Ashley's POV
I waited for it to be well into the night before I got on the move, putting on a pair of sleek black leggings, long sleeve black top, a tight fitting black hoodie jacket and some black socks and shoes.
I felt ridiculous in a way but it at least would keep me hidden safely from the mutts, it was like a low budget version of my normal uniform, it would have to do for now, the only thing it lacked was actual protection.
I looked out the window and took a deep breath, staring out at the stars, then to the distant glow of the city lights.
The night was quiet, I could only imagine what my team was doing back home, if they had left the country already maybe, I doubted it but I'm sure they were ordered to.
I wondered what Sam was doing right about now...I'm sure he probably tried to come up with a plan to get me.
I just hoped the others talked him out of it, I didn't want him getting hurt.
"Don't worry guys...I'll be home soon" I mumbled to myself, that feeling of longing in my heart again, I walked over grabbing some bobby pins from my nightstand, I was lucky they had just basic locks on this door, still heavy duty but not magnetic thankfully.
I had left the tracker hidden under the bed so it would take a while to notice I was gone.
I crouched by the door so I could get a good look at the lock as I shoved two bobby pins into the locking mechanism.
I just needed to get the pins in the lock to pop up enough to get it to unlock.
I'll admit it took me five minutes, it had been a while since i picked a lock with bobby pins, so I was a little rusty to start with.
I had purposely waited till the guard changed over so no one would be watching my door.
When changing over positions it left me a window to move about without being seen or heard.
My ears were graced with the satisfying click of the lock as it finally fell to my stubborn picking, oh I could just feel the grin on my face as I slowly slipped out of the door.
I made sure to attempt to jam the lock shut with some pins, getting them wedged inside so it would be a pain to get the door unlocked.
I made a quick and careful effort to look down the Halls cautiously as I quietly but swiftly made my way down the halls, light on my feet barely making a sound as I passed over the hardwood floors.
I had about 10 minutes of time before any guards came this way if I had guessed right.
Making my way down these stairs took a little while, I couldn't risk being too hasty, I had to freeze at every minor noise just in case someone had noticed my movements.
At one point I ended up hiding behind some drape curtains as a young teen wolf grabbed what I assume was a late midnight snack from the kitchen, obviously too tired and too young to notice me.
Still, it had me holding my breath like I was going to die.
I didn't have any weapons on me and even if I did it just felt wrong attacking kids, even if they were mutts.
I wasn't a monster I had morals, I may not like them but I'd be damned if I killed a kid before they had a chance to be good or bad.
I made it to the gym area without any issues, step one of the escape plan a success, now i just had to make it out of here in time.
I made my way over to the glass door and again began my lock picking, it took me much less time this time around but I was still cutting it close.
I was counting down in my head how much time I head left and my window of escape was uncomfortably shrinking.
It felt like some kind of impending doom weighing down on my shoulders the longer this took, seconds felt like decades.
Once I heard the click I moved as fast and as quietly as I could manage.
The relief I felt was like a high rushing into me, quickly stopping as I got back into mission mode.
Slipping out the door and closing it quietly.
Just as I had hoped, someone had left a torch out on one of the benches, a foolish mistake for them but a blessing for me.
I grabbed it.
I immediately made my way over to the treeline, getting as much coverage as possible and I didn't slow down for anything, I needed to get as far away and as down wind as possible before the next patrol came around.
My heart was thumping in my chest but I did my best to keep my cool.
I didn't turn the torch on until I was certain I was far enough away, relying mostly on the limited moonlight I had and just general instinct.
That's not to say I didn't get poked in the face, legs, chest and all over basically from branches, bushes and fallen logs.
Absolutely worth it though.
I was not rushing and risking giving my position away, not when I was this close.
I waited before I clicked it on, Illuminating the dense forest.
Having the light of the torch was a game changer, making it easier to see where I was going at least, I just hoped no one would notice me from the light.
It was pretty cold tonight, and these tight clothes weren't exactly the warmest, but they'd do for now.
My heart was aching as it pounded in my chest, the feeling felt tight and heavy, it hurt, really bad actually. I had to slow down and stop by an oak tree to catch my breath. I didn't recognise this feeling but it made me feel almost guilty.
Guilty that I had run off and left Damien and the pack, but I had no reason to feel guilty...I shouldn't be guilty!
Some areas got really thick and hard to get through so I had no time to think about weird feelings while I was literally on the run, I was worried about wasting even a second and getting caught again.
Every noise in the distance had me almost jumping out of my skin, terrified it was a wolf, I was definitely way jumpier than I expected to be, but I guess I had full right to be overly nervous.
~~~~~~2 hours later~~~~~~
I finally decided to rest for a little bit after going for what felt like an hour or two, I didn't have a watch so I didn't exactly know.
I stopped with the outskirts of the city off in the distance, still a few miles away, I had stopped in an old abandoned building, catching my breath.
My guess was it used to be a country home but it was long forgotten, still provided some cover for me and a place to rest and sit down, I hated the spiders though.
Gross.
I sat myself down in an old woven chair by a small round table, left frozen in time.
My chest ached with that same unfamiliar kind of tight pain. It made me feel guilty and almost alone. I felt out of breath and I was shivering, I was definitely going to catch a cold.
I was hoping Damien had kept his word and no one knew who I was still so I could walk into the city and simply make my way up to a phone booth and call Robin like I had done after my embarrassing one night stand.
I felt a little dizzy and my head was so heavy and foggy, I had to lean forward and put my head in my hands to calm down.
I was exhausted right now and for a moment everything felt muffled around me.
"Ashley"
Damien's voice came as almost a booming sound in my mind, catching me off guard when it suddenly entered my mind without warning.
It made my heart almost jump out of my throat when I heard his voice.
I jumped to my feet looking around, just to ensure they weren't actually surrounding me right now, my skin itched with the uncertain anxiety I was experiencing right now.
It was awful.
But also for a moment I felt a weird string of relief that caught me off guard momentarily surprised.
These confusing feelings were really annoying.
"Ashley, this is getting tiresome"
I almost jumped out of my skin again but calmed down faster this time, looking around for anyone, but I was alone.
I had kept my guard down, now I was sure he must know I was gone, but I was certain I'd have more time!
I shook my head trying to push his presence out but it felt almost like it had a stronger grip this time, did I let my guard drop too much? Did he have a better grip or something.
I just did my best to ignore it, I couldn't fail now, I was so close.
I could swear I felt for a second what could have been someone's hand on my shoulder, I was definitely too paranoid right now.
I was about to run out of the building when I heard something, a truck, parking up near the building I was in.
It had me freezing, before quickly hiding behind some old furniture.
Who could be out here!? There was nothing interesting here!
I strained my ears the best I could to listen to my surroundings, trying to ignore the thrumming of my heartbeat in my ears.
"Did we really have to come out all the way for this?" I heard a male voice speaking.
He sounded extremely irritated.
"Yes we do, no one comes to this abandoned crap pile, and we are not chancing this, if we get caught it won't just be your Alpha coming for me, it's that damn Damien too, and he'll come for both of us"
A feminine voice spoke this time, just as annoyed.
I couldn't tell if they were wolf or human, I couldn't see them, but my guess was the feminine one was definitely human, the male was up for debate.
She said 'your Alpha' that could definitely mean he's a wolf.
"Yeah yeah I know, I'm well aware of how risky this is, but with ghost being MIA right now, my Alpha is more antsy and impatient than ever before...they aren't here to mess things up"
Wait what? What was this Alpha planning? What did they need so badly now that I was currently busy?
What had I missed in the short time I was gone?
How did they even know I was MIA?
it's not unusual for me to go quiet for a few months, this was setting off all kinds of alarms in my head.
Did the rebellion know? Who were these people, what was going on?
"Well he better start being patient, getting that kind of information is not easy" the female voice snapped back.
"Whatever, you do your job I'll do mine....you bring what was asked?"
"Yes, did you?"
There was a short sound of shuffling with car doors and struggling, muffled yelling, like someone was gagged.
"One Young, unmated and healthy male wolf, and one young, unmated and healthy male human...this better work, hiding tracks to missing people isn't easy"
"This version is much more potent, just hold them still."
The sound of struggling and muffled yelling was followed after they finished talking, and something that sounded like gas being released from a canister.
The struggling continued for a few seconds before there was silence.
Ok now what the fuck was going on!?
What was I even hearing right now? I needed answers, whatever this was I needed to know.
I peaked slowly over from my hiding spot and moved under a window, slowly peaking up from around the decaying corner, I just needed to get a look at what was going on.
And what I saw made me feel sick to my stomach.
What I saw was a large man dressed in all black with a hood up, holding two people tied and bound with ropes, one laying on the floor, the fabric gag removed from his mouth but he seemed to be wheezing in pain with blood pouring from his nose.
The other was now struggling, a clear gas mask placed over his mouth and a strange cloudy slightly black gas filling the mask.
The man was holding him still while the woman had the mask pressed up to his face, forcing him to breathe it in.
I just sat there watching in horror, I couldn't believe what I was seeing right now.
It was a brutal sight, and for the life of me I couldn't understand or think of a reason why a wolf and human, would be working together to kill and hurt other wolves and humans! This was insane!
Eventually they let the man drop, they seemed to be struggling to breathe, blood started pouring out his nose too.
It was disturbing, it made me feel sick.
"Well, this seems much more promising than the last version, I'll report back on this to the others, how's the antidote going?"
"Still a bust, the bastards took the information with them when they died, so you'll have to wait"
I heard an audible frustrated growl come from the wolf.
"You really couldn't have convinced them to tell you? Who else knows?"
"No they were so protective of their research, the only ones that might know were their kids and they're either dead or completely useless to us"
"It's bullshit honestly... whatever we are done here, let's go before anyone notices us"
"You can deal with the bodies, you brought them, I've got work to be getting back to" the woman seemed pretty confident, I could almost hear a bit of disgust in her voice.
"What!? Seriously!? Oh come on, you're the one who brought the gas!"
"And it's not my job to dispose of remains, now deal with it, we'll be in contact" the woman snapped before I heard the sound of her getting into a car and driving off.
"Lazy bitch..." The wolf mumbled before I could hear the sound of dragging, then something I was familiar with.
The sound of stabbing, a blade in skin, I've killed enough to know when I hear it.
I peaked over again and saw the wolf dragging the victims into a pit before dousing them in a clear liquid, from what I could see It was coming from an old fuel jug. He emptied it on the still struggling victims before striking a match, he was going to burn them alive, erasing the evidence of what had happened.
I couldn't do anything about it even if I wanted to, I had no weapons, I was wearing normal clothes that didn't provide protection, this guy was a wolf and would obviously over power me physically.
It was just too big a risk to try anything really, it frustrated me, I wanted to know what was going on.
Whatever this was I didn't like it, these people were obviously a threat and they didn't seem to have a biased opinion of humans or wolves.
This could be dangerous for the rebels, to my friends and family.
And for the faintest moment I felt concerned about what might happen to the wolves of this pack, of all the surrounding packs including damiens.
I didn't know why I felt that, but I did.
The man watched the burning bodies for a while, scrolling on his phone.
I didn't bother moving, I didn't want to be spotted still, but staying here was dangerous, Damien was obviously aware I wasn't in the park house anymore, so I didn't have time to waste.
But the longer I sat there the more I got thinking, the gut feeling I was having was telling me this could be something much much bigger than I thought.
And the more I worried the more I couldn't help thinking the rebellion couldn't handle something like this, I mean we were strong for sure, but it was our mystery that gave us the best advantage.
And as far as I knew the rebellion didn't work in this kind of gas weaponry, the most welcome dabbled in was wolf's bane.
My parents were the only people I knew of who worked in this type of stuff, but they died with their research, apparently playing with chemicals puts a big target on your back and was pretty dangerous.
That had always been one of my reasons I gave myself as to why my village was raided.
I had always assumed maybe one of the supreme Alpha's like Micheal had gotten wind of what was going on and decided to just wipe out my village to be sure there was nothing left of it.
But unlucky for them, some of us escaped, and we certainly remembered.
I was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard the roar of an engine, the guy was finally leaving, which was good to me.
I guess I had zoned out in my thoughts because my legs felt stiff when I got to my feet again, it was cold and I had been firmly curled in on myself.
By the time I stood up again I was shivering, I needed to get somewhere warm before I got found again.
I waited a few more seconds before slowly making my way out of the crumbling building, it was just as cold outside as it was inside, I was shivering, I could feel the cold biting into my skin.
I pulled out my torch again and started heading towards the lights of the city, I just needed to slip in silently, maybe go to a store of some kind, maybe a charity one, I just needed to warm up and rest a little bit.
I had a bad feeling weighing heavy in my gut, looking over my shoulder now and then as I headed into the city, I must have looked a little crazy from some of the weird looks I got.
I managed to slip in mostly known and stuck to some more subtle and quiet alleyways and streets.
But that feeling never left me, I needed to get out of the open.
I finally made my way into a library and I couldn't be more grateful it was a 24/4 hour one, making my way over to this cosy reading area to finally catch a Warmer break.
I got a pitiful look from the receptionist, I think she must have thought I was some kind of homeless woman.
I think she asked me if I wanted tea but I was so tired and distracted that I just nodded absentmindedly, bouncing one leg, but I was grateful for the warmth it brought me.
I had so much going on in my mind right now, I felt so all over the place.
God this was going to be one hell of a night to process everything.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
💖UPDATE CURRENTLY 💖
Heyo!
This took a while to get out, hope you like where I'm going with this! Adding some more drama and danger!
Chapters will be coming out a little slower for the next few weeks, unfortunately I'm quite busy but I'm still here!!
There might only be one update in the next week or two, unfortunately, I will be writing when I can though!
Let me know what you thought of this chapter!
Hope you enjoyed! And will stick around while I take more time to write lol.
Have a good night/day byeeeeee 💖💖💖