I glared at the man standing in front of me. “Submit,” he snarled, but when I refused, I saw his eyes flicker just slightly as his wolf came closer to the surface. Then he was suddenly in my face, his rough hand gripping my face tightly as he jerked me to my feet. “Submit!”
I smirked. At only seventeen and bound in silver chains, my wolf still knew her place, and it was not kneeling before anyone, even an alpha. “Please Pluto, just submit. Please,” I heard my mother pleading from somewhere behind me.
“No,” I managed to bite out through the Alpha’s tight grip. Instead of waiting for him to make a move, I kneed him as hard as I could in the balls. “Eat shit,” I said loudly as he fell to his knees in pain. I wrapped my chains around his neck, causing him to grunt in pain as the silver burned him, and pulled him to his feet. “Release my family. Now,” I demanded, but my voice wavered just slightly without the strength of my wolf to keep my dominance steady.
“Or what, little girl?” The Alpha sneered despite my grip on his throat. I tightened my grip on him, causing him to grunt, but he was able to shift, “Kill the parents,” he croaked.
“No!” I screamed as the Alpha’s warriors quickly beheaded my mom and dad. I felt not just the bonds between my mom and dad sever, but the bonds of the pack fully sever with the death of the alpha pair. The Alpha took advantage of the pain that came from the breaking of our bonds to free himself from me.
“Keep fighting, and your brother is next,” he said, rubbing his throat.
In a moment of pure pain and rage, my suppressed wolf was able to surge forward, despite the silver, and break through the chains keeping me in place. I quickly grabbed my five year old brother, Bennie, before any of the Alpha’s warriors could react, and ran. I ran so hard, my lungs were burning. We weren’t going to escape, but if I had a chance to escape, I was going to do my damnedest to get away.
I didn’t dare look behind me. I didn’t slow down either, despite the fact I couldn’t hear anyone behind us. I jumped over and shimmied under branches and downed trees as I reached them, running for our lives to the neighboring pack’s border. I hoped and prayed to the goddess the Alpha hadn’t taken it over on his way to our pack. An hour of impossibly hard running later, I finally spotted the pack house of the Mystic River Pack. I knew I had to make it quick, if I had any hope of saving my brother and I from the same fate as our parents. As I got closer to the pack house, I spotted the line of warriors, shifted with their hackles raised.
I set my brother down behind me and raised my hands, “I just need these off and I’ll be on my way.”
I watched as the wolves in front of me parted, allowing one of their alphas, Abelina, to step through with a set of keys. She tried several different keys until finally she was able to find one that fit. “Where will you go?”
“No Man’s Land,” I raised my chin slightly, as Abelina scented the air around me.
“You’re already starting to lose your pack scent. You’ll smell like a rogue by morning,” she said sadly, knowing the reason I would lose my pack scent. “What about your brother?”
My eyes narrowed slightly, “He goes with me. I can protect him.”
She nodded, “I’m sorry we can’t do more.” She motioned for her son to come forward with a duffle bag filled with clothes, food, and a little cash.
I grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze before taking the duffle bag. “Thank you for this.”
She gave my hand a squeeze before releasing the bag, “Your parents would’ve done the same for us. I wish we could do more.”
I shook my head, “I don’t want what happened tonight to happen to anyone else. We need to go. They weren’t chasing us, but I’m guessing that won’t last for long.”
She nodded, “Be safe. Trust no one.”
I triggered my shift, grabbed the duffle bag, and laid down so Bennie could get on my large back. Once he was settled, we were off, running for No Man’s Land, where the majority of rogues lived. I ran for a few hours before I heard Bennie’s small voice from behind me, “Toot-Toot, I’m hungry and tired.”
I slowed down and surveyed our surroundings before coming to a complete stop. He slipped off my back and immediately dug through the bag for something to eat. “Manon do you know where we are?” I asked my wolf. We were pretty much completely surrounded by the scent of rogues so I knew we were close, if not already inside rogue territory.
“We’re a few miles inside No Man’s Land. We should keep going tonight. Get as far from the border as we can.”
I agreed with her, but I wasn’t sure Bennie could go much further. I reached out through mind link, “Can you go for a little longer, Ben-Ben?”
He looked at me as a big yawn took over his face and he rubbed his eyes, “I don’t know Toot-Toot. I’m really tired.”
“Just a little longer. We can sleep soon, but we need to get just a little further into No Man’s Land.”
He sighed, but nodded before climbing back on my back. We were able to get much further into the territory before I found a safe place to bed down for the night. Bennie used the duffle bag as his pillow, and in my wolf form, I wrapped myself around him to keep him warm.
Manon startled me awake mid morning the next day, “There are other people here.”
I opened my eyes, growling low in warning. There were two large shifted wolves flanking a man who held his hands out as if to reassure me he meant no harm. “Shift so we can speak,” he said with power behind his words. I growled again in defiance, standing and moving so that I stood over Bennie, who was still laying on the ground. The stranger cocked his head to the side, confused his command didn’t work. “Shift,” he commanded once again.
I growled louder as my hackles raised and I bared my teeth, causing the two shifted wolves to growl, but shift uneasily as I challenged their leader. “Toot-Toot, what’s going on?” Bennie asked.
The man crouched to address Bennie, causing my growl to become more feral. “Can you speak for Toot-Toot, buddy?”
“Her name is Pluto. Only I call her Toot-Toot,” Bennie said defensively. “Is that okay Toot-Toot?” He linked me.
“Yeah Ben-Ben. Ask what his name is and what he wants.”
Bennie relayed my questions, “Jonathan Parker, former beta of the Nightshade Pack.” I growled loudly and took a step toward him with my head down and teeth barred again. Jonathan quickly backed away with his hands out in front of him, but before I got too far, the other two wolves stepped in front of him. “I left once Barrett took over because of his cruelty, particularly to packs he attacked.”
“He killed our parents last night when he took over our pack,” Bennie said in a small, sad voice.
Against my better judgment, I turned my back to Jonathan and the two wolves to comfort Bennie; something I hadn’t done yet in my drive to get us somewhere safe. He cried into my silver fur as he held me tightly to him. I was thankful they didn’t try to attack or interrupt us as Bennie cried. “It’s going to be okay, Bennie. We’ll get through,” I mind linked him, once he had settled down a little.
“How did you escape?” Jonathan asked, causing Bennie and I to look at him. “No one escapes.”
I turned back to them and shifted, quickly dressing before addressing them. “I refused to submit. He got too close and left himself open for an attack. He still gave the order to kill our parents, and when they died, I broke through the silver chains and was able to grab Bennie before they could react.”
Jonathan looked at me shocked. He shook his head, “That’s not possible. There’s no way you could bust through silver chains or escape on foot, no matter how surprised they were.”
I shrugged, “That’s what happened. What do you want?”
“We were checking the borders when we found you. I thought it best to make sure you were both okay, especially with the little one.”
I narrowed my eyes, “It’s No Man’s Land. I didn’t think the borders were controlled like a normal pack’s are.”
“True, but some of us still check the borders to make sure the pack leaders are upholding the treaty that created No Man’s Land.” He appraised me, “What are your names? What pack were you with?”
“Pluto and Bennie Webb. Dawn Crescent Pack.”
“Fuck.” He breathed out in a shaky voice and shook his head in disbelief.
“How many more packs is he going to take over?”
He shook his head again, “I don’t know.”
“Who are these other wolves?”
He pointed to the larger one, “My son, Dex, and my mate, Harriet. Would you be okay if they shifted?”
I looked down at Bennie, who gave a small shrug, before nodding. “What’s your plan sweetie?” Harriet asked once she had shifted and slipped into some clothes.
I shrugged, “I don’t know. I didn’t think we would make it this far.”
Before we could say anything else, six large wolves burst through the underbrush with one gigantic wolf leading the charge. I didn’t have to breathe in to know who stood before me. Jonathan looked at Bennie and me, “Run.”
“Bennie get up a tree. I’ll link you when it’s safe,” I mind linked him.
“But Toot-Toot-”
“No Bennie. Go,” I linked, cutting him off mid sentence.
He looked up at me, scared, but scurried into the underbrush before climbing as far up a tree as he could. I shifted through my clothes into my huge wolf form, and let out a loud howl. I heard Jonathan, Dex, and Harriet shift as well, but I didn’t dare take my eyes off of Barrett’s gigantic wolf. As the wolves advanced on us, I let out another howl, louder than the first, and began backing away from them, growling.
Barrett lept, but was hit midair by a large black wolf. I didn’t wait for one of the other wolves to attack, I jumped on the back of the large grey and brown wolf that stood to the left of Barrett. Before I could snap its neck, I was dragged off by another wolf. I looked behind me as Barrett’s large dark grey and white wolf snapped my back leg between his jaws. I howled in pain, and was hit in the side by the wolf I had just attacked.
The other wolf tried to find purchase on my back, but was dragged off by another wolf. I growled loudly and turned to face Barrett, taking a huge chunk out of his shoulder. Barrett howled in pain, but instead of attacking, he looked around us and started making his way back towards the underbrush. I watched as his pack members fled, but I didn’t let Barrett get too far before I grabbed onto his back leg. I pulled him roughly back toward me. I felt something pop in his hip, causing him to swing around and bite at me. I moved out of the way just quick enough to not be hit. Manon yipped in my head as I felt the crunch of his leg bones in my jaws. He twisted around and was able to shove me off him and escape.
For the first time, I looked around me and saw all of the rogues that had come to my howl. I didn’t know it would work, let alone this well. There were at least ten rogues not including Jonathan and his family. “It’s safe to come down, Bennie, but be careful.”
“Are you hurt, Toot-Toot?” He linked back.
“Nothing serious.”
He gave me a big hug and once over when he reached me, “You look really hurt, Toot-Toot,” he said quietly.
I nudged him gently, causing him to giggle, “You should see the other guy. I’m pretty sure I popped Barrett’s hip out of place.” I surveyed our surroundings, lifting my nose in the air as the breeze flitted through the trees. There was still an overwhelming scent of the Nightshade Pack. “Bennie, can you ask them if there’s somewhere we can go? I don’t trust the bastard not to come back with more warriors.”
Bennie relayed my question, curse word and all, causing me to snort. Harriet shifted and addressed one of the rogues, “Owen is your mate around? Could we maybe go to your place to set her leg before it starts healing improperly?” Owen nodded as I laid down to let Bennie get on my back, “Pluto it might be better to let one of us carry Bennie.”
I shook my head, “Hop up Ben-Ben.”
“Are you sure Toot-Toot?”
I blew out a breath, “Yeah Ben-Ben. I’m sure. I don’t trust them enough to let you ride on their backs. I can’t lose you too.”
“I could walk. You can’t move that fast, and if I get tired, you can carry me.”
I huffed out another breath, picking up the duffle bag, “Okay, Ben-Ben,” I rubbed against him as we started walking, “Let me know if you get too tired, because you’ve got such tiny legs.”
He let out a tiny growl, and shoved me as hard as he could which barely moved me. “I do not!” He said aloud, not quite used to using the mind link consistently because it was still kind of new to him. I gently shoved him, causing him to stumble and giggle as he caught himself. When he was walking next to me again, I licked his face, “Bleh, stop it, Toot-Toot.” I licked him a few more times, causing him to giggle out his protest, “Toot-Toot! Stooppp!!” He shoved me again, but this time I didn’t have enough warning to brace myself. When he hit me, I shifted my weight to my back leg, causing me to stumble pretty badly and whine from the pain. Dex was there immediately on my left side, helping me to get my balance back. Bennie was on me immediately, “I’m so sorry Toot-Toot. I didn’t mean to push you so hard.”
“It’s okay Ben-Ben. It was my fault, not yours.” I gently nudged him in his back, “I’m okay, Bennie.”
“Are you sure?” He asked in a small voice.
“I’m positive,” I linked back, annoyed I couldn’t really reassure him. Luckily we made it to Owen’s small house on the outskirts of the dense forest surrounding us.
“You can lay down here, Pluto,” Owen’s mate said, gesturing to a spot on the floor in their small living room. She whispered an incantation, “Pluto, my name is Sara. You have a pretty badly broken leg. I’m going to set it. You won’t be able to shift back for at least a day. Owen, Jon, and Dex can you please hold her while I set it.”
Author: Kailan Counahan 