Chapter 1. The Escape

   The wind howled amongst the sparsely spaced trees. The only other sound that could be heard was the faint, soft crunching of dried leaves and twigs caused by small light feet picking their way through the dense undergrowth of the pitch-black forest.

   Annalise had used the cover of darkness to escape her cruel tormentors- people she had considered friends and kin. She had watched the habits of many of her pack discreetly for months and suffered at their hands before finding a small window of opportunity to flee the territory.

   Once the sun began to rise, Annalise knew that her absence would be noticed and that the hunt to bring her back would start.

   The thought of being hunted down and the punishments she would receive for running away spurred Annalise on, her breath quickened, showing in short little puffs of air. The tatty hood of the cloak she had managed to salvage and sew together again lightly billowed around her shadowed face.

   ‘How far have I travelled?’, Annalise wondered to herself. As a werewolf her sense of direction should be like a built-in satellite navigation system but after years of malnourishment her wolf, Cyan, was too weak to do anything other than help heal Annalise when she was injured.

   She continued to push past the tall, slender birch trees hoping that soon the terrain would change. At least then she would feel like she was making progress.

   After what felt like another hour had passed, the trees had given way to smaller bushes and saplings. Ahead, off to the right, Annalise saw the twinkling reflection of the starlight in a small pool of water.

Eagerly, she hastened her steps so that she could enjoy a cool drink from the fresh oasis she had discovered. Landing heavily on her knees, skidding along the ground slightly, Annalise cupped her hands and plunged them into the crystal-clear water.

   The water was cool and fresh, reviving Annalise’s body and soul as it made its way past her cracked lips and down her throat. Once she had drank her fill, Annalise sighed contentedly, not being able to recall the last time she was able to have as much clean water as she wanted.

   Annalise sat back on her heels and saw a low hanging willow silhouetted in the moonlight that would offer her some shelter. Scrambling over, she decided to rest for a short time before figuring out which way to go next. Her head rested on the trunk of the tree and her eyes slowly closed.

   ‘Get up! Get UP and move Annalise! C’mon we gotta go!’, Cyan barked at Annalise. Her eyes shot open in a panic to find that the sun had already started to peek over the horizon.

   ‘Oh no! Shoot! I fell asleep!’, Annalise thought as she scurried from her resting place back to the water where she hurriedly splashed her face and took another drink before deciding to continue to the right of the pond to get around it.

   She panted heavily as she moved as quickly as she could through the bushes, the occasional thorn snagging her thin cloak.

   Once on the other side of the water, Annalise could see that there were more trees appearing again. Without a second thought to whether she was still in her pack’s territory or not, she bolted to the tree line and vanished into the dimly lit forest.

   Running as fast as her feet would carry her, Annalise dodged roots and ducked under low hanging branches. She knew that her stamina would not last long. Even with the rest and the water, she had not eaten more than the scraps afforded to her by her tormentors.

   ‘C’mon Anna, keep going, you have to find the strength…find the strength.’, those three words became a silent mantra as she fled the place of her miserable existence.

   The trees were thinning out and more light was able to penetrate from above. ‘They’ll know that I’m gone by now, they are probably already looking for me.’, Annalise thought. How long would it take their keen wolf senses to follow her trail. 

   She continued, trying desperately not to panic, until she reached another small body of water and some golden raspberry bushes. Hungrily, Annalise devoured as many as the plump berries as her small hands could pick. 

Acutely aware that she could not pause for long, Annalise worked quickly and methodically to strip the bushes of their fruit. She could f*e some of her strength return and Cyan’s presence was more pronounced.

Taking several mouthfuls of water, she stood and quietly surveyed her surroundings before deciding she needed to go left of the water this time.

   The sun was high, and the rays warmed her. The trees had all but disappeared and more rocks and stones were piled up and scattered along the dry earth.

   Her progress had slowed down as she concentrated on making her way across this arid land. Annalise was a little halfway over this seemingly endless dry tundra when Cyan started shifting nervously in her mind.

   ‘What is it Cy? What’s got you so anxious?’, her wolf’s emotions were projecting on to her.

‘I smell wolves, Several, maybe five or six. The Alpha’s scent is mixed in with them. They’re going to catch us.’, Cyan spoke with such a straightforward sadness it was if she had given up on gaining freedom.

Annalise felt weighed down by the despair in her head. ‘We’re not done yet Cyan. There is still a chance for us.’, she tried to remain positive enough for both.

   Carefully she picked up her pace, still wary of all the cracks and crevices that were hidden or suddenly opening before her.

   She came across a narrower ravine that looked as though there had been a recent rockslide. Quickly, she scrambled up the pile of rubble blocking her path.

   Just as she reached the top, her human nose picked up the scent of her Alpha and mate, Jason. Even though he had rejected her as soon as the mate bond surfaced on her 18th birthday, his unique smell of peppermint tea and cedarwood still made her blood sing and pulse race.

   Annalise sharply reminded herself that he didn’t want her as a mate and started to descend the other side of the rock mountain, scrambling and falling, causing cuts on her arms and legs. It didn’t slow her down too much, Cyan used her fast healing to help ease that were spreading through her entire body.

Losing her balance again, she tumbled to the bottom with a thump. Glancing back at the top with fear in her eyes, she shakily got to her feet and made a run for it.

   The scents of her pack were stronger, and she could make out their angry voices on the other side. “She’s close! We’ve almost got that useless mutt.”, The malice was dripping off Jason’s tongue as he spoke.

His pack mates jeered and laughed, sounding more like hyenas than wolves. “You can’t escape me, Anna.”, his tone had turned sing songy and light but there was no mistaking the threat behind it.

   Hearing this, Annalise stopped caring about being careful and ran as hard and as fast as she could. If she were stronger, she could have shifted but the Alpha was clever enough to keep her weak, so it was impossible.

   Ignoring the ache in her side, Annalise panted as she went, willing herself to outrun them although deep down she knew it was futile.

   Looking back to see five of her pack climbing down the rocks with speed and grace meant that she wasn’t looking at where she was going. With a muffled cry, Annalise found herself in the air before landing heavily on her left knee.

   The sound of a bone snapping reverberated around the ravine caused more raucous laughter from her pursuers. “No chance of getting away now.”, the Beta, Ellis, sneered.

   “Give up mutt and we might go easy on you.”, Lita shouted in a high nasally voice. Jason and Lita were together, and it caused Annalise great pain every time.

   Annalise had long since learned not to cry out in pain when she was beaten, so with a tremendous effort and low grunt, she got up and continued to run with a limp as her broken leg trailed behind.

It was a pitiful sight even for her, but she carried on. Annalise would not give them the satisfaction of dragging her back home.

   Between the pain in her leg and the fear that had enveloped her, Annalise nearly missed the cliffs edge that jutted out sharply. She stopped and watched as small stones fell until you could barely see them.

This was it. There was nowhere for her to go. Taking a deep breath, she gathered the last remaining strength she had and turned to face the oncoming danger of her pack. Her cloak was torn, and the hood had dropped leaving her long chestnut hair blowing in the breeze. Her green eyes glittering with determination.

   "Come with us. You’ve made us waste a whole day chasing you.”, Jason stood several feet away from Annalise.

   She was silent as they all looked at her with evil smirks, their eyes narrowed. “If you come without a fight, your punishment will be quick. Try to struggle and I’ll break your other leg.”, he sneered as took in the sight of his so-called mate.

   Jason’s wolf, Hendrix, was quiet, he didn’t want his mate hurt and often argued with his human half over her mistreatment. He could choose to sever the bond with his human self, but he didn’t want to be lost in the void, as the legends said or become a rogue, forced to live his life on the outskirts of a pack.

   They all stared at one another, waiting for someone to make the first move. Annalise looked directly at Jason and in a soft voice said, “Why do you hate me? What have I ever done to you? You are my mate.”,      She had never understood why they picked her to be their toy.

   Jason stood silently, his mouth twitching as if debating whether he was going to answer or lunge at her. “There is no reason. You were an easy target and weak. It’s an embarrassment to be mated to such a weak wolf. I rejected you. It’s what you deserve.”, he spat out those last words.

   “Just let me go. I will never tell anyone about what you did…please just let me go.”, tears flowed down Annalise’s dirt-stained cheeks.

   “Pffft. As if. Jason just grab her so we can go home.”, Lita stroked his arm and spoke alluringly into his ear. This small act of intimacy hurt Annalise’s heart.

   Jason stepped forward and roughly grabbed her arm, pulling her towards him. Annalise threw all the weight of her slight frame back and tried to struggle free. “NO! NO! I won’t go back!!”, this was the first time she had ever dared to fight back in anyway, the others were stunned at the scene before them.

She struggled as much as she could, her feet digging into the unstable earth. The ground rumbled and cracked beneath her and finally gave way. Jason let go and jumped back quickly as Annalise plummeted to the ground. She saw the look of shock on his face, there was a sadness in his eyes. Taking one last look at the brilliant blue sky, Annalise finally felt free as everything went black.