Run

SUMMER

It had been three weeks.

Three weeks since she had come up with her plan. Three weeks of waiting and hoping and praying for her moment to come.

Three weeks of painful and continual suffering in silence until she could make her escape.

As she sat in the kitchen nursing her cup of coffee, the newest bruise on her cheek from last night almost completely healed, she sighed to herself. She knew she couldn't take this much longer.

She took a bite of her omelette before calling out to her mate. “Todd, your breakfast is getting cold!”

She shrugged when she received no answer, happy that she had some quiet time without having to worry about her tempestuous mate.

She inhaled sharply as Todd ran out from the bedroom.

“I can't eat it, babe, I have to go, there’s a dispute at the border. That bunch of rogues that made trouble a while ago seem to have made their reappearance.”

Summer gave him a light smile as he kissed her bruised cheek.

“Okay, be safe,” she replied, lying through her teeth. She had prayed every day for four years that one of these times he would never come back from a fight.

“Always.” He winked before rushing out the door.

There it is...

Summer sat quietly for just a moment, praying he hadn't forgotten something and would walk back through that door.

After a few moments, she stood quickly from her seat at the table as determination surged through her.

She ran to the garage, pulling open the door to the old fridge they had for extra storage. She rummaged through it, reaching past the food she'd piled high to hide what she had hidden.

She grinned as she grabbed the bags of blood she had stolen from the pack clinic a few weeks ago when Todd insisted they donate.

She had pretended she didn't want to go, claiming she hated needles so that he wouldn't be suspicious when she left early in a panic.

She knew it was a risk, but she also knew he would never have found them out here unless he suddenly had the urge to cook dinner, which was never about to happen.

That was her duty as his mate, she thought to herself as his voice echoed in her mind.

She grabbed the bags and ran back inside, setting them on the counter before taking a deep breath.

She ran to each room of the house, tossing furniture and scratching up cushions. She broke chairs and mirrors and threw everything to the floor.

Then she took the first blood bag and ripped the corner, spraying blood all over the house until every bag but one was empty.

She looked at the mess she'd made, happy with how it looked.

“It sure looks like a rogue came through here,” she whispered proudly to herself, shoving the empty bags into the backpack she had slung over her shoulder.

Yeah, it does! Let's go! Freya chimed with excitement.

Summer stood by the back door, holding the last bag. She poured the blood into a puddle on the floor before slowly making a trail behind the house and into the woods behind her.

She ran a ways, dropping a mixture of her own blood as well as the blood she’d stolen before deciding she’d gone far enough.

She retraced her steps back to the house before shifting and running in the opposite direction of her blood trail, her wolf sprinting through the woods with all her might.

“Just run,” she told herself, knowing she needed to move fast and get past the border before he got home.

She prayed that the rogue dispute would take hours, that he wouldn't be home until she was way past gone.

She sprinted through the woods, her heart racing as she pushed toward the boundary.

“We can make it...” she whispered as she pushed closer to the border, trying not to be so hopeful, knowing she might just get caught again as she had twice before.

“Just run,” she repeated, willing herself forward even though fatigue was creeping its way in after running for thirty minutes.

We’re almost there! her wolf hollered in their head as they ran faster.

Her heart was pounding in her chest, her whole body catching fire with adrenaline and hope as they crossed the pack border, refusing to stop until she either died from exhaustion or got far enough away to never be found again.

At this point, she was fine with either one.

Hours later, Summer stopped for just a moment when she found a small creek in the forest, pausing only to take a drink and recharge her energy before starting again.

No matter how far she got, it would never be far enough.

As the day drew on and her exhaustion became harder to ignore, Summer would switch between running and walking.

Freya was only so strong, and their energy was wearing thin as they raced through the trees, the low branches whipping at them as they sprinted further from home.

We need to stop... Freya whined as they continued to run.

"No!" Summer insisted. "We're not far enough! Keep going! We have to keep going!"

When the sun finally dropped below the horizon and darkness claimed the forest, Summer knew she wouldn't last much longer.

She ran until her feet finally gave out beneath her and she fell to the ground, her fatigue taking control.

She lay there in the dirt, aching and tired as the adrenaline slowly began to wear off. She was starving, her stomach growling loudly as she lay on the ground.

It was cool, and the night air made the dirt and leaves beneath her cold. She breathed heavily, her panting finally slowing down as she calmed.

Sleep came almost immediately, her only protection being the low branches of the tree beside her.

"We made it..." she whispered as she drifted off to sleep, her exhaustion claiming her.