Chapter 4

It was Monday, the 8th of March. I was ready and waiting out by the car for my father. I had been early every day since Tuesday last, just so I could keep things civil, somewhat peaceful.

He would have meetings all day and all through the night. There were threats of invasion from another enemy pack to the west so he was completely occupied with the growing concern of war.

He dropped me at the campus gates, without a single word or comment. I quickly climbed out of the car and turned to walk towards the school, listening as the distinct sound of his car faded the further he drove away.

But I stopped dead in my tracks, listening carefully as another familiar car sped towards me. It was my mother. Her face was full of fear and worry. She hit the brakes so hard, I swear the car looked like it was going to flip. She leaned over the passenger seat and shoved the car door open.

“Quickly! Get in!” she stammered. “We need to go, now!”

I didn’t ask any questions. I dove into the front seat, slamming the door behind me as she sped off and away from the school. I struggled with my belt trying to pull it on as quickly as I could, but the damned thing kept halting. Eventually, I managed to secure it, heart thundering in my ears.

“What is going on? What has happened?” Atonia questioned, worry in her voice.

“Mom? What’s going on?” I asked, keeping my voice low.

She turned the music on the radio up, to mask our voices, before she responded.

“It’s time, sweetheart. I have spoken to my friend in the other pack. He has spoken to his Alpha, who is willing to meet with us. There are no guarantees that he will take us in, but he has agreed to listen.” she rambled, “We are leaving, now, heading to the east border. Everyone is currently focused on the west, so we are taking this opportunity and running, My friend doesn’t know we are on our way yet, but he will know soon enough. I have essentials packed and a little money. We are going to try to cross the border in the car, but if we can’t we will have to leave everything and shift and run to The Oak Ridge Packs border.”

“Wait… The Oak Ridge Pack? I didn’t think you would want to go there. I would have thought you would agree to The Dark Moon Pack.” I queried.

“It’s too far to travel, we will be caught long before we get there. But my friend has reassured me that his Alpha is fiercely loyal to his pack and will protect them in any way he can. Let’s just hope he will take us in, and if not, well let us hope he will let us cross the border on the far side, so we can run.” she explained.

“I trust you mom. No matter what happens from now, no matter where we end up. As long as we are a family, you and me, I will be happy, I swear to you!” I comforted her, knowing full well that she was terrified.

It was an hour-long drive to the east border. The car was full of the scent of fear and determination.

“We are doing this. We are leaving!” I sighed, trying to ready myself for whatever comes next.

“Finally! We’ll be free, safe” Atonia agreed.

“We don’t know that yet, Atonia. I don’t want to get my hopes up until we know what is going on. I don’t want to be crushed again.” I specified.

“Killjoy!”

“Atonia, we can’t get our hopes up. You never know, we might get caught before we take one step over the border.” I asserted, “This is dangerous. We could be caught, tortured, killed. Please try to understand?” I asked her through our bond. She refused to respond, so I gave up.

I sighed out loud, not realizing I had.

“Are you alright?” my mom asked.

“I’m fine.” I breathed.

“No, you aren’t. Is Atonia causing trouble?”

“No, she’s just really excited, but she isn’t understanding my caution about getting her hopes up….” I trailed off.

“I’m sure she does understand, she is most likely trying to calm you. Tala has been trying to calm me this entire time, so I’m sure that's what Atonia is doing.” she comforted.

I sighed again. “I know, I just feel scared, mom, and worried that we will be caught.”

“I know sweet, I do too,” she confessed.

The silence became deafening as we got closer and closer to the border. My heart rate began to increase, my nerves trying to take over. I could sense that my mother was in the same state as me.

“We are almost there… but something doesn’t feel right” she whispered, her caution seeping into me.

“What do you mean?” I prodded.

“... It’s too… quiet, still…” she went silent, ears pricking at any tiny sound. 

I was peering out the windows as we began to cross the border, watching for any sign of movement, when my mother slammed on the brakes, screeching to a stop.

“Shit!” she mourned. “How?”

I turned my head, searching for what she could see, and froze.

“No.” I silently wept.

My father. He was alone. But he found us.

“We need to run… and fast” my mother stressed. “Get out and run! I am right behind you, I promise!”

I threw my door open, grabbed my bag, and lurched out of the seat, turning and bolting into the forest. Running so fast, the trees were blurring and whipping ferociously at my face.

I could hear my mother behind me, I knew the sound of her steps. But my father was following, raging, and growling for us to stop. But my mother kept telling me to keep moving, to not turn around, to keep running.

How long have we been running for? Seconds? Minutes? Hours? I could feel my lungs burning, ready to explode. But I kept on going.

My mother had caught up with me, sprinting alongside me, neither of us daring to turn and see how close he was.

“We have to be close, now.” she gasped.

Just then, the clean, uninterrupted scent of the forest, shifted. I began to smell the new scent of the pack patrolling these lands. It was strong. Which meant they were not far off from us now.

I couldn’t hear them, but that did not mean they couldn’t hear us.

I careened around a large oak tree, barrelling into an unfamiliar grey wolf.

His growl was terrifying and rattled through the entirety of my body.

“P-P-Please… don’t..don’t let him.. Don’t let him catch us. P-Please?” I sobbed, stammering, my fear drowning me.

My mother came round the trunk of the oak, skidding to a stop in front of the wolf, immediately coming to protect me. Eyes scanning the trees, not worried about the wolf in front of us.

The wolf turns away from us, towards the forest we came from, sniffed the air, and released an earth-shaking growl. I heard my father stop a good distance away, the anger radiating off of him, stifling us.

“GIVE THEM BACK!” he snarled, “Give them back to me, so I can fucking kill them!”

The wolf, scoffing at my fathers' demands, shifted into his human form, bones shifting, grinding until he stood tall, towering over us. Staring my father down he chuckled darkly.

“You don’t make demands here, mutt! These are not your lands!” he seethed. 

“I will take them myself then! Step out of the way!” my father retorted.

“You step one foot over this border, I will rip you to pieces where you stand!” the wolf promised, “but your pathetic dominance and anger have kept you from realizing that I am not alone here. So I suggest that you turn, tuck your tail between your legs and run home, mutt, and stay the fuck away!” he fumed.

“You will regret this! You and yours will pay for this!” my father warned, “And you,” he pointed at me, “you will fucking pay for this, and that’s a promise” he snarled, backing away, before turning and running.

I sat there, my mother covering me with her body, listening as my fathers' steps faded into the forest, waiting.

The silence became unbearable, the tension making me feel queasy.

A few minutes passed before the wolf turned and look at me, carefully, then at my mother, and froze. His grey eyes scanned us both, greying black hair swaying in the breeze.

“Leigha?” he hesitated.

“... Ma-Matthias..?” my mother quavered, hazel eyes filling with relief. “Oh, thank the Goddess!”

“Wha-...” he didn't manage to finish his question before my mother, jumped up and hugged him.

I sat on the floor, utterly confused. Watching them warily.

The wolf, Matthias, held her for a moment and then turned and looked at me with curiosity. Tilting his head to the side, he glanced at my mother then back to me.

“This must be your daughter?” he queried.

“Oh, yes! This is my Amelia,” she expressed, pride and love evident in her voice, making my throat feel constricted.

“Well, welcome Amelia, welcome both of you. I wasn’t expecting you for another few days?” he stated.

“I know, but we had the chance and we needed to take it. We could never know if we would have had the opportunity again.” she explained, “with the pack to the west testing the patrols on the border, it was the perfect opportunity. Well so I thought, anyway.” she added.

“Well let's not worry about that now, let us head to the packhouse. We will get you both a room and I’ll speak to the Alpha, let him know that you’re both here,” he stated.

I watched as he silently gave a member of the pack a silent order. They turned and retrieved some clothes for him from a pack, handed them to him, and turned and walked away. Presumably to carry on with patrolling.

Matthias dressed quickly, then beckoned for us to follow him. Nudity amongst wolves is normal, but I still feel a little uncomfortable when around naked pack members.

Following behind him and my mother, watching them chatting to each other, like old friends. My mother explained what happened last week, what followed, and our journey here. Telling Matthias how things had gotten worse over the last 6 months and how she was terrified of what would happen if she tried to take me away then.

He listened carefully, occasionally offering me a small smile of reassurance.

We walked for a few hours, darkness creeping in around us. Shadows lengthening, stars blinking into existence overhead. The quiet in these woods was nice, comfortable. Familiar, even though I had never set foot on this land.

Over the top of a small hill, I could see the glow of town lights against the skyline, shining softly.

“We are here. We made it, Atonia.” I breathed to myself.

“I wish you would listen to me every once in a while. I told you we would make it!”  she pointed out.

“Seriously, an ‘I told you so’?” I teased. Chuckling to myself.

“Yup! I told you so!” Atonia retorted.

We walked to the top of the hill and glanced down at the valley sprawling below us. The town was large, clean, and it just felt safe.

“It’s beautiful,” I remarked.

Matthias turned to me, watching me. And chuckled.

“It is, isn’t it? This is Oakwood Ridge.” he professed, proudly.