6

April

The low roaring of the engine wakes me softly.

Opening my eyes, I recognize that I’m sitting in my mom’s truck, tucked in a warm blanket, about to leave the pack in which I grew up, fell in love and was betrayed by it.

I push out a shaky breath just as we pass the statue of my father’s wolf, which was erected to honor my father’s sacrifice for the pack and his Alpha. Touching my chest, I press onto my skin above my heart as it twists painfully in my chest at seeing that it has been completely destroyed. As we pass it with the car, I sit up to look back at the pieces of it shattered on the floor, and my mother sighs sadly.

“This was just mean,” she whispers as she has her eyes still set on the road before us. “And unnecessary. There was no need to drag him into this situation after what he did.”

I blink repeatedly, looking up at her with a heartbroken expression. “I’m so sorry, Mom. Please forgive me.”

If it wasn’t for me, she wouldn’t be banished.

My mother shakes her head, shushing soothingly as she reaches out to caress the top of my head. I can hear her voice heavy with sorrow as she speaks, fighting back her tears. “Don’t worry, my love. Everything will be alright. It’s not me you have to ask for forgiveness. I will always be here for you.”

Her words hurt me badly, but I take comfort in her having my side, even if she doesn’t believe me. Flinching, I reposition myself in my seat, and take a deep breath, waiting for the pain streaming through my body to fade.

“We can start over in a new pack, find a new home and live a good life nonetheless, I’m sure about that.”

She flashes me a smile as we pass the pack’s border, feeling one last tug which makes us go rogue.

We have been driving for hours as heavy raindrops start hitting our windshield.

The car slows down as my mother applies the brakes, wanting to adjust our speed to the weather raging around us. I can feel her helplessness growing as seeing the road clearly is nearly impossible by now.

“Where are we going to stay?” I ask quietly, making her hum.

She activates the higher level of the windshield wiper, squinting her eyes onto the streets. “I don’t know, honey. I thought about finding a cute little pension to settle in for a few days. If we are lucky enough, we can start asking a few Alphas ruling over the packs in the closer vicinity to ask if they would take us in. Otherwise, you don’t have to worry, either. I have enough saved up to keep it going for a few weeks until we find a job and maybe a cozy apartment in town.”

My heart squeezes in my chest as she turns towards me with a smile.

She needs to change a lot as if she doesn’t want to hurt me more, otherwise I will die.

“Mom!” I scream as suddenly a dark shadow moves, getting right into our way. She hits the brakes, causing me to fly forward. Whimpering, I clench my teeth as the pressure of the seat belt on my rips makes me black out for a second.

“Sorry,” my mother says quietly, as she looks outside. “But what was that? I didn’t hit it right?”

Pushing out a deep breath, I scoot back into my seat, leaning against the cold leather while closing my eyes. “I don’t know. But it seemed huge.”

“Should I go out and watch if I hit it?” She utters her thoughts out loud, relaxing into her seat while still holding onto the steering wheel. “I wouldn’t want it to die or, even worse, roll over it.”

The silence is only interrupted by the wiping noises of the wipers, scratching over the windshield with a monotonous tune. We stare into the distance spellbound, and I’m just about to say something as I turn towards my mother, seeing a huge wolf charging against our car.

“Mom! Watch out!”I scream as the gigantic rogue slams into us, hitting the car with an enormous force.

The car gets catapulted towards the side of the road, causing it to topple over. I shield myself from the car parts and shattered glass exploding around me and fight to ignore the pain surging through me as my wounds must have reopened.

My mother’s scream rings in my ears as we land in the ditch next to the road, and I cough as I move, cutting myself on the glass sherds lying around. I groan, fighting against the door while the side of my top drenches with fresh blood, streaming out of my wound.

“Mom,” I breathe out as I check if she is doing fine.

“I’m here,” she moves towards me, kicking open the door to get us out of the car.

The raindrops crash heavily on us, drenching us in a cold and uncomfortable wetness, making it hard for us to drag ourselves from the car wreck.

“It’s alright, baby,” my mother continues to whisper comforting phrases to me while we get circled by rogues. “Press this onto your wound.”

She hands me her scarf, and I flinch as I press it on the wound on my waist, cursing Scott internally as I roll back into a ball.

Unfortunately, this is the worst situation possible as the rogues surround us slowly, fletching their teeth while their hungry and crazy eyes set on us as foam already forms at the edges of their mouths. I sense how my mother’s thoughts are running wildly in her head as she is about to construct a plan for our safe escape.

Desperation crawls up my legs, taking my body hostage as I feel so useless as all I can do is whimper while sobbing on the dirty floor.

“Don’t worry. I got this.” She suddenly grabs me, lifting me up, making me scream in pain, and starts running into the forest. “I know it hurts, but them getting us will hurt more.”

I roll myself up into her arms as she manages to outrun the rogues for a few meters before they catch up with us. She lays me back onto the wet ground and turns around to face the rogues.

After taking a few deep breaths, she shifts into her wolf. She assesses the situation, pacing back and forth in front of me before charging against the rogues already coming to attack us.

I would like to get up and help my mother but my body slumps back down powerlessly, and I can’t do anything more than watch her fight against the group of rogues.

Suddenly, it strikes me.

My mom didn’t do anything wrong, and this place is still not too far away from Scott’s pack.

I can beg him to accept my mom back into his pack.

Still harboring this stupid feeling for Scott together with the hope for him, I take out my phone and dial his number, convinced that he is my only chance to save my Mom.