Aurora

Mum stops shaking slightly before she looks at me with panic in her eyes.

‘Mum! We need to keep going. He will kill you if you go back,’ I tell her, but she shakes her head at me.

‘Not yet. We need to make it harder for him to find us,’ she says, wringing her hands. Her eyes fill with tears as she looks back to where we just came from.

‘What are you talking about? – let’s go!’ I urge but she stays still when she turns to look at me. She speaks so quietly that I almost don’t hear her.

‘The bond,’ I freeze. She’s right. The bond between mates is a powerful thing, so powerful that you can find your mate from any location. There could be hundreds of miles between you, but that connection, that pull to each other, is always there.

I nod looking back at her; I know she chose me. She defied not only her alpha but her mate to rescue me. It doesn’t mean that the choice won’t cost her. She needs to reject him before we go any further. Once the bond is severed, it will make it harder for him to locate us.

‘You’ve got his mum,’ I encourage, giving her a hug to give her the strength to do this. They have been together for years; she has stuck by him through so much and part of the reason is because it is almost impossible to sever a bond once you have been together for so long.

‘I Sarah Anderson, of the Blue Moon Pack, reject Richard Anderson as my mate and alpha. I renounce this pack as my home and as their Luna.’ I hear her voice break as her whole-body shudders and I hold her close, kissing her cheek.

I have never been prouder of my mum.

I know she is in agony, and we hear another roar from my father. The effect of the severed bond will be causing him pain too, not to mention having the pack link break.

‘Your turn, my sweet,’ my whispers in my ear. I nod, feeling her tears land on my shoulder. This part will be easier for me in some way, but despite everything, he is still my father, and this is never an easy step.

‘I Aurora Anderson, of the Blue Moon pack, reject Richard Anderson as my alpha and father. I renounce this pack as my home and the position of his heir and future alpha of the pack.’ I feel the link snap, freeing me from this place. With it, my whole future gone with it.

If I could have made it until I was 18, I would have had my wolf. I could have challenged my father for the position as Alpha and rid this pack of him, as it is things didn’t go that way. I release mum, wiping her tears from her cheeks as she does mine.

‘Let’s go,’ she says and we take off running once again.

We ran until our legs gave out. It would be faster to run in wolf form, but as I don’t have mine yet and the rejection has weakened mum, she can’t shift. We both stop by a tree slumping, catching our breath back.

‘Aurora … has that happened before?’ mum asks tentatively. I shake my head, wanting to reassure her.

‘No mum, you saved me,’ she gives me a sad smile but I know she will be okay, she is stronger than I could ever have imagined, I guess I was off limits she endured everything else as long as I didn’t come to harm.

I watched her dark blonde hair fall in front of her face as her eyes welled up once more. I looked so similar to mum she was the beauty of our pack and the envy of any visiting alpha. Her heart-shaped face, clear blue eyes, blonde hair, perfect hourglass figure. Your classic omega. She was a tiny thing as well, only 5ft 2” but like I said, she was strong and resilient even. I admired her in so many ways.

‘I don’t want you to suffer anymore either, mum,’ I whispered to her. She looked at me stunned, before looking even sadder than before. My chest squeezed. She thought she had protected me from that. Now she knew I knew.

‘It’s alright sweetie, let’s keep moving,’ she stood picking up her bag, and I grabbed the others as we walked through the forest until we found a road, looking both left and right we tried to see which way was best to go. We opted for the left as it turned further from our pack.

We walked for a further 30 minutes. I had no idea what time it was, but both of us we dead on our feet. I could see some sort of light in the distance and hoped it would be a small town or village where we could stay the night.

‘Mum, look I think that’s a light we can probably find somewhere to stay,’ she nodded, and I took her bag from her to lighten her load. She had had a rough night, we both had, but I knew no matter what, she was going to be affected by this worse than I was.

If I ever saw that man again, I was going to kill him. I just needed to make it until I was 18. I would get my wolf any abilities I might have and be stronger than before.

Mum gave me a sad smile as the village came into view. The place was quiet, probably given the time of night we were here. I took her hand, pulling her along until we found the only hotel in the place. Luckily for us, they had 24hour reception.

‘One room please,’ I said to the half-asleep receptionist behind the desk. His body jolted as I spoke, not realising that people were actually here in this ghost town.

‘How many nights will you be staying for?’ he asked. I looked at Mum. we were both so tired, but I knew we needed to keep moving. We were still too close.

‘One night please,’ he nodded, taking some details which I lied about before giving him the cash. He gave us a key, and we headed up the stairs to our room.

It was a standard room with a double bed. I had chosen it partly because I knew mum would need me and secondly because I would need her. I didn’t want what happened to haunt me as I slept. I needed to be strong if we were both to get through this.

‘I’ll take a quick shower, then I can run you a bath?’ I offered as mum just nods helping herself to the bottled water in the room.

‘Okay sweetie,’ I dashed into the bathroom, not wanting to leave her on her own. I also didn’t want to be caught off guard. I had no idea how far we had walked, how much distance we had put between us. I just prayed it was enough. Looking up at the moon, I prayed to the moon goodness for her help and guidance.

I jumped in the shower washing off his touch from my body. No amount of scrubbing made me feel clean. I had to deal with that another day. I’ll focus my attention on mum for now. Wrapping a towel around my body, I rinsed the bath before running it for her.

‘Bath’s ready, I called out.’ I heard a shuffle before she came through the door.

‘Thank you, Aurora,’ she looked close to tears once more. I left her too, hoping it would help her feel better. I looked through the items I had packed while drinking some of the water in the room. There were two other bottles and a few crisps and biscuits which I packed in the bag, not knowing what tomorrow would bring.

I dressed in jeans and a t-shirt as I towel dried my hair. I wanted to be actually dressed just in case. It would be a hell of a lot more obvious if I continue traipsing through the forest in my pyjamas. I looked in the mirror, not sure what to make of how I looked, his voice still ringing in my head.

I had got my curves from my mum; they weren’t anything like hers for sure. She had large, perky tits and an ass. Mine were still there. Even in this outfit, it looked sexy. My ass filled out my jeans and my breasts stretched out over the fabric of my t-shirt.

Was this my fault?

I sighed, shaking my head. No, I’m not going to think that way. As werewolves’ nudity isn’t a big deal, everyone strips before shifting if they have time, if there is an attack that’s not always possible, when it’s over and they switch back they all have to walk home naked or hope there is some clothes still buried in the woods or bush somewhere.

I reason that even if I wore shorts or skirts it shouldn’t matter, right?

‘It’s not your fault dear, your beautiful,’ mum pulls me from my faults and I turn to look at her. She still has that sad lost look on her face, but I can see she is trying to hold it together for me.

‘Let’s get some rest,’ she dresses similar to me, wearing actual clothes rather than trying to make a run for it in her slip. The thought makes me want to laugh.

We both get in bed as she wraps her arms around me securely. I drift off immediately, falling into a deep slumber.

WAKE UP

My eyes blink open hearing a voice, look around the room, the lights still on not seeing anyone, mum is still asleep beside me. Fear fills me as I head to the bathroom to make sure the place is clear. That’s when I heard voices outside the building of our hotel.

They found us already?

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.

Sabastian

It was the anniversary of our mother’s death. I missed her every day, she always understood me unlike my father. Despite the loss of his mate, father refused to step down as Alpha passing on the title to his sons. Whenever we broached the subject, he brushed it off but I think he just didn’t know which one of us to pass it too.

At 23 years old it is almost unheard of that an Alpha hasn’t passed on the title to his sons at this point. My brothers and I are quadruplets so it’s not like he didn’t have options, we each have our strengths and weaknesses. Since my mother’s passing our father let too much slip so we each took over the running of the pack, as far as I’m concerned, he is Alpha in name only. It is time he chooses someone to succeed him, he’s not old at 47 years but it is starting to show with his lack of judgment.

I suspect he is hoping for one of us to find our mate, he is old fashioned like that believing that a pack can’t be run by an alpha alone, he needs the support of his lune. I know my brothers all held hope from our 18ththat we would meet our Luna. It’s only at 18 that you get your wolf and with it can smell your mate. I saw the love my parents had for each other. I wanted that kind of bond that came from a fated mate.

After seeing how the death of my mother affected my father I decided there and then whoever my mate would be I would reject her. My brothers and I took over running this pack devastated from the loss of our mother but we couldn’t abandon the pack for our grief. The Silverbrook Pack has been our home, I have watched it grow to the pack it is today. Which is no thanks to my father he should have handed down the title of alpha but he refuses.

He had demanded to speak to me in his office which I was dreading, he acts like he is the only one who lost her, his mate and suffers the most. I agree to an extent the mate bond is a curse. Doesn’t he realise we lost our mother as well. My brother Caleb thinks I’m overreacting out of the four of us. He likes to keep the peace, his head is buried in so many books I’m surprised he even has time to notice what goes on around him.

Ethan and Gabriel see my side of things but they still value the mate bond, can’t they see how it took a great man, a great alpha and reduced him to nothing. What if none of us were here what would have happened to the pack? I don’t know how they can forgive him so easily.

I left my bed leaving her naked ass to sleep. Victoria and I had been casually seeing each other for years now. For me it was mainly hook-ups, she was good looking and after my mother’s death I needed someone. I think she took that as her sign that we were exclusive. I knew she had feelings for me but although I cared for her, I didn’t feel the same way. She wouldn’t be my Luna. Not that I needed one.

After a quick shower I headed over to my father’s office. After knocking I entered looking at the man I once admired.

‘You wanted to see me alpha’ I stated coldly looking him in the eye, he let out a sigh before standing up, his brows furrowed. He doesn’t ask me to call him that, I call him alpha as a sign of disrespect.

‘Yes, let’s go for a walk,’ I nodded as I followed him out of his office past the main area of the pack through the woods heading towards the mountains. We walked in silence as I lit a cigarette, I heard my father tut he didn’t approve of the habit, like I care what he thinks.

Once we had reached the base of the mountain I’d had enough. I wasn’t going to be summoned just to walk around the pack grounds in silence. Didn’t he know what the date was?

‘What is it you want to say to me that has to be all the way out here!’ I asked coldly, blowing out some smoke, stopping my footsteps as I waited for him to answer. He turned to look at me before he gestured to keep walking.

‘It’s about the alpha title, I want to find a way to make it fair to you all,’ he started as my heart sank, I knew what he was going to say.

‘You want us to compete against each other? We have all been running this pack fine managing the different areas. Why does it only need to go to one of us?’ I snap feeling irritated once more. I was close with my brothers. I didn't want anything to come between us, not a woman and not the title of alpha.

‘Every pack needs a leader, I don’t see why that should change things,’ I frowned as we walked some more heading towards the top.

‘Except it will, is that why you brought me up here to tell me you’re giving the title to someone else? Is it Ethan!’ I snapped. Ethan was technically the first born but as we were all minutes apart that didn’t really mean anything. Just because he pushed his way to the front to be born didn’t mean shit to me. I didn’t see how that would make him a better leader.

‘I haven’t decided anything just yet,’ he sighed exasperated. He looked tired from walking up the mountain, how was he supposed to protect this pack?

‘Sabastian, we used to be close. I know what happened with your mother was – ‘I cut him off. I didn't want to talk about her with him, he was acting like he didn’t even care. My eye had caught something blowing in the wind.

‘What’s that over there?’ We both headed in the direction of something flapping in the wind. Dad decided to run finding the source of what I’d seen.

‘It’s two women!’ Father shouted back as he continued to rush over to them, I followed picking up the pace as I saw them both huddled together tightly for warmth. There were discarded bags around on the floor.

‘Come help me,’ father demanded as he tugged them apart. They were half frozen together and my heart leapt. I couldn’t see her face, her long blond hair was still whipping in the wind but I wanted her to be okay.

‘Bloody hell they look half dead,’ I looked down seeing the other woman’s face looking white her lips cracked as she clung to the other girl. I still couldn’t see her face which irked me, her large sweater hid most of her body, but her slender legs looked good in her jeans.

Who is she, they weren’t from our pack and the nearest one is 3 hours away on foot looking at them both. They had come a long way.

‘If you take this one, I’ll carry the other,’ father handed me the young girl as I held her in my arms, I felt possessive of her. Her face rolled into my chest as I shielded her from the wind up here. Her hair blew back revealing her face. Fuck. She was stunning, long lashes, slender nose, plush pink lips that I was tempted to kiss. Her skin was covered in beautiful freckles that added to her beauty.

‘Yes alpha,’ was all I managed to say feeling my heart race, I looked over her body. She weighed nothing in my arms but I wanted to see if she was hurt, her eyes remained closed but was she injured. I couldn’t smell any blood on her, other than the few scratches that covered her face.

I saw dad lift the other woman as we headed back to the pack, I held her little body close to mine. I liked the feeling of her in my arms, which was odd seeing as I didn’t know her or could see her eyes. I just knew whatever they were would be perfect.

She stirred in my arms, I didn’t want her to be frightened of me, she was young I couldn’t sense her wolf yet which made it difficult to pick up which pack she was from. I looked back seeing their bags probably important if they nearly died carrying them. I slung them over my shoulder, careful not to jostle her as I did. They had both been through a lot, clearly running from something.

‘Hush little one you're safe,’ I whispered in her ear as her scent invaded me. She smelt like lilac and rain. I heard my wolf stir as he took in her scent grunting approvingly in my head, which made me frown slightly. He never liked any women normally.

‘Sabastian hurry we need to take them to the infirmary!’ Dad urged, sounding slightly panicked, I looked down at my little beauty, my little kitten she snuggled into my chest which just made my heart race, my wolf practically purring in my head.

I shook off the feeling she was stirring in me as I chased off after my father back down the mountain towards my pack. The whole time being careful with her in my arms. I felt ridiculous being so concerned already for her, she was nothing to me.

When we got to the infirmary I started to really worry about my kitten. She was still out cold. Yes I know I named her already, but she and no one else needed to know how I felt towards her. Gabriel, my brother came out. He's always been good with healing and helping others. Part of his duties is to work here. One of his many gifts was healing.

‘What happened?’ he called out, heading towards my father and I to assess the two women we held onto. He checked out the woman in dads arms first before giving him instructions for where to take her and what medical supplies he would need.

Next he came to my little kitten. I had to suppress the urge to growl at him as he turned her face towards his, he looked her over but rather than giving me the instructions to take her somewhere like he had father he tried to take her from my arms.

‘I can carry her! Where shall I place her!’ I snapped my wolf growling in my head, I forced him back. I didn't need him getting involved. Gabriel looked at me with an odd expression I couldn’t make out.

‘Room 5,’ he added sharply but before he could try to take her again, I was already on route before he could say anything else.

I entered the room gently placing her down. My fingers brushed the hair back from her forehead before I stepped back as Gabriel came in with a few supplies. He used his little torch to examine her.

At that moment her eyes snapped open, I was met by the most beautiful dazzling green eyes, she had bewitched me in that moment. Her gaze lingered on mine as her pupils dilated before she seemed to realise where she was. Fear took over her features as she jolted upright.

‘MUM!’