But she ignored it.
They could still come up with another deal with the goblins if they really wanted to preserve the peace. Another wolf could give herself up to the prince; he was handsome enough, so someone might cave at the chance to be a princess, a queen, rather than risking a life without finding her mate, much like Lily had suffered so far.
She fought as best as she could to quell the torturous thoughts running through her head, letting the consistent hammering of her heart take over everything else. Blood pumping, her body worked to race through the trees, following her brother's path ahead. To a new life.
The farther they went from Kaldron, abandoning the life they'd both been chained to, the lighter her fear became. It was as though the more distance she put between her and that town, and the prince she was engaged to, a heavy weight lifted from her shoulders. Until now, when she could fill her lungs with the sharpness of cool, night air, unburdened by obligation, did she realize just how heavy a responsibility she'd taken on.
Not for the first time, she wondered what the hell she'd been thinking. Sacrificing her dignity to a goblin prince, all to prove herself to her pack? A goblin! As fair as his features were, there were stories about their kind ... stories that made her stomach tighten and shiver.
According to some of the other women in Kaldron, goblins were known for being ruthless with their lovers. Treated them no better than sex dolls meant for their pleasure, not living, breathing creatures. Didn't matter if the women they chose were goblins or of another race, they were churned in and spat out when they couldn't take the heat of those goblin men anymore.
Some of the wolves speculated that it meant the goblins might be good in bed, but that thought, and the fact that it had ever come out of someone's mouth, nay, even crossed theirmindand passed into Lily's, disturbed her more than she could truly articulate. Goblins were monsters. They'd tricked the wolves and turned them against each other. The first wave of the treasure sickness had been before Lily's time, but it was a common tale amongst the wolves of how the goblins had betrayed the wolves, tricking them into taking cursed treasure that turned the wolves against themselves. They'd slaughtered their own kind in fits of supernatural rage, and then the goblins had come to finish them off.
Enough wolves had managed to flee for vengeance to rise later on, but ... the Kaldron pack that once was had been destroyed and turned hollow. Now, only a carcass remained, and the wolves were tricking themselves into believing that the crumbling bones were a sign that salvation was on the horizon.
Lily almost couldn't believe that she'd risked putting herself into that situation. Risked becoming a used and battered bride of a goblin prince—who surely had dangerous, decadent taste in and out of bed—all to unravel his true plan for the wolves and break peace before it had any chance of happening. Perhaps the wolves would find a way out of the mess she was leaving behind for them, but she was of the opinion that war was inevitable. Now she was simply washing her hands of it.
Something tightened in her chest. There was that dreaded guilt again.
It was tough to remind herself that she didn't owe them anything. For years she'd all but been an outcast amongst them and ... while she knew that was, in part, because of the treasure sickness ... she hadn't found solidarity in the other female wolves who'd been treated like trash by their male counterparts. The women had been just as apprehensive of Lily as the men.
But she'd had to keep fighting. Had to prove herself worthy of being a part of the pack and find a way for them to survive.
So she'd done what was necessary, whether they approved or not. For her own sake ... she had to be free.
Lily glanced back at Daniel, who ran beside her with his dark hair whipping in the wind as he let loose a howl. Despite the fever and joy in his cry, there was a certain urgency to their flight now, and she had to suppress the ache of exhaustion in her legs from their relentless pace.
The forest rushed by them in a blur of darkness and light, the trees crowding close around them as they ran. Unfettered by anything but the trees and stars around Lily, she couldn't bring herself to care about any of what she'd left behind. There was only the grand promise of a new future ahead of her. The unknown. The night was alive with possibility and energy, and for once, she felt like she could breathe without choking on guilt or duty.
All she wanted was to let go and run wild. To run until her lungs burned and her legs were screaming in protest. Their shadows leaped ahead like playful pups chasing after them and back again, every movement swift and smooth.
It didn't matter where they were going ... all that mattered was moving forward and embracing the moment, letting go of everything else in their lives for just a little while longer. They ran for hours, losing track of time until the sun began to tickle the horizon in the distance, and the deep darkness of the sky paled to purple, and then pale blue. They came upon the forest's edge when finally they were too spent to go on any longer, with a settlement just beyond the cusp of the hill.
They collapsed on the leaf-strewn ground beneath an old oak tree whose canopy offered just enough shelter from the elements.
Lily lay there next to Daniel under that tree for what felt like an eternity, just catching their breaths as their minds caught up to the reality of how far they'd come. Finally, their heavy breathing slowed, and together they watched as dawn broke over the treetops in brilliant shades of pink and gold against the purpling sky.
Exhausted but still filled with wonder at all that they'd experienced that night, Lily didn't succumb to sleep. She knew they should take advantage of the early hours to find supplies before the humans woke up, and then the should meld among them in the morning, figure out just where exactly they were, and figure out where the nearest airport was, and choose the farthest destination possible.
True escape seemed within reach, and Lily wasn't going to let the promise of sleep take it away from her. Not yet.
Together, Lily and Daniel crept down the hill, still as wolves, racing against the rise of sunlight to keep what dark cover remained. If they were spotted, the humans wouldn't take kindly to two wolves roaming around their town, but the fence near the edge of the forest surrounded an acreage of fruit trees and no people in sight. Across the other side of the trees, Lily spotted a house with a blue roof and a thin gravel path that led to a barn.
They could make it if they ran fast enough and stayed low to the ground. She glanced over at Daniel, who met her gaze with a silent understanding, and then they were off, darting through the blossoming fruit trees toward the house. Lily and Daniel approached cautiously, staying close to the tree line in case they needed to make a quick escape. Lily sniffed the air for signs of people, but although she caught a whiff of sweat from those who lived and worked on the property, the smell wasn't fresh.
Lily came up toward one of the house's back windows, standing on her hind paws to peer inside the house. The interior was dark, but it looked like a living room or a sitting room with two plush, white sofas and an arrangement of tables around a fireplace. The furnishing was simple, put personal, paintings of landscapes and a taxidermied badger holding a banjo by the fireplace.
Daniel made a quiet whining sound, and Lily turned to see why he was trying to get her attention. From where they were standing by the windows, they could see that the barn door was slightly ajar. A shadow crept toward the entrance. They ducked down behind the bushes in front of the window and watched as a man walked out, yawning and stretching. He looked around for a moment before heading back into the house.
There went her plan of going inside and rooting through their mud room for at least a jacket. But that would have been foolish, regardless, and she didn't feel good about the prospect of breaking into someone's home to steal their stuff. As essential as it would be to their escape, her logic didn't make her feel like any less of a criminal. Still, they pressed onward.
Satisfied that the coast was clear, Lily and Daniel made their way to the barn. The door creaked as they pushed it open, and Lily's heart raced as she waited for someone to come running out and catch them. But no one came; the coast was clear.
Inside, the barn was filled with hay bales and farming equipment. There must have been animals somewhere else on the property. There were also some old clothes hanging from a peg on the wall, and Lily's eyes lit up when she saw them. She left Daniel to guard the door, and she shifted into her human form, a sigh of relief falling from her lungs when her muscles, bones, and skin extended into a human woman. Although Lily loved spending time as a wolf just the same as every other shifter, she often felt that the longer she spent as a wolf, the more that wild, untamed side of her took hold. The animal didn't ever take full control of her, but there were times, such as earlier in the woods, when she felt like she could have given into her wolf forever.
It also dulled her human sensibilities by a lot. Now, standing here naked in someone else's barn, she felt even worse than she had moments before. Doubt about their plan of action crept in. They'd left home in a hurry, with only a vague plan ... but now, as her human faculties returned, she had to wonder how their plan was ever going to work. How would they leave the country without passports? Money?
Shit. They'd left all that behind in Kaldron.