RUN CLEO, RUN!

CLEO

“Run, Cleo. You have to escape!” My mother exclaimed, urging me to leave her.

I shook my head, desperately trying to lift her, but my strength had already left me. My vision blurred out because of the tears, but I still desperately tried to put pressure on her wounds.

My hands were already covered in blood, but I didn’t care. I have to save my mother. I can’t lose her. I can’t lose the only family I have.

She held my shoulders firmly, nails digging into my skin and making me wince in pain, “Cleo, listen to me. I’m injured, and I will die soon. But you, you can live if you run now. Run without looking back and don’t stop until you have a safe place to hide. They can’t capture you. You are-”

We both jolted when we heard a loud explosion outside. They’re getting near. Our warriors must have already fallen. If we don’t escape right now, I don’t know what will happen to us.

“Please, Mom. I can’t leave you. Let me help you, okay?” I coaxed her, still trying to lift her.

Her expression suddenly changed. What used to be a soft, loving gaze became a glare full of resentment.

“You dumb child!” She exclaimed and pushed me back.

I stumbled on the ground, surprised by her strength despite the heavy injuries she was enduring from saving me from a rogue.

She snarled at me, eyes glowing in anguish. “I raised you as my own, but you’re not my child. You were left at my doorstep, and I only took pity on you, but that was the biggest mistake I’d ever made in my life. Ever since you came into my life, I’ve felt nothing but suffering! You’re a misfortune. I regret taking pity on you.”

Confusion hit me like a huge boulder. “Wh-what are you saying? Mom, please don’t do this.”

I approached her again, but she pushed me with all her might. “Don’t touch me, you monster. I raised you and protected you, but all you brought into my life was misery and shame. Can’t you see? All of this is your fault.”

“No…” I shook my head in disbelief. “Mom, why are you saying this?”

“You’re the reason why all of this is happening. Now, leave me alone before they find us because of you. Leave me alone, you freak!”

I backed away in surprise. Everyone has treated me less than an omega because of my condition, but never my mother. She had always defended and loved me.

Another explosion shook the ground. The screams and howls around grew louder and closer.

“I’m so sorry. I- I didn’t mean to hurt you.” I fumbled on my words, no longer sure of what to do.

“If you really care about me, do me a favor and leave me be.”

I didn’t want to believe her, but maybe she was right. If I stayed, I’d doom us both. With one final look, I mouthed a “sorry” before running away.

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve tripped or hit something, but I kept getting up and moving forward as she told me. I have no idea where I’d go when the only place I knew was my pack and even that is on the verge of being gone. My steps halted when I heard familiar voices pleading from a distance. They were omegas like me, people who were barely treated as one in our pack. It was already tough for us in our own pack. What more if we were in the hands of rogues?

A heavy weight suddenly slammed into me from the side, knocking me off my feet and sending me sprawling to the ground with my face hitting the ground first. Before I could react, a hand gripped my arm and lifted me.

He laughed at my reaction before calling the rest. “There’s another one here!” He loudly announced as his hold grew tighter in my arms.

I tried to pull away, smacking and clawing him, but he was way too strong for me.

“Don’t try to escape, little omega. We have a lot of plans for you.” The rogue who captured me said and turned to the rest of the rogues, “Take them. We’re leaving first.”

He threw me along with the omegas in our pack. All I hear are cries and pleading, but no help came. Not our alpha, or any warriors of our pack.

We’ve completely fallen.

My vision immediately blurred out when they suddenly threw some sort of powder in our direction. The people beside me started dropping one by one, losing their consciousness from whatever they threw at us.

I tried to fight it, pushing myself to stay awake, but to no avail.

Mom... I’m really sorry I couldn’t escape.

--

I opened my eyes and panicked a bit when I couldn’t see anything until I realized that they had blindfolded me. My head ached, and my wrists burned from the ropes binding my hands. They covered our eyes, giving me no idea where we were. All I knew was that we were in a moving vehicle, probably a wagon, as they needed to transport a lot of people. The roads were rough and bumpy, making even sitting down feel like a huge labor. The scent of sweat, blood, and fear surrounded me.

“Who’s there?” I called out after gathering my courage and feeling like a miracle, they didn’t cover our mouths, too.

As if on cue, I heard muffled cries around me. Familiar voices murmur their worries, but it’s all we could do; cry helplessly.

I shifted slightly, testing if I could pull away from the ropes binding me, but I only hurt myself. The rough rope dug into my skin, making me wince in pain, but I bit my lip to stop the tears.

I’m done crying. I’m done feeling helpless.

I tried reaching out to my wolf and felt it weakly responding to me, but like I was, it was also too drained to help. It wasn’t a foreign feeling, being weak, but I had never felt this utterly powerless before. Whatever powder they threw at us made us weaker than we already were.

The wagon we were in suddenly shook, making me stumble against someone beside me.

“Cleo? I-is that you?” A voice whispered.

I immediately recognized the voice as Mara. Her voice is hoarse, trembling, and barely audible.

“Yes, it’s me,” I quickly responded, a little relieved to hear a familiar, friendly voice. “I’m sorry I landed on you. Are you okay?”

“No,” she admitted, already about to cry, “None of us are. They killed everyone. My whole family is dead. I saw our Alpha and Betas being killed. It’s over for us.”

I couldn’t respond. Her remark stirred a commotion. The muffled sobs became loud cries. I wanted to speak up and offer some comfort, but I was just the same as they were. I shouldn’t have left my mother in there. Dying with my family is better than whatever they were going to do with us.

Before I could say anything more, the wagon came to a sharp halt, almost throwing us forward. We all squirmed away from each other, struggling as we were all blindfolded and bound.

I heard the same rogue barking orders outside. I also heard numerous footsteps around us. There were too many for us to have a chance to escape. None of us can even fight them.

A hand suddenly grabbed me, yanking me forward and removing the cloth covering my eyes.

“Get out,” he ordered before I could recover, pulling me out of the wagon.

One by one, they yanked us out of the wagon. I stumbled as my feet hit the ground. My legs were still shaking when they shoved us into a line this time.

My eyes roamed the place. The sun had already set, and the only thing that illuminated our path was the rogues holding lamps. They removed our blindfolds but not the ropes binding our hands, leaving us helpless in whatever they’d do to us.

They were laughing while most of us were crying. They were happy about how much they’d get selling us off. Of course, omegas are no use to anyone unless for breeding.

I gritted my teeth and pushed myself not to tear up. I’d never give them that satisfaction.

Their laughter suddenly halted when a loud thud was heard from a distance. The rogues holding us immediately tensed. The amusement in their faces vanished and was replaced with caution and anger. I frantically looked around when I heard howls from a distance, but my senses weren’t sharp enough to see well in the dark.

Before I knew it, a rogue was suddenly sent flying just beside me. The remaining rogues barely had time to react when another attack came.

It happened so quickly, giving us barely any time to process it. One moment, the rogues were standing over us. The next moment, they were all beaten up on the ground as if it were the easiest thing to do in the world. A wave of relief and hope crossed my heart. Maybe Mara was mistaken, and our pack was here to save us.

The fight was over in a span of minutes. The surviving rogues were forced to their knees, clever enough not to fight back anymore. But one good look at the newcomers and my hopes shattered in an instant. They weren’t from our pack or any neighboring packs. I couldn’t help but feel terrified by their gaze alone. They’re clearly stronger than those rogues.

One of them stepped forward. His eyes surveyed all of us before speaking. “Which pack are you from?” He asked, still looking at us.

No one responded, mostly because we were terrified that these people were just another group of rogues.

The man who spoke calmly reached out from his pocket and showed us an emblem every werewolf would perfectly recognize. My heart jumped into my throat.

It’s the Alpha King’s pack symbol.