Chapter 407 – Owned by the Alphas Novel Free by Jen Cooper

Filed to story: Owned by the Alphas Novel

As soon as I was healed enough to move without feeling like my body was going to give out on me, I ran to the cage lock.

I let the pin out of my fist and pushed it in, wiggling it, turning it, begging the stars to be released.

The lock clanked a second later, and I almost cried.

I grabbed the cell door and slid it open, putting the pin between my fingers and curling them into a fist.

I took a deep breath, then went to the dungeon door, looking out it.

There were no vampires that I could see, and I risked opening it.

The door was heavy and scraped along the concrete, announcing my movements like a damn alarm.

I hesitated, waiting to make sure they weren’t already coming for me.

I only had this chance. Silas had been summoned, which meant while he was distracted, I could make my move.

As long as the other vampires didn’t catch me.

I took off, running down the halls of the dungeons to where I knew they threw the scraps of food they ate down a large rock chute to the pigs they kept outside.

I had been forced to serve the vamps over the years, and at the time, it had been shit.

Now, it was paying off.

I ran to the kitchen that was up one flight of concrete steps.

I went in the back entrance, slowly opening the door for any sign of vampires.

It was empty.

Was it luck or fate?

I didn’t stop to find out the answer.

I ran to the chute, grimacing as the stench of rotting food hit me.

It was disgusting and made of rock, so I knew it was going to hurt.

But pain was nothing in the face of escaping.

So I climbed inside and let go of the edge.

Stinking of rotting food, grazed and cut, I rolled out of the chute into the pig pen, mud covering my legs and arms.

I didn’t stop to clean myself, taking off in a sprint from the vampire castle.

I ran through the forest, through the small wastewater grate in the rock wall, then across the black moat before I heard the vampires.

The squeal in the dark night was piercing.

I covered my ears, wincing as I ran.

I sprinted over the marshlands outside vampire territory, the bats starting to squeal.

I didn’t have long.

I just had to make it past vampire territory.

Then I was safe.

The bats that guarded started attacking, biting and hissing as I ran.

I swatted them away with the pin between my knuckles, diving from the marshlands.

The bats couldn’t cross, and I breathed hard, looking back as they flew off to tell their masters I had gotten past.

I scrambled to my feet, pain throbbing on my skin at the bites and cuts.

But I kept running.

I had to. I couldn’t go back there.

Not now.

I looked ahead to the forest.

I was almost there.

3. The Escape

My heart pounded so loud in my chest–I thought it was going to rebreak my ribs.

The screeches of the vampires were right behind me, and the hope I’d had before was dissipating.

I ran through the forest, stumbling on tree roots and uneven ground, my breaths heavy as I sprinted.

I wasn’t fast enough.

Tears stung in my eyes as I thought about getting dragged back to the vampire castle–back to Silas.

He was not going to let me off easy.

If I had thought the torture was bad before, I knew Silas was going to make it even worse now.

I was going to have to sing–to give them the power they wanted.

Fear hummed in my veins at the idea. If the vampires got power over the wolves, it’d be a massacre.

The wolves were the only thing protecting the humans, and even though I had never been a part of that collective, I knew that all races needed a chance to exist.

The vampires, backed by the power I gave them, would wipe everything out.

I ran faster.

It was all I could do–even if the idea was laughable.

They were vampires.

If they wanted to, they could be in front of me by now.

But the chase was a part of their bloodlust, and I was guessing I had just provided entertainment for the night.

Like a rat in a maze, running until they tired of chasing me and decided to end it in the most painful way possible.

“I’m not giving up,” I whispered.

I jumped when howls ripped through the air, the blood moon shining bright on the forest.

I paused, risking the seconds to look through the trees and foliage.

I shivered as the howls kept going.

I had no idea why the wolves were out, but it had me running faster again.

I wasn’t sure how much longer I could run without collapsing. I was exhausted, starving, and I had only healed a short while ago.

I looked up at the blood moon and to the stars that warmed my chest.

Surely this wasn’t meant to be my fate? To die at the hands of vampires for a voice I was born with?

Another howl broke the silence of the night, and I winced.

It was closer.

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