Ella’s POV

It was very real. They were gone. Dead. Killed. I was still trying to wrap my head around this. Someone finally heard my prayers. They are gone. Never to hurt me or violate my body again. I took a deep breath and felt like I’ve been holding it for 10 months. 

“Of course we don’t know if we should be happy or terrified” said Maggie raising her eyebrows at Sara, the other servant

“Why, what do you mean?” I asked in a small voice

“Well, everyone is talking about alpha Klaus and how his ruling is going to be. None of us servants know him of course but the soldiers who came back with news about alpha Grey and Beta Sam were pretty terrified of him. They said that he was ruthless, he killed anyone who got in his way during battle until he reached alpha Grey, then he bit him to shreds and didn’t even let him surrender peacefully” said Sara in a frightened tone

“Are you saying that he is going to be worse than alpha Grey?” I asked 

“I don’t know, but I overheard one of the soldiers say that he gave them the same options alpha Grey gives to the packs after he kills their alpha, submit or die” said Sara

Shit. This is bad. What if he was worse than them? Of course he was, I said to myself. Whoever makes people submit to him against their wills are control freaks, power hungry, lunatics. 

“Did you say he was coming here to the pack house tomorrow morning?” I asked Maggie

“Yes, that’s what the soldiers said, he wanted to give the injured people time to heal so they could all attend tomorrow’s submission ceremony” answered Maggie

The plan formed in my mind immediately. I am not going to wait for alpha Klaus to humiliate me more than I was already being humiliated every single day. Judging from what I heard, he probably doesn’t even give a damn about the half bloods’ rights or what they deserve. And why should he be any different? All pure bloods ever think about are their damn selves. I am leaving tonight, dead or alive. 

Maggie and Sara carry on with their conversation without paying me any attention. I turn around and go back to my room and close the door behind me. I pace the length of the small room thinking about my escape plan. I will not take anything with me. It will only slow me down, and I am already at a lot of disadvantages. I have no wolf, so I couldn’t shift and run fast, I had to run on foot, which was slower. Not to mention I was still suffering painfully from last night, another slow down. The only thing I have to take with me is money to manage things when I get to the closest town. 

That was the easiest part as I had it right here hidden in a loose rock inside the wall of my room. I started stealing a dollar each night from alpha Grey’s bedroom. I figured I had to save some cash for when I finally plan to escape. I would take only one dollar out of his discarded pants that he always left on the floor when was having his way with me. I couldn’t take more for fear of him figuring out that someone was stealing money from him. That would’ve never passed without severe punishment. After he fell asleep, I would take my daily dollar and leave. I mean I wouldn’t consider it stealing seeing as he was using me as a sex/torture slave every night. The least he could do to make up for it was fund my escape plan. 

I stopped in front of my old table and picked out my geography book. I opened the book on the marked page of a map that showed the area surrounding my pack. The closest human town was about 4 km away from here. It would probably take me about forty five minutes to get there. That’s not a very long walk. I just have to get past the people who will be patrolling the perimeter. 

I have never been out of the pack house, which was also a huge disadvantage. I have no idea how many people will be up at 3 am guarding the perimeter. Not to mention I have no sense of direction. How will I know the right path to take? 

I sigh in frustration. I should have taken some risks and explored around the perimeter before alpha Grey got killed. That would have made things a lot easier. I run my hands through my hair. I need to find a compass. That was the only way. There should be one in the armory. I can’t draw any attention to myself now, so I’ll have to take it right before I head off. 

I rip the page out of the book and stuff it in my back pocket. I head out of my room and go back to mingling with the servants. I find them all in the kitchen like I left them. 

They were having a late breakfast. Well, seeing as we were alpha free for a day, might as well get a vacation out of it. I serve myself breakfast although my stomach was in knots and I had no appetite, but I had to keep up my strength to increase my chances of running away successfully. 

I sat near a group of servants who were still chatting about the new alpha. The perks of being invisible and a loner gave me the opportunity to sit down anywhere without being noticed. Plus, there were always people who would ask questions on my behalf. 

“I just got back from serving breakfast to the people running patrol on the perimeter, and guess what I found out?” one of the servants said, excited to share the gossip he has. 

“What did you find out?” asked another in curiosity

“The alpha just sent a huge group from his pack to surround the whole area, he’s forbidding anyone from leaving the pack until he arrives tomorrow morning”

I almost chocked on my food and risked being noticed. As if things weren’t complicated enough, he had to send more men to make my escape more impossible than it already was. I slowly sipped water from my cup and swallowed my anger. 

“Who would be stupid enough to risk dying a horrible death by the alpha to attempt to run away? This new alpha is probably a blessing in disguise compared to alpha Grey” asked another servant

I rolled my eyes. If the highest of your ambitions was to be a mind washed servant, then I guess you could call it stupidity. 

“Don’t say that Erik, even pure bloods are freaking out about the new alpha. I heard them say that he was very fair and compassionate but after the death of his mate and baby, he became someone else entirely. This is serious, you know how cruel alpha Grey was, and that was all because he never found his mate, guess what an alpha who actually found one and then lost her and their baby is going to be like” said the servant who started the gossip

I felt the tiniest little trickle of pity to alpha Klaus. It must have been devastating to lose them. But I shove it away, losing someone you love doesn’t have to make you a heartless monster. Yes it was terrible, what he must have been through. But, if you are responsible for the lives of other people, then you need to get your shit together and let it go. 

I didn’t believe for a second that things would be different if alpha Grey had a mate in his life, she would have killed herself after knowing the guy I was sure of it. Men are dicks because that is who they are and who they choose to be, and nothing will change them. 

I wanted someone to ask how she died, but sadly the conversation took another turn that I wasn’t really interested in. I finished my breakfast in silence, trying to decide what to do about the extra backup alpha Klaus sent to me.