Bella: The Beta's Daughter

4. The only family I had ever known.

A few seconds later Michael's wolf came trotting out of the bushes. I turned my head so that Michael could shift back into human form and change into some clothes. He usually had clothes stashed around the cabin for instances like these.

“Bella, I am sorry I am late. Are you ready? We need to get you out of here!” He said alarmingly.

“That's ok Uncle Michael, I’m ready when you are,” I replied.

“Ok, follow me,” He said leading the way through the woods toward the boundaries of our pack lands.

“Uncle Michael, I need you, to be honest with me, Who are my parents?” I asked bluntly. There was no time to beat around the bush. I needed answers and I needed them now.

Michael looked at me gravely and solemnly. As if he knew he couldn’t keep it from me any longer.

“I’m sorry Bella, I have wanted to tell you for so long, but you had so much to contend with already. I didn’t want to make matters worse for you.” Michael replied with a guilty expression on his face.

“Tell me who they were, what were their names?” “Was my Mother killed by Alpha Grayson? And, why did the Mitchells refer to me as a traitor?" I blurted out quickly.

“Woah, who told you that?” Michael questioned me.

“I overheard them talking about me and my real parents this morning, they spoke of getting their compensation from Alpha Grayson for looking after me, if you call it that, for all of these years,” I told him matter-of-factly.

“Firstly, Yes, it is true, Alpha Grayson did kill your mother. I tried to stop it, Bella, I promise, I truly did.” Michael said with his head bowed downwards, I could sense the regret and sadness in his voice.

“I don’t understand, why would Alpha Grayson kill my Mother? What could she have done to warrant that?” I said as I started firing my questions at Michael, as we made our way through the eerily quiet forest. I was feeling quite shattered right now. I felt like I was mourning the death of a parent I have never known.

So many questions spring to mind. Do I look like her? Was she pretty? Was she strong? What was my Father like? Did they love each other? Where is he? This is all going through my mind as I wait for Michael to answer me.

“It’s a long story Bella, but I guess it starts with what happened between your father, your biological father, and Alpha Grayson. You should know that your father was originally Grayson’s Beta. He had come from a strong Alpha family, he was of alpha blood, but he was the second-born son, so his older brother became Alpha of the pack he was born into.” Michael paused for a minute and stopped.

I watched as his eyes glazed over. He looked to be in a mind link. I wasn’t able to mind link, as I had never gotten my wolf. We can’t mind link until we meet our wolf and become one with them, then the mind link clicks into place. So I will most likely never have that privilege.

“It looks like young Maddox is now our Alpha. We need to move faster Bella. Our absence will be noticed soon enough.” Micheal replied hastily.

I nodded in agreeance and picked up my speed. My wolfless status was holding us back, if I had my wolf we could shift and we would be out of pack territory in no time.

“Please continue with the story. I need to know who my parents were.” I pleaded with him softly to continue. Michael took a breath in and then continued with his story.

“Your father had a strong wolf, and his human counterpart was also strong, kind, and had a staunch moral code. He did not like how things were going around here. He didn’t agree with Grayson's rule. He even challenged it outwardly. They fought here at Blood Moon, your father was strong and he put up a good fight. However, Grayson was unwilling to give up his status so he fought dirty, and as a result, your father was unsuccessful in the challenge. He was gravely wounded, but he had managed to make it off pack lands before he was killed.” Michael declared to me.

“Why didn’t he take me with him, and my mother?” I asked, still unclear on everything.

“He didn’t know that you had been born. He never even knew that your mother was pregnant” Micheal blurted out.

“I don’t understand. Was my mother not from this pack?” I asked, trying to piece things together.

“Your mother was not from this pack. Your parents met at the fall ball. They weren’t fated mates. Bella, they spent only one night together. And you were the result of that night.” Michael told me slowly and softly.

“Oh, so I wasn’t planned?” I blurted out. I could feel a flurry of emotions releasing from me.

“While it is true that you weren’t planned, you should know that your mother loved you dearly. She came here when you were two years old, she had planned to tell your father about you. But when she arrived, the alpha challenge had already taken place.” Michael replied.

“When Alpha Grayson realized that you were the child of his enemy, he unleashed in fury, He killed your mother instantly, and kept you as collateral. He had plans, and he wanted to use you in his revenge on your father. The only thing is he was never able to find your father. And as time went by, it became less of a priority to him. You never challenged anyone. You just assimilated in the pack and did what was asked of you.” Micheal declared.

“Until recently. For some reason, the fire has ignited in Alpha Grayson, and after all this time he has started speaking of your father again. I fear that he has noticed that you have bloomed into quite a capable, intelligent and beautiful young woman, and it has not gone unnoticed by many of the wolves here, in particular the higher-ranking members. You aren't safe here Bella,” Michael said gravelly, lowering his head as if ashamed.

“But I don’t get it. What did my father do that could have led to the Alpha killing my mother and hunting him like that?” I asked Michael, I was so confused right now.

At that moment, we heard shuffling in the bushes from behind us. We both turned our heads instinctively. We had taken too long. We had dropped the ball, too busy talking to take proper notice of our surroundings. We had company.

It appeared to be the patrol guards approaching, they looked to be mind-linking Michael, I stood there trying to keep my nerves at bay. While they didn’t know what we were doing, the fact that I was wearing a large backpack, and rapidly approaching the border probably looked highly suspicious.

` After a few minutes of patiently waiting for everyone to finish mind-linking, I watched the patrol guards trot off. I looked at Uncle Michael, he looked at me with a concerned look on his face.

“That was close, too close, Bella we need to move faster. I’m gonna shift and I want you to get on my back. This will be easier if I am in wolf form,” Michael instructed me.

“But we haven’t finished talking, you were gonna tell me about my parents?” I said in a reluctant tone. I didn’t have the answers I needed. And I was not planning on leaving until I did.

“Bella, I will tell you everything you need to know and more, but we need to get you across the border. I have a friend in a car waiting for us. Let me get us there in my wolf form, then I will shift and tell you all you need to know once we get to the car, deal?” Michael said, looking at me hopefully.

I stood there with my arms crossed, I knew I was acting like a brat. It was just that in the last several hours my whole life had been turned upside down, and I needed answers. Nothing is what I had always thought it to be. I felt so confused. But I couldn’t stay mad at Uncle Michael, he had this uncanny way of always getting me to agree to things.

I watched Uncle Michael shift into his wolf form, it never got old watching the transformation from man to wolf, it was the transformation from wolf to human that I couldn’t watch.

Uncle Michael kneeled down for me to jump on, which I did with ease. Then he took off and ran like the wind. It didn’t take us long to get to the border and to the spot where the car had been parked, and Michael's friend was waiting. Uncle Michael bent down, for me to get off, then walked to the nearest tree and shifted back to human form.

I have a friend waiting for us, his name is Ben, you can trust him. I would trust him with my life. I have no doubt that you will be safe in his care," Michael declared.

"Hey Ben, thanks for coming, and for your assistance," Uncle Michael greeted his friend. He was tall and slender with sandy blonde hair, he was dressed in navy dress pants and a white dress shirt, which was rolled up at the elbows. He looked friendly enough.

"Anytime old friend, anytime. You must be the lovely Bella, Hi I'm Ben," He said to me, extending his hand out to shake mine. I extended mine and we shook hands. He appeared to have a relaxed vibe about him.

"Ben will take you a couple of towns over, from there he will see you to a bus. It will be a long ride but at least you can travel a bit more inconspicuously. If they decide to look for you, and I think they will, the first place they will look is at the airport. No one travels by bus these days. So hopefully you can travel under the radar, and pay for everything with cash, leave no digital footprints," Michael continued.

“So now can you tell me everything, about my parents, who they were?” I pleaded with Uncle Michael.

“I wish I could tell you everything but we don’t have that sort of time. I was just mind-linked by Alpha Grayson, he asked me if I had seen you, and said that you were supposed to report to his office, it’s only a matter of time before he mentions something to his patrol guards, and they put two and two together. Bella, I'm sorry but you need to get in the car now!” He said quickly and worryingly.

I pouted and sighed out loud, but I did as he said and sat in the passenger side. I watched Uncle Michael run towards the car, and then I saw it. I saw the two patrol guard wolves from earlier stalk toward the car. I wondered if perhaps they had followed us this whole time.

“Ben, get her out of here now!" Michael called out to his friend.

"Gotcha, take care old friend!" Ben called back to Michael. He then turned the car on and shifted the car into drive.

Michael looked back at me and called out, "Bella, I love you! Get to Rocky Mountain - you will be safe there!” Uncle Michael said as she shifted into his wolf in front of my very eyes.

I watched in horror as the two wolves started to circle him, as though they were stalking their prey. Michael outranked them, being that he was their Gamma, but they would be following through with their alpha's orders, and it was still two-on-one. I had to help him somehow. This was all my fault after all, if he hadn’t been helping me escape he wouldn’t be about to fight for his life right now.

I watched as the first wolf snarled at Michael, who growled back louder. At that moment the wolf behind him went straight for his ear and ripped it clean off. I screamed uncontrollably as I watched in horror as the blood spurted everywhere, drenching Michael's fur coat. I could smell that metallic odor of blood from inside the car. In the time it took for Michael to react the other wolf took a chunk out of Michael’s front right leg. I screamed again in horror. I had seen more than enough, I opened the car door frantically, not caring that it had already started moving, and I jumped out hoping to distract one of the wolves long enough to buy Uncle Michael some time.

I could hear Ben yelling at me to get back in the car. But I ignored him. Michael was the only family I had ever known, and I would fight for him no matter what.

I ran faster than I ever thought I could, zig-zagging in between the trees, but it was all in vain, the patrol guard wolf was gaining on me quickly. I saw a large stick, so I picked it up and backed towards a tree, The wolf started to stride towards me. I held my large stick up and as it got closer I whacked it as hard as I could. The wolf growled loudly in return. I have done absolutely no damage to the wolf, other than antagonizing it further. Good one Bella, I thought to myself. I felt my body shiver in fear, I could feel my heart racing so fast in my chest. I was trapped and I had no idea of what to do next.

Before I could even contemplate my next move. the wolf then lunged at me, and I felt myself begin to fall backward. I then felt warm liquid fall from my forehead, down the side of my face, and the smell of blood hit my nostrils as I hit a fallen tree trunk and became pinned to the ground but he patrol wolf. I briefly saw little white stars everywhere, my vision began to blur, and then I saw darkness.