Unfortunately for Leah, it was still summer vacation, and the children were not back in school. Half of the troubles that she had to go through were because of these kids who wouldn't let her go on her merry way. If they had stopped causing trouble for her, then Leah would have reached this small east coast town three days ago without wasting so many days and energy.
A burst of giggles echoed down the street, and Leah shot a look of pure venom at the young women who were laughing and gossiping. She would be doing the same if her life were normal. Like these women, she would be living a simple and unbothered life. Safe. happy. In love. Instead, she was skulking across the city like a criminal who was on the run, which, unfortunately, she was.
Twice she had walked past an electrical appliances shop, and twice she had heard news reporters reporting about her hideous crime. They maintained that not only was Leah highly unstable, but she was also dangerous and morbid. A psychopath who could kill at the slightest threat presented.
The report was well written; if Leah were a stranger, she would have taken herself as a sharp-toothed, mad and sadistic murderer as well.
However, none of that mattered at the moment because the one thing that she cared about was none other than food. She. Saw. Food.
She. Wanted. Food.
End of the story.
One had a thick, loaded cheese chicken sandwich; the other had Mexican rice in front of her with a chicken and chive scone, and the third one had a bucket of loaded chicken wings. Though the sight of the succulent chicken wings was enough to make Leah drool for days in her sleep, unfortunately, with her small form and little strength, she could only snatch the sandwich.
Dear Night Goddess and all the holy in the world, please let that chicken sandwich be hers. Or else she would die. She would die of starvation, and unless you all want the blood of an innocent on your hands, you'd better let her take it.
Gosh, she sounded like a whiny, spoiled brat. She knew she did. But she hadn't eaten for days. Like the last time she got a chance to eat something, it was seven days ago. When she left the auction house, she didn't even get a chance to grab anything. Not even a shirt. All she had was her shifter form.
Leah thought that as long as she ran out of the auction house, she would be fine. Unfortunately, she was damn wrong right there. The explosion was loud enough for the entire auction house to jump to their feet, and soon they found out that the alpha who purchased her had died. Tragically, at that.
No one cared about whether it was true or not. The death of an alpha was a big thing; the auction hall simply dumped all the responsibility on Leah, and a full-blown search for her started all over the city.
Her original plan was to hide for a few days and then look for a supermarket or something of the sort, where she would take a break and buy all the daily necessities. And she did, but they found her at the supermarket. One of the five horrors.
The warden—No, the headmaster of the Virelith Academy. Though it was called an academy, Leah knew the truth. It was nothing but a prison where monsters were forged and never fixed. They could never be fixed. The council usually sent a retrieval team to hunt down the feral, rabid and out-of-control shifters. This was all to maintain the superficial peace that they shared with the human community.
But the murder scene that Leah had left behind must have left quite an impression on the elders of the council because they sent the best shifter they had at their hands. A gryphon. A specialist who could deal with even shifters who had gone rogue.
Rafael Solace.
Though he had the name Solace behind him, there was nothing about him that would bring solace to her. Especially after the little fight that took place between the two of them.
Sure, she was grateful that the man had actually tried to offer her help and told her that he could help her through whatever she was going through, instead of jumping on her right away. This was before Leah had smashed an entire container of candy on his head before running out of the supermarket.
She told him that there was no way Florin was going to let her off, and even if Leah was taken to the prison-like academy, she was certain that her stepmother would find ways to get her out of there. After all, there was always an appeal. Though it was of no use, as the parents or guardians often won it.
Rafael had scoffed before telling her that it was impossible.
He promised to protect her, but so did her stepfather when he took her away after the death of her mother. What happened? He forgot all about the promises that he had made once Florin sauntered into his life dressed like a devil's temptation in a big red bow.
How many times had she begged that man for help? How many times did he reject her?
So sorry if she couldn't believe that Rafael was going to be any help to her. She could only rely on herself. Thus, even though it was against it, she had shifted in front of the cashier of the supermarket, who was a human and then escaped, knowing damn well that Rafael couldn't do the same.
Because he was the headmaster of the academy, he needed to follow the rules.
But who was Leah? She was a criminal on the loose with a death sentence hovering over her head.
Would she still hold back?
Nope.
She was not going to die without going in for a fight, damn it. Good news: she had escaped from the fate of being thrown into a room with bars, but unfortunately, she lost all her precious belongings