Born to be Sacrificed to the Alpha

Chapter 3

Harlow walks out the back door of the school and breaks into a run in through the trees, running faster and faster through the forest, the damp earth making a strange slapping sound under her shoes. Fortunately, the rain has eased up enough for her to get home without getting saturated.

Her bag is only carrying a limited number of books as she has no time for school work when she is at the cabin anyway.

The bag is mostly empty but still rather cumbersome at the fast speed she is travelling, swerving in and out of tree trunks at a breakneck pace.

In the middle of dense forest with no roads running in or out, a lone log cabin sits. The canopy of the trees above it doesn’t let a single ray of sun reach the moss-covered roof of the cabin at all. The trees are so thick that it is hard to tell it is even still only the afternoon and it hasn’t moved into evening, made even worse by the dark storm clouds that are still threatening to part and spill the heavens.

Harlow sighs as she stands in front of the cabin, her small pale hand moves up and sweeps the large hood back from over her head, letting the material drape casually at the back of her neck.

Harlow’s hair is a silver gray that catches even the faintest ray of sun, giving it a glittering, near metallic look. It is cut to her shoulders and held back by a thick black headband. Her large navy blue eyes assess the cabin in front of her.

Her incredibly individual colourings are part of the reason why she keeps herself hidden. The other most important part is that she doesn’t want to associate with anyone, connections in her situation are pointless.

As soon as she opens the door a large man with the same distinctive navy eyes stands in the doorway as if waiting for her arrival. Harlow takes a step in and the mans nostrils flair.

“You went near Austin?”

“No dad, we had a little incident in the corridor. That is all”

“I warned you, you can get close to anyone, but not Austin. Your task will be impossible if you get close to him”

Harlow walks toward the kitchen area, but her father grabs her arm, his large claws dig into her the pale flesh, drawing a small amount of blood.

“Did you hear me?”

“I heard you dad, I am not close to him, I know the rules, I know my purpose”

Seth releases his daughter's arm and pats it gently.

“Don’t be so negative Harlow, it might all work out”

Harlow pats her father's shoulder with a sad smile. Nothing is said between the two about his over-reaction, as it is just usual practice.

“Of course it will be fine dad”

Harlow knows that it will be a miracle if she makes it through her eighteenth birthday. But that is just how it is in the Bailey family. It has been the same for many generations and isn’t about to change anytime soon. It definitely isn’t going to change for Harlow and Austin.

The Bailey family is a pack in itself. It travels around to wherever requires their certain expertise, whoever can afford to hire the Bailey family is nearly guaranteed of a smooth resolution.

The genetics of the Bailey family make them all geniuses, but they are all a family of enforcers. Any problem, whether it is for the brain or for the brawn, can be handled by the small Bailey family. But there is another use for the Bailey family that not many know about.

Harlow continues on into the kitchen.

“Harlow when you're done, I have a job for you”

Harlow doesn’t turn back to face her father, just grabbing the ingredients out of the cupboard in a practiced manner. She may only be seventeen, but she is used to living alone, she is used to caring for herself and others.

“No worries Dad. I'll just have a quick snack and then I'll get on to it”

Harlow stands in the kitchen with a grim expression, her father doesn't even sound convinced when he says things like that. The other special purpose for the Bailey family is all tied in with the Sapphire pack, which is Austin's pack. The Sapphire pack is incredibly large and their alphas are incredibly talented, but they have a glitch in their DNA.

Maybe a flaw is more to the point. It is a bad flaw, but the way they have worked it, is that only the Bailey family is impacted, everyone else is blissfully unaware. The flaw means that when the bloodline turns eighteen, when their wolf awakens and they have their first shift. The wolf is wild and takes over the human completely, leaving no sense whatsoever, leaving only a wild beast.

The job of the Bailey family line is to train with the Mitchell family line to help them through the process, to be able to bring the human side back and get them working together.

Seth, who is Harlow's father, got Austin's father through, but a lot of others are not so lucky.

Harlow has already lost her two elder brothers to the task. Austin has also lost two elder brothers.

The way it usually works is before the Luna of the sapphire pack wants to get pregnant, the mate of the Bailey family's heir gets pregnant before. So they can have a kid to match up with each sapphire pack descendant. They churn out so many kids and it's only likely that out of so many kids, that only one will survive.

After Harlow, there are six younger brothers all waiting on the chopping block.

But something was different for Harlow, something went wrong and the Luna of the Sapphire pack got pregnant too early, which was fine because Harlow was already conceived at that stage, but Harlow came slightly late and Austin came a little early and it just so happens that both of their birthdays are on the same day.

For Harlow's elder brothers, they had six to twelve months to train their wolf for the mission before they had to undertake it. But Harlow is going in to face the battle only getting her wolf at exactly the same time as Austin will be getting his.

Harlow is the first daughter to be born in the Bailey bloodline. While she has not been treated incredibly badly, she knows it was a big disappointment that she was born a woman.

Seth had two whole years to train his wolf before he was able to successfully guide Austin’s father through the transition and even then he barely made it out alive.

Harlow has trained night and day to be strong enough and she is strong, she is unbeatable. She is a literal weapon, but it is unlikely that she will survive with her newly awakened wolf. While strong, it will be impossible that she will be able to undertake such a task.

There is every chance that she will die and there is every chance that in her failings, that she will also not be able to help Austin through, so the way she feels about Austin.

Ultimately, she knows that he will be the one killing her. It will still essentially be her fault.

It is not her fault for a lot of things and no matter how much she trains and how much she wishes, she cannot bring her wolf forward and awake her early.

So technically, it is neither Austin’s or Harlow’s fault, but she cannot help being bitter about it.

Losing her two elder brothers that doted on her so much was a massive blow to the girl. The Bailey family never had a girl, so they subjected her to even more rigorous training, in order to make up for the so-called deficit.

In the line of work they have, with their special task, having a v*gina became the biggest burden.

They haven’t even told the Sapphire pack that Austin has a female to guide him through, they are embarrassed about the fact that it will be another failing, blaming the whole thing on Harlow’s gender instead of the lack of wolf training. The Bailey family have already written Harlow’s and Austin’s death certificates before the event, they have no faith in her to be able to accomplish the impossible.

Harlow spreads the peanut butter on the piece of bread before shoving it in her mouth and walking toward her room.

The cabin is secluded and looks like it is from the early settlers. Maybe it is so old, it looks completely cut off from modern technology, but looks can be decieving..

Harlow opens the door of her bedroom, revealing an impressive computer set up, a large TV adorns the wall and a luxurious bed in the centre of the room.

A few little luxuries are the compensation for the final count down to death. Harlow sits down at her desk chair, leaning back casually as her eyes skim the case file.

She stretches her fingers as she sits back up, her fingers skim the keyboard quickly.

Of course, even at her push to the end, she still has to make some money for the Bailey family. Not that she really minds, it is better to fill her day with tasks, it is better than the alternative, watching the clock, waiting for her last breath.

Seth is already gone and she is alone. The only reason he came was just to give her this information. He doesn't pretend to have feelings for his daughter, he never has. As it gets to the final stretch, the Bailey family member just get abandoned in this place and left to themselves.

The rest of the family living together in the sun, travelling around to where they are needed. The sacrificed is just forgotten nil they come to collect the body.