Rejected Runt, Alpha King’s Luna

Chapter 4

Mira's POV

Then I ran. I ran past the pack boundary, feeling the faint bond I had with the pack snap inside me, and I felt free. Juniper howled with joy as her paws struck the ground and she surged forward at full speed. I heard howling in the distance and knew Garrett had sent his men after me. Juniper raced on wildly, feeling the wind in her fur. I'm sure she wasn't even bothered that warriors might have been sent after us. She had never felt freedom like this before and was simply basking in it.

We were on unclaimed land, which meant rogues might be nearby. I've heard of rogues, though I don't know what they look like. My memories of when Mom and Dad died seem to have disappeared, but I do know rogues are dangerous wolves that have lost touch with their human side. They're said to look wild, to have red eyes, and to kill anything they see.

The howls drew closer, and I knew we had company. Garrett must be desperate to have sent men after me. I don't even mean anything to him; he shouldn't have troubled himself over something as trivial as me. Not once did Juniper falter or show any sign of weakness as she charged on, dodging branches and leaping over trees. I knew we had to lose the wolves on our tail, and no one could find out about us, so we had to hide the color of our fur. We passed a stretch of muddy water, and Juniper rolled in it, turning our fur brown and filthy. I knew that wasn't enough to mask our scent, but it certainly helped hide our color.

"Juni, we can't get caught now. We need to mask our scent so we can buy enough time to reach another pack," I told her through our mindlink.

"I know, Mira. We have to find a lake or a large body of water and soak ourselves in it, or find a pile of waste to cover our scent. I don't know how far we'll have to go before we reach a pack we can crash in," she said, not stopping once to catch her breath.

We spotted a lake ahead and dove in. It was freezing, and I felt it to my bones even though I wasn't in human form. Juniper growled softly and slowly lay down in a part of the water that wasn't too deep, but deep enough to hide us if anyone passed by. About 5 wolves came into view, and we stayed as still as we could. I prayed to the moon goddess that I wouldn't be found. I don't know what would be done to me if I went back, and I never want to find out. I'd rather die out here alone than return to that evil, f****d-up pack.

I felt one of the wolves sniff the air around us, and Juniper held her breath. The wolf found nothing, and they lingered for a while before heading back the way they had come. We waited a while longer before leaving the lake and running into the forest as far as our legs would carry us.

We ran into the early morning before stopping beside a tree to catch our breath.

"Juniper, let me shift back so you can rest a little before we keep going," I said through the mindlink. She looked exhausted, and our legs were already brown from running all night.

"I can't let you shift back, human. We didn't bring a change of clothes, and it's so cold out here. We need to stay in this form to save energy and body heat," she said, and I had to agree with her.

We hadn't thought this through. We just wanted to escape, without knowing where to go or how to manage it. I hadn't realized our pack was so far from other packs, since I hadn't been outside it in 8 years. Juniper spotted a rabbit and killed it. She ate part of it and left the rest beside her as we drifted off to sleep. By then the sun was high in the sky.

I hope we won't be captured in our sleep, I thought as Juniper rested her head on her forelegs and closed her eyes.

We woke when the sun had nearly set and started running again. We needed to find a pack that would take us in; we hadn't escaped Garrett just to live out here forever.

We carried on like this for 2 days, sleeping while the sun was up and running once it went down. We had been in wolf form since leaving the Moonlit pack. Our speed had dropped drastically, and our fur was already brown from sleeping on the forest floor.

On the third day, rain began to fall, and we couldn't stop to sleep. Juniper was about to lie down beneath a large, shady tree when a smell filled our nose. It smelled like a dead rat, only ten times worse. Seeing that we had company, Juniper rolled in the mud to fully hide the color of our fur.

Through the heavy rain, we saw glowing red eyes. A rogue.

The wolf looked wild and feral, and the rotten stench came from it despite the downpour. It snarled at us, and our survival instincts kicked in, making us growl back. The wolf eyed us hungrily, and we snapped at him, daring him to come closer. He growled loudly and lunged at us, trying to get hold of our neck. She moved aside on instinct, and the rogue missed.

That seemed to anger him, and he went to snap at our left hind leg. We didn't see it coming, and he tore a chunk out of it. We howled in pain and limped aside as the wolf tried to attack again. On instinct, we slashed at his chest, and he fell backward.

We began circling each other, and the rogue went for the left side of our stomach. He caught us off guard and bit off a piece of our stomach, staining our fur with blood. Suddenly, a surge of electricity ran through us, and the rogue was flung backward, his back slamming into a tree. He charged at us again, and we moved to the right, sinking our teeth into his neck once he came close enough. He fought to free himself, but we held him down, and blood spilled everywhere, including over our fur. We dropped him to the ground and stood over him, clawing at him blindly until he howled in pain.

Just before his life ended, his eyes shone with something I couldn't quite identify. I think it was fear, and I wondered what he had seen in our eyes that frightened him.

Once he was dead, I ran. I ran until I reached a claimed territory. I ran onto the land and heard howls all around me. They thought I was a rogue. I ran into the center of the pack and felt myself being surrounded by large wolves. They snarled at me, and I snarled back. I wasn't going to be treated like trash again. I wasn't going to be imprisoned again.

I was about to attack one of them when I felt a needle in my side. I grew dizzy and collapsed, shifting into my human form. Naked.

"Take her to the dungeon and wait for the Alpha's orders," I heard as rough hands lifted me off the ground.

I thought I'd escaped this. Now I'm really going to die, I thought as I lost consciousness.