Chapter 49

T

he houses that once stood tall and proud were now nothing but ashes and rubble. The streets were barren, with no signs of life. My heart sank at the sight of my old town that had been destroyed. I walked across the empty streets, my footsteps echoing against the crumbling buildings.

In the distance, I spotted a few lights coming from the houses which meant they were still some people living here. My first instinct was to run towards it, to see if anyone could help me. But the fear of being caught held me back.

What if they were in contact with Gerald?

I never collided with anyone in my old pack that liked me. Most of them strayed away upon realizing I was a runt and I truly never got along, not even in school. I doubted any of them would help me.

Reaching my old home, I found part of the house burnt, but the rest was in shape. Only the front porch had been destroyed. I went behind and entered through the kitchen. My memories flooded back.

This was where I grew up, where I had happy memories with my mother before she passed away. A smile stretched over my face and I went further inside. I had been in here before, when I came to see my father.

His dead body was moved, and I presumed it might've been one of the people living in this town now that took care of the bodies and buried them rightly. There was an odd stench of something rotting inside the kitchen. So, I stepped out and closed the door behind.

Heading upstairs, I went into my old room that was across Gerald's. It was rather small compared to his, in the corner and it barely had any heat when I lived here.

There weren't many things of mine, but I found some warm clothes that I quickly changed into and a pair of boots. My feet were swollen from the walking I had done.

I didn't know when or how I reached here on my foot, but I was here, hours later, back in my hometown.

It was four in the morning. Still dark outside. I changed my clothes and proceeded back downstairs to look for a phone, a phone that could still work. I had to call Nicholas, I had to let him know where I was.

Searching through the remains of the living room, I finally spotted the wall phone that was miraculously still intact which meant the electricity hadn't gone. There were still people living in the town. My first assumption was Gerald—he could be still living in here.

I picked up the phone and tried to think of Nicholas' number.

I didn't know.

"Fuck." I groaned, slamming the phone into the receiver.

Pacing back and forth, I cursed myself and thought of any phone number I knew of. Nothing. It was stupid not to memorize any numbers.

I returned back to the phone, remembering one briefly. It was Malik's phone. I had used it a couple of times, and a part of me remembered his number, but I wasn't sure.

I dialed the first few numbers and then got blocked at the last three numbers. It was a mix. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and tried again. This time, I was able to complete the number.

The phone rang twice and I bit the inside of my cheek while waiting for him to pick up the call.

"Hello?" His voice sounded confused.

"Malik, it's me, April. I can't—I couldn't remember Nicholas' number so I called you—"

"Where are you?"

My fingers pinched the bridge of my nose as I lowered my head. "I'm in my old hometown, in my old house. My brother was at the hospital and I ran away before he could do anything. I had been running for hours and I don't know how, but I ended here. Please, please tell Nicholas to come."

The line crackled for a moment before he spoke again. "I'll let him know. He's been out already, looking for you, but I'll try to get in contact with him. Just stay where you are and keep yourself safe, okay?"

I nodded, "Okay, thank you."

I hung up the phone and slumped against the wall, relief flooding through me that I had been able to contact someone. But the feeling didn't last long. There could be danger lurking around me. I had to stay as silent I could be.

I headed back upstairs, and straight into Gerald's room. It was clean and crowded with his scent which meant he had been in here. I wasn't sure if he was living here since there was no sign of life in the house.

Stepping out, I went into the attic, grabbing a long, sturdy piece of wood that had been lying around. It was a bit heavy, but it could work. There were a few pieces of silver rod lying around in the corner that I sharpened with using a file I found nearby.

While attaching the string to the ends of the wood, I remembered something Gerald had said to me earlier.

That he had found purpose for me.

Another thought crossed my mind when I checked the tension that had formed when I pulled back the string. It was Rosalie who had told him about my whereabouts. Otherwise, he would've never known.

It would make complete sense. She poisoned me and when it didn't work, and when Nicholas confronted her, she went ahead and contacted my brother after I had told her about him and the fact that I was running from him.

My teeth clenched tight. I wiped the sweat from my forehead and proceeded with filing the rest of the silver rods till they had sharp ends, enough to pierce through someone.

Whether I needed it or not, I had to be careful.

Nicholas could take a while before he could come here and dying in that meantime wasn't option.

A few minutes passed and the silence broke as the sound of an engine neared the house. My ears perked and I listened intently while getting out of the attic with a bag filled with sharp silver rods and a somewhat usable bow.

Was it Nicholas? It was too quick to assume that he came here in a matter of thirty minutes.

I stepped closer to one of the broken windows near the staircase and looked outside to find a small, black car parked next to the house. Another one pulled up and I was sure it was Nicholas, until it wasn't.

It was Gerald, again. This time with his friends. I recognized one of them, Asher, his high-school friend who had been supporting him as he hunted me.

"She's going to be here," Gerald said. "There's no way else for her to go."

"She could still be in that town. Don't you think? We should have stayed there for a while longer."

Gerald was persistent, like always. His eyes were focused on the house as if he could feel my presence here. "I know she's here."

How did—

I stepped away from the window and headed to the roof of the house while keeping my head lowered. It was best if he didn't come face to face with me. There was a ladder on the outside that went straight down to the ground, where I could run from.

They were four of them in total, all his friends.

Why would they even help him now?

I grabbed one of the silver rods and wrapped my hand tight around it while crouching on the roof and watching them as they prepared themselves to come into the house.

One of them came into the house while the other three, including my brother, stayed outside. He looked around, taking in the nearby surroundings while one of his friends pointed at my footsteps near the backdoor.

"She's been here. I can smell her." He announced, his voice loud.

How could he?

I turned toward the stairs where I heard footsteps echoing as one of his friends came up stairs. I crawled closer and closer and just as he reached the bedroom floor, I raised my hand and shot the silver rod at him. It was thin and it pierced through his shoulder, burning his flesh.

A loud howl escaped his mouth before he dropped on the floor, bleeding from one arm.

Quickly, I grabbed another one and rose up, letting my brother see me.

He and his friends stopped at the door as they found me on the roof. One of them reached forward to come upstairs and help the injured friend, but I warned him otherwise.

"Don't come near me, or I swear I'll kill him."

"Quite the threat for a runt." He raised his head and bared his teeth at me, trying to frighten me, but it didn't work.

I had been enough frightened, far worse.

"Come on, April. No need to play any games," Gerald cut in, trying to sound calm. "Just come down and we'll talk about this."

I scoffed, "Talk about what? You trying to kill me?"

"I wasn't—"

My breaths raced and sweat dripped down my forehead as I looked back, watching the injured man on the ground. "I don't care. Just leave me alone and take your friends out of here."

"Come on, I can't let that happen now," A sickening grin grew over his face as he splayed his arms in the air. "I know what you've done and it's alright. We both can fix it. All you have to do is come down and stop acting like you actually can do something about this."

"Go." I snapped at him, raising the silver rod in the air as a warning. My breaths became scattered and my lower lip quivered as I continued, "Leave now, or I won't hesitate to use this on you and your friends. You've done enough to me."

His lips lined straight into a frown. "And you haven't? Talk about sleeping with the enemy. I know you've mated with the alpha of the Silvertails pack. The same man who destroyed our town and ordered his men to kill our poor father."

I didn't let his words affect me. It was clear now that it was Rosalie who had to be sharing all this information with him, just to drive me away from Nicholas.

"It's alright. Just come down. We've somewhere to be and once you're there, all will be forgiven."

"No," I gritted my teeth together while hearing the groans of the man behind me. "Leave me alone, Gerald. Go away from here and leave me the fuck alone."

But my words seemed to have no affect on him or his friends as they rushed inside the house, determined to get to me. My heart raced as I backed away, nearing stumbling myself off the roof.

"I can smell him on you. You filthy runt!" Gerald said, his voice laced with anger and frustration as he took the stairs up.

I couldn't take all of them. Not at once.

Holding the bag in my hand tight, I crouched near the ladder and quickly climbed down as he went to the roof. As my boots pressed against the ground, a pair of strong arms came around me, grabbing me out of surprise.

I screamed and tried to push him away with all the strength I could muster in a few seconds. However, he was too strong. Until I plunged one of the silver rods into his stomach and killed him.

His body went limp over me and I took heavy breaths while taking steps backward. The body fell onto the ground with a thud and before any of them came after me, I fled into the woods, running away as I quickly I could.

Read the full book on Inkitt or Patreon and get access to other books and steamy one-shots.

Inkitt: www.inkitt.com/miakerr

Patreon: www.patreon.com/miakerr