We need to run.

Aria’s POV

I know what is going to happen tonight. I heard what Ethan said, and I am broken inside. The only one I thought cared about me does not. However, the pain inside me is turning to anger. I have never felt this angry before. I know it is the Lycan in me. If only I had another place to go. I am preparing the feast for tonight. Where I was happier earlier to prepare the feast, I am now not so happy because I know it is not for my Luna ceremony. Still, I know I cannot make any mistakes with the food, if there is a mistake, I will pay for it.

“You know you do not have to be afraid of the Alpha. You are stronger than him. You can kill him if you want to,” my wolf says.

“Kira, please, not now. I cannot think about the Alpha and the dishes I have to prepare. You know how he gets when he is angry with me. I am not in the mood to be whipped tonight. I know I can kill him, but where will we go? We will be rogues. You know how dangerous it is to be rogues around here, and we do not even belong with the werewolves. I don't even think the Lycans want us. We are way out of our place. I do not know where we are going to go. For now, we will just have to stay calm. We cannot show our strength right now,” I say.

“If we become rogues, I’d rather be a rogue than stay in this pack any longer. I will go with you. You have to remember that you have me now. There is a place we need to go. We have to awaken our Lycan. Right now I am only a wolf, but I need to become a Lycan. I need to be awakened,” Kira says.

“I know, but I am not ready to go. I am afraid to be alone. What if rogues attack us? What if we do not find a place to live? Do you think we can live among humans? Do you think they will realize that we're not like them? We can run away to the nearest town and stay there until we can get to a big city where nobody will know us and where this pack will never find us again. My heart is still bleeding and I don't know how it's going to feel when Ethan rejects us. I know you are going to hurt too, but we have to go through this. We have to break our bond with him before we can run away,” I say.

“You know, we don't have to go through that pain right now. We can just go away. We can run while they are so busy eating. It will be easiest for us. Besides, I can smell the Lycans coming. I do not believe we want to be in the middle of a war between the Lycans and the werewolves. I hear the King of the Lycans is not an easy person. The werewolves must have pissed him off. What else would he come to do here? Why would he come to this pack? I heard he has already destroyed a lot of the werewolf packs around here. They must have done something that we do not know about,” Kira says.

“Do the werewolves know that the Lycans are so close?” I ask.

Of course they do not know. I am not going to tell them anything because I am the only one who can smell them. You have to remember that we are half Lycan and we are not going to warn them. We just need to get the hell out of here because I do not want to meet the King of the Lycans. I heard that he is not friendly and can be really nasty. He will kill us. He will kill anybody that gets in his way. I still think we should run now. I do not know why the werewolves have angered him so much. I heard that he attacked the other packs. However, he just thought of them and did not kill them. But most of them are so afraid of him now that they don't want to be near him. I don't want to be tortured by the king and we don't know what he is looking for or what they have done to him. Maybe he's looking for someone who made him angry. Perhaps it is Ethan's father. Alpha Blackthorn is not one of the most popular people around here. King Darius Nightborn is the King of Lycans. I heard that they've killed a lot of people. I hear that Genevieve Silver is always by his side. Everybody says they are going to get married one day, but I don't believe they are mates. If they were mates, they would have been married long ago,” Kira says.

“You gossip too much with the other wolves while I am busy working; you should not gossip so much. Anyway, I think we should just finish this meal. Maybe the Lycan King was invited here by the Alpha. Come to think of it, I do not want to be humiliated in front of the Lycan King. Perhaps they have invited him for the ceremony, because I know the Crescent Moon Pack does business with the Lycans, so they might not even be here to fight us. And all the rumors of war you heard are just that rumors,” I say to Kira.

“You're no fun. It would have been so much more fun if he came to kill the Alpha,” Kira says.

“Well, we have to get ready. As soon as they start serving the food we'll make a run for it. They will be so busy they won't miss us until we are far away and, hopefully, safe in a nearby town. Maybe we can take a bus or something to a big city where they will never find us,” I say.