Sold to the Highest Bidder

2. Running away

It was sad how my whole life fits in a duffel bag.  It was as if my life had been reduced to so little.  Growing up I had been made to believe that I was especial, that I was important.  It wasn't until later than I realized they weren't seeing me as a person, but as the means to an end.  Something to be used.  I was a thing for them.  When I ran away, I knew they wouldn't let me go so easily, and at first I had been afraid, but with time I started to believe that I would be okay.  Now I knew that I shouldn't have let my guard down, I had become too comfortable,

"Is this all?" the wolf asked, grabbing my bag and carrying it for me.

"Yes," I said a little sadly.  I went and got the money from my hiding spot, and then followed him outside. 

Walking away from my last house was sad, something I didn't want to do, I had been happy there, but my safety depended on being able to outrun my people.

"Do you have enough money?" he asked, surprising me again. He was being very considerate. Or maybe he just wanted to make sure I would get out of his territory, my cynical side pointed out.

"Enough to get out of here and reach a safe place," I replied, and he nodded to himself.

"I'm sorry we can't help more," he said once we were on our way to the bus station. "It's all because of politics. Wolves can't start messing with other species. We are many, and we are strong, but if all the other shifters decided that we are trying to step into their territories, then they could start a war that we may win, but at a high cost."

"I get it, it's not your fault, you have done more than enough, and I'm grateful.  Just letting me know they were getting close so I can get away, it's enough."

"Can I ask why are you running from them?" he asked, and I wasn't sure if I should say it or not, but they were helping, so I felt I had to repay and explain a little.

"Our kind is dying out.  We are not like you, every family holds a small territory, apart from one another.  We had gatherings and festivals, but for the most part we stay apart.  The problem is that some of our people started breeding with humans, and the offspring is not always a shifter.  For some reason the males are most likely to turn out to be shifters, so females started to be rare.  And the only way to ensure that you do get a shifter child, is for both parents to be shifters as well."

"Don't you have mates?" he asked.

"I've heard about that, but if only a legend, right?"

"Not for us.  I thought all shifters were able to find their mates.  But only the animal side can recognize them, that's why we hold the Full Moon Ceremony, it's a chance for all of us to run in our animal form and try and find our mates."

"Well, we don't have that, so we don't get to recognize our mates.  If we even have them.  But the point is, I'm a full blooded shifter, my elders decided that since I'm one of the last females in the area, and that I had a good chance of breeding true shifters, that it was going to be my job.  They even talked about the possibility of me having several partners to add some diversity to the cubs."

"Wait, what?!" he asked, startled.  It was just because of his quick reflexes that we didn't crash the car after his reaction.

"They want me to breed me.  That's why I ran away and why I need to get away from here as fast as I can.  If they find me, they will take me back and have me take a man at my first heat."

"I'm really sorry there's nothing else I can do to help.  That's... that's horrible.  We always try to respect what our females want.  I just worked on a case with an Alpha that was blackmailing some women in his pack to sleep with him, we stopped him and punished him.  Mating is sacred, having pups just a happy side effect."

"Thanks," I said sincerely.  Hearing him so horrified was refreshing.  Males of my species seemed to think it was my job to produce cubs, no matter if I wanted or not. 

"Nothing to thank me about," he said, and I could tell he was sincerely upset there wasn't more he could do to help me.  "Here we are," he parked in front of the bus station, and seemed to be debating something.  "I'll stay until the bus leaves.  If someone comes after you, I can at least distract them."

"I'm really grateful for everything you have done for me, really, but I would appreciate if you don't repeat what I told you tonight.  I'm not really sure why I even told you all that, it's kind of private, our kind's business, you know?" I said.

"Of course, I won't say a word," he said, before offering his hand.  I shook it formally before getting out of the car and running to the bus station.  I bought the first available ticket, and hoped that no one would find me before I had a chance to get away. 

I had to wait for a couple of hours.  I didn't see him, but I knew the wolf was outside, looking out for me.  I thought of my family and how they had accepted my fate without a fight.  They had believed it was an honor and that I should be happy that I would be used by others.  For them it was actually something to be proud of, their daughter, their sister, would be the mother of the next generation.  They talked about how I would have my pick of men, how I had the power, when in reality I had none, they were taking my freedom away.  I wanted a family, not to become an incubator. 

When we finally got on the bus I started feeling a lot better.  It was as if I could finally breathe again, even if I knew that it wouldn't stop them from looking for me, it was just buying me some time.  Maybe I shouldn't stop this time, but keep going south until I got out of the country.  I was sure I could get across the border using my animal form. 

I felt better having a plan.  Shifters usually stayed in places where their animal form could be found, like the land called to our wild side, but I had spent so much time among humans that I had gotten used to denying that part of me.  I was sure I could survive in a different environment, one where no mountain lions lived in nature, where no one would think to look for me.

But then I reflected that I had thought no one would look me so close to the wolves territory.  We usually kept to ourselves, so we tried to stay away from packs, and even so they found me.  Maybe this time they would be looking for me in exactly the kind of place our kind didn't like.

At some point of the journey I fell asleep.  All the adrenaline and fear had left me exhausted, and when I woke up I did no longer recognize the scenery.  We were too far from the mountains, it felt as if I had stepped into a different world.  I had chosen a city, thinking it would be easier to blend until I could decide my next step.  By the time we arrived at our destination, it was mid morning and I was starving.  I went to a dinner, and I couldn't hold my tears any longer.  I missed my life, I had been happy there, and I had to leave just because someone had decided that my only worth was in having babies. 

"Are you okay, sweetheart?" the waitress asked.

"I'm sorry, I'm homesick, I just left my house and this place reminded me of it," I explained.  Even the woman reminded me a little of Magda.

"Don't worry, kid, with time you get used, or you go back.  Here, let me bring you a piece of pie, on the house, to cheer you up."

"Thank you, I really appreciate it."

"Don't worry, Sweety," she smiled at me and left.  The pay helped a little, but mostly the act of kindness.  Not many people would worry about a lonely, crying girl.  My own family hadn't cared enough to try and help me. 

I got a room at a motel, I needed a shower and some rest.  Then I would keep moving.  I knew that the worst thing I could do was to stay in one place for long.  I wouldn't be safe until I got to a place that I could be sure they would never find me.