Chapter 0003

Aurora

I peek from behind the curtain to see members of our pack searching the village for us. I can’t see my father with them, thank the goddess. There are about five, with two in wolf form. That must be how they found us picking up our scent.

I quietly walk back over to the bed and gently wake mum up. I put my hand to her mouth in case she tries to say something or scream.

Her eyes snap open. Fear flicks across her beautiful face before she registers it’s me. I hold my free hand to my lips to signal to be quiet. She nods and I remove my hand from her mouth. I gesture towards the window where she peeks out like I had moments earlier when she spots them; she turns back to me before her eyes search the room.

Her eyes land on something and I see them flash to her wolf before she hurries over and starts spraying both me and her with the room air freshener, she sprays so much I struggle not to cough using my hands I waft it away from my mouth.

I know why she did it. This will hopefully mask our scents to at least be able to get out of the village. As wolves, we have a heightened sense of smell, but that increases in our wolf form. We are also faster, stronger, and more lethal in that form too.

We pick up the bags, stuffing the towels under the covers of the bed to make it look like we are still there sleeping before slipping out. When we are in the dimly lit hallway, we hear voices as a man speaks to the receptionist, asking a few questions. We share a look before heading to the emergency exit. Mum sprays a little of the air freshener as we go, helping to cover our tracks.

They don’t know we know they are here yet. Using that to our advantage, we open the emergency exit. There’s no alarm, another blessing as we make our way, closing the door just as the elevator dings its arrival. We wait a moment. Mum tries to judge how many of them are there.

When we hear a crash, we know they have broken down the door to the room. We share a look before running down the stairs of the emergency exit. We don’t have the mind link now as we aren’t part of the pack, something that would have been helpful.

I don’t know why I didn’t think to use it earlier, but fear has a way of making the brain react differently to fight-or-flight kick in.

When we reach the bottom floor, we check to listen to make sure the coast is clear. Mum sniffs the air, trying to pick up any of their scents. We are also out of air freshener, not that it necessarily worked anyway, but at least it felt like it helped.

‘Try all the exits. They have to be here somewhere!’ we hear one of the men yell and a few growls take place. We hear the door that we just came through burst open at the same time we open the one downstairs running through it, hoping they don’t hear.

We creep, staying close to the wall, looking for a way to escape. I take mum’s bag when I see she partly shifts her nails turn to claws and her teeth turn to fangs. She gives me a nod. She’s ready if need be.

We walk around the building looking for escape routes, but even if we somehow manage to get past them, we can’t outrun two wolves. There is a bush that runs along the side of the next building as we reach the corner. I peek out once more, not seeing anyone before we both sprint to the bush, wanting to put as much distance between the hotel and us.

We crawl along as the branches scratch my arm. When we reach the other side, we both stand, turning the corner, and we see one of the men on the other side of the building. He turns, clocking us before an evil smirk crosses his face.

‘Run!’ mum whispers as we both sprint for our lives. He chases us, no doubt mind linking the others to follow. I’m faster than mum. I scan the area, looking for something, anything. Come on, moon goddess, save us!

‘Sarah, stop running, it’s only going to make it worse for both of you,’ he taunts as he chases after us.

‘Don’t listen to him, run!’ I call to her as we continue to run down the street. As I look back, I see he is gaining on her. In one fell swoop, she turns, slicing her claws through his face; he falters slowing as she speeds up, putting more distance.

I see a few of them come turning the building as they chase after us. We don’t have long; we need a miracle goddess please!

That’s when I spot the car in the distance. It’s the only thing we can use to outrun a wolf. We gain closer as we hear a howl and know it’s now or never. I reach the car first, breaking the window with my elbow, knocking out the glass so it shatters. I reach in unlocking the doors as I chuck our bags in the back seat. If it came to a fight, I didn’t want them to hold me back.

Mum gets in and I close the door as my gaze looks at the back window. She removes the covering and begins playing around with the wires, using her claws to release the fibres from their casing. I catch a few sparks and the car flicks on and off.

‘Hurry mum,’ I call, they have all shifted to their wolf form and are gaining on our position. I turn back to see mum has secured the wires. The engine comes to life as she moves it into gear. I turn back, hearing growls approach us. I see them slowing down as they start to enclose around us.

Letting out a shaky breath, mum pushes on the pedal, jolting the car forward as one of their noses breaches my shattered window. Mum accelerates, the engine revving in the dark night as we speed across the village streets. The wolves are right behind us.

‘Faster mum!’ we turn a bend, swerving to keep on the road. We turn again before we get to the straight leading out of the village. I look back, seeing them still following. I just hope whatever direction we are going in isn’t bringing us back the way we came.

Once we leave the village mum floors the car as we accelerate further and I’m forced back into my seat, I look out the wing mirror seeing the charging wolves begin to disappear as we put more and more distance between us, once they finally disappear from view, we both let out a sigh of relief.

Mum continues to keep her foot down and we drive as fast as the car allows us. I watch as the sun rises up in the sky. The surroundings change from trees to fields, two mountains visible in the distance. I don’t know how many hours we have been driving, but eventually the car begins to slow.

‘What’s happening?’ I ask, turning to look at mum who’s frowning.

“We’re running out of fuel,” the engine croaks as it slows further, the car coasting along the road until it comes to a stop in the middle of the road. Mum guides it to the side, making room for other cars to pass it if needed. I grab the bags from the back seat before we both get out of the car. We both stretched after having sat down for so long.

I look around where we are seeing nothing for miles. The road is open as far as the eyes can see. There are some mountains in the distance, but otherwise just stretches of barren lands.

‘Where to now?’ I ask, trying to sound positive and failing miserably. Mum turns to me with a sympathetic smile.

‘Let’s head for those mountains. It’s our best option.’ I nod, taking all the bags. Mum tries to take hers but I insist she has driven us all this way and I know regardless of how much I hate him; she lost her mate, the pain that she must be feeling inside only weighing her down.

We both start walking, confident that we have enough of a head start not needing to run anymore. It takes us 5 hours to reach the valley the base of the mountains begins in. We both stop to catch our breath and I hand mum a bottle of water and packet of crisps. Starving, I practically lick the bag clean; I look at the biscuits in the bag, tempted to eat them too. I leave them there. We will need them to walk up that monstrosity.

I had raided the glove compartment of the car and packed an energy drink with some sweets, too. I open those handing mum a handful, taking some myself. We sit for a moment enjoying the sun. Every inch of my body aches after barely any sleep and travelling for so long. I just want to close my eyes here and rest.

‘Come on, we need to move before it gets dark, rouges might be around it won’t be safe,’ mum says standing she takes her bag from me, which I begrudgingly give her, carrying three bags is a lot, I don’t have my wolf so only slightly stronger than a human.

I haul my ass up taking the other bags; we begin our climb up the mountain there is a pleasant breeze as we walk; I conceal our footprints as we go, just for safety. Despite the small amount of food and drink we have, the mountain is intense. Our supplies have completely depleted and as I look up, it just keeps going.

There is snow right at the top. I open my bag, taking the one jumper I had packed putting it on. Mum does the same as the wind picks up, whipping around us. My legs are heavy, my whole body feels exhausted. I can barely stand as we both continue to trudge up the mountain. There’s no shelter here, no place to rest. I struggle to breathe as the air gets thinner and mum falls behind, unable to keep up with my pace.

I look around. There must be something.

I turn and see mum has collapsed on the ground. I head over to her.

‘Mum?’ I shake her before pressing my head to her chest. Her heart is still beating. I can hear her breathing. I relax. She’s just tired. I huddle closer to her to keep her warm, struggling to keep my own eyes open. Her soothing scent calms me and I drift off, too tired to think of anything else.

‘What’s that over there?’ I hear a male voice in the distance. I’m too sleepy to know if I’m dreaming or if this is real. I am also so cold my limbs are frozen in place. I hear footsteps approaching but unable to open my eyes, they’re sealed shut from the cold.

‘It’s two women?’ a deep husky voice speaks. It’s not one I recognise. There’s only concern in his voice. Strong hands touch me and although I want to flinch, I’m frozen in place. I keep hold of mum as much as I can.

‘Come help me,’ he calls as another guy comes over. I hear his heavy tread approach.

‘Bloody hell, they look half dead,’ a gravelly voice speaks. I feel oddly calm despite less than 24 hours a man approached me as I slept, patting me down. I guess I’m either too tired to fight, but deep down I think it is because I know I can trust them.

‘If you take this one, I’ll carry the other. Take them straight to the hospital,’ his gravelly voice says.

‘Yes alpha,’ the other man says as I’m passed to the other man. My grip falters as I let go of mum as they walk what I can only assume is to their pack.

‘Hush little one, you’re safe,’ is all I hear before sleep takes me once more.