1

Vanessa's point of view

I couldn't believe my ears, "You can't go back to the herd, daughter, it's not safe for you to come here," my mother said.

"What, what are you talking about, how can it not be safe for me to come back with my pack?", I shouted in a loud and angry tone.

There was a slight silence, as I heard shouting and strange sounds in the background.... I didn't know what was going on, but my mother's tone of voice was loud and fearful.

"Mum, what happened?" I cried out as I felt my mother's absence on the phone.

"There was a..." she said before I heard her run off.

"Mother," I shouted again in exasperation.

She let out a sigh and I heard a couple of strange noises before I heard her voice again "...there's been a problem...". A misunderstanding between the herd.... Your father and I have... We have been expelled from the Night Forest pack," he said.

I froze as those words echoed in my ear. I gripped the phone tightly as a panicked gasp escaped my lips. "Expelled? We've been banished for being delinquents?" I said in fear.

Everyone knew that werewolves when expelled from the pack tend to go mad and rebel? Many even end up being more wolf than human and lose all sense of reason.

"But... Mother... This... "I tried to say before her words interrupted me.

"Daughter... don't worry, this is temporary," she said.

Despite her words of encouragement, I could clearly hear her sobbing with each of her words. At that moment I heard my father's faint voice trying to calm my mother.

The sound of the loud howling of wolves in the distance could be heard clearly mixed with my mother's sobs as she ran to my father from the other end of the phone.

A pang of pain invaded my body every second I listened to their tormented voices. My bond with my parents deteriorated as I listened to them flee for their lives. In that instant, my heart shrank completely as I suddenly heard my father's soft voice before turning into a pleading, exasperated tone.

"Fuck... we have to get to the border in 4 minutes.... This... is... Damn it!" he exclaimed.

His voice was firm, but I knew my father, he was broken, everything about him sounded scared....

At that moment I fell silent. Tears welled up in my eyes as my body shook.... I can clearly hear my parents running through the forest to save their lives. I couldn't even utter a word, I couldn't even say a word.

"Mother? Father?", I asked again and again as their voices fell silent.

For a moment the world stopped before my eyes, I fell to my knees on the floor with endless thoughts. Until suddenly, over the phone, came the sound of my mother breathing heavily as she ran through the thick trees of the dark forest.

The whisper of the wind mingled with my father's gasps echoing loudly on the speaker phone. I could barely feel how my heart was pounding in my chest. I had never felt such pain in my body before....

But, just as I burst into desperate tears, I heard my mother's voice: "Vanessa..."

"Mother! Please tell me what? "I tried to say...

"Vanessa, listen to me carefully. I want you to promise me that you will never return to the Night Forest pack," my mother cried. "The pack is not safe for you. Promise me!" she said again.

A shiver ran through my body as I heard her say those words again, "But mother, where will I go? What am I to do now? Have I no home?", I asked in panic and despair.

"You..." she gasped hurriedly "You will go to the Dark Moon pack. Everything is ready. You just have to go there, I've arranged everything for you..." my mother continued.

My head was spinning at the thought of going alone to the Dark Moon pack. It wasn't a pack I wanted to visit, but why did my mother want to send me there?

"But what about you? You can come with me... Yes, I'm sure Alpha Roderick will welcome all three of us! Mother... "I said before my voice sank into despair.

"I'm sorry, the rules forbid it..." she said.

"But..." before I could finish my words, I heard the call cut off and the loud beeping in my ear made my eyes widen like two saucers.

"Mother! Mother! Mother! Mother! Please! Mother! "I shouted into the phone without getting an answer.

I froze for a few seconds before I reacted and shook my head. I looked at the phone in my hand and dialed her number again. The phone rang and rang as my breathing quickened.

I tried to calm down by breathing slowly but it was no use, the call was still not answered. I quickly dialed again and received the same “off" hook sound as at the beginning.

My hands were so cold that they started to shake, my eyes filled with tears, while my heart was pounding and pounding in my chest.... What the hell! I cursed inside me the damn rules of the Night Forest and Dark Moon packs.

All those damn rules ruined everything, but why me, did I have to pay for the ideals of the legendary elders?

On second thought, I shook my head and fell backwards to the ground. I looked up at the ceiling as I felt the tears run down my face and fall to the floor. I had no idea what was going to happen.

I might even have felt less of an idiot if my parents had explained the situation to me. Maybe I could have found a way to go with them to the border and escape to the city to live among humans. After all, my mother said it was just a misunderstanding.

Maybe she was right, this was temporary and they didn't do what they were reproached for. Besides, my father has been a beta of the night forest herd for years. We have always been among the most powerful families in the pack. It is even a lineage that has been passed down from generation to generation.

At that moment my tears stopped flowing and with a frown I sat down. I had to control my feelings. The words my mother had spoken to me came quickly to mind.

She assured me that she had prepared everything for me to go to the Dark Moon pack, but, as that thought came to my mind, a wave of nerves ran through my body.

Just the thought of having to be in Dark Moon alone with alpha Roderick, Luna and her three unbearable triplets made my whole world spin. Those bastards always fucked me up.... Shit! I couldn't help but groan with frustration inside me.

I felt a heaviness in my body that almost didn't let me breathe. I never thought I'd actually have to go back to Dark Moon.

In fact, the last time I went to that pack was three years ago. It was a torturous place for me, not only because of the bitter cold, but also because my father left me at the Alpha Roderick's manor, where I had to live with the nefarious triplets and the Alpha's children.

The thought of Bennet, Alan and James bothering me made me panic. As far as I can remember, those three savages only came around to make my life miserable.

At first it was just silly banter and bad jokes, but as time went on it got louder and louder. From that moment on I swore to myself that I would never go back to that hellish place.

I wanted to stay on the high school campus and get a stable job, but I only had one semester left before I finished my studies. The stupid rules were bound to make my life hell....

I let out a sigh and got up from the ground. I stretched and began to pack my bags. Everything I once knew as home had vanished with a single phone call.

For some reason, something in my heart told me that I could never go back. Just the thought of knowing that my years of schooling would be in vain made me feel so sad and upset.

I couldn't understand what the hell my parents were hiding from me and why they wouldn't tell me the truth. In the face of their desperation, I could only understand that the situation was quite serious and that it would not be a passing thing as my mother had sworn to tell me.

Suddenly I felt my eyelids closing. I was so exhausted that all I wanted to do was cry, however, before sinking into the darkness of my sadness, I suddenly heard my phone ring.

My eyes snapped open as soon as the sound reached my ears. Without hesitation, I quickly got out of bed and ran to get my phone. I really wished it was my mother who had finally escaped with my father.

To my dismay, a groan of disappointment flowed from my lips as my eyes fell on the illuminated screen of my phone....

It was a message from one of the triplets, Bennet.... "Shit!" I exclaimed with a frown.

"We'll be at the airport at 7am to pick you up," he said.

My eyes widened in surprise when I read his message. 7am? Tomorrow? Why did it have to be so fast? They hadn't even planned to give me time to say goodbye to my friends?

I let out a sad sigh and grabbed the phone to answer "I understand, what time does my flight leave and what number is it?"

"You should be at the airport at 4am. They will give you your ticket right there," he replied.

I grimaced. How could they book a flight at four in the morning? These guys would make my life miserable from day one, I could feel it.

"Thank you," I said.

"You're welcome, hope to see you soon, puppy", he said.

When I read that message my eyes widened in annoyance. Damn, I had forgotten that those bastards had given me nicknames.... They never called me by my name, to them I was always puppy, fox or piggy.

Those damn triplets weren't waiting to ruin me. I could feel it, after all, that's what they had been doing all this time.

Not wanting to say anything else, I threw the phone on the empty bed and frowned. I lay back on the bed and closed my eyes. I knew tomorrow was going to be a shitty day and there was nothing I could do to change it.

After I closed my eyes, the loud ringing of my phone echoed in my ears. I jumped up and opened my eyes. Fuck, my whole body was aching.... I had never slept so badly before.

It was like sleeping on a rock. Sighing, I got out of bed and went to take a shower. After getting dressed, I looked at my phone and got hundreds of messages.

For a moment I forgot that I was supposed to leave with Dark Moon's pack that day. I saw the time and my eyes widened with astonishment, fuck, it was almost 4am.

I quickly grabbed my stuff and headed straight to the airport. As I got on the plane I felt a surge of nerves run through my body. I closed my eyes and hoped this was all just a dream, however, it wasn't.

1947/5