6

April

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. 

“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 love,” 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, my love. I got this.” She suddenly grabs me, lifting me up, making me scream in pain, and starts running into the forest. “I’m so sorry. 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 apologizes several times as 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. 

If he exiled us, he can’t hate us so much to let us die out here. Having still this stupid and romantic image of Scott, I take out my phone and dial his number, convinced that he is my only chance to save my Mom. 

I breathe heavily as it rings, and my heart sinks deeper and deeper into my stomach with every ring that resounds, 

He isn’t picking up. 

He hates you, remember? 

And he doesn’t care if you die. 

My mother fights hard, the preparation my father put her through as he trained for his position as Beta in the pack helping her to keep up with the rogues, preventing them from getting to me. But soon enough she gets outnumbered, her stamina decreasing as they recharge between their attacks but not granting her the same opportunity. 

Her light brown slowly changes color, staining itself with her blood as they keep landing hits, sinking their fangs into her side and neck. 

“Mom!” I scream at the top of my lungs, not caring if I might attract their attention to me. 

Desperation ripples through me, and I try my best to push myself from the ground, only to slump back down. I claw onto the floor, clasping the wet soil in my fists as I clench my eyes closed. 

Even if my body keeps refusing to move as I want to, I can’t give up as she is all I have left. She has already given up her pack for me and I would never survive the thought that she lost her life because of me too. 

Even if I won’t be able to cry about it long enough. 

Clenching my teeth, I stand up and stabilize on my wobbly feet with a groan. I take a step and swallow a scream of pain as it gets a stabbing pain to shoot through me, making me risk giving out once again. 

‘I have to stop them!’ I encourage myself, pushing myself further. After a few steps, my legs give out beneath me, making me fall to my knees again. 

I scream, wanting to stand up again as a strange sensation stops me. 

Suddenly, a strange pain surges through me. It is totally different from the stinging pain streaming from my heart, or the burning pain radiating from my wounds. 

I gasp as I turn myself on my back, enabling me to breathe better. Looking up to the grey sky, I take calming breaths, trying to make the pain disappear, but it gets stronger, seeping into my bones. 

My heart twists painfully as my bones start breaking, causing a bloodcurdling scream to explode from my throat. 

I recognize that I must be shifting, but this is impossible, my wolf isn’t supposed to show herself before my birthday, only coming up in a few months from now.