Chapter 39 - Escaping

The entire room was filled with the scent of flowers and Lena wondered if she could smell it, how it was affecting the wolves and their sensitive sense of smell?! She hadn’t even thought about that when she ordered the flowers! Damn, she should have … Her thoughts drifted off as she felt a tug on her hand and realized she had come to a complete standstill and everyone was looking at her.

Rebecca frowned as she tugged on Lena’s hand a second time and Lena apologized. They walked down the aisle to where Alaric was waiting.

“I thought you were going to turn back there for a moment.” Alaric joked as Lena took his hand and smiled at him.

“I wasn’t.” Lena looked worried that he might have found out about her plan, but when he started the ceremony, she could breathe again.

“My dearest friends, and family.” He looked at Rebecca and winked at her before continuing. “We have all been through so much over the past couple of years that the mere fact that we are all gathered here today is a miracle.” A couple of people laughed, but Lena could see that most people agreed with Alaric. It really was a miracle that they were all still there. “As you all know now, Lena is my destined mate, and although I know not all of you agree with our union, she has agreed and, frankly, that is all that matters to me. Her acceptance of our union.” He looked at her and she saw the pure love in his eyes but it didn’t change any of the facts.

She had to leave and that was that. Lena listened to what Alaric was saying, but her mind was running through her plan. Her timing had to be perfect or they would catch her. Alaric and Rebecca would get over the fact that she left. It might take them some time, but they will get over it. At least, this way she wasn’t rejecting Alaric and he wouldn’t die.

Alaric took both her hands and looked into her eyes and for a moment Lena wondered if she shouldn’t stay. He said the entire acceptance speech again and nodded for her to repeat it. She had been practicing and she did it perfectly to the joy of most of the people in the room. Alaric looked at the people and then winked before his canines protruded and he bit down on Lena’s soft skin.

She felt his tongue lick over the wound as she realized that it was done now. They were mated and if anybody tried to harm her, they would harm him. It also meant that the moment she ran it was going to hurt him more than she wanted to, but she had no other choice. She couldn’t live in a world where she wouldn’t ever again be allowed to do magic. She couldn’t live in a world where she wasn’t able to teach her children all her traditions.

It would be a world where she would constantly be hiding who she was. The biggest part of her was hated by the werewolves. She wasn’t a half-blood like Alaric and Rebecca, who could choose who they wanted to be or which part of them they wanted to feed to make them stronger. She was someone who the entire supernatural world hated. She was a blood witch and she wanted to live free.

The people celebrated as Alaric took her hand. It didn’t take very long for everyone to jump in and move to the tables and the dinner was quickly served. With the wolves properly fed, Lena knew they would be too lazy to realize exactly what was going on until it was too late. It would have taken too much to try and get them drunk as well, so she didn’t even try, but she knew if they were all well fed, it would make things so much easier for her.

She excused herself to go to the bathroom and when Rebecca wanted to join her, Lena knew she couldn’t very well tell the little girl no, but she had to find a way to get away. While Rebecca was in the bathroom, Lena grabbed her bag and rushed outside. She poured the potion over her head and could feel it starting to block out the world.

It wasn’t just hiding her scent, but it was hiding her. Alaric wouldn’t be able to feel her even with their mate bond. Rushing into the forest, she looked back only once as she whispered that she was sorry before she made her way deep into the forest. She needed to make sure that the potion was in fact working this time before she made her way to her new home, so she hung around the forest until she heard Alaric’s heart-wrenching howl pierce the night sounds.

If the potion didn’t work, and they found her, she could tell them she had decided to go for a walk. She wasn’t that far away from the pack house. If it worked, they would walk right by her and not know that she was there. The waiting was the worst part. It seemed as though the potion was working because nobody seemed to find her scent outside the pack house. Lena closed her eyes as she tried to listen to what was being said, but they were too far away.

She almost wished that she had their hearing when she heard the bushes near her shuffle around. Slamming her hand over her mouth to stop herself from screaming, she carefully watched as the pack of wolves moved slowly through the forest. They had shifted so they could smell better and it made her wonder if they caught her scent, but as they passed her none of them showed any signs that they knew she was there.

Lena didn’t want to alert them to her presence and she decided to stay where she was.

SINCE HER SCENT WASN’T OUTSIDE, Alaric and Rebecca decided to check the pack house again, but deep down, they both knew that she was gone. She had fooled all of them! Rebecca was heartbroken, but for once she didn’t show it.

It was a sad thing, but she realized that she probably couldn’t trust people anymore. It made her wonder if she could ever trust anybody ever again. Alaric lied to her about so many things and she knew he was only trying to protect her. Lena lied to her … How many others? If the ones who said they loved her could lie to her like that, how many of the others lied to her?!

There was no sign of Lena in the pack house and they had to accept that she had run away again. Since there was no sign of her scent outside, they could only guess that she had used magic to get away, which meant it would be very difficult to find her. Alaric tried to console Rebecca, but she just glared at her brother before he left.

There was no way she could ever believe a grown up again. They all lied!

ALARIC KNEW THIS WAS GOING to change his little sister forever. Didn’t Lena think about that before she left? Didn’t she care? Did she hate him that much that she didn’t care about the feelings of a little girl?! He made his way outside and closed his eyes as soon as the cool night air hit his face.

He was trying to sense Lena, but there was nothing. His wolf tried, but still there was nothing. Whatever magic she used, it must have been strong and it was probably one of those spells that they tried to eradicate during the war. The kind of spell that could cause great havoc if it landed in the wrong hands. If someone that was up to no good got their hands on a disappearing spell … He shook his head trying to clear his mind. He couldn’t afford to go into that same mode he was in when they hunted the witches.

They were no longer at war. He couldn’t think of Lena as an enemy. She was his mate and he had to bring her home safely so he could show her she was safe and loved. His wolf howled in pain as they shifted and Alaric could already feel that he was losing his strength. Did she even realize that a wolf could die if his mate left?!

Looking from one side of the clearing to the other, Alaric realized that he had no idea which way she could have gone and he decided to start at her home. She went there the last time, which meant she might go there again. It was the only obvious thing he could think about as his paws dug deep into the ground before he set off in the direction of the blood witch home grounds.