Page 22 of The Wild Moon
Footsteps coming up the stairs snapped me out of my history lesson. I whipped my head around, horror pumping ice through my veins. I froze, unsure of what to do. There was no way I could go unseen. The hallway was a straight shot and getting to the nearest hiding place would involve running flat out. That alone would alert whoever was awake that I was free.
Flattening myself against the door of the relic room, I took a slow, silent breath and whispered a quick prayer that whoever was coming up the huge, curved stairwell would head toward one of the other wings of the house. Then I could sneak down past them, open a window, and run into the night.
Please. Please don’t come this way. Go another way. Any other way. Just not down here.
The door’s alcove would keep me out of immediate sight, but I couldn’t be missed by anyone walking down the hallway unless they were half-blind. Since Grandma Aldridge had passed away a year ago, there were no elderly members of the household I was aware of who might walk past me.
The footsteps continued. I leaned into my wolf, using her instinctual knowledge to figure out what I could about the owner.
Light. Not heavy. Female most likely, or perhaps a youngling.
The last would be the preferable choice. Now that I was one with my wolf, I could overpower a shifter who hadn’t had their Soulshift yet. If it was a woman, however, then I could be in for a fight.
Whoever it was, they reached the top of the stairs and, as my luck would have it, chose to head down my corridor. Considering it led to the sleeping chambers of the primary Aldridge family, that was no surprise.
My heart sped up as they drew close, hammering so hard I swore whoever was coming had to be completely alerted to my presence. There was simply no way they were going to walk by unawares. Yet on they came, approaching step by step. My hand trembled as the time to strike came near.
I would have one chance at this. One shot to do this as quietly and quickly as possible, buying myself time to run.
Time slowed as the leading foot of my unknown victim appeared past the edge of the alcove. I waited till it was almost on the floor. Then I moved, lunging forward, timing my attack so I hit them when they were off-balance with one leg in the air.
My fist flashed out, connecting solidly with their jaw, their head snapping around. Success!
I watched in horror as Mariana Aldridge, Lady Aldridge and Lars’ mate, toppled to the floor. I should have caught her, should have lowered her gently to the floor to minimize sound, but the shock of who I had attacked, followed swiftly by the fear of what Lars would do in retribution, left me rooted to the spot for several seconds.
Thankfully, she landed on the carpet, managing to miss the walls on her way down. I stared at her for what had to be an eternity, though it was likely no more than a second or two.
Run!
My wolf didn’t care who we had attacked. She wanted out and was snapping at me to get a move on. It was time I listened to the beast within. She knew how to run. To run as fast as the wind.
We found the nearest window that would open and slipped out, not trusting the doors to be unwatched. Our feet crunched mulch and flowers underneath as we landed in a garden, but I ignored it, stripping the shirt and shorts off, trying not to focus on what was going to happen next.
This was the first time I had ever shifted outside of the Wild Moon. My wolf was ecstatic about being able to run free two nights in a row, and I did nothing to restrain her.
With my teeth clenched against the pain, I initiated the transformation. The hair on my arms thickened and grew longer, turning silver-white, as did the hair on my head and elsewhere, covering me in a thick coat of fur.
Bones cracked and reknit in a painful sensation that, thankfully, was fleeting, taking mere fractions of a second. Though that also meant all the agony was condensed into several waves of blinding pain.
Then, almost before I realized it had started, we had done it. We had shifted.
I pawed at the ground, feeling the power in my limbs once more. This time, however, it was fully under my control. I was in charge with only my wolf’s instincts at the forefront.
Time to go, I thought, and we shot off through the darkness at a blinding speed.
I’d escaped the bonds and Johnathan’s room. Now my wolf and I had made it out of the house, though the alarm would go up soon thanks to our unfortunate encounter with Lady Aldridge.
Which left only one part of the plan to go.
Time to get the hell out of Seguin.
Forever.
Chapter Fourteen
Iadjusted the bag’s strap on my shoulder once more as it slipped free, its weight pulling it down.
“Stupid thing,” I growled as I slipped my left arm through the strap as well, so it rested on both shoulders, digging into my skin.
