I couldn’t help but worry as I struggled to support his muscular frame. Another gunshot rang through the night air, and I felt the bullet brush past our heads as we limped towards the cover of the trees.
Sebastian shouted again. I looked behind me and saw Felicity and Elena sprinting across the lawn alongside him.
I unhooked myself from Terry and looked into his kind eyes.
‘Go on without me. Get home so that your family can help you. I’ll be right behind you, I promise.’
Terry faltered until I motioned towards the forest, urging him to escape before Sebastian could finish the job.
He gave a curt nod of his head then vanished into the trees.
I spun around to face the academy building and waited for Sebastian, Felicity and Elena to come to a halt a few feet away.
In the distance, I could see my friends moving out across the darkened grass, heading in my direction.
‘I won’t allow you to leave, Mia.’ Sebastian’s hand shook from the adrenalin of firing a gun. Sweat covered his face, and his hair was unkempt and matted with blood from the wound caused by the cricket bat.
‘So you’re going to shoot me?’
‘It’s what you deserve, wolf girl,’ Felicity sneered at me, but I ignored her, keeping a wary eye on Sebastian and the gun in his hand.
‘Just let me go,’ I said. ‘It’s over, Sebastian.’
Under the pale light of the moon, he looked like a homicidal maniac. His eyes darted back and forth as he wrestled with his emotions.
Elena cried out as Elizabeth snuck up behind her, swiping her legs from under her and knocking her to the ground.
Felicity’s head shot around at the sound and she leapt at Elizabeth, grabbing her arms and shaking my friend with such force I heard her teeth rattle. Adam didn’t waste any time rushing to Elizabeth’s aid, and in one fluid movement he elbowed the redhead hard in the face. With my friends safe and rallying to support me, I turned my attention to the man who stood in front of me.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said.
Fear curled in my gut as he raised his gun, but before he could bring it up high enough to shoot, Miss Ross stepped out of the darkness and pressed the barrel of a shotgun to his temple.
Sebastian didn’t say anything but the exhaustion that swept across his face confirmed his surrender. Adam rushed to take the gun from Sebastian’s hand, smiling across at me as he rounded up Felicity and Elena.
‘I’ve got this,’ said Miss Ross. ‘You’re safe to leave now.’
I backed up towards the trees, watching the lights flicker on in the academy as the students and staff came to investigate the sounds of the gunshots.
I grinned at Elizabeth and Adam and lifted my hand in a silent salute. I let my gaze drift to Miss Ross, who was still holding the gun to Sebastian’s temple. She gave me a wide smile. She had been friends with my mum and understood my need to discover who I was. It was her guidance that had led me to this place and I would remember her forever.
I was following my instincts just like my mum had done ten years ago and there was love and pride in Miss Ross’s smile that filled me with hope.
Finally, I looked into Sebastian’s dark eyes, and for the first time I saw my father looking back. Neither Sebastian nor Frank deserved my love or respect. They had both failed me, but it meant that I’d learned how to be strong.
I spun around and vanished into the forest without a backwards glance. I could hear Miss Ross snapping instructions at the approaching staff members, and the quiet sobs of my best friend. Felicity’s shrill tone cut through the night air, and for a moment I worried that the redhead would rush after me, but Miss Ross’s authoritative manner punctured her complaint and silenced her in an instant.
My eyes had adjusted to the darkness of the woods as I faced forward and pushed my way through the brambles and overhanging tree limbs. Before we left the safety of Adam’s room, Terry had given me a brief outline of the route we were to take, just in case we were separated. It turned out to be a good idea. I had a long walk ahead of me, but there was a lightness in my heart that I’d never experienced.
I was free.
STROLLING THROUGH THE woods after midnight had never been on my to-do list in my other life, but as I listened to the hoot of an owl and the rustling of nocturnal animals in the undergrowth, I began to feel more at peace. The further I walked, the more I was able to release the tension and anxiety that I’d felt at Hood Academy. Maybe I would end up returning one day, or maybe I would get to live out my days in the forest, surrounded by the beauty of nature and a new family.
After I’d been walking for over an hour I reached a winding lane. To my left rose a quaint farmhouse with walls of red brick and a roof of dark grey slate. A low white fence wrapped around the boundary, stretching towards a garage block. In the driveway I could see a truck with the Mills Family Farm sign emblazoned down the side.
Through the small cottage window, silhouetted against the lamplight, I could see Terry’s outline. Byron was binding his shoulder with a strip of bandage as Cody looked on from over his shoulder. They were laughing and joking with one another and the sound travelled over to me, circling itself around my body and inviting me in.
A tall, muscular figure with longish brown hair that curled at the nape of his neck leant against the garden gate leading up to the house. His eyes twinkled in the moonlight as I approached, and a broad grin spread slowly across his face.
‘Hey, Mia.’
I sprinted the rest of the way and flung myself at Zak. He wrapped his strong arms around me and spun me in a wide circle.
‘Welcome home, little sister.’
Thank you first and foremost to my parents for their unwavering support of everything I produce. Mum, you are the best saleswoman in the world. Thank you.
Thank you to my daughter’s friend, Elizabeth, for the loan of your beautiful name—I hope our Elizabeth did you proud.
A huge thank you to the team at BHC Press for working on my book and turning it into a living entity. I’m pretty sure I shall continue to squeal with delight at every cover you produce for many years to come.
Thanks to my wonderful editor, Sooz, for believing in my story, guiding me when I had my dark moments, and patiently waiting for me to emerge from the treeline.
Shelley Wilson’s love of fantasy began at the tender age of eight when she followed Enid Blyton up a Magical Faraway Tree.
Inspired by Blyton’s make believe world, Shelley began to create her stories, weaving tales around faeries, witches and dragons.
Writing has always been Shelley’s first love, but she has also enjoyed a variety of job roles along the way; from waitressing to sales and marketing and even working as a turkey plucker.
Shelley lives in the West Midlands, UK with her three teenage children, two fish and a dragon called Roger. She is at her happiest with a slice of pizza in one hand, a latte in the other and Game of Thrones on the TV. She would love to live in the Shire but fears her five foot ten inch height may cause problems. She is an obsessive list writer, huge social media addict and a full-time day dreamer.
www.shelleywilsonauthor.co.uk
www.bhcpress.com
Oath Breaker Page 17