Chapter Three

Drea didn't know she had a guard posted to her room until she woke up again the next day, to find him standing at her doorway, the most domineering expression on his face. At first, she was shocked, waking up to such a sight, but when the morning haze began to clear out, the shock started to wear down. If the guy standing there wanted to kill her, he would've done it.

“Hello.” She greeted, her voice soft and low.

The air in the room had gotten much more comfortable ever since Logan turned on the heater. She didn't feel the biting cold anymore but her nerves weren't calm.

The guy at the door grunted, giving Drea the most distasteful stare. Before she could open her mouth again, Rita came bustling through the doorway, only pushing the guard half an inch away from her.

“Hey! oh good. You're awake. We need to get you ready for the ceremony tonight.”

Rita noticed Drea's worry almost as soon as she walked in and wasn't slow to decode the exact source. She turned to look at the door and the guard still standing at the doorway, the most deadly expression on his face, and then back to Drea.

“Oh, that's just Cole. Logan asked him to watch you, that's all. You don't have anything to worry about.”

“Well, I'm not exactly sure about that.” Drea said again, still feeling her skin crawl at the sight of the guard at the door.

Cole is a broad-shouldered skinhead. He's almost as tall as the doorframe and looked severely intimidating in his black leather jacket.

“Wait.” Drea suddenly mentioned, the recollection of Rita's entrance just registering in her mind. “Did you say ceremony?”

“Yes.” Rita mentioned. She headed to the giant wooden closet just a few steps beside Drea's bed and started to rifle through the large and heavy coats hung in there. “Tonight is the twelfth anniversary of the creation of the Snow Pack. We usually all go out to hunt. It's just such a brilliant coincidence for the event to also fall on such a night.”

The excitement in Rita’s voice was so palpable it could cut through paper.

“Such a night?” Drea asked, the confusion in her voice growing as Rita continued to frantically look through the closet. Soon, she found a fluffy yellow coat and pulled it out.

“Oh you know,” Rita continued, throwing the coat onto the bed. “Cause it's a full moon night. It's all really exciting.”

Drea lowered her back onto her bed. Of course. A full moon night. It was the perfect cover. Everyone would be busy trying to focus on their wolf side. She could easily escape without making a row. Hell, they wouldn't know she was gone until it was too late.

“So grab your coat. It's almost nightfall. We're going to go celebrate.”

Drea drew a sigh. “I can't leave this room, Rita. Logan's going to kill me.”

A loud sigh escaped Rita's lips. It was clear, from her forlorn expression that the thought never once crossed her mind. Drea was sure the last thing the Snow Pack needed was a stranger in their midst on a night like this.

Hell, it was the last thing she needed. Her wolf side was still dormant. She was still a weak omega. The Snow Pack wouldn't think twice about having her for dessert. She just needed to leave. And she needed to make it fast.

When the night fell, her plan began to fall into place. She knew everyone would leave the Snow Palace, including Cole, her guard. He wouldn't want to miss a night like this just because he was looking after some girl. Drea snuck out of her room, soft and gently on her tiptoes. The cold from the hallway hit her almost immediately, causing her bones to rattle. But she must tough it out. She couldn't wear any of the coats Logan had provided for her. He would be able to track her scent if she did and the last thing she needed was a dangerous Alpha on her trail.

Tightening her arm around her pale body, she made her way to a back door in nothing but her soft white gown—the one she'd been in when Troy rejected her, when Westside was invaded and her family was killed. She pushed the door open and felt a colder wave of the harsh tundra hit her face. Except for snow-covered trees lining a dark path and a rather bright moon in the sky, she couldn't see anything or anyone.

This was it.

She walked out the door and closed it gently behind her. Feeling her bare feet dig into the snowy ground her nerves began to rise even higher than normal. The cold was doing literally nothing to help. She stood in the moonlight for a second, staring around, waiting for some kind of sign. After she was sure no one was coming, she began to run. The harsh wind echoed in her ears along with her father's words.

"They're a ruthless bunch, the Snow Pack. They don't leave survivors."

She ran like her life depended on it. Because it did. She wasn't ready to die and she sure as hell wasn't going to wait for death to roll right into her room.

"When the Snow Pack attacks, the lucky ones are the ones who die quickly."

She must have been running for almost twenty minutes now. The snow was getting thicker and it was getting harder for her to get her feet out with each step she took. She was surrounded by tall and giant trees that seemed to echo out her name for some reason. She avoided cold twigs in her path, trying not to get even colder than she already was, if that was a thing.

That was when she heard it. A howl. One loud enough to hold her in her tracks. Then came another howl. And another.

Three wolves. And judging by how loud the howls continued to get, she could only guess they were after her.

Feeling the slithering cold start to freeze the blood in her veins, she continued to run again, hoping—praying that today wasn't going to be her last. Another loud howl, one close enough to make her turn around. That was when she saw it. Three sets of shining blue eyes in the dark, headed her way. The eyes were accompanied by growls that sent even more shivers down her spine. Before she could turn around to see where she was going, she ran into a thorny and low hanging branch. As she lost her balance and fell into a soft pile of snow, she could feel a part of her face slowly start to warm up. She looked down at the snow and saw several droplets of bright red.

Blood.

The growls grew louder and the shiny blue eyes grew bigger. She couldn't move anymore. It was like the ground froze her body in one place and she couldn't move it, no matter how hard she tried. The chilliness had overtaken her at this point. If whatever was coming behind her didn't kill her, the crippling cold will.

As the pairs of eyes moved past the shadowy trees and into the bright moonlight, Drea could clearly see what they were attached to.

Slowly approaching her, their tongues dangling in the falling snow and their loud growls piercing, were three white wolves. She knew the looks on their faces all too well. They were all hungry and what better meal than a frozen, helpless lady in the middle of the woods?

“Oh God.” She whispered, exhaling hot air into the sharp, biting cold.