Freeing Starr

Starr’s POV

“Gah!” I groaned as I clenched my jaw to brace myself against the pain that vibrated through my arms. I tugged at the chains above me, testing their strength.

It wasn’t any use. They were too thick and heavy. Especially with the wolfsbane circling through my system.

It’s been a while since anyone had come down to up my dosage and I was very grateful for that as it allowed me some time to heal and gain back enough strength to stand properly so that all my weight wouldn’t tug on my arms.

I had no idea how long it’s been. Days maybe? Recently, there’s been commotion outside of the cell and from what I could make out from the bits and pieces the guards were discussing, a war was on the verge of breaking. Meaning I needed to get out of here.

I glanced up at the chains wrapped around my wrist and pursed my lips in thought. Maybe...

I listened in closely to see if anyone was standing outside my cell. I heard nothing. No movement, nothing. I took a deep breath and clamped my mouth shut to muffle the sharp cry that escaped as I forced myself to dislocate my wrist.

My wrist was limp as I carefully squeezed it through the chains until my hand was free.

I exhaled sharply as relief flooded my system despite the throbbing pain coming from my hand.

I repeated the same process with the other hand and immediately slumped against the floor, taking large gulps of air as my body shuddered in pain. The chains made a sharp clanging sound as they swung and clashed together.

I winced at the sound and hoped that no one heard it.

I snapped my wrists back into place and felt my body shudder as the cold from the floor seeped into my bare skin.

I had no idea how I was still able to move. Perhaps it was the adrenaline but either way, I was one step closer to being free.

My head snapped up once I heard the shuffling of footsteps outside my cell. Was this someone sent to give me my daily beatings?

Ever since we first talked that day, my father didn’t visit me again. I had no reason why but I wasn’t complaining. It made it easier for me to leave this place. From what I heard from the guards, he did a huge merit when kidnapping me and earned the title of Deputy mayor of Glacial City. He really was a traitor.

I used the wall to drag myself to my feet and stumbled over to stand behind the cell door. I held my breath as the door slowly opened.

As expected, it was the same guard that came to beat me black and blue now and then. The second he stepped into the room and before he had time to react, I jumped onto his back and wrapped my arms tightly around his neck in a chokehold that had him gasping for air.

We tumbled to the floor as he tried rolling over to throw me off but I latched onto him tightly. I refused to lose this opportunity to escape. Even as my entire body ached, I applied as much pressure as I could.

The guard’s face began to turn red as it swelled, his hand tapping urgently against my hand as he panicked. What felt like forever passed by before he finally passed out and even then I continued holding onto him, scared that he was just pretending. It was only when I couldn’t hear his breathing anymore did I finally release my snake-like grip.

He was human. As were most of the people in this place. If I wasn’t so drugged right now, I wouldn’t have had to struggle with knocking him out at all.

I groaned as I threw his body aside and crawled toward the open-door cell. I pushed it back in and watched as it clicked shut with me still inside.

Suddenly the walls and ground shook as if there was an earthquake. Debris fell from the roof and over my head.

What the hell was that?

I looked above me, startled. What in the world was going on out there? Was that a bomb? Was the war starting? I needed time.

In my condition, it was foolish to think I could escape right now. I laid there for a good few minutes before I strained my body and crawled back over to the guard to search his body. All I found were the keys to the cell, a gun, and a pocket knife. I took the pocket knife and didn’t hesitate as I drove that knife into my side.

I cried out and couldn’t help the sob that escaped my lips.

Man, this hurt like a bitch.

I pulled the knife out and used it to cut a piece of the guard’s pants off to press against the wound. This way, the wolfsbane could leave my system much faster.

I pulled the jacket off of the guard and shrugged it over my shoulders, scooting back to lean against the wall and close my eyes. I needed to rest as much as I could before this guard’s disappearance was noticed. I kept the gun in my lap for safekeeping and strained my ears to listen in on any sound or movement approaching me.

Leon’s POV

The sound of an explosion went off, startling the hell out of Lomar who was walking next to me.

He looked above us as the walls of the tunnel shook and cursed. “The hell are they doing up there? Destroying the city?”

The guide who was leading us through the underground tunnel from the Kingdom into Glacial City grimaced and said. “Those were probably the trap mines going off. Don’t worry. They’re outside the city. That must mean the army is already engaged with the city borders.”

Lomar glanced up anxiously. “You warned our father about those traps right?”

My lips tugged down in disapproval as I looked at him. “He doesn’t need a warning. We’re wolves. We’d be able to hear the bomb even if it was buried six feet underground. Father probably set those off on purpose.”

“Ah. I guess I was too nervous.” Lomar scratched his neck and chuckled. “I can’t believe Glacial City and the Kingdom are connected like this.”

The guide explained. “Glacial City was once werewolf territory. That was many years ago before humans migrated and discovered us. There was a long and drawn-out battle until finally, an agreement came to pass. They’d divide the territory. The werewolves, who proved themselves to be stronger got the larger half of the territory. The humans settled for the smaller half and throughout the years, both the Kingdom and the city developed into what they are today. These tunnels date back to the early 1800s. Only the royal family and a select few know about them. This is how we spies travel back and forth unnoticed.”

Lomar furrowed his eyebrows. “I didn’t know about this.” Then he turned to me. “Did you?”

Was this time for a history lesson? Annoyance could be seen on my face as I replied. “Of course, I knew. If you’d have stayed in the Kingdom instead of running off with our grandparents, you’d have known as well.”

He pursed his lips. “I was traveling the world.”

“You were running from your home.”

He fell silent after that. I didn’t mean to be such an ass but he had to realize it sooner or later. When he was seventeen, he made a grave mistake that almost caused our father to die. The Kingdom was in an uproar at the time and I knew he heard all the people that cursed at him for being an incompetent son. After that, he chose to leave with our grandparents but I knew he was only doing it to hide the fact that he made a mistake. Though, this was probably just my agitation calling him out so bluntly.

We came upon a ladder and followed the guide up and out of the tunnel. What greeted us was an empty warehouse.

“This house was built over the tunnel to hide the fact that it exists. It’s owned by a very trusted ally of the Kingdom and his family continues to keep the secret to this day.”

“We have a lot of friends in high places,” Lomar commented.

“We’re Royalty. We are the friends in high places.” I couldn’t help the disdain that coated my voice. All of this talking was getting on my nerves. I just wanted to find Starr and rip that bastard apart. I swear to the goddess if he touched her... I would rip him limb for limb and watch him slowly bleed out.

I turned to the guide. “Where is she?”

He hesitated as he replied. “There’s good and bad news.”

“Get to the point.”

He bared his throat in submission as my dominance poured out of me in waves and crashed onto his shoulders. “Your Highness. After visiting Ryan’s home, we didn’t find any trace of the Queen. We’ve observed that Ryan hadn’t left his home once after the queen was kidnapped either.”

My tense shoulders relaxed a bit at that but I found it odd. He didn’t visit Starr? Why was that? Did he know he was being watched? Did that mean Starr was unharmed? My hopes were raised slightly.

The guide continued. “We’ve checked the police stations, and everywhere else where they might have kept her but found no trace. However, there’s only one place that we couldn’t enter no matter how hard we tried.”

“State it.” My voice was dangerously low.

The guide whimpered and took a step back.

Lomar stepped forward and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Calm down. There are wolves in the city. They’ll be alerted of your presence if you don’t keep your emotions in check.”

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, composing myself a bit before I opened them again. “Speak.”

The guide nodded. “The mayor’s campaign office. There are rumors that it was built above a torture chamber so there should be access to it if they wanted to hide someone from the entire city and us.”

“Lead the way then.”

I adjusted the hoodie and pulled the hood over my head. With a mask over my nose, as long as I controlled myself, I was confident that I wouldn’t be so easily recognized.

We then followed the guide as he took us out of the warehouse and into the busy streets of the bustling city. There were humans everywhere, walking on the sidewalks and driving along in their cars. This wasn’t the first time I’ve been to Glacial City but it always reminded me of a less populated version of a kingdom that was more bustling than us. The only difference was that in our kingdom, there weren’t so many cars and werewolves would be seen flying through the streets often.

A sharp pain suddenly stabbed my side and I stopped, my hand going down to touch the area as my brows furrowed. As quick as the pain came though, it disappeared.

Did I imagine that?

“Leon?” Lomar turned back and called out to me.

I snapped myself out of my stupor and continued following them.

I probably just imagined it.