Eero’s perspective
The smile on Soleil's lip faded a bit after I put down the empty cup of the hot chocolate that she made for me earlier.
“Are you going to leave now?” I moved my head once and smiled weakly at her.
“As much as I want to stay, I am afraid I cannot. Alpha Claudius will be up any moment from now, and I am sure that he is looking for me." Soleil nodded her head at me. She plays with the handle of her cup while staring into me with those soulful eyes.
“Stop staring at me like that.”
“Like what?” She asked again.
“As if this will be the last time that we see each other.”
I felt a quick strike of pain etching in my chest. No one wanted to say the truth. The two of us wish to hold unto the false hope that a day will come, and we will still see each other.
“But, you are not coming back here. Alpha Ameo and Luna Vera are not your real parents, and when Alpha Claudius finally set you free as his breeder…”
“I will vanish to a place where no one knows me. A place where I am allowed to have a fresh start,” I said, adding the word that Soleil couldn't finish.
“Do you want to go with me in Dark Moon Pack?”
“And leave my mother?” Soleil has shaken her head.
“You know my Mama's condition. I can't leave her here. I am the only family that she's got here,” she said. If that is not the case, I knew Soleil would choose to leave this pack to be with me too.
The two of us were staring at each other, eyes yearning for each other because at the back of our minds we knew that this was the last time.
I waved my hand at her, and Soleil waved back. Tears finally escaped from my eyes as I started to walk away from her.
“If the Moon Goddess allows it, we will surely see each other again. We just need to wait patiently,” I said to myself.
A few meters away from our main house. I saw Alpha Claudius and Beta Caspian sprinting towards me. The two of them were obviously breathless. It was as if someone's chasing them endlessly.
“Where the hell have you been? I thought they held you captive!” He said in an angry voice, but he sounded dead worry about me too.
I looked at them confusedly as they kept on looking back to check if someone was following them.
“Why would I be held captive? What the hell is going on?”
"Ameo found out that you are a healer. To keep you here, they plan on killing me and Alpha Claudius,” Beta Caspian said.
“They will do what? Why would they do that to you? Are you sure? Alpha Ameo wouldn't dare. He knows how strong you are.”
“Compared to the number of delta and warriors that are coming for us, there is nothing we can do even if we are stronger than him—”
“Caspian, shut it!”
“What? I am just telling her the truth. She is supposed to know.”
Alpha Claudius cupped my cheeks. He wants me to calm down and to focus my eyes on him.
“You grew up here. I am sure you know your forest and this land like the back of your palm. Do you know any escape route that we can take?” He asked. I didn't even realize that tears were already streaming down from my cheeks as fear completely took over my sanity.
“You don't have to be scared. I am here. I won't let anything happen to you or to me. You just need to help us.” He dried the tears off my cheeks and I nodded my head at him.
“In the middle of the forest, there's this tunnel that would lead us to a national highway where a lot of cars pass by.”
“That will work. We can take that route, and we'll be fine,” he said to me.
“A-Alpha, they are here!” Beta Caspian mumbled. In the corner of my eyes, I saw numerous warriors and deltas.
I intertwined my hand with the Alpha’s and started running in the middle of the forest. Alpha Ameo and his deltas quickly followed us.
One of them managed to catch Claudius.
Claudius twisted the delta's arm, dislocating it. Beta Caspian was fighting for his life too. Everything was happening too fast that I couldn't see anything clearly.
Before we could take turn to where the tunnel was. All the deltas and the warrior had cornered us towards the cliff.
Poisonous arrow was pointed to Beta Caspian and Alpha Claudius.
If they took another move, Alpha Ameo would surely ask his warriors to launch their arrows at the two.
“I-I am sorry,” I said to Claudius. He pulled me right behind him.
“Eero, come here, my sweet daughter. If you choose to stay with us, I will be lenient towards the Alpha, under one more condition.” Alpha Ameo took a pause. “He'll abdicate his position to me, but in exchange, he gets to live. That's a fair deal, isn't?”
“I won't abdicate my position to you.”
Alpha Ameo playfully shrugs his shoulder.
“Very well. You have made your choice. Now Eero needs to make hers.” Alpha Ameo looked at me.
“Come forward, my dear. We will start again as a happy family, like none of this happened.”
Claudius looked at me and then to the cliff behind us.
“Do you trust me?” He asked through mind link. I glanced at the cliff too. Down on that cliff are rock formations and a sea filled with wild waves that will kill us one way or another.
“In a count of three, we will jump off the cliff,” he said to Beta Caspian through mind link as well.
Caspian nodded his head.
Alpha Claudius turned to face me. He wrapped me around his arms before pulling me to jump with them.