The metallic clink of chains echoed against the cement walls. I frowned, working yet another key out the collar's lock. The next proved little more use. I let out a frustrated growl, turning around and holding up the key chain.

"Could you be a dear and tell me which of these works?" I purred to the woman chained to the wall.

She swallowed. "The last one."

"Of course it is," I sighed, pushing the worn key into the hole. The lycan's collars fell open. In a matter of seconds, both of them were free.

I stood up, looking over her captives. Two cubs, a little over two years by the looks of them. She had probably just bought them a few months ago. Already, they bore a few lines of missing fur across their shoulders and backs.

"Go out and run toward the moon. The others will have already taken care of the guards. Good luck."

The cubs gave me a long stare, then ran up the stable ramp, disappearing into the night. That matter dealt with, I turned back to their trainer. "Don't worry. One of the females will take them in. If not, they're plenty big enough to hunt squirrels and bunnies."

She didn't reply, instead looking at me with the wide, frightened doe eyes I had come to expect. My leather soles squeaked against the smooth concrete as I knelt in front of the woman. She wasn't too old, most likely in her mid twenties. Light chestnut hair hung to her shoulders. My whip hooked under her chin.

"You probably never even got a chance to enter the arena, have you?"

She hurriedly shook her head.

"Good, because if you had, you'd be dying by this," I held up my whip, "and not this." I twirled my dagger in my other hand. "And my arm's a little tired. You see, I've had a busy night, working out a little frustration in a..." I sighed, searching for the right words, "productive manner."

***

The moon was bright, illuminating the street as I stepped out of the stable. It had been difficult, getting the trainers without a lycan to back me up. But, as usual, it wasn't anything a little acting couldn't take care of. Humans were such pitiful creatures.

I still wasn't entirely confident with my decision, but my nighttime activities had provided me with a sense of accomplishment, which helped ease the discomfort. They had also given me a chance to think, to formulate a plan that would allow me to care for Cerberus and accomplish my goal. In truth, it wasn't my decision itself that troubled me; it was the friendship I would be breaking.

"Desire?"

I spun around, at first convinced the voice was of my own imagination. Yet, there he was, bundled in his own leather coat and winter boots.

"Cyrus? What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you, of course," he huffed, trotting to me and throwing his arms around my shoulders, pulling me tight against him. "You've been gone all day. Is something... wrong?" He stepped back, staring at the clotted liquid streaking his hands. "What? What is this?" He sniffed at it. "Is this... blood?"

"Um..."

My manager's eyes flicked from me back to the stables. Bloody prints from those I had freed littered the street. I knew the instant he figured it out by the ice water pumping through my veins. My heart twisted into a knot, along with just about every other organ inside me.

"You... you're the one letting them free?" The way he looked at me, so sad and betrayed, I would have rather he stabbed me in the gut. "You're a murderer?"

I hated his overly expressive features. Why couldn't he be cold and hateful like everyone else? "I was hoping to keep them looking like localized accidents. Forgetful trainers with lycans getting loose-" I started to explain, though I didn't know why. There wasn't anything I could possibly say that would make this look any better.

"I grew up in Cicil, I know the locals. A few escapes a year is normal. But this many, people start to wonder. After a dozen, I think we all figured something was up." His tone held a bitter edge, but still not anger.

It would have been so much easier if he was angry, because then I could have been angry too, instead of this horrible guilt. There were far too many stones in my stomach now; I didn't know how much longer I could stand under their crushing weight.

"I should have known," he scolded himself, rather than me. "You disappear almost every night. I knew there was something wrong with you the moment we met. But I thought..." He clenched his fists, grinding his teeth together. "I really thought you were getting better."

"I am getting better!" I hissed. "This, it heals me!"

"Really? Because it looks to me like you're more unstable than ever."

I reached up, hurriedly wiping the tears from my eyes, though I had no doubt I was just smearing red over my face. "It doesn't matter. You said so yourself, lycan training is wrong! These people deserved this!"

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"No! They didn't!" We were both shouting now. "No one deserves to die!"

"You don't even understand! You can't understand! You have no idea what it's like!" I wiped my face again, but it was no use. I was only making matters worse.

Cyrus stepped forward. I scrambled back, pulling out my dagger and pointing it at him.

"Don't! You stay back!"

He took a few more steps toward me, hands held in a defensive position. "Desire, you need to stop this. Turn yourself in. You'll be treated fairly."

"Fairly?" Bile rose in my throat at the thought. "I know what 'fairly' means to those in power! I'm not going to be put back there by someone who doesn't even understand!" I lunged at him, dagger pointed to his chest.

In a movement much too fluid to be instinctual, Cyrus twisted my wrist away, causing me to drop my weapon. I cried out, raking the nails across his face. He flinched back. His grip loosened enough for me to wriggle free.

Adrenaline surged through my body as I stumbled away. I tripped over mounds of trash left on the street corner before falling against a wall. My hands frantically searched the area for something that could be of use, though I dared not take my eyes off my adversary. Cyrus was much stronger, I couldn't let him get his hands on me again.

"Desire, you need to calm down. It's going to be okay."

My fingers closed around a cold cylinder. I ran forward. My leg kicked up, kneeing him between the legs. I swung the metal pipe around. It made contact with his temple with a dull cluck. The man dropped to the ground, groaning in pain.

"How's that for fair?" I hissed, kneeling to scoop up my dagger before taking off down the street.

My feet pounded on the packed dirt. I wasn't proud of how I attacked Cyrus, but if there was one thing Cerberus had taught me, it was hit fast, never hesitate, and always go for the throat. Regardless of who your opponent was. Even if he was your beta, or your friend.

He didn't understand. I knew he couldn't possibly comprehend my reasoning. That didn't help with the dull ache in my chest or stinging of my eyes. It didn't stop the memory of a man I had known before, the first human I had a connection with, screaming that he hated me. I knew how bad this must look, how bad it really was. But that hadn't helped the heartbreak then, nor did it ease the blow of this one now.

I scrubbed my eyes with my arm. I couldn't waste time being upset. I needed to concentrate, to get back to the inn and my lycans. Cerberus may be too injured, but River and Crimson Claw could hold their own against one human. We'd figure out what to do from there.

I stopped, looking around. Everything had changed now that it was night. Nothing was familiar to me. I had no idea which way to go.

"Just stop running." I spooked sideways, head snapping to see Cyrus jog from a side street, hand pressed to his bleeding temple. "Don't make this harder for the both of us."

I wanted to check his head, to see the wound I had inflicted. If it were anyone else, I wouldn't have cared. But I couldn't, not now. So I took off running again, running as fast as I could from problems I couldn't face.

Just like I always did.

"I thought you had compassion!"

I gritted my teeth. I did have compassion, that's why I was doing this. It was my empathy for the lycans that drove me to free them. I was keeping a promise. I did have compassion, just not for the trainers.

My chest began to hurt, not just from emotion anymore. I wasn't used to running this long. The strain was quickly catching up with my body, and I feared Cyrus would as well. Adrenaline would only fuel my feet for so long, and I still didn't know which way to go.

I wasn't going to make it back to the inn.

I panted, eyes darting around for something, anything familiar. Or a place to hide. Or an escape route. Anything at all. I couldn't afford to get caught. They'd sell Cerberus to the highest bidder and hang me.

Or lock me in a cell.

My blood ran cold. That couldn't happen. I had to push, to run harder, faster. I had to surpass my body's limitations. I couldn't stop. I couldn't be caught.

The distinctive clink of moving armor caught my attention. I paused for the briefest of moments, seeking out the direction the sound came from.

To my left.

I didn't think. I turned, bounding down the street with the last bit of energy left in my limbs. Push harder, faster. I could hear them, a small troop, rushing towards me.

I saw them rounding the corner and jogging my way. I didn't stop. I kept running, pushing myself that last little way until I crashed into the lead soldier's chest.

"What the-?"

"You have to help me!" I cried, grabbing into the plates covering the guard's shoulders. "There's a man after me! He tried grabbing me and I hit him but he's still coming-!"

By now, the others had gathered around. My mind bounced back and forth between the terror of being trapped and the urgency to escape. But I couldn't let that affect me.

"You're covered in blood!"

"I-I carry a knife... for protection..." I fumbled with my dagger. The handle slipped from my grasp, falling in the dirt. I let out a nervous laugh as I bent over to pick it up. "I think I cut him... I don't know... It happened so quickly." Tears were streaming down my face. I tried tucking my dagger back in its sheath. It took my shaking hands several times.

"I know her," one of the soldiers suddenly remarked. "This woman, as of this morning, is Queen Betrothed."

The tension in my muscles eased. He must have been one of the guards on our ride. I could have laughed from relief.

"What?" The one holding me glanced down. I nodded my confirmation. "I haven't heard of this."

"It hasn't been announced yet," the soldier from this morning explained. "Regardless, we need to bring her to the king. It would be treason not to."

"It's true," I said.

The first guard glanced between the two of us. He let out a great sigh. "Fine. Let's go." He turned me around, leading me by the shoulders the way they had come. The others fell in position around us.

I twisted, momentarily looking to the street I ran from. My heart still pounded from the exertion. There was no one there, though my mind insisted there was.

I was being paranoid.

"My lycans," I muttered. "I need to get my lycans..."

"We'll work that out after your meeting with the king."

"Right... Okay."