Chapter 5 Five

Alisha’s POV

The second the hospital door slammed shut behind me, the cold night air brushed across my face enough to get me out of breath, but I forced myself not to react. I kept my head lowered beneath the nurse cap they had shoved onto me.

My trembling hands were hidden inside the sleeves of the oversized scrubs while I walked between the two nurses as steadily as I could. Every instinct inside me screamed to run into the darkness and never stop, or look over my shoulder, but fear clawed painfully in my chest because one wrong move would destroy everything we had risked.

Behind us, the hospital had already erupted into chaos. Voices echoed loudly through the halls while Guards shouted over one another.

The sharp feel of panic spread so thickly through the air that even from outside, I could still feel it pressing against my skin.

“She can’t be dead!” Someone says in disbelief.

“What do you mean her pulse disappeared?” Another person questioned.

“Call Alpha Zaden immediately!”

I swallowed hard and kept walking. The thought settled heavily inside my chest as we crossed the dimly lit courtyard leading toward the lower parking grounds behind the hospital. Rain had started falling again, soaking the thin fabric of the scrub I wore. Water dripped down the side of my face while my pulse hammered so hard inside my ears that I could barely hear anything else.

One of the nurses tightened her grip painfully around my wrist.

“Keep moving,” she muttered under her breath. “Don’t look back.”

I nodded once. My knees were getting weak.

The smell of disinfectant and blood still clung to me, tangled together with the faint scent of death that had followed me out of that room. I could still picture the corpse beneath the drapes of the woman who now wears my blood, my marking, and my identity.

The woman who would be buried as Alisha Tabor.

A guard suddenly rushed past us toward the hospital entrance, nearly knocking into my shoulder in his panic. I stiffened instantly, my breath catching painfully in my throat, but he barely spared me a glance.

In fact, none of them did, not a single person looked closely enough to recognize me.

And for the first time, I was thankful for this.

Suddenly, the younger nurse shoved open the back door of an old supply van parked behind the building and quickly motioned me inside.

“Hurry.” She says.

I climbed in immediately, and the door slammed shut behind me, pushing me into darkness, making my chest tighten. For several seconds, all I could hear was my own ragged breathing while Outside, the shouting grew louder.

Then the van started moving, and I squeezed my eyes shut as it rolled away from the hospital grounds.

Freedom.

The word felt strange inside my mind, feeling unreal and dangerous. For days, I had imagined escape while rotting inside that room, imagined the feeling of stepping beyond those walls, but now that it was happening, all I felt was terror. If they caught me now, Zaden would never lock me away again. He would kill me himself.

The thought should have hurt more than it did. Instead, exhaustion swallowed everything.

It began to feel as though we had been driving forever. My body ached violently against the hard metal floor beneath me while dizziness pressed harder against my skull with every passing minute. I tasted blood again at the back of my throat and quickly covered my mouth, trying not to cough, especially not now or yet.

Eventually, the van slowed and finally came to a stop somewhere far from the hospital. The back doors opened slowly, and cold rain poured in.

“We can’t take you farther,” the older nurse whispered nervously as I climbed out onto the empty roadside. “They’re already searching the eastern borders,” she explains sympathetically.

The younger nurse handed me a small backpack, shaking with nervousness.

“There’s money, suppressants, clothes, and fake papers inside.” She informs.

I gripped the bag tightly against my chest, several emotions clogging my throat.

“Thank you,” I whispered weakly.

Neither of them answered immediately. Fear lingered heavily across their faces because they knew exactly what would happen if Zaden discovered they helped me escape.

Death would be mercy.

“Go,” the older nurse urged quietly. “Before they close the borders completely.”

I nodded once before turning toward the dark forest stretching beyond the road.

Rain soaked my clothes almost instantly as I stepped beneath the trees, but I barely noticed. The same forest where I had once been found abandoned as a baby now swallowed me whole again, like it had been waiting all these years for my return.

Only this time, no Alpha would find me; in fact, no one was coming to save me anymore.

I walked deeper into the darkness alone. As the sun rose, the rain grew violent.

Mud clung heavily to my soaked shoes while my lungs burned with every breath I forced into them. My body felt weaker with every passing hour, exhaustion dragging painfully at my limbs until even walking became difficult.

Still, I couldn’t stop.

Not while they were hunting me.

I knew Zaden would have already torn apart the hospital by now, searching for answers. The moment he realized the body wasn’t mine, the entire territory would become a prison.

My hand tightened around the backpack strap.

I had crossed beyond the main patrol roads hours ago, but wolves could still track me if they searched hard enough.

Especially him, as the mating bond still existed.

It was Weak now, but alive enough that if he focused, he might still sense pieces of me.

Extreme fear gripped me, but I shoved every emotion down brutally.

Suddenly, another cough ripped through me, and I stumbled hard against a tree trunk, barely catching myself before collapsing completely. Warm blood spilled into my palm, and panic flashed through me instantly. It was too much.

My breathing was heavy, and dizziness blurred my vision.

“No,” I whispered hoarsely to myself. “Not now.”

I pressed trembling fingers against my mouth until the coughing eased, but my chest still burned horribly afterward. The illness was getting worse. Faster than before.

Maybe the stress had accelerated it.

Or maybe my body already understood something my mind still refused to accept: that Alisha Tabor had truly died tonight.

Suddenly, a branch snapped somewhere nearby, and every muscle inside me froze instantly as Silence followed.

Then footsteps, it was light and controlled, definitely not owned by a human.

Wolf.

Panic surged violently through me as I reached inside the backpack and unthinkingly grabbed the small surgical blade hidden beneath the clothes. Pathetic. The weapon looked tiny, shaking in my hand, but I would rather slit my own throat than return to that pack.

The footsteps grew closer slowly before a figure finally emerged from the shadows between the trees.

It was A tall woman, Dark-haired with Silver eyes glowing faintly beneath the storm.

Rogue.

I recognized it immediately from the absence of any pack scent clinging to her skin. Weapons were strapped across her body beneath a soaked black cloak, and she moved with the kind of dangerous calm that made my stomach tighten instinctively.

She stopped several feet away from me.

Her gaze flicked briefly toward the blade in my shaking hand before moving to the blood staining my sleeve.

“You’re making a mess,” she said flatly.

I stared at her silently as the rogue tilted her head slightly.

“So the dead Luna can still breathe after all.” She suddenly blurts.

My whole body went cold instantly as my grip around the blade tightened.

“Who sent you?” I questioned in a shaky voice.

“No one.” Her voice remained cold and unreadable. “But half the territory is already searching for you.”

Fear curled violently inside my stomach.

“How did you find me?” I pressed further.

“You smell like blood and wolfsbane.” She points out.

Confusion flashed through my exhaustion.

“I was never poisoned,” I said.

Something strange darkened her expression briefly.

“Sure.”

Before I could question her further, distant howls suddenly echoed through the forest, close to where we were.

The rogue glanced toward the sound before muttering a curse beneath her breath.

“They’re faster than I expected.”

Panic exploded through me, and I immediately turned to run, but dizziness slammed violently into me before I could even take two steps. The world tilted sideways.

Strong hands caught me before I hit the ground.

“I can walk,” I snapped weakly.

“Clearly.” She says dryly.

Another howl echoed much closer this time.

The rogue looked irritated, now more than afraid. She quickly pulled a knife from her belt before slicing her own palm open without hesitation. Blood dripped onto the wet forest floor.

“What are you doing?” I whispered harshly.

“Saving your life.”

She pressed her bleeding hand against a nearby tree trunk, letting the scent spread heavily through the air before grabbing my wrist again and dragging me deeper into the forest.

We moved quickly downhill through mud and rain while the distant howls shifted direction behind us almost instantly, following the stronger rogue scent instead.

And with every step we took, my breathing grew worse until finally my legs gave out completely beneath me.

I collapsed hard against the wet ground, coughing violently as Blood spilled between my fingers again.

Quickly, the rogue crouched beside me, irritation flashing across her sharp features.

“You’re dying.” She hissed.

A weak laugh escaped me before I could stop it.

“Yes.”

For the first time, something unreadable crossed her face. It wasn’t pity, but… recognition.

Slowly, she reached into her coat and pulled out a tiny glass vial filled with black liquid.

“Drink.” She instructed.

I stared at it suspiciously.

“What is it?” I questioned.

“Something that keeps you alive another hour.”

I should not have trusted her, I knew that. But my body was failing rapidly, and the howls behind us were getting closer again.

So I grabbed the vial and swallowed it in one go. The liquid burned instantly down my throat like fire.

Pain exploded violently through my chest, and a scream tore from my lips before the rogue clamped a hand over my mouth.

“Quiet.” She hissed.

My body convulsed painfully against the ground while heat spread through my veins like poison. For several terrifying seconds, I thought she had killed me.

Then suddenly the pain eased, not fully, but enough to breathe again and stand on my own.

Shock flooded through me as I stared at her, “What was that?” I questioned.

“Suppression serum,” she answered calmly. “Illegal. Rare. Expensive.”

I wiped blood from my mouth slowly.

“How do you know about my illness?” I asked in confusion.

Her silver eyes locked onto mine carefully now. Then she said quietly, “Because you’re not the first Luna they’ve tried to kill.”

My stomach dropped instantly at this, in shock, “What?”

She stepped backward into the shadows again.

“You want to survive?” she asked coldly. “Then stop thinking like a Luna.”

Another howl echoed nearby, closer now.

Then the rogue turned away immediately.

“Wait,” I called weakly.

She paused without looking back.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

And there was a pause before she finally responded.

“Mara.”

And before I could say another word, she disappeared into the darkness while the rain still poured heavily and her words rang hard in my head.