It was now or never.
I wasn't a fool. I knew this was going to be the stupidest thing I'd ever do—probably. But it had to be done. And I was already here, so why the hell not?
You know that feeling when your gut tightens, your pulse spikes, and everything around you just feels like it's waiting for the other shoe to drop? Yeah. That's what it felt like the second I made my move.
I just hoped that the herbs I'd taken earlier to mask my scent were still doing their job. You're probably wondering why I didn't tell you about the herbs before. Well, don't look at me like that. You think I'm just going to broadcast to the world that I've got some old herbal remedy keeping me off the Alphas' radar? What do you take me for? I wasn't exactly dying to have all of them know I was lurking around. Especially when the risk was that if one of them smelled me, I'd end up in chains faster than you can say "bait."
Anyway, the herbs were supposed to keep the scent from the pack wolves, especially the Alphas, from picking up on me. And guess what? They worked. At least, they did until that idiot warrior thought I smelled "strange" at the ravine. But I wasn't exactly going to hang around long enough for anyone to get their noses in a twist about my defect. I had enough problems as it was.
So now it was my shot.
The battle was still going on. It was loud. Wild. And the five Alphas were in their element, tearing through the rogues like they were nothing more than paper cutouts. But I had no intention of sticking around to see how that fight would end. I had no interest in what would happen after the bloodbath. I had no desire to become a piece of their game.
It was time to run.
But no. I wasn't going to just leap up and sprint like an idiot. That'd be like wearing a giant neon sign that says, Hey, look at me! I'm the she-wolf everyone's looking for! And if I did that, I'd be dead before I reached the border. Hell, I'd probably be dead before I even got a step in.
So crawling it was.
I sucked in a breath, steadying my shaking body, and I slowly, agonizingly carefully, crept out of my hiding spot. I wasn't stupid enough to just stand up and start running. That would've been the fastest way for me to get caught. Instead, I worked my way across the thick underbrush, keeping low, keeping quiet. I didn't dare look over at the battle happening behind me. I didn't even dare think about it, in case I got distracted. I had to stay focused. Eyes on the ground. Heart pounding in my chest, but I had to keep moving.
And man, let me tell you, it wasn't easy. Crawling is not a fun way to get around. My thighs burned from the awkward position, and my stomach—oh, that was just a whole other disaster. Let's just say I was feeling a little more wolfless than I would have liked. The muscles in my legs were screaming at me, but I ignored them. I couldn't stop. I couldn't make any noise.
Every second that passed felt like a lifetime. Every step I took felt like it was one step closer to either freedom or certain death.
The worst part? The worst part wasn't even the crawling. It was the adrenaline. The fear. The fact that, at any moment, one of those damn rogues could see me for what I was—just another rogue trying to survive.
A few times, I almost lost it. There were moments when I thought I'd never make it out. I had to bite my lip hard to keep from screaming when I accidentally knocked over a loose branch. There were two rogue wolves nearby, and I froze like a deer in headlights. They passed by, barely glancing my way, and I swore to the moon goddess that I'd never be so careless again.
I had a plan. A good one, actually. The rogue wolves were so caught up in their mission to get to the Alphas that they didn't even look twice at me. I had to make it seem like I was one of them—just a casualty, injured and barely clinging to life. That's what I did. When they passed, I muttered under my breath, my voice hoarse with the act.
"The Alphas… they're hiding her. Keeping the she-wolf from us. The bitch is somewhere in their territory."
I could see the light flicker in their eyes. They were hungry. Desperate. Just the sound of the word "she-wolf" seemed to make them bloodthirsty. Without another word, they bolted off toward the fight. They didn't even stop to ask me anything else.
It worked. Thank goddess, it worked.
And just like that, I had managed to crawl my way out of the alpha's damn territory and into the neutral zone. I'd crossed the line, and there was no going back.
But it wasn't a victory. Not yet.
The neutral zone? It's a whole different kind of dangerous. No rules. No laws. Just wolves that think they're the strongest, with no Alpha to protect them and no pack to answer to. It's a world where the only thing that matters is survival.
I wasn't naïve enough to think that because I'd slipped out of the Alphas' territory, I was suddenly free. No. The neutral zone was just as dangerous.
But at least here, I wasn't a prisoner.
At least here, there was a chance for me to get my bearings. To figure out what my next move was.
I wiped a hand across my dirty face, still trembling, still feeling the weight of everything pressing down on me. For a second, I thought I might just collapse from the strain of it all, but I didn't. I couldn't.
I had one chance. One shot. I couldn't waste it.
As I moved deeper into the neutral zone, I kept my head low, my eyes darting around at every sound. I had no idea what kind of wolves were out here, but I knew one thing for sure—they were just as bad as the Alphas, if not worse.
I didn't have the luxury of assuming anyone would help me. Everyone here was just out for themselves.
I had no allies. No friends.
Just enemies who didn't care whether I was male or female. They just wanted what they wanted. And I? I wanted out. I wanted my freedom.
For the first time in my life, I wasn't running from a pack. I wasn't running from them. I was running toward something: my own life. My own choice.
I wasn't anyone's pawn. Not anymore.
I pulled myself upright, wincing as I adjusted to the weight on my legs. My body still ached from the last few hours of terror, but I'd survived. I'd made it out. For now.
The neutral zone stretched out before me like an endless field of possibilities and danger. And maybe, just maybe, this was where my real story would begin.
But I couldn't get cocky. Not yet.