had a hand in this. This is the only way to stop him killing you all.” I say softly.

I help Oliver to his feet and give my father a look of pure hate.

“You know, on second thought…” He said pulling a gun from the back of his pants pointing it at us.

I had never heard a real gunshot before.

My eyes closed as soon as the sound of the bullet coming toward us rang out. The sound of Eli crying out to me sounded muffled under the fire of the gun. I felt almost a calm come over me as I looked to Oliver. It was like the world around us was moving in slow motion, and I turned wrapping myself around his weak body shielding him from the incoming projectile.

The sound of my breath sounded slow and loud in my ears as I waited for the impact.

It never came.

What I heard next were the sounds of people screaming and stumbling around the room and loud growls. I opened my eyes slightly and looked around me. What was this?

“What is going on?” Oliver asks looking around as well.

I felt a sudden shock and my body shuttered as the force surrounding us shot out in all directions sending some of my father’s men flying across the room. Once the brilliance of the shock wave faded I collapsed to the ground with shaky breaths. Eli was beside me instantly, pulling me up from the floor.

“Maya? What the- what was that?” He asks panicked.


All I could do was shake my head. My head felt strange and when I looked around it was like I was still in that force bubble. Everything sounded muffled and districted, and my yes felt heavy. It looked as if the people of the pack were fighting against the remainder of my father’s men who had not been thrown by the force.

“You guys need to go! We can handle this. Get as far away as you can!” Oliver said getting to his feet and with a firm back he walked toward the others shifting into his deep red wolf.

He lunged at the nearest man, but before I could see him tear the man apart Eli was pulling me toward the door we had come in through.

“They have things handled for now, but I am sure more men will be coming. We need to get you out of here!” Eli yells over the sounds of violent growls and bones snapping.

He slams the back door open and pulls me behind him. My limbs felt limp and my head felt clouded, but I followed him. We ran straight for the tree line. I couldn’t help myself from looking back wondering when someone would start chasing after us. Where had my father gone?

My worries were soon answered when two large wolves tripped over each other quickly trying to reach us. Their snarls rang out, but Eli did not look back even once. Did he know where to go? My mind had finally started to clear, and the panic began to fill that once cloudy space in my mind. I focused on running and soon Eli wasn’t dragging, I was running along side him. He gave me a confused look for a moment, but it passed quickly as we drew closer to what looked like the edge of the pack lands.

We had run far enough that there was still a good distance between us and the wolves chasing but that distance was closing quickly.

“We need to shift!” Eli yells. “There is no way now that we can outrun them on foot!”

“I can’t I don’t know how!” I yell back to him.

Eli let out a frustrated yell. “Ok, you will have to climb on my back the second I shift.”

He began shifting even before we had stopped running. I cringed at the sound of his bones cracking and reshaping, but soon a deep gray wolf stood in front of me with Eli’s clothes shredded at it’s paws. He nudged his nose at my arm and lowered his body so I could climb on. As soon as he felt my grip on his fur he took off running. His speed and my lack of natural balance made holding onto him difficult, but the wolves were so close now that all I could do was hold on as tight as I could.

The snarls of the other wolves forced me to turn my head only to find them turning the corner and racing toward us. Eli began to run harder, but the other wolves were lunging for his hind legs within seconds. Eli ran through a line of trees in a sudden motion making my grip loosen, and I scrambled to get a good grip again but one of the wolves rushed toward us ramming into Eli’s side sending me tumbling to the ground.

Eli stumbled to the ground with a slight whimper but got to his feet instantly. He lunged toward the wolf trying to bite at it’s neck. Their growls and snarling sounds mingled with he sounds of the jaws chomping at each other’s limbs and necks. They were wresting each other to the ground kicking and biting. The sounds were horrifying but did not compare to the low growl that came from behind me.

The second wolf.