The Alpha's Vessel [The Alpha's #2]

THEA PETROVNA

Thea knew what she had to do before she even opened her eyes that morning. Taking advantage of the fact that Malik was still asleep beside her, Thea quickly made her way out of the bed and snuck back into his bedroom down the hallway.

Seeing as everything was just the way that she had left it a couple of hours ago, she was sure that Orpheus hadn’t returned since he had stormed out earlier after nearly clobbering her to death on his bedroom floor.

Knowing that she wouldn’t get an opportunity as good as this one, especially not anytime soon, Thea rushed back into Malik’s room and scooped her little boy into her arms, resting him on her hip and cradling his face in the crook of her neck. Even though she wished for him to be awake and it probably would have been easier that way, beggars couldn’t be choosers and Thea knew that it was either now or never.

If she didn’t try to escape now, she feared that she would never be able to and with that in mind, Thea tiptoed down the stairs even though she was confident that he wasn’t home. Not bothering to check the rest of the house, as soon as she reached the end of the air, she lifted Malik higher in her arms and sprinted for the front door.

When her fingers reached out for latch, silently praying up to whoever was listening that she would be able to catch a break, the wind was knocked out of her as the latch turned and the door clicked.

Thea didn’t dare celebrate prematurely as she stepped out of the house and closed the front door behind her – hoping that it could possibly buy her a few minutes in the small chance that he returned early – before she jogged her way down the stairs.

Immediately, she dropped down low to hide behind the row of bushes, having just completed the easy part.

Her next obstacle was the packhouse. As soon as she was able to make it past there, she could spring into the forest and the road ahead should be smooth sailing from there. But then again, that was only the best possible scenario.

She didn’t even want to think about what would happen if she got caught.

Thea didn’t know what time it was exactly but judging by the light colour of the sky, she could only imagine that it was early. As the packhouse still seemed early, she could only assume that it was also before nine – their morning prayer slot. If that was true, then she needed to get out of here as soon as possible.

Surely, they wouldn’t delay their prayer to chase after her, right? Either, she needed to get into that forest and away from them before that time rolled around.

She held her breath for a few moments, watching the packhouse for any movement, her eyes skittering all over the place. It was only when she was confident that there was no one around to watch her that Thea kept her head low and knees bent, running straight for the side of the house where once again, she dropped herself on the ground.

Ducking under all of the windows, she crawled to the front of the house but when she caught a flash of something from the corner of her eye, she dropped herself down to the ground and bit her bottom lip as her knees ached from the sudden impact. Regardless, she stilled her breathing and dared not cry out in fear of being caught.

After a few seconds passed, she dared to lift herself slightly, ignoring the way her body shook in both fear and imbalance.

“Mummy?” Malik murmured quietly as he stirred in her arms, confused and disoriented as to where he was and what was going on.

Knowing that she needed to soothe him before he made any more noise, Thea whispered sweet nothings into his ear as she gently rocked him in her arms, all but begging him to stay quiet.

“I need you to be quiet, baby.” She whispered into his ear, crouching down low as she spied for someone to be busy working in the kitchen.

As soon as they moved away from the sink which was directly in front of the window, she would be able to make a run for it but not a second sooner.

When she recognised the man in question to be none other than Dylan, one of the pack chefs that she had met yesterday, she scarcely allowed herself to wonder if he would let her go if he caught sight of her but quickly shook her head, dismissing the senseless thought.

Just because he had been nice to her didn’t mean that he owed her any favours, and she doubted that he would go against his Alpha for someone he had just met and probably didn’t remember; even if it was his own Luna as they loved to call her.

Some Luna, Thea couldn’t help but internally snort but before the sour thoughts could continue, Dylan ducked down to pull out something from the oven.

Using that moment to her advantage, Thea knew it was now or never.

Not looking back, she picked herself up from the ground and ran as fast as she could, zipping from the packhouse and toward the forest in a vertical line, not daring to look back in fear of what she would see.

The fact that she could feel his eyes boring into the back of her, watching her escape him, run away from him, take her son away from him, just made her push herself harder to escape; wanting, no, needing to get away from him like her life depended on.

Because her life did depend on it.

The branches and twigs scratched at her arms upon immediate entrance into the forest, but she didn’t have time to care or fuss over the pain. Perhaps it was because she knew she would face a much greater pain, one where there was a very good chance that she wouldn’t be able to return from, if she were to stop now.

She had committed to this escape and regardless of how basic or not thought out that it was, she hoped and prayed with all of her might that she would be able to see it through till the end.

She didn’t want to think about what would happen if she didn’t.

When the ground beneath her shook, Thea was forced to brace herself against a tree in an attempt to avoid landing flat on her face. Even before the animalistic roar followed it – one which would have made her question if he was more feline than wolf if she wasn’t currently in a mad pursuit of saving herself.

The sound of it sent chills down her spine and goosebumps all over her body, but she knew she didn’t have time to waste.

He had waited a few moments to give her a head start but now, she had run out of time.

Thea had absolutely no idea where she was going, simply just pushing herself harder and harder in hopes of putting as much distance between them as possible.

While it probably would have been easier to put Malik down and allow him to run alongside her, they simply didn’t have time and she doubted he would be able to keep up, especially when this was the most important moment in their lives.

If they didn’t make it out now, she feared that they never would or rather, the only way she would be able to escape would be either in a body bag or a six-foot grave.

“Don’t worry, baby.” She mumbled into his ears as she tripped on a twig but was quick to catch herself, though mentally cursing that she had wasted a few precious moments just because of her clumsiness. “Mummy’s got you. I won’t let anything happen to you.” She promised with every intent of fulfilling those words

“Isn’t that sweet?” A quiet whisper reached out to her, so low and eery that Thea couldn’t help but glance over her shoulder in fear that he had found her sooner than she had hoped he would.

When she pushed through yet another set of trees, she couldn’t help but stumble and fall to the ground as she entered a clearing. Ignoring the sting and the few spots of blood that now painted the ground that she had just lifted herself up from, Thea glanced around, trying to figure out what way to go.

With absolutely no, she dived forward and picked North simply because it was right in front of her and she didn’t have time to make decisions.

All she could do was follow her gut and believe in herself.

Unfortunately, it appeared that wasn’t possible with a crazed Alpha wolf hot on her tail or rather, whizzing all around her.

Thea gasped and took a fearful step back as something flashed in front of her eyes. She didn’t need to stick around and inspect to confirm that her suspicions and fears were so instead, she turned and headed west instead. When the same thing happened, as well as heading east and then having to backtrack south, Thea knew that she was stuck; that he had found her and now had her confined to this one small clearing.

Whenever she moved, he moved, a flash of fur and angry red eyes, making her think she was going crazy.

“Stop it! Why can’t you just let me go?” She couldn’t help but scream at the top of her lungs, her vision now clouded with unshed tears, still clutching her son to her chest.

She knew that he was scared and had no idea what was going on. She knew that he was crying because she was crying, but how was she supposed to tell him that all of this was because of his dad?

She didn’t even have time to tell him that she loved him.

Thea wasn’t exactly sure what had happened or even where he had come from but one moment she was panicking while trying to think of a way survive him and the next, she was struggling to keep her eyes open as her body crumbled to the ground.

However, one thing she was sure was that the sound of her son screaming and calling out to her would haunt her for the rest of her life.

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Layla Knight

11.12.2020