~~

Trinity

~~

Noah continued to show me around the house. After which Carter grumbled about how things didn't add up. Eventually, they all left me in my room for the night. Noah told me that he would have dinner sent to me tonight as he guessed I was too nervous to eat downstairs. He was right.

Not long after he left an older man pushing a cart came to my room. He was not quite as old as the Elders, but he wasn't far off. He came into the room and set the trays full of plates, a few glasses and a bucket of ice down on my table. I didn't know what was for dinner yet, but it smelled amazing.

Dinner turned out to be fried chicken. Simple enough, but it tasted divine. Even after having been brought to the room it was hot and still crispy. It was served with creamy mashed potatoes, sweet baby carrots, steamed broccoli, dinner rolls, and a creamy chocolate mousse pudding for dessert. It was an amazing dinner, simple but delicious.

Noah must have told them my preferences ahead of time as well, as they even brought me my favorite juice with dinner. This was already overwhelming me. I appreciated everything that whoever it was that made the dinner had done for me, but it felt awkward.

I was restless after dinner. Staring at my bags that my family had brought over. They had packed all my stuff and brought it over at some point during the day. That felt wrong to me. I should have been allowed to pack my own things. What if there was something they weren't supposed to see? There wasn't, but still, what if?

I kept thinking I should put my stuff away. I need to settle in. I have classes tomorrow and I am getting tired, so I need to be ready for the morning. But I just kept feeling like I didn't belong here. This wasn't where I should be. For some reason, I felt like no one wanted me here, especially after the look that the Alpha gave me.

Finally, I had had enough. I couldn't stand being in this house. I had to go home. But I knew I couldn't go home ever again. I knew I couldn't go to Juniper's ever again. There was nowhere in the pack safe for me anymore. Nowhere.

I didn't care. I had to go. I had to get out. I dressed in my own clothes, changing out of the ones I had borrowed from Juniper that morning. I decided to wear dark colors for this plan. Black jeans, dark blue t-shirt, black jacket, black hiking shoes. I pulled my hair back in a high ponytail and braided it so it wouldn't get in the way.

Once I was properly dressed, I left my room. I only really knew of one route out of the house, but it was a long one. I was lucky enough to not pass any staff members most of the way down the stairs. The elderly man from before did ask me where I was heading, and I stated honestly that I was going to the kitchen. Perhaps he would think I just wanted a drink.

After that encounter, I saw no one else. I managed to make it out the back door and out into the night without incident. The cool night air was like a breath of new life being breathed into me. I wanted to sigh in relief, but I had to remain quiet.

I quickly, yet quietly, hurried down the slightly sloping mountainside. I hadn't paid much attention the other night, but they must have levelled out a lot of the mountain side to make that dance floor possible. The same went for the house, it was built into the side of the mountain, it obviously had the natural supports, but they had also levelled out the side of the mountain just a little before construction.

I had decided to run through the trees, so as not to be seen. I had not even made it a quarter of the way down the slope when I heard the voice. That deep, smooth voice that stirred things deep inside of me.

"And where the hell do you think you're going?" He asked me. He was in front of me somehow. He had managed to leave the house and get ahead of me. Or he was already outside. Either one.

"Just going for a run, I didn't get my run in these last two mornings." I said nonchalantly.

"Really?" He said sarcastically, clearly not believing me. "Let me make one thing abundantly clear to you right now. If you try to run away again, I will make it so you can't leave the house ever again. As it is, you're under house arrest until the marking is done. After that, I can use the mark to track you down and bring you back no matter where you run off to." His voice may have sounded seductive, but his words were enough to anger and terrify me. I gasped at his declaration.

"Do you understand what I'm telling you." He asked me. I nodded my head, my eyes wide with fear and understanding. "You look like a scared little bunny rabbit." He chuckled, laughing at me. His laughter was enough to force the scared look off my face and replace it with one of anger.

"I do not look like a rabbit." I growled.

He just chuckled at my response as he threw me over his shoulder and stomped back toward the house. He moved quickly. And before I knew it, we were outside my door.

"Get in your room, little bunny. And if I catch you outside again, I might just get myself a new lucky rabbit's foot." He glared at me menacingly in the dark. His threat was real, and I knew it. He would punish me if I tried to leave again. And before I could even open my door, I heard him calling over a subordinate and telling him to guard my room.

"Don't even think about going through the window, little bunny, you don't have a balcony, and there is nothing for you to climb down. And if you tried to make a jump from this high, it'd probably kill you." He was right, that's why I hadn't gone through the window to begin with. I just puffed my cheeks out in frustration and glared at him. He stalked off down the hall ignoring me.