Pretty Red Eyes (previously "KING, AGAIN")

24| the escape

24; the escape

Chelsea's heart pounded heavily in her chest as she trailed behind the pack patiently. With Valius up ahead and the pack size spreading due to their stamina differences, she knew she would be able to slip away easily soon. 

The escape plan was simple: it was nothing an experienced rogue like Chelsea couldn't handle but her heart refused to take a break today. The loud pulsing of her heart had somehow reached her ears, so loud that it was almost disrupting her hearing senses. Chelsea shook her head to snap out of it.

When the pack made a turn in the woods, it was Chelsea's cue to make her escape. Instead of turning with everyone else, she had to sprint straight ahead to where she knew the East border gate was located.

The soil under her paws sunk and shifted aside as they leapt across the distance in wide strides. She had less than five minutes to get through the gates before Valius's men noticed movements through the borders.

As Chelsea rounded a couple of thicker trees, she subconsciously caught a foreign yet familiar scent. her muzzle twitched as she took another whiff of the air. Something was amiss.

With unease creeping up on her, Chelsea slowed her steps and scanned her surrounding. She turned to look behind her only to find a few she-wolves following her.

What...

Frustration was balling up within her as she took in the situation. 

Did they follow her instead of the pack?

She could have sworn nobody was running behind her when she left. This was bad. And this was about to get worse. If so many females had noticed and gone astray with her, it was a matter of time before the males took notice of the missing.

This was supposed to be her escape. She needed to leave. She could not be caught by Valius again.

With her body facing the she-wolves before her, she curled her lips back at them as she warily backed away. Her sharp canines were bared as her sign of warning for the she-wolves to leave her be.

'Go back to your pack and Alpha,' she had wanted to say.

The she-wolves remained unmoving, they did not retreat as told. Instead, some have lowered their bodies and even taken wary inches closer.

Chelsea backed away even more, a low growl escaping the corner of her lips as she did. She was not planning to fight this time. Valius's she-wolves were innocent but they were ruining her plans.

In the tense moment, the tree branches from nearby started to rattle loudly and it was followed by a pained howl.

Instinctively, Chelsea had straightened and snapped in the direction of danger. Her initial plans and disturbance forgotten at the back of her mind, she picked up her pace towards the commotion.

Meters away, she had arrived to find a wounded she-wolf trapped under a large beast. Without a second thought, Chelsea had leapt onto the beast and thrown it off the struggling she-wolf.

The two wolves tumbled onto the rough ground. The wild beast was snapping its jaw maniacally. Aiming for Chelsea's neck every chance he got. He might have been much bigger than her in size but Chelsea's years of fighting had given her more precision in her strikes. With one sharp snap of her jaw, she had successfully punctured the wild male's shoulder with her canines.

At the strike, the male jerked madly and clawed Chelsea at her rib in the midst of attempting to toss her aside. Chelsea hissed at the deep scratch as her split skin touched the cold wind and glazed the paper-thin grass.