Hiding the Alpha's Twins

7

MEGHAN

When I was little, one of my favorite activities was climbing trees. My grandma lived in the middle of the woods of our pack, far away from the pack house or any kind of civilization, so I spent my time as a little girl climbing up and down the trees. My grandfather had also built an adventure track on the trees, with rope ladders and bridges. It was fair to say I was an expert, when it came to that – and, as I discovered as I jumped from the window, I hadn’t completely lost that ability.

My fingers easily found a solid branch and gripped it tight, closing around the rough bark. The branch only swung a little, but showed no signs of breaking, so after a moment, I slowly moved my hands in front of one another, slowly creeping towards the trunk.

Once there, I found my footing on a lower nearby branch – and from there, I started my descent.

It was fairly quick. I wasn’t too distant from the ground, and in about a minute I was down, only the thin layer of my socks between the cold ground and my feet. Sure, had I been fit and well-fed it would have taken me less than twenty seconds to get down, but… I couldn’t say that I wasn’t impressed by that result, given my actual conditions.

Careful not to make any noise, watching my steps to avoid snapping twigs or other loud items, I walked into the woods, trying to orientate myself.

I vaguely remembered that the Sharp Claws’ and the Dark Moon packs shared a border – I had to go east to be back in my own pack lands. Once crossed the border, my grandma’s house wouldn’t be too far. I knew I could trust her, that she would shelter me for at least that night. Father had prevented her from buying me from the pack or even visiting me, so she couldn’t help me in any way, but he couldn’t punish his own mother, she was the former Luna, after all, and she was still very well-respected and revered in the pack.

Just a night, I decided, making my way through the trees. I couldn’t ask her more than that – nor I could allow myself more time. My father would find out I’d escaped in less than five minutes, if he hadn’t already, and at that point, I’d have his whole army on my heels.

Father knew how much grandma loved me, he knew I’d go there, that that was my only possibility.

Who am I kidding? I don’t have a night. f**k, I might not even have an hour.

The Alpha never moved without his guards – and as soon as he found out I was not where I was supposed to be, I’d have five wolves on me. And I couldn’t shift.

So I started running.

I didn’t know what time of the day it was when I’d left the hospital, but I guess it was mid to late afternoon, because the sun went down shortly after my escape – and with it, what little warmth it gave in the last week of October.

“f**k!” I whispered under my breath, shivering. I was definitely not dressed for the weather – I’d discarded my hospital gown as soon as I’d found a small pile of clothes behind a tree, a fairly common found in woods populated by shifters, but they didn’t help much. I desperately needed a jacket and a pair of shoes. By now, my feet were blistered and covered in small but painful cuts and bruises. I had decided not to dwell on the risk of those cuts getting infected.

The forest was filled with the howls and barks of my father’s men, who were still searching for me. I’d managed to get them off my track for a while by leaving my hospital gown on a different route, but they had quickly found out it was a ruse.

“C’MON, BOYS!” Fred, my father’s Beta, yelled. “SHE CAN’T BE THAT FAR!”

I silently cursed and quickened my pace, springing into a slow run. They were closer than I thought.

I needed to hurry up. The new clothes were covered in a male’s scent, but it wouldn’t mask my own much longer.

Suddenly, my feet knocked into something hard, and I fell: sparks of pain lit my arm – the broken one, and the one I’d just fallen on with all of my weight – and I pursed my lips, trying with all I had to keep the scream inside of me.

Shit…

“Well, well, well.”

Whatever pain I had was suddenly gone as soon as I heard that voice, quickly pushed away by a gut-wrenching fear.

I paled as I helplessly watched a grinning man slowly walk up to me from behind a tree: a cloud uncovered the moon for a moment, allowing me to recognize him.

Cyrus– one of my father’s worst and most cruel men.

“What do we have here?” he chuckled. “A lost little girl? Nah. More like a fugitive slut.”

Quick as a snake, he grabbed my broken arm and pulled me up. If I didn’t scream my lungs out from the pain was just because I no longer had any strength to do it. All that came out from my lips was a faint, croaky wail that made Cyrus’ wicked grin widen even more.

“Your father’s looking for you,” he said. “And he’s pissed, darling. He might have said we can’t harm you, but … I could always say you were more than happy to service me.”