The moment Idalia stepped into the cramped two-room unit, she sensed it — something was horribly wrong.
Under the small bulb that bathed the main room in a golden light, she stood, observing the space as her smile dwindled and vanished — all the thrill from her first successful shopping now drained from her veins, and in its place, uneasiness. She kept the door unlocked to aid her escape if need be, while her hands tightened around Arik, her four-month-old son, who was still soundly asleep in her right arm.
It was quiet.
Felt empty too.
Strange.
Where was Grandpa Alfred?
The aroma of boiling rice and a faint sizzling filled the air. Cautiously and quietly, she dropped her bag — which was heavy with groceries — on the sofa as she moved to the kitchen. Gently and slowly, she pushed the door open, revealing what it concealed.
Horror struck.
Grandpa Alfred!
There he was, black furs in place of skin, hands in the middle of a shifting that would never be completed, and his face — still in its human form, buried in a pan of hot oil.
She rushed over, her gloved hands turning off the stove's switch. But then she slipped suddenly on something warm and mushy, her back hitting the floor with a thud. Grandpa Alfred fell back, lifeless, as the pan of hot oil went flying in the air. Idalia turned her back, immediately shielding Arik with her body while the hot liquid burned through her clothes to her skin. Ignoring the pain, she instinctively checked on Arik to ensure he wasn't hurt, his cries filling the air, but then her eyes widened as she saw what had caused her fall.
Bloodied organs… and a heart.
She turned back sharply to look at Grandpa Alfred's collapsed corpse – at that emptied hollow carved in his belly - and her heart fell.
Panic.
Dread.
She shot up, looking around frantically, when her gaze fell upon the message on the wall, carved in jagged strokes and painted in blood.
"BRING IDALIA AND MY PUP TO ME ALIVE, OR YOU WILL END UP WORSE THAN HIM."
Instantly, two words rang in her mind, as the room spun around her.
Alpha Kalio.
No.
NO!
Her trembling hands grabbed a knife from the counter, and she raced to the main room. It was as empty as she had left it. She hurried to the door and locked it while putting Arik back to sleep. Her heart was pounding so loudly, it was all she could hear.
He knew she wasn't dead? But how? The royal healer had confirmed and declared her dead. She had been buried with her child in her belly right before his very eyes.
HOW—
By the Moon, someone had betrayed her. Someone had betrayed The Sanctuary!
With Arik still in her hand, she pushed the lone sofa down, tore the cloth coverage with the knife, and yanked out her emergency bag that had been firmly tucked away. Quickly, she changed hers and Arik's outfits. A brown long-sleeved jumpsuit with a hood for the baby. For her, black pants, brown blouse, black leather gloves, a scarf, and a cloche hat. With a shawl, she strapped Arik against her and concealed his presence with a long black coat.
Her movements were quick, steadier than she had expected from her trembling fingers.
The bloodied clothes now reeked of the alcohol and cleaning agents she had drenched them in to conceal the smell of blood. Now wrapped in nylon, she stuffed them into the kitchen's bin bag. With the bin liner in one hand and her two bags in the other, she unlocked the door and gave a teary glance at Grandpa Alfred's corpse.
She slammed the door shut and began her flight, not looking back, not even once, as her mind screamed a thousand apologies and prayed that his soul would rest eternally in Argon's Moon.
Tears ran down her cheeks continuously, her feet flying down the narrow, dark flights of stairs.
This was her fault.
Everything was her fault!
She dumped the garbage bin in the heap of waste some houses away, guilt filling her heart as she parted from the last connection she had with Grandpa Alfred.
Everything was her fault, and it wouldn't stop here!
Just like a curse that she was, her presence had now made the whole of Outer Metro unsafe. Now that he knew that she and her child were alive, nothing would be able to stop him, not even the century-old sacred law that banned werewolves, especially Alphas, from human territory.
He would kill more and more and more… but it would be far worse if she went back to him, for her and her son, for everyone. It would be gruesome.
NO! She could never let him have them again, and she would have to stop him from killing others, somehow. For now, she must run!
She wiped her tears away angrily as she hurriedly pushed through the sunny, noisy, and crowded street. She had to get to the train station quickly.
But then, where would she go?
There was a betrayer in their midst, one who wasn't too informed, though, or else Alpha Kalio would have known that she was staying with Grandpa Alfred, and even her ability to conceal her essence along with Arik's, and her way of living in the two-room unit with no special indicator of their presence, wouldn't have dissuaded him from tearing down the whole of fourth street of Cider District to find them.
A chill ran down her spine. She looked around again and confirmed that she wasn't being followed.
She couldn't go to the Sanctuary - the secret haven for the werewolves who had escaped from Bellator Lunae Pack; it wasn't safe anymore. She had to go to a place no one would expect her to go. Like Centra-city! It was dreaded because it was filled with humans and their strange technology, which heightened the chance of werewolves being detected, captured, and cut open for their cruel science.
Still, Centra-city offered time, and she would take it till she could think of something to put an end to all this once and for all.
"Sorry. Gotta catch my grandpa flirting with my wife again!" Someone pushed past her, and the overhead announcement filled her ears.
"Welcome to Train Station C3 of Cider District. The next train will arrive in approximately five minutes. Passengers, please remain clear of the tracks."
They were at the train station?
Already?
Her mind had been clouded with so many thoughts that she didn't even know when she had gotten here.
Breathlessly, she hurried over, along with other passengers, the overhead announcements still playing, the blinding white light of the train station making her dizzy. Soon enough, she was seated on the train, holding Arik tight, who cooed against her, her mind pondering on who the betrayer was, how many of the Sanctuary members must be turning against her right now, and where she would go upon her arrival at Centra-city.
He must have Searchers looking everywhere for them. It made her feel uneasy. Although the train was already moving, she wished it would get them out of here faster.
Suddenly, she could feel eyes on her.
Strange.
She had ensured that she wasn't being followed.
She looked around sharply, but no one was looking her way. There were about 20 people in this coach; most were sleeping, and the rest had their attention elsewhere.
Still, that eerie feeling in her veins remained.
Idalia prepared herself to move to another coach, but someone in a black hood staggered across to her and sank into the nearby seat.
The train dipped into a tunnel, and the beautiful scenery outside was replaced by cold walls. An unsettling feeling thickened in her veins, and Idalia moved to stand up again, but then the lights in the coach began to flicker, and confusion stretched across the train.
Just then, a hand shot out from the black hoodie and grabbed her thigh, long, dirty claws raking her jeans, threatening to draw blood.
Her teeth clattered with fear as she turned to look at the hooded man. He was looking right at her, his blackened teeth on full display, his eyes sparkling with unhinged madness.
A rogue. A packless werewolf plagued with a reckless thirst for murder and absolute insanity.
"Going somewhere, Idalia?"