Wolfsfoot (Kingdom of Wolves #1)

“Now get back to the kitchen.” Turning I scurry out of theoffice because the further away from them the better, and I’ll not be matingConnell because I’m getting out of here as soon as I can.

I know I’m due to get my wolf on my sixteenth birthday but Idon’t mind running before that, and I’m sure there is something planned for mybirthday that will make sure I can’t run before I reach my eighteenth or theplan they have won’t work.

Finishing the pans and cleaning the kitchen after theevening meal, I eat the small plate of food that Dahlia left for me. Once I’veeaten, I clean up after myself and head quickly upstairs, climbing the backstairs to stay out of everyone’s way.

Stopping when I hear people talking and hear my name, Irecognize Connell’s voice. “The Alpha is going to have Tatiana’s hamstrings cuton her wolf’s back legs so she can’t run or even walk. I don’t think it’sright, but I can’t stop him either.

“She has a healthy inheritance to come when she’s eighteen,and he wants it for the pack. The only way to do that is for me to mate withher, have a pup, and then kick her out.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if he killed her when she’s had thepup, then he won’t have to see her or worry she’ll try to take the pup awaywith her. You know we’ve done everything we can to keep her beaten down, buther father was an Alpha and her mother a Beta, so Tatiana could be one ofthose, but I would say she’s a rare Alpha bitch. We’ll know as soon as she getsher wolf and if it’s solid black, we’ll know for sure.”

“I don’t like this Connell. If she’s a rare Alpha bitch, sheshould be honored and not murdered.” I recognize Bellamy’s voice, and itsurprises me when he goes to bat for me in even this small way.

“I know, but what can I do, it’s not like I can talk theAlpha down. You know as well as me that although I’m his son, he treats me justlike everyone else.” Connell’s voice is getting quieter, so I think they aremoving away from me and down the hallway.

Pushing myself to step nearer so I can peek around thecorner of the staircase to check if I can run to my room, I take a steadyingbreath and move slowly forward.

“There is time yet Connell, let’s not worry until she hasher birthday and we see what her wolf looks like,” Bellamy says and as theyturn the corner at the other end of the hallway, I rush to my room, closing thedoor quietly behind me.

I lock the door and take a seat on the end of the small bedthey gave me to sleep on. Looking around the room, I can’t help but think itwas once a closet because the small bed, a chair, and a three-drawer chest ofdrawers are all that’s in the room, and they only just fit in.

Rubbing my hands down my thighs, I think I’m going to haveto decide on what to do before my birthday.

We’re going to run! Not staying here in this horriblepack. You are an Alpha female and I’m an Alpha wolf. Your Alpha wolf. My nameis Ebony and I’ll be out on your birthday.

‘Ebony, how can you speak to me now, before you have comeforth?’

We are Alpha, and we are strong. I can come forward tokeep us safe. Alpha Torrance has an evil aura, and his wolf is going feralbecause of the stink of evil the Alpha projects. You must run Tati and staysafe until I come forth on your birthday.

‘Where will I go? How will I get away? They have patrols onour border and I’ll have to get past them.’

You can do it, Tati. I have every faith in you. You mustrun, and stay hidden until I come to you, then together we will live andeventually make this pack suffer.

Nodding to myself as my mind races around ideas about how Ican dodge the patrols. Maybe if I clean the patrol cabin I could see wherethere is a gap in the patrols?

No gaps in the patrols. You’ll have to get the timingwhen the patrols meet and walk away from each other, then dash over the packborder. Oh, and remember to renounce ties with the pack as you get one footover the border. Technically, we will then be an Alpha rogue.

‘Okay, Ebony, I will watch for a couple of days, then we’llmake a run for it. I’ll do whatever I have to, to be free of this pack. No wayam I mating with Connell.’

I need to rest now, Tati, but I will speak to you as soonas I can.

I feel Ebony sliding back into the recess of my mind, but Ismile to myself because I’m never going to be alone again. I’ve got her with meforever, and we are Alpha, which means I have to act like it as soon as I comeof age. But I’ll start from the moment I step over the pack border as a rogueand if I die as a rogue, then so be it.

Seven days to my birthday and I have to be gone before thator I’ll be permanently injured and never be able to run. That’s not happening.I’ll make my parents proud from this moment onwards.

Wishing for things is pointless because if it worked, Iwould have wished my parents back with me so many times. All I can do is putthe past behind me, as I was too young and innocent to know what the pack wasgoing to do to me in the end when I turned sixteen.

Opening the drawers, I take out the few things that I’llneed to take with me. I have little to start with, a few clothes, the smallamount of cash I have collected from finding it on the floor when cleaningrooms, and my identification certificate, which is the wolf shifter’s birthcertificate. I only have the certificate because I found it in the trash in theAlpha’s office when I was cleaning it one day. I collect the backpack I saw inthe utility room and stuff my clothes inside. Place the cash in a paper bagfrom the kitchen drawer and the certificate in the side pocket of the bag.

I don’t have a coat, but I take the single blanket from mybed and roll it up like a bedroll you see in western movies. Now I wait untilit’s dark. I haven’t tried to check on patrols as time is too important and Inoticed Connell and Bellamy were watching me all day at school. Wherever I wasone of them kept me in their line of sight. They know I’m going to try to run,I’m sure of it, but the little I overheard as they passed the girl’s bathroom,they think I’ll do it the day before my birthday.

Midnight came and went, and when 2:00 am came around, I slidout of the bedroom cautiously. I’ve seen a wolf pacing outside below my bedroomwindow, so they are trying to make sure I don’t run, but they think I’m stupidand maybe I have been, but not anymore.

I tiptoe down the back stairs and scuttle under them when Ihear someone approaching. I’m not sure I recognize the voice, but then Iwouldn’t as I’ve never really spoken to anyone in the pack for years.

“Nothing out of the ordinary, but I hope she runs and getsaway. Nobody deserves what the Alpha has done to her, and it wouldn’t surpriseme at all if he hadn’t had that accident happen.” The male voice is next towhere I’m hiding and I just hope whoever it is and who they are talking todoesn’t smell me, because a wolf’s sense of smell is amazing and is what couldget me caught.

The other person speaks but has my lip curling. “I don’tgive a shit as long as I don’t get dragged into it. You know if the wolfcouncil hears rumors of an Alpha female being hurt, running for their ownsafety, it will not end well for any of us.”