The Alpha’s Hidden Luna

Chapter 5

Sierra's POV

I was dreaming about a wolf. She was magnificent; a white/silver color almost the same as the moon. She was running through the forest, but she almost seemed to be gliding; her large paws barely grazing the ground. The next thing I knew, I was being shaken awake by my mother's frantic voice.

"Sierra! SIERRA!! Wake up right now!"

"Wha... what's happening?" I moaned sleepily. Opening my eyes a sliver, I could see it was still dark outside.

"Get up right now!" She was still shaking me, sounding panicked.

"Why?..... What time is it?" I whined.

"It's 4:00 in the morning, Andrea's dead. The alarm went off. All the protection she gave us is gone. We must get out of here quickly. If she's gone, that means the Opal Moon pack isn't far behind." I could see the tear tracks on her cheeks as my eyes snapped open to look at her. I sat straight up in bed. Giving my mom my full attention.

"What?! How is that possible?"

"I don't know." My mom was now going around my room, hastily throwing things into a suitcase she had pulled from under my bed. "Get up and help me, we don't have a lot of time."

"Where's dad?" I asked, untangling myself from the blankets and beginning to dress as quickly as I could. I just grabbed what I could find, not even caring if it was dirty or not.

"He's packing stuff downstairs. We don't have time to get much, just the essentials. If we hurry and get far away enough, they won't be able to track us as easily."

"Where are we going to go?" I asked, running into my bathroom to grab some toiletries.

"As far away as we can. Canada maybe. We have an emergency house across the river in case anything like this happens. We can't stay there long, but we can go collect what we need before heading north."

"Come on, we gotta go!" Came my dad's voice from downstairs. I had never heard my dad more scared than he sounded now. I knew we must be in serious trouble to make him scared. I finished throwing some clothes into my suitcase, followed by my toiletries bag and zipped it up. My mother and I hurried down the stairs and into the kitchen, where my dad was pacing, waiting for us.

"Let's go," he said, taking the suitcase from my hands. We all hurried into the garage and climbed into my dad's SUV. He threw the car into reverse and started backing out. We were heading down the long driveway when we came to 2 black SUV's blocking our path.

"Sh*t..." my dad mumbled.

"How did they find us so quickly?" My mom asked, her voice laced with panic.

"I'm sure Mathew has a dark witch helping him. That's the only way he would have been able to break through Andrea's spells." I was just sitting in the backseat breathing heavily. My fear was permeating the car as I looked around. Men were now starting to appear, moving to stand in front of the car, very large men with giant muscles. I counted 5 in total.

"We can't go around them; the trees are too thick."

"F**k, we're going to have to try and outrun them on foot, or fight our way out," my dad said, putting the car in park.

"But I don't think Sierra's wolf has appeared yet," my mom reminded him.

"She can ride on me if we have to. I'm getting us away from these people one way or another."

"Get out and stay close to us," my mom instructed, opening her door. As I was exiting the car, I heard a voice.

"Don't worry Sierra, we'll get out of this." I stopped dead in my tracks. "Don't be afraid, I'm your wolf Brooklyn." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I could hear her clear as day, as if she was standing right next to me. I would also see her in my mind. She was a beautiful wolf, a white/silver color like the one in my dream with bright green eyes. Unlike my eyes, which were green but more on the hazel side, hers could pierce into someone's soul.

" Mom," I said quietly. "I can hear her." My mom just squeezed my hand and nodded. The man in the middle of the group stepped towards us, everyone else followed, keeping a few paces behind him. My dad walked to our side of the car and stood next to my mom with me behind them.

"Nathan, Maria, you two have not been easy to find." His voice sent a shiver down my spine and the smile that played on his lips made the hair on my arms stand up. "And Sierra, you're all grown up." The look he gave me made me feel as if he was undressing me with his eyes. He licked his lips. Then, I heard something I'd never heard before, a loud growl rip from deep in my father's chest. It was guttural, feral; like an angry animal.

"That's his wolf coming to the surface." Brooklyn said to me. I'm not sure what she meant by 'coming to the surface.' "It means he's trying to take control because he's angry. He wants to come through and shift to protect you." How did she keep knowing what I was thinking? "Because I'm a part of you and I can hear what you say. You can talk to me in your head like you would out loud with anyone else." Before I could reply, the man in the middle of the group spoke again.

"Don't worry Nathan, we aren't here to hurt any of you. Alpha Mathew wants all of you alive and unharmed. As long as little Sierra does what we tell her, no one will get hurt."

"Why is it that I don't believe you, Brad?" My dad's voice was laced with a rough voice unlike his own.

"Now Nathan," he sneered. "The Alpha has been working hard to find you guys, why would he throw that away by hurting his mate's parents?"

His mate? I'm not his mate...

"No, we're definitely not. And we never will be!" Brooklyn growled out in my head.

"Sierra..." I heard my mom's voice now in my head. "If this comes down to a fight, I want you to run. Run away as fast as you can. Let your wolf take control and don't look back. Don't worry about your father and me. We'll be fine." I had no idea how to mind link her back as she called it, but my wolf seemed to.

"Just talk in your head. Focus on your mom as if you are having a regular conversation with her." I did what she said, focusing on my mom with all my energy and talking in my head.

"I can't leave you mom. What if something happens to you?"

"Listen to me, you WILL leave. You will run and never look back. Your father and I will be fine. Our only priority is making sure you're safe!" I could hear the tears in her voice even through the link.

"Please, just make this easy on yourself and come quietly. You're outnumbered." The man whose name I now just learned is Brad said.

"Sierra, remember that safe house I told you about?" my mom's voice rang out in my head.

"Yeah, across the river."

"Right, make sure to cross through the river so they lose your scent. The address is 456 Brittle Road. It won't have the protection around it, but you should have enough time to get in quickly and get out. The garage code is 0607, it's your birthday. In the back of the hall closet is a black duffel bag. Take it and you should have what you need." I realized where all the men had been standing, now stood large werewolves in every color. The only one still in human form was Brad.

"I see you are not going to make this easy on us. Very well, we will make you come with us." These were his last words before he transformed into his wolf. Standing at least 6 or 7 feet on all four paws, was a dark brown wolf. My father shoved me back slightly, and he and my mom were now changing into their wolves. My mom's auburn wolf stood next to my dad's black wolf, who had white paws that looked like boots. The five wolves charged at us. My parents both snarled and ran forward towards the battle.

"RUN SIERRA!!" I heard my mom shriek in my head.

"LET'S GO!" Brooklyn bellowed. I didn't need to be told twice. I turned around and darted back up the driveway. I figured I should head into the woods to make it harder. I made a quick hard left and ran into the trees. I could hear howling and snarling from behind me. I also hear whimpering and crying. I hoped my parents were okay.

"Don't worry," Brooklyn reassured me. "They won't hurt them. I think they know if they kill your parents, you'll never do what they want." I was running as fast as my legs could carry me, but it wasn't fast enough. I could hear heavy steps behind me getting louder and louder. I came to a screeching halt when I found my path blocked by the dark brown wolf who I think is Brad. He growled at me, showing his sharp teeth.

"Brooklyn, what do I do? I'll never be able to outrun a wolf!" I was panicking. This wasn't going to end well for me. I was backing up when I tripped over a tree root. Brad took this as an opportunity and launched himself towards me. I screamed, putting up both hands. I closed my eyes; I saw a flash of light behind my eyelids. I waited for the punch I was sure was coming, but nothing did. I opened my eyes to see the wolf lying about 20 feet away from me, not moving.

"What..." I started to say, looking at my hands.

"Sierra, now's not the time to contemplate what happened!" Brooklyn shouted. She was right. I quickly got up and continued running. I knew the river was at least 2 miles away. I didn't know how I was going to run that far. I never really worked out in my life, apart from hiking. I was running, but I realized I wasn't getting tired.

"That's because you're not an ordinary wolf." I didn't know if I was still being followed, but I couldn't think about that. "We can go faster if we shift, and you let me take control."

"I don't know how to do that..."

"Stop running for a second and I'll teach you." I did what she said, coming to a halt next to a large oak tree. "Okay, just relax and let me take over. Close your eyes and clear your mind." I stood very still, closing my eyes and taking deep breaths. I focused on my wolf and letting her take control of my body. I felt a gut-wrenching pain and the sound of my bones breaking. I tried not to scream and stay quiet. I felt my bones elongating and reshaping. The next thing I knew, I was in the back of my mind looking at the world through Brooklyn's eyes.

"We did it!"

"We can celebrate later, first let's get the h*ll out of here." Brooklyn took off into the forest at top speed. I must admit, we were going a lot faster with her silver paws barely touching the ground. It felt like we were flying. I loved this feeling, even though I knew we were running for our lives, I finally felt free. I felt like a part of me had come home. It was strange being in the back of my mind and not in control. Even though Brooklyn had just come into my life, I knew I could trust her. I knew she would keep us safe.

"Of course, I will dummy. I'm a part of you and you're a part of me. I thought that was clear already." She laughed but it was more of a bark.

Before long, we had reached the river. I was thankful it was June, so it was warm outside. I was also happy it was still dark outside so no one would see a 6 ft large white/silver wolf swimming across the river like a dog. The cool water felt nice as we paddled our way across. We reached the other side and kept running. I soon realized we had no way of figuring out where this house was because we had no map or GPS. I had left my phone in the car.

"How are we supposed to find this house?"

"While your dad was talking to the Beta, his wolf was mind linking me. He gave me directions after we crossed the river. He said I should be able to pick up the scent of him now that the protective spells have been broken."

"Brad was the Beta?" From the stories my parents used to tell me, I knew the Beta was the second in command of a wolf pack.

"Yeah, I could feel his beta aura."

"Aura? What does that mean?"

"Alphas, Beta's Lunas, and other official pack members all have different auras. They use them when they want order and to show their pack members their authority."

"How do you know all of this if you just came to me?"

"I've actually been with you a lot longer than just this morning. You were born with me. I've seen and heard everything you have. The tea you used to drink to keep your powers dormant also kept me dormant. But when your aunt was killed, the magic she used for the tea broke. Usually, you can only suppress a wolf with wolfsbane or silver. She didn't use that though." I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"Wait, did my parents know about you? Did they know you were with me?"

"I think so. I think they suspected but weren't sure. We were too little to shift or communicate with each other. I was there and you had abilities, but it was like a thin veil kept us apart. Once the beta saw us using our powers, they thought it was best to take precautions just in case." So, they most likely knew about my wolf from a young age. They just weren't sure. I guess that's why they told me before I turned 18, just in case my wolf would be coming to me then for the first time.

"Why were you able to finally talk to me this morning?"

"Once the magic died, I was able to come to the surface. I think it would have happened once you turned 18 regardless, though." We ran in silence for a long time. I could see the orange and pink of the sunrise breaking through the trees. We had to be close to this safe house by now.

"Brooklyn, are we close?"

"I think so, I can smell your parents' scent and I'm going in the direction he told me." No sooner had she said that when I saw a small cottage coming into view. It was a single story and looked small from the outside. It was built out of dark wooden logs. It looked like a log cabin you would find at a campground. "It's time to shift back. I'll give you back control, just relax and focus on being human again." I pushed myself to the front of our shared mind, focusing on my human form. I could feel the pain of my bones breaking and reshaping. I looked down and saw my feet and legs. I also realized I was completely naked.

"Why am I naked?!" I looked around even though I knew we were alone.

"That's just kind of how it works. I'm sure there are clothes inside." I headed to the small one-car garage. There was a keypad attached to the frame. I punched in the code my mom had given me and waited for the door to open. I ducked under it before it was fully open. Walking over to the door, I hit the close button and made sure the door closed fully before entering the house. It was small inside, just a tiny kitchen and a living room with one sofa was all the downstairs consisted of. I guess they figured we wouldn't be here very long. I headed towards the front door looking for the closet my mom had mentioned. Throwing open the door, I looked inside and only saw one large duffle bag. I carried it to the kitchen table to open it. Inside I found clothes, money, passports, birth certificates, drivers' licenses, car keys, every important document we own. It had it for all three of us.

My heart clenched as I looked at my mom's passport. In all the chaos, I hadn't stopped to think about what had just happened. I just left my parents. I ran and left them fighting wolves completely outnumbered. I had no idea if they were alive or dead. Tears began streaming down my face, I was completely alone for the first time in my life.

"Hey, you're not alone. You have me," Brooklyn reminded me.

"I know, and I'm really grateful for that. It's just that I miss them. I hope they're okay."

"They won't kill them. Like Brad said, they need them alive to keep you doing what they want. They'll capture them but they won't kill them." I hoped she was right. I couldn't even bear the thought that my parents might be dead. No, they had to be alive. If they were dead, I'd know. I put on a pair of leggings, socks, sneakers, and a t-shirt I found in the duffel bag. I also tied my hair up in a ponytail, wanting to keep it out of my face.

"Oh no!" I said to Brooklyn.

"What?"

"I'm supposed to meet my friends for lunch today. If I don't show up and they can't get a hold of me or my parents, they're gonna call the police."

"Well, we can't do anything about that. People go missing every day, we have to get far away from here for our own safety."

"I'll never see them again." That realization just hit me. Aubrey and Jeremy have been my best friends since second grade. The thought of never seeing them again was gut wrenching.

"Listen, I know this is hard, but we have to do this. We can come back one day. They won't stay in this area looking for us forever." Brooklyn tried to reassure me, but the pain in my heart only got worse. I dug further into the duffel bag, trying to distract myself, and came up with a set of car keys. These had to be for the small white sedan that was parked in the garage.

"At least we have a way out of here," I told Brooklyn.

"Yeah, but what the h*ll are we gonna do? Where are we gonna go?" I was starting to panic more than I already was. I couldn't breathe, air was catching in my throat. I sat down on a chair at the table. I began to sob, just letting all the emotions wash over me at once. Brooklyn just let me have my moment. After a few minutes, my breathing began to normalize. I took slow deep breaths trying to calm myself.

"It's gonna be okay," Brooklyn cooed. I knew she felt all the same pain I did. If she had been with me for as long as she said, then she too had just lost the only family she had ever known. "We need to get on the road. I'm sure they'll find this place eventually." She was right. I had to get myself away from here before they found us again.

"Okay," I said, standing up and wiping my cheeks. I zipped up the duffle bag and hoisted it onto my shoulder. I walked out to the garage and clicked the unlock button on the keys. I put the duffel bag in the passenger seat. It was the only possession I had right now, and I wanted it close to me. I clicked the door opener that was clipped to the visor. I put the key into the ignition and turned it. The engine of the car roared to life. I gave a sigh of relief; I didn't know how long this car had been sitting. I threw it into drive and headed down the driveway. I realized the car had a built-in GPS. 'Thank god!' I said to myself, we would have been sh*t out of luck without that. I headed down the road towards the highway. I really had no idea where we were going, but I hoped it was better than what we were leaving behind.