The Runaway Luna

Chapter 4

Julia’s POV

Wow, Alpha Ross sounds very angry, I think as I hang up the phone. I don’t understand why he should be so upset, though. He doesn’t care about me, not even a little bit. All I was to him was a good f**k. He said so himself!

Why would he bother to beg me not to reject him, though? Why would he offer to replace my mother’s pearl necklace? He can’t replace my mother. Because that is what I would truly want back if it were possible. But my mother is dead, killed by Alpha Ross’s own men during that last horrible attack on Clear Lake four months ago. The day that I lost the only person on this planet who had ever cared about me at all.

And then that horrible scream from Alpha Ross right before I hung up? Holy heck, was he angry! If he should ever happen to find me, I’m as good as dead. I had better find someplace safe to live where he can’t touch me even if he should find me, and I believe I know just the place. I don’t have very much money on me, though, so I’ll have to find a job as soon as possible.

I walk along, enjoying the last bit of sunshine on my face as night begins to fall. I’m heading west towards Seattle, actually. To the Emerald Kingdom.

I’m hoping that I’ll find my fated mate there. My 18th birthday is tomorrow, so it could happen at any time now! I just hope my mate is understanding that I’m not a virgin anymore. But if I explain the reason why, maybe he will forgive me for not waiting for him. I had no choice at all! Not with Gabe threatening me the entire drive towards Harvest Moon for that farce of a Luna Ceremony. Not with Ross yanking me about, and then forcing himself on me like that.

I hate to admit that I actually enjoyed our lovemaking after that disastrous and frightening first time. But I did like it. A lot! I have actually been craving his touch on my body ever since then! I had even been willing to make a go of this mate bond afterwards. I had made all those vows, after all. But it turns out that he didn’t care about me at all, not even one little bit! He was just using my body to sate his s****l appetite, I suppose. I’ve heard male wolves can be like that.

I’ll never forget his exact words right before he fell asleep last night!

“You might not be much to look at, but at least you’re a great f**k!” He had said. So insulting! And it had echoed in my brain for hours afterwards until I just couldn’t stand it any longer! I had to get out of there! I wasn’t willing to be used or abused anymore. I deserve to be happy! Ross obviously wasn’t going to be the one to love me and make me happy.

I had crawled around quietly on the floor, first, trying to locate all of my mother’s pearls, and crying the entire time. My mothers dress was completely ruined, though. So I took a square-ish bit of the fabric and fashioned it into a sort of sack. I found my little suitcase inside the alphas huge closet, and I grabbed what few clothes I could fit into the makeshift satchel I had made.

Then I walked right out of the pack house, and shifted into my wolf Amethyst. She’s rather petite just like I am, which made it very easy to evade Alpha Ross’s border guards. And then we were safe, but we ran for miles and miles before we stopped to rest, curled up in the bushes along highway 90. I slept for several hours until I was awoken by hunger pains.

Amethyst was thankfully able to kill a rabbit for our breakfast, even though I would have much preferred pancakes, and then we had set off again, heading west and far away from Harvest Moon pack. Hopefully towards safety and a better life.

My reverie is suddenly interrupted when my phone starts to ring in my satchel. Oh my goddess! Alpha Ross is calling me back! I shakily answer, but I am too afraid of Ross to even open my mouth.

“Come… Back…NOW!” He shouts, sounding completely deranged. “I refuse your rejection! Tell me where you are, and I’ll send someone to come fetch you!”

I make a squeaky sound much more similar to that of a mouse than of the wolf that I am. But then I get mad. I’m NOT some stupid little mouse. And I won’t be bullied by Alpha Ross like I was by Alpha Gabe for all those years.

“No!” I say firmly.

“When I find you, I’m going to…” he says threateningly, but I hang up the phone before he could finish his threat since I don’t wish to hear whatever it is he plans to do to me. He can’t actually force me to come with him even if he should manage to find me. I drop my phone on the ground, and keep walking, even as I hear it begin ringing again. I don’t go back for it. I don’t care enough to hear anything he would probably say at this point.

I don’t need my phone. Nobody will ever call me whom I would want to talk to anyway. I had very few friends in Clear Lake, and I wasn’t allowed to go back there anyway. I wasn’t in Harvest Moon long enough to make any new friends. I’m all on my own now. It’s a rather frightening prospect, but I’m free at last! I can go wherever I want to go, and do whatever I want to do! No one can force me to do something I don’t want to ever again, I’ve decided.

I just need to get to somewhere safe, though, before I am caught by rogue wolves, or wander too close to some unfriendly territory. I’m definitely no where safe yet.

It’s getting very late in the evening, and I’m near a human town. I decide to stop in a small diner for a hot meal, after checking how much money is on me. It’s not a lot, but if I’m careful it’ll last me the few days it’ll take me to get to Seattle on foot, and the Emerald Pack. The capital of the Emerald Kingdom, which Harvest Moon and Clear Lake are both a part of. I’ll be safe in the capital, I’m sure of it!

First, though, I ask to use the restroom. The staff at the diner seem hesitant at first, but then tell me where to find it. And no wonder, I think, as I look in the mirror. My mahogany hair is a mess from sleeping under bushes, and I have a smudge of dirt on my cheek. I definitely need to make myself more presentable! I comb my hair until it becomes smooth again, and wash my hands and face. I emerge from the ladies room looking far more presentable.

“Ive been camping outdoors,” I explain to the hostess when she is seating me at a small table. She only nods, and tells me a waitress will be right with me.

I leave the diner sometime later after a rather heavy meal of chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy, and mixed vegetables. I look around the parking lot, trying to decide which way to go, since it’s a cloudy night. I’m not sure which way is west in the dark without the stars to guide me.

“Hey, honey! Did your boyfriend leave you here all alone?” I hear an unknown masculine voice come from close behind me.