Chapter 2: Chapter 2
School dragged by slower than ever and there was no sign that my mate was anywhere in the school. Mary meets me at my locker after the final bell rang letting us free for the night. I put all my books and homework in my locker since I’d never need them again. I left a note for my dad in my room so he would finally know the truth and what happened to me. Mary gave me a sad smile as we walked to her car. Making sure to avoid my brother as we leave. We head to Mary’s house. The car ride is quiet, both of us just going through all our years as best friends, which is our entire lives.
“This is how I’ll remember you, Ella. Happy, your eyes shining with the hope that you’ll be free. Free of the trauma, free of the pain. Don’t worry I’ll look after your dad. I’ll keep him posted as soon as you update me.” Mary hugs me one last time as I sling my giant duffel over my shoulder and head towards freedom.
As soon as we reach our border we’re shifting, my scent will automatically change to rogue and the pack bond will be shredded. We can’t afford a fight. I murmur to Rhea. I knew the shift would hurt, but we would die in an attack so I had to take the risk. Rhea jumped with joy, finally being able to come out and stretch her legs. Feel the breeze against her fur. We followed the river North until we reached the bridge that crossed out of our territory. With one final look behind my shoulder, I cross the bridge to my freedom. Once across I quickly duck behind a giant oak tree and slip out of my clothes. Stuffing them into my duffel, I relax all my muscles and prepare for Rhea to come forth and take control. The pain started immediately, exploding up my spine as my bones shifted and rearranged, muscles tearing and expanding, my fingers elongating teeth lengthening. The pain finally started to ease as the shift completed. I pad to the river’s edge and peer in. It had been so long since I’d seen my wolf. She had pure snow-white fur with black socks and black markings on the tips of her ears. Taking gulps of the ice-cold river to ease back the aches from the shift, I trot to my duffel. Slipping my snout under the duffel’s strap I wiggle it onto my back. Still heading North I speed up my pace as I hear the evening patrol approaching from my old pack’s territory.
“Great already at war with the vamps, now we have rogues to deal with?” a male mutters.
“From the smell, there’s only one, and smells weaker than the normal rogue.” a female responds. I quicken my pace and relax as the smell of Blood Moon’s Pack fades behind me.
Since the old territory ended we have about eighty more miles until Silver Moon’s borders. We can sleep in thirty miles so we are rested when we hit their borders in case they fight first. Rhea nods in acknowledgment. I stop in my tracks and perk my ears and sniff the air. A twig had snapped and with the war going on my first thought was a vampire. A quick sniff told me deer. My mouth waters at the scent, crouching down. I flatten myself to just above the ground. The deer comes into view unaware of my presence. I inch slowly forward and pounce, tearing the throat quickly. Laying down I enjoy the first hot, fresh meal I’d had in years. Belly full I pad further into the forest, I find a shallow cave and curl up for the night.
Predawn light sneaks into the cave stirring me awake. Stretching my paws I continue North towards Silver Moon’s Pack borders.
Two miles away from their border I freeze. An intoxicating smell hits my nose, a mix of the flowing river, mint, and a musky smell. Glancing around I perk my ears and can hear a patrol approaching their border. Three wolves step into view and my heart flutters as the scent intensifies. The black wolf freezes and raises his muzzle to smell the air. I can see some gray splashes along his muzzle with matching socks and a gray tipped tail. The other two stop and look at the first wolf. They were communicating, because the other two, a gray wolf and a reddish-brown exchanged a look and started surveying their surroundings. Still, in the covering of the trees and bushes, I slowly move closer. I stopped about a hundred yards away and sniffed again. The scent was overwhelming, but I could still smell the other two. All male, one very dominant either beta or possible alpha status, the other two dominate, but not as much as the first wolf. All unmated. I started questioning whether or not to leave or step out, but my muscles ached. I hadn’t shifted in so long and to stay shifted this long was very hard on the body. It felt like the ground started moving, my vision started going in and out of focus and I couldn’t think straight. I hear paw steps coming toward me, just as the ground meets me and I’m drowning in darkness, but caressed by the intoxicating smell.
A constant beeping jarred me awake, I try moving my arm to shut it off knowing if I didn’t my stepmother would kill me, but my arm doesn’t move. My muscles are so tired out they won’t function. I slowly cracked one eye open to see what was making the sound.
“Doc! Her heart rate spiked!” a deep velvety voice says, it sounded from my left, but I didn’t have the energy to move my head. That smell from last night tickles my nose reminding me of my freedom escape of the night prior. Rhea stirs inside me as she speaks. I could swear my heart stops.
Mate no, no that’s not right she has to be mistaken, but she keeps repeating it more and more certain than before. I try opening my other eye, but my body doesn’t respond. I give up on trying to move and just close my other eye and try to relax as I hear a pair of footsteps enter the room. The scent of disinfectant and hospital fills my nostrils, it has to be the doctor, I think to myself.
“Is she going to be okay?” that comforting voice asks, laced into his tone. Why does he care if I’m okay? I wonder and Rhea just purrs in response.
“She’s severely malnourished, which is why it was so easy for you to carry her wolf back here. What concerns me is the scar here,” I feel a cold object on my left wrist like the end of a pen or something, “which looks about a couple of years old, but that doesn’t make sense. She’s a wolf so if it was scarred it means it was done by silver, purposefully.” a growl rips from the throat to my left, it was deep, low, and threatening.
“When we found her she was carrying this on her back,” the chocolatey voice says dragging something on the floor, “she had to be running from something or someone right?” There was hurt in his voice like he couldn’t bear anyone to hurt me or scare me so bad I would flee.
“Once we get her labs back we will know more of what happened to her. I don’t like how skinny she is. For a female werewolf, she should have more muscle and you shouldn’t be able to see her ribs so well. I can count them all, that’s not good. I have her on a drip with nutrients, but the labs may not tell us everything. We may have to wait till she wakes up to know the full story. She smells rogue but doesn’t at the same time like she was in a pack and just fled, but time will tell.” the voice on my right says, I hear typing on a keyboard as he’s saying all this. I try opening my eyes again. I manage to open both, but it’s too bright and I close them again.
“Her wolf looked smaller than normal as well. That’s what worried me, even if her human form is skin and bone her wolf should at least have more muscle mass to her than her human form. That only happens if a wolf doesn’t regularly shift. That would explain why she fainted, she must’ve shifted for the first time in Goddess knows when and stayed shifted too long.” the soothing voice whines the doctor goes to speak again, but I can’t hear them anymore the darkness is taking over again. I surrender my consciousness to the darkness and let the noises fade to nothing.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone