His Runaway Luna

3. Chasing Freedom

Iris 

Colton didn’t take even a full minute to show up carrying a small bag. 

“You can carry it in your wolf’s mouth. Here you can find money, some cereal bars, documents, and a map. I’ve just invited Joshua and Nate, the guards that were in charge of the Southern Border for a morning beer. So, you know where to go. Only shift to your wolf after you cross the borders, this way it will take a little longer for the Alpha to feel that your bond with the pack was broken and that you are away. Don’t stop running until you see the first human town,” he whispered so quietly, that I could only hear him because of my wolf senses. 

I nodded nervously, but I could feel the reassurance coming from Sapphire and it brought me a sliver of peace. 

“I can’t stay longer, the guys are waiting for me to have the beer. Be safe and good luck, pup,” Colton added, placing a kiss on the top of my head before he left. 

I walked as fast and as quietly as I could, covered by the veil of the dark morning and having my scent concealed by the falling snow. The chilly wind mixed with my heavy panting made me feel a little dizzy. 

I wasn’t a warrior and neither was I used to run such a long distance. When I was a pup, I used to ask my dad to take me to train and he did it a few times. We both hoped that one day I could succeed him as the Gamma, but all too soon, the former Alpha crushed our dreams, saying that his pack wouldn’t ever have a female gamma and forbade me to train. 

I sighed at the memory, bringing a gush of icy wind into my tired and burning lungs, coughing in response. My legs were starting to hurt and my muscles felt heavy and tired, but I knew that I had to push through it. 

“We are almost at the border, after the human town we can go and find a new pack, one that is open for newcomers,” I told my wolf. 

“Then we will find our fated mate,” she smiled, clenching her eyes shut dreamingly. 

I heard the noise of approaching steps and crouched down between two pine trees, trying to not make any noise, I was even holding my breath. 

I looked with the corner of my eyes, Beta Grey was walking around in and a large brown wolf followed him. 

“That f*cking brat isn’t around. And if she moves to the South, the patrollers will catch her, let’s head to East,” he told the wolf and they both turned around, but before leaving the Beta took a last look in my direction, making me tremble. 

“Hold on, Iris. Otherwise, they will be able to smell your fear,” Sapphire said. I tried to do what she said and keep as quiet as a statue, but my eyes met the grey gaze of the Beta. 

Panic made cold sweat run down my forehead and neck and my lips started to quiver. The thick blizzard seemed to affect me much more now that fear sent its chilly shivers down my spine. 

He found me. I was dam.ned, I would be sentenced to death for trying to leave the pack. I only hoped that Zita and Colton wouldn’t be punished as well. 

To my surprise, he turned around once again and grumbled, “I thought I’d heard something moving, but it must have been a little animal. She isn’t here.”

“How come he didn’t see us?” I asked Sapphire. 

“I don’t know, maybe he is short-sighted or maybe it’s one of our special powers.” I could feel her relief and let out the breath I was holding. As soon as the Beta and the wolf disappeared in the white infinity of the landscape surroundingus, I started running towards the border once again. Running towards my freedom. 

When my feet were about to cross the line that separated our pack from the vast/ never-ending silver forest. The fresh and crispy smell of the forest entered my nostrils, it brought me peace and relief; I could feel the sweet sense of freedom surrounding me as my eyes grasped the endless pine trees spiked with snow. I took off my coat and placed it in my bag, as the delicate flakes of snow fell on my hair. A soft smile formed on my lips. right now, it didn’t feel cold and dark anymore, only refreshing as my eyes found the dainty light of the rising sun on the faraway horizon. 

“Let’s find our fate,” my wolf barked excitedly in my mind and I shifted to her form, taking the bag in her mouth. She crossed the border and I felt a sharp headache though only for an instant, my ties with the Northern Light pack were officially broken and that’s when I became a rogue wolf.  

“I like the words lonely but free better,” Sapphire giggled in my mind and I had to agree with her. She started running on the thick snow, as fast as her paws could push her, I could hear her ragged breath and feel her leg muscles overworking. 

We had to pursue our freedom. 

Sapphire gulped hard when she caught a glimpse of an approaching shadow with the corner of her eyes, the cold and woody scent of frost and dry pine invaded my nostrils. And before Sapphire could even react, the Alpha’s large black wolf launched at her, making her fall down to her side. He manhandled her with ease, flipping her to her back, placing his heavy paws on her belly and his claws just over her neck, and letting out a loud and angry growl. 

His aura was radiating with sheer wrath, which made even the trees shiver and the wind play a somber song. 

The warmth of his breath fanning over Sapphire’s face made her tremble as tingles of fright broke across her skin, in this position we were completely at the mercy of a merciless tyrant. He could easily kill her in a matter of seconds. 

There was no escape, no freedom, no future. We were as good as dead. 

“Sorry, Sapphire!” I murmured in my mind. 

Sapphire closed her eyes and released a sharp whine. Fear, pain, and submission to the overpowering Alpha resonated, piercing through the silence of the vast white forest. 

Panic consumed me, colder than the snow and the wind chastising Sapphire’s skin. He was about to kill us.