Revenge of the Luna Queen

Chapter 25

Of course slowly reality would inevitably settle in and her foot would ease from the accelerator, the car would decelerate to a crawl. Crunching her way to the side of the road she would sit with her hands gripping the wheel of whatever luxury car she had gotten her hands on to that time, or later on had bought, her eyes glued on the distant horizon. She would sit there for however long it took. It was the few rare times she allowed herself to imagine it, to give into the fantasy, the dream. She would imagine her life if that night had never happened. She would picture her life with a loving and happy mate at her side. Pictured running away and starting again. Leaving behind the twisted, charred and broken person she had become, abandoning the hate and rage that had fueled her for so many years, forgetting everything she had lost. She would sit and indulge in the idea of hope, love, forgiveness.

But then, every time, it would crack. The image, the fantasy, it would shatter. The memory of her mother's bloody face pleading for mercy, her guards fighting for her with no thought or regard for their own lives, the years in the cells, the feel of the scars on her back, all of it would break in and the fantasy would burst into ragged black flames. Returning them to where they belonged amongst the clouds, and she would once again become nothing. Ice and glass would fill her veins. Her heart, so broken and useless, would fall silent from its hopeless dreams, and she would rip her eyes from the pointless horizon. Turning the car she would journey back to the city. Every mile hardening and steeling her hate and determination. Until her control was once more iron-clad and complete.

Aislinn's eyes glanced from the road before her to the horizon in the distance. The chatter from her companions fading even more into the background, as she felt that tug at her mind. That whisper of a promise once more. Her hands tightened around the wheel, her foot pushing heavier on the peddle, as they zoomed around a corner. The car hugging the pavement and not giving a millimeter as they raced around it, topping out at nearly double the speed limit.

Could she do it?

Ciera would come with her, Aislinn was almost positive. She could run. Could just keep driving until it was all behind her once and for all. Run from all of it. From her parents, and the pack, from her enemies and those now counting on her. From the pressure and expectations, the names and titles she hated. She could run from everything that promised so much pain.

She didn't have a wolf, she felt the hole in her chest pulse darkly at the reminder, the bonds and links to her mate and guardian having either been severed or else completely muted. She was for all reality; free. Free of all of it.

Free of shifting. Of claiming her throne. Free of who she was. What she was.

She could just keep going. And going.

Her hands tightened further. The needle of the speedometer inching up further and further. The trees now nothing but blurred shapes out the windows. Patches of indistinct shadow and light, lost of all meaning or shape to those within. The force of their flight pressing Aislinn deeper into the seat. The engine roaring confidently and reassuringly under her, cradling her body in its embrace.

Her eyes strayed to the horizon again.

"Aislinn." Ciera's voice was soft and tentative.

At it Aislinn let her foot ease back slightly, the needle on the dashboard dropping a bit. Taking a deep breath Aislinn turned her head, hoping she masked the chaos and panic that was churning in her mind from her eyes. Her heart was racing, her breathing shallow as she stared in horror and fear at her friend. Her sister.

"Aislinn." Ciera repeated, her face concerned, her blue eyes gentle. "It's okay Ais."

Letting out a shuddering breath, Aislinn let the car slow even further. She was aware that Alpha Fide was still very much present and conscious of the conversation going on between them from the back seat, but she couldn't find it in herself to really care.