Daria's POV
I began planning my escape the next morning.
Mira arrived at dawn with a basket of bread and cheese, her face carefully neutral in case anyone was watching. But the moment my door closed, she grabbed my hands.
“Tell me what you need,” she whispered.
“Supplies. Food that won't spoil. Water skins. A cloak.” I counted on my fingers, my mind racing. “Money, if you can get any. And a map of the forest routes.”
“The northern path is least guarded.” She had already thought this through. “But Daria, it's dangerous. There are rogues. And you are pregnant.”
“I know. But staying here is more dangerous.”
She nodded, giving my hands a reassuring squeeze before letting go. “I will get what I can.”
Over the next two weeks, she smuggled supplies to my room. A piece at a time. Nothing that would be noticed missing. A water skin here, dried meat there, and a warm cloak from the donation pile meant for pregnant omegas in need.
I avoided Lucius completely and thankfully it wasn't hard. He made no effort to see me, and I made sure our paths never crossed. I stayed in my room during meals. Kept to the servants' corridors. Moved through the mansion like a ghost.
And for once, he didn't seem to care.
I kept playing the part of the obedient omega. Quiet, submissive, and grateful for the shelter he had given me. The staff started to relax around me, and stopped watching so closely. Even the guards at the entrances barely glanced my way anymore.
It was perfect.
The moonless night came two weeks after I had overheard him. It was the darkest night of the month, when even wolves with perfect vision struggled to see.
I dressed in dark clothes Mira had stolen from the laundry, strapped the supplies to my back, and tucked my mother's necklace inside my shirt, against my heart.
Mira met me at my door one last time, tears streaming down her face.
“I really wish I could come with you,” she whispered.
“You would be hunted as a traitor.” I hugged her tightly. “Stay safe. Forget you ever helped me.”
“Never.” She pulled back, pressing something into my hand. A small pouch heavy with coins. “It's everything I had saved. Take it.”
“Mira.”
“Take it. For the baby.”
I couldn't speak past the lump in my throat, so I just nodded.
She left first, her footsteps fading down the hallway. I waited, counting to one hundred before I moved to the window.
My room was on the second floor, overlooking the gardens. Not a far drop, but far enough to hurt if I landed wrong.
I carefully climbed onto the ledge, my heart pounding so hard I thought it might wake the entire mansion.
Without thinking too much about anything, I jumped.
The landing jarred my bones and sent pain shooting up my legs. But thankfully, nothing broke or twisted.
I didn't wait, I ran.
After a moment, the supplies on my back grew heavier. But I pushed forward, following the northern route Mira had described. Away from the pack. Away from him. Away from everything.
Hours passed, and somehow the mansion became nothing but a distant shadow behind me, then disappeared entirely.
As soon as the first light of dawn peeked through the trees, I stopped and collapsed against a tree, gasping for air. My whole body shook, but I was grateful to be alive and free.
My hand moved to my belly, “We are free,” I whispered to my unborn child. “I won't let him use you. I promise.”
Lucius's POV
I woke up to a sense of emptiness.
The bond suddenly felt… wrong and distant.
My wolf snarled, clawing at my insides. But I pushed it down. Whatever this was, I would deal with it.
I got dressed and headed to check on the omega. I had planned to visit her tonight, continue what I had started during the last full moon. The sooner she conceived, the sooner I would have my cure.
But when I got to her room, her door was unlocked. The room was empty, the bed made, and the window open.
I found Rylan in the hallway. “The omega escaped.”
“What? When?”
“Sometime during the night.” I kept my voice flat. “Organize search parties. Quietly. I don't want the pack knowing our security is this incompetent.”
“Of course, Alpha.”
“And when you find her, bring her back unharmed. I still need her.”
He nodded and left immediately.
I returned to my office, spreading maps across my desk. She couldn't have gone far. Omegas weren't built for running, especially not weak ones like her. She would be slow, clumsy, easy to track.
This was an inconvenience. Nothing more.
My wolf howled, throwing itself against my control, but I ignored it. The beast had been restless since the rejection, constantly pushing back. It didn't understand necessity. Didn't understand that she was a means to an end. The bond was a biological mistake, nothing more.
Hours crawled by and the guards returned empty-handed.
“Expand the search radius,” I ordered. “Check every route out of the territory.”
They left again. Useless, all of them.
Rylan appeared in my doorway moments later. “What about her friend? The one from the healing center?”
“Bring her in.”
They dragged Mira to my office minutes later. She looked appropriately terrified.
“Where is she?” I didn't bother sitting. Just stared down at the trembling omega.
“I don't know, Alpha.” Her voice shook.
“You are her only friend. She would have told you her plans.”
“She didn't tell me anything. I swear.”
Liar. But three healers confirmed she had been working all night, so it was an alibi that held.
“Put her in the dungeons,” I told the guards. “Let her reconsider her loyalty.”
Her sobs echoed as they dragged her away. But I felt nothing. She was an obstacle. She would break eventually, or she wouldn't. Either way, I would find Daria without her.
Rylan returned as evening fell. “Nothing past the forest edge, Alpha. She's gone.”
“She's a weak omega alone in the wilderness.” I kept my tone cold. “I'm sure she'll come back when hunger sets in. Or the rogues will kill her. Either way, she's not my concern anymore.”
“You will find another omega?”
“If necessary.” I waved him off. “There are other options. She was convenient, nothing more.”
The moment he left, my wolf raged, slamming against my skull. The noise was deafening, a constant howling that grated on my nerves.
“She's replaceable,” I said to the empty office. “One omega is the same as another.”
Just then the door to my office slammed open.
Rylan stood in the doorway, breathing hard. “Alpha, I think we found her.”
I quickly looked up to face him, a smirk tugging at my lip. “Where is she?”