Cinders [Completed]

Chapter 5: Runaway

"Wait!"

A single word, yelled across the ballroom. The muscles in my body jerk back at his voice. So much distress in his voice, I have to go help him, my mate, my mate -

I cover my ears with my hands, like I'll somehow be able to kill the voice in my head. I can still hear him, his footsteps getting louder as he comes closer to me, his scent overpowering my senses.

I begin running again, but this dress keeps catching on my footsteps and it makes it so hard to move at all. At least, with my thin frame, I'll be able to weave between the crowd.

For the first few steps, everyone is in a stunned silence, staring after me with wildly interested eyes. After I push past the ballroom crowd, most people are still partying, not having been stopped for the entrance of the Royal alphas. The chaos makes me feel safer, because his footsteps are hidden among hundreds of footsteps, his scent hidden in hundreds of scents. It means that mine is, too.

Goddess, why is this happening? Why tonight, of all nights?

Hysteria builds in my throat as I shove one of the guests out of my way. I have to get home, I have to get away -

"Stop!" The Prince cries, and everyone in a ten-foot radius freezes. I race past a shocked waiter, who has to catch his tray when I almost knock it over.

This Palace is a maze, but I've almost found my way out. I open a grand door that looks like it has potential and race forward. It was the right choice. The night air is cool against my feverish skin. I'm only a little ways away from the forest, and then I would have a chance. If there's any chance to have.

Oh, Goddess. He's an alpha. He's the alpha. I could never outrun him. Even now, I can feel him getting closer, my body urging me to go back.
He's too fast, I'm too weak. I would become just like my mother.

My muscles burn as I run. I'm almost to the border of the woods - I'm almost there, I can get through these woods, I know them well.

But his voice calls out, barely ten feet away.

"I don't even know your name!"

My body floods with remorse. He sounds like I've cut into him. I shake it away and keep running, but then something warm and delightful touches me.

His hand is holding tightly to mine, tethering me to his body.

From the contact point, a stream of light seems to illuminate my skeleton. The feeling is so shocking and foreign that my body turns momentarily to stone.

I cover my face with my remaining hand. He's too close, he's too close, he'll see who I am and hunt me down and lock me up -

"Why?"

I close my eyes at his voice and the heartbreak rolling in every syllable.

"Why are you running from me?"

I tear my arm away.

He lets me go.

The sound of my feet is in rhythm with my heartbeat. It echoes in the silence of the night.

-

Elia is at her house when I arrive. I must look like a mess. The dress she had borrowed to me is torn and patterned with dirt. My hair is wild from the running and the woods, and I can feel how red my eyes are from the tears that I refuse to spill. Panic still thrums in every corner of my body.

"We left just after the Prince," she whispers in a panicked voice she pulls me through the back entrance. "What the hell was that?"

As soon as we get to her room, my legs turn to water and I fall to the floor.

"I - I -"

"Lee?"

My arms are shaking. It takes me several minutes before I realize that Elia in kneeling in front of me, staring at me with wide eyes.

"You left after the Prince?" I choke out.

"Yeah," she replies with confused concern, "pretty much everyone vanished a little after it. The Royal Alphas were basically pushing us out the door."

A realization dawns on her face as I feel my blood pressure rising.

"My dad -" I croak.

At the same time, Elia says, "hurry."

She helps me take off the dress, leaving it crumpled on the floor unceremoniously. All of my muscles are still quivering, making it difficult for me to use my hands. I can barely think about the scars on my back that are bare and visible as Elia throws my shirt at me.

I get the sense that I've just lost something, like an organ was torn out of my body. I'm an empty nest.

An empty nest that has more important things to be worrying about right now.

Elia changes into a ratty pair of jeans and a loose t-shirt. Without even asking, she scoops me into her arms and runs down the street.

Shame burns in my chest. I'm far too slow to make it to my house in time, but Elia makes the journey in easily under 3 minutes. She is even able to climb up to my window without disturbing me at all.

I can't even imagine being so powerful.

My heart relaxes as I notice the empty driveway. Dad isn't here, yet.

"The Prince, he -" I stutter as Elia stands me up on the carpet in my room.

"He's your mate," Elia whispers.

I release a choking sound.

"Lee, Lee, listen to me," Elia continues earnestly, "I love you."

"Elia, what - " I reply weakly.

"I shouldn't have made you come with me, tonight. I'm sorry." Her eyes are wide and panicked, with tears glistening at the borders. Elia, one of the strongest alphas I have ever met, looks afraid.

She hugs me close to her, so I cannot see her face as she continues.

"It's all changing, Lee. It's all changing."

Her panic seems to go much deeper than concern for me. It carries an instinctual fear that makes me wonder what she and her father were talking about tonight.

"Stay safe. Choose happiness," she murmurs against my ear, her voice heavy with emotion, "Goddess, Lee,
you are going to be so dazzling. You're going to blow everyone away."

And with that, she disappears through my window, leaving me with the sounds of Lucy's sleep.

When Dad opens the door, he finds me under my blankets, facing the wall. I wait until he closes the door before I shut my burning eyes. I dream about a black sea that fills my lungs, making my body heavy, heavy.

A part of me wishes that I would drown, but all I do is sink.