CHAPTER NINE

I wake with a start. It is execution day.

"Hey!" a voice says.

I look over to the crack. The girl in the next cell is peering at me.

"You're awake," she says. "Finally."

I sit up. "I was dreaming," I tell her.

I stop short of telling her it was about an Alpha mate of my own choosing.

"Are you ready?" she asks.

"Ready for what?"

"For the plan!" she cries.

A sudden jolt of dread hits me. It is execution day.

I try to compose myself. "Of course I'm ready," I say. "I will follow you."

"Good," she says. "Good."

I get up and peer through the crack in the doorway. I can see the hallway. The guards are waiting outside my cell. Several of them. I guess they're not taking any chances.

They turn and pace toward me. I move back from the door.

It opens.

A guard steps inside.

"Are you ready for the gallows?" he says.

I hold my chin high. "I'm ready."

I have the herb in my pocket. If the girl is telling the truth about it, I will soon be free.

"Let's go," he says.

He takes my arm roughly.

He marches me along the corridor. We exit through a door, out into a courtyard.

The wooden gallows are in the center.

The pack watches on. I spot the guard whose life I chose not to take in the crowd. I think I see pity in his eyes.

I'm shoved from behind. I stagger forward.

I'm marched across the courtyard to the gallows.

Another guard awaits. He has a small black hood in his paws.

I walk up the steps to the platform. I look around for the girl from the cell. Where is she?

The guard places the hood over my head.I start to panic. Was I wrong to trust her?

I can't see. But I can feel the noose as it is looped around my neck.

I can't believe it. I have been betrayed.

Then, suddenly, there comes the sound of a fight.

The bag is pulled from my head and I can see again. The girl from the cell has bursts onto the stage.

The guard steps back, startled.

At the same moment, I reach in my pocket. I take out the herb.

I swallow it.

The guard lunges at us. He tries to pull us apart.

The girl struggles with him. She kicks him in the shins. He reels back.

I can feel the herb entering my body. I close my eyes. I feel the pain leaving. The coldness that gripped me at the pit of my stomach, the darkness that clouded my sight, leaves.

My fear lifts.

Instead, I feel peace.

I feel warmth.

I feel serenity.

I look up at the sky. The clouds are clearing. A ray of sunlight falls on my face.

Suddenly, the pack roars. In a frenzy of violence they run toward us.

I snap back to the moment.

"Go!" I cry to the girl. "We have to run!"

But the girl and the guard are fighting. She kicks and punches and scratches and bites. The guard is bigger and stronger, but she is fighting for her life.

"Quick!" I cry. "We have to run."

The pack are gaining on us. But I know as soon as we are out of sight they will not find us. We just need to go. Hide. Now.

I grab the girl. "We have to run," I say sternly.

She nods, coming back to the moment. "This way."

She jumps off the platform. I jump down after her.

We dart around the back of the gallows and race across the courtyard.

Snarls and growls come from behind. The pack are closing in.

"This way!" she cries.

The girl is ahead of me. We are looking for a hole, a place to hide.

She sprints to the far side of the courtyard. I follow.

Beyond the courtyard I can see the tips of the fern trees. Freedom is so close.

But the pack is closer.

I am running out of breath. The herb is having a strange effect on me.

The girl pulls me along. "Come on!" she cries. "Don't give up now!"

I look over at her. She is bleeding from the head. I remember her fighting with the guard, but already my memories are getting hazy.

"Go left here," she says. "Go left!"

She sweeps me around a corner.

We run into a dead end.

"No!" I cry. "I thought you said you knew the way out!"

The girl puts her finger to her lips.

Suddenly, I realize what is happening. The herb. We cannot be tracked. If we are silent enough, the pack won't find us here. They would never expect us to run down the dead end.

We stand back to back.

I can see the pack, swarming past, heading for the exit. I can tell they're confused. They're baring their teeth and snarling, but their is no scent to sniff.

We may as well be invisible.

We stay in the dead end and wait. I can hear the girl breathing. My heart is racing.

The last wolf disappears from sight. The pack has given up. They're leaving.

"Now," the girl says.

We run.

We race out of Romulus' lair.

"This way!" the girl cries.

We head into the trees.

The ferns are tall here, taller than I have ever seen them before.

We weave through the trees, moving deeper into the woods.

I feel the herb begin to wear off. The pain begins to return. My throat is raw. My head throbs. The coldness creeps back into my bones.

But I refuse to stop. The girl will keep us safe. I trust her.

"This way!" she calls.

We turn into a small clearing.

The girl grabs my hand. "We're here," she says. "We're out."

I want to speak, but I can't.

I want to thank her. But I can't.

I collapse.

The girl pulls me upright. "Come on," she says. "Hang on."

I try to stand, but I can't.

I fall back down.

"We're safe, now," she says. "We're safe."

We did it.

I am free.