Chapter 204

Almara’s Pov

I’m woken to water splashing on my face. Groggily, I squeeze my eyes shut and embrace for the next bucket of water that I expect will be pouring forth any minute. As I brace for the gush of water, recollection of what’s going on begins to steep in.

The war. Grace. The deal. Running. Then finally, falling. Along with the last realization comes a shooting pang along my thigh, though no buckets of water. I slowly blink my eyes open and no angry mob has me pinned down, trying to angrily bring me back to consciousness.

The water is a steady rainfall coming from a bleak sky. I try to sit up, then think better of it. No need to cause unnecessary amounts of noise, just in case my tormentors are close by. It’s doubtful they ceased searching.

The only thing that will make wolves stop their hunt is if the vampires announce they’ve received Grace. Isn’t there a crude saying in the human realm about giving a dog a bone? Point is, a wolf with a mission won’t stop until the mission is accomplished.

The rain comes down harder. Great. I sink my head back into the wet ground. The water and humidity of the air mean my scent will be far too easy to detect. My only hope is the wind may whirl my scent around and at least confuse the wolves looking for me in what direction I’m in.

The longer I lay still planning my next move, the more painful sensations in my body become apparent. At least it was Lily who took this fall.

Still, I already know the cut that was on my paw is split back open. The tuffs of my fur got ripped out from the thorns and sticks, causing my skin to sting. My shoulder took most of the impact as the leading body part to hit the ground first and I’m positive that’ll have a nasty bruise.

A stick snapping not too far off in the distance commands my attention. As if on cue, the whines of my body suddenly stop and all I focus on is the direction of where the stick came.

I contemplated for a brief moment that perhaps it was just a rodent, but no the snapping sounded too careful. Like whatever or whoever stepped on it was tip-toeing around the are and accidentally put too much weight on the twig.

As quietly as possible, I peel myself up from the ground. Keeping my eyes posted on the direction of the sound, I scoop my hand into the wet soil and plot some mud around in attempt to mask my scent with that of the damp earth’s dirt.

When I feel that my smell is buried at least enough to hide how recently I was here, I turn on my heels and move.

Keeping low, I slide around tall trees for cover and try to listen. There are definitely footsteps, more than a couple. From what I can tell they’re movie west and I’m heading south. Pulling away from the tree, I move to the next one a few feet in front of me.

“Did you hear that?” I hear someone ask. I cling to the tree as though I could become a part of it. I hold my breath worried even that might give off a trace odor.

I hear muffled talking, but can’t quite make out what’s being said. I dare lift my feet and make away to the next tree ahead of me.

I notice I’m on a decline which means soon enough those searching for me who are moving west will have the vantage point. I have to get out of the area.

“Did you guys find her?” I hear a voice clear as day ask overhead. I dare look up and see a group of five pedestrians coming up to another group of maybe seven. I ever so carefully slide myself around the tree so that my back is to them.

“No, but I can smell her,” one wolf says and takes a deep inhale.

“It’s because of this stupid rain and wind. Her scent is being carried everywhere,”

“Or it means she’s close. She’s in the area that’s for sure,”

“Do we even need her?” Someone else asks. This question grabs my interest. Without waiting for a reply the voice continues on, “I mean, does anyone know where she lives? Can’t we just go look for her daughter ourselves?”

This alone almost makes me leap from the tree and take down every single one of them- though reason holds me back. I might be able to realistically be able to take on two before the other join in and take me out, and I’m no use to Grace unconscious- or dead.

Besides, I want to hear the answer. If someone here knows, somehow, where I live, who’s to say anyone else who heard the message doesn’t also know where I live?

“No, but wasn’t there a party at the Covington house some months back?” A female voice this time chimes in. My throat goes dry. The media wouldn’t publicly post our address. They can’t, right? Doesn’t that breach some ethical code or law or something?

“So?” Someone asks.

“Maybe we can find some articles or posts about it and get an idea of where it was. That’ll at least put us in the right direction for her daughter rather than waste our time trying to find the Luna. It’s not like she’ll just give up her daughter or address to us anyways,”

You got that right. I swallow the lump in my throat and try to soothe myself. They don’t know exactly where I live, this buys me some time.

Then a sickening realization shatters the wall of comfort I started to build. Whoever was at that party knows where we live. All thanks to Robert who spread the word of our housewarming party, that night went from supposed to being an intimate friend and family gathering to a wild rave.

I don’t know all those people who came into our house. I don’t even know if Arthur did. I can’t trust them. The need to run becomes almost too urgent to ignore. I have to get to Grace, someone might already be at our house.

I peak my head around the tree and see the pack of wolves standing in a huddle high above on the hillside looking down at their phones trying to find any scrap of information about my house location, and I can’t wait here until they do.

I take this as my chance. I book it. I no longer care about noise or not being seen. I kick off the ground and pounce, interweaving through trees. I hear shouting and instantly know it’s from the crowd. No doubt they’ve spotted me and are tailing behind me.

I’ll try to lose them if I can, but my primary focus right now isn’t these amateurs, it’s the elite who showed up at my house and know where I live. They have knowledge and power. I can only hope they don’t have my daughter.