Chapter 24 #2
Which meant there was another building nearby. Close enough for a few guards to be stationed.
Levi had mentioned this was Wintersoll. There were supposedly cabins dotted throughout. Rumor had it, the White Frost owned them and used them during their yearly White Hunt celebrations.
Elm had seen the direction of the road when the door had opened to the soldier. Had at least an idea of where to start walking. If he could locate the cabin, he could find a communications device and call Kian for help from there.
But what about the soldiers?
Was there more than one?
Considering how possessive of him Levi had become, Elm wanted to say there wouldn’t be. At least, no more than three.
Could he take on three members of the mafia?
He flexed his palm. With his pheromones potentially under control?
Maybe.
What were his other options? Stay here and lose the opportunity to run, or take a risk.
Hadn’t Elm wished to be an omega all his life? And now he’d been gifted a dominant trait on top of it all. Instead of doubting himself, he should be more confident.
Tossing the useless multi-slate onto the couch, he risked going back up to the second level.
The old bow and arrow hung above the mantel of the fireplace were in pretty good condition, a show the alpha even had those cleaned.
They came off their stands with ease, and then Elm was making a break for it.
Without a backward glance, he ran from the lodge and disappeared into the wilderness with purposeful strides.
* * *
He lost track of time fairly quickly, the weather not doing anything to help there.
A storm had rolled in almost as soon as he’d set out, blotting the sun and turning the sky a murky gray.
The snowfall was heavy, weighing him down as he moved, but also providing ample cover by quickly filling his tracks.
It wasn’t long before he could only make out a couple of yards or so of them behind him, the rest covered.
The single arrow was a nuisance to carry, and he wondered more than once why he’d even bothered taking it.
He recalled asking Levi about it one afternoon while they’d been hanging out in the second-floor lounge. Elm had been picking at frost grapes—his new favorite fruit—and had asked the question absently, not really expecting an answer.
The alpha was like that, secretive and quiet. They could spend hours together with no other sounds but the two of them breathing, Levi seemingly content with the comfortable silence.
Admittedly, Elm didn’t hate it either.
Some of those moments were ones he’d maybe even felt less alone.
The bow had been a gift from his father.
The last present given before his untimely demise—which Elm knew nothing about other than Levi having been the murderer.
There’d been more arrows, but the alpha had shrugged and said they, along with the quiver, were in storage somewhere.
Elm couldn’t remember seeing it during any of his explorations, but then again, he hadn’t exactly been looking.
The alpha hadn’t told him what was special about this particular arrow to make him display it, not that it mattered. Elm hadn’t grabbed it as a novelty item or a keepsake. He’d brought it for self-defense.
Sky might be the national champion in their friend group, but Elm wasn’t a bad archer. Since his best friend preferred practicing outdoors, he also had a ton of experience working with and against the wind.
The thick winter coat, boots, and gloves helped to keep most of the cold out as he trapesed through the thicket. Any sign of a road had been long buried, so he’d been left wandering in the general direction he’d seen the hovercar had come from when the soldier had visited two weeks ago.
Even dressed as he was, he wouldn’t be able to last out here indefinitely. There was a real fear of freezing, and he was starting to doubt himself when the first sign of movement drew his attention.
He’d made it up onto a hill dotted with trees, their thin trunks grown close together, providing a good amount of cover to hide behind. Below, a black, furry creature cut through the snow, and Elm ducked before risking a closer look.
The air caught in his lungs when he realized it wasn’t a creature at all, but the Leviathan, dressed in a practically matching outfit to the one Elm was in, only in deep charcoal.
Shit.
What should Elm do?
The alpha had caught up to him a lot faster than he’d expected. All it would take was him spotting one footstep and he’d be on Elm in an instant.
Would Levi kill him?
Technically, they were mated now but…What did that mean? In all their time together, Levi had never once brought up an interest in taking a claimed mate. He hadn’t so much as hinted at wanting to bite Elm, had instead shown perfect restraint in all things.
Hell, they hadn’t even kissed again since their first night at the lodge in the hot spring. And when he’d gone into rut, hadn’t he told Elm to run?
His exact order had been not to let himself be caught.
That didn’t sound like the actions of a man who was interested in forever with a person.