The Alpha's Hunt Chapter 64

Gabe left my room after our talk. I think I sat quietly for three minutes before he got up and walked out, I didn't know what the right thing to say was or how to carry on the conversation after that. I think we were both pretty done and needed some time but I regret not telling him how grateful I was that he shared his story with me. 

I never believed that anyone was born evil, but that it was the circumstances a person goes through that form them and create the monster they ultimately become but right now I was stumped. Darian clearly went through more than anyone should ever have to go through but then he met his wife, as King he was equally loved and feared but as a man, all I knew was what I had heard. 

Maybe there was something redeemable about him, a locked away humanity that he protected or feared that I hadn't seen yet. Or maybe that part of him died with his wife. 

The mirror wasn’t my friend right now but I needed to see how much damage was left so i stared at my reflection and removed the robe. Most of my skin was healed, all but some bruises which would be gone soon, and then my eyes fell on my hip just around the curve of my ass. A fresh new mark. 

“Are you ready, Trixy?” 

“No, but let’s do it anyway,” she said and stepped up with a howl.

I got dressed in breathable clothes, something stretchy that I could run in, and put on a pair of sneakers.

Darian would be busy with his royal duties and he wouldn't notice my absence until late tonight by which It’d be too late.

The hallway was empty when I stepped out so I hurried down the corridor and stopped every few meters to remember the way Gabe had taken me that day when we went to MarryBell. 

Whenever I heard footsteps I just acted normal, this was my so-called home now, and nobody could question me for walking around in the middle of the day but that didn't stop my nerves from jumbling together in a web of desperation from everything that could go wrong.

One more turn and then the stairs should come. I went around the corner just in time to not be seen by a guard and the stairs were there. I hurried up and pushed open the door, immediately hit by the sun's warming rays on my aching skin and shaky nerves.

Every pore opened up and soaked up the warmth, it felt like the gods were telling me that everything would be alright, that I was on the right path now, and I didn't know how desperate I was for it until just now.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much time for enjoyment and I knew I had to hurry when I heard a car drive up the palace road. 

I started running and kept telling myself the same thing repeatedly- don’t stop for anything.

I don't how long i’d been running for but I had never felt more alive in my life than I did running through the woods and down the streets. Wherever I looked I saw people minding their own business, they didn't care about me, I was just another girl out for a jog and I didn't stop until I reached the slum.

The rogues looked at me sideways and some seemed wary about the outsider on their streets but I just needed a car so I could get the hell out of there and head home. 

I would grab my sister, pack her a bag, and take her far away. We’d start over somewhere new, maybe we’d head to Emanuel and Iliana, build a life there, and if they were too afraid to take us in we’d go somewhere else. Anywhere.

I didn’t see a functioning car but someone left their motorcycle running when they ran into the corner store. I hurried over and jumped on, knowing what a bitch I was for taking something from someone who had so little but I'd make sure he got it back.

***

The road was easy, everything felt like a breeze and the wind brushed through my hair when I zigzagged down the streets.

My laughs filled the empty street and they were all I heard when I sped up. It was a wonderful sound that I missed and it got louder the closer I got to the border.

“Three,” 

I was almost there.

“Two,” 

I saw the border and sped up.

“One,” I laughed and there we crossed it. We were home.

What would I say to Mathilda to get her to come with me? Maybe she wouldn't care about that, maybe she’d even help me back her bag and I had to remember to pack her favorite dress. My parents were the only other problem, my father was still close to the Alpha family so he could tell them that I kidnaped her and everyone would be after me, but if I could make it out far enough before anyone found out I could keep her safe and keep us hidden. 

When I saw my house it was like the halo on an angel's head, it lit up like a glorious light leading me to where I was meant to be, or at least the girl I was meant to be with.

I turned off the engine and dropped the bike on the ground before I ran up the steps to my house.

“Mathilda!”

Something hit me the second I walked in, a feeling of dread went up my legs and turned my body into a heavy sack.

“Mathilda?” I yelled again.

The smell of ammonia was the second thing I noticed after trying to pretend I hadn't smelled it before I came in. 

“Mom? Dad?” 

From absolute silence to a single sniffle and then water hitting the sink from the open tap coming from the kitchen. The floorboards squeaked under my feet and I followed the noise in a fog of my mind where every step felt like a lifetime. 

The bottom of the corner of the kitchen still had a dent in it from when I was seven and kicked it out of sheer frustration of not getting the chocolate chip cookies I wanted instead of raspberry biscuits.

The door to the bathroom still had the drawing my sister made when she was five, there were flowers and what was supposed to be a wolf but looked more like a frog with fangs.

I stepped into the kitchen and turned my head, a loud gasp left my lips and my hand flew up to my mouth. 

“Hello, puppet. Welcome home,” Darian said with my mother's head locked in his arm.

I slowly turned my head, the strong metallic smell lingered in the air and the tears pressed against my eyes. 

“No-no-no,” i said breathlessly and looked across the kitchen towards the window.

The scream that left my lips rose from the floor of my lungs and filled the house when I saw my father in the chair with a knife through his throat and his eyes wide open.

Darian brushed my mother's hair back, tears falling down her cheeks and the mascara under her eyes covered her in thin lines.

“I heard that you feared for your sister,” he said and covered my mother's mouth with his hand.

“That you feared for her involvement in the Hunt when her time comes, you were scared she would one day experience the same domestication that you have. A true fear indeed-“ he said and covered her nose as well so she couldn't breathe.

“-as your mate, I figured I should take care of the problem for you,” 

I shook my head and felt the air being sucked from my lungs.

Her eyes didn't even grow, she didn't fight for a breath or panic over the fact that he was holding her in a headlock. My mother's eyes flickered to my father dead in his chair, the same chair he always sat in whether it was breakfast or dinner with the family. It was when she looked at the ceiling that something twisted in my gut making me fall forward a step, the tears doubled and she closed her eyes like she’d given up. He twisted her head and her neck snapped. The sound rose to the ceiling and through the open windows.

“NO!”