Never Let Go

8

"Mark Donovan, I wish to leave your pack and forfeit my rights as Luna."

Upon hearing those words, everything was silent; the only noise that could be heard was the stream coming out of Mark's ears. My heart was pounding a mile per minute, cause there was no going back after those words were said.

Mark got up and came to stand in front of me, his inner circle with all the people I have grown up with came to stand behind him with a tint of sadness and despair in their eyes.

"Fine; you will receive the same chance everyone else has. If you make it to the border before anyone can drag you back here, you are free to go, but if not, know this, Ashley; your torture will be the worst out of all the ones before you," he said, pushing past me to get set up for the chase tonight. The circle followed right behind him; only my brother stayed behind.

"Sly, are you sure about this?" he asked, looking at me with tears filling his eyes. Everyone had left the mess hall, leaving us there by ourselves.

"Yeah, brother; I can't do this anymore. I'm tired of hearing those poor wolves scream for their lives. Knowing that they will not be set free. Knowing that they are really in their dying days. If you knew better, you would do the same as I am. You should come with me; you know it will only be a matter of time before he turns against y'all," I said, pleading for him to come, knowing he won't. His loyalty was solid; once he pledge it to something, nothing could break it, not even in his dying breath.

"You know I can't do that, Sly," he said with a small smile. "I will be out there, I will not chase you, I will try to help you leave, but know this, Sly: no matter what happens after you cross that border, do not recross it. Even if I'm hurt, you turn and run. Do not let what will happen out there go to vain." With that, he kissed my forehead before leaving. I felt empty inside, knowing I was going to have to leave my brother behind.

~~~~~

It was now eight o'clock, time for the chase.

•Aly, it's time•

•I know; as long as we follow the plan, we will get out of here alive•

The door to my bedroom opened, revealing Mark motioning me to follow. I followed him to the edge of the forest, where the inner circle waited, already changed into their wolf forms.

There was a crowd starting to form around us; even though they didn't cheer or encourage the wolf to make it, they silently prayed that they did. For they would not have the courage to do it themselves.

I looked over towards the dark brown wolf who was my brother, sitting at the edge of the forest. A saddened look was upon his wolf face. I was unable to see if he was okay, for he closed his mind link to me. But I still remember what he told me earlier. I knew that if my brother went into that forest, he may not come out of it.

"Okay everyone, you all know how this goes. We will give her a one-minute head start, then chase after her, but this time, whoever brings her back will be granted one wish." Gasps were heard through the inner circle of wolves, seeing as this was the first time he had done this. "Also, I will be taking part in this too."

My heart dropped at those words; this too was a first for him. Does he hate me this much, to want to not give me my freedom or a fair chance at it? He knows that no one can out run an alpha, or at least fight one. This was gonna be a hard chase for me.

•Breathe, it's gonna be okay•

My wolf said, trying to get me to calm my nerves down as I went down on my hands and knees and transformed into the light-brown-and-white wolf I was.

When Mark howled the order to go after changing into his dark red wolf, I sprinted into the woods. It was decided that I will start off the run until I get tired, then switch to Aly. It was about an fifteen miles, before I reached the border. My senses had been heightened as the adrenaline coursed through my veins.

Fear spiked through me as I heard the pounding of paws along the ground behind me, signaling the end of my one-minute head start. Luckily, I was halfway through the fifteen-mile run.

It wasn't hard to distinguish the steady running coming from Mark from the other wolves', seeing as his dark aura and heavy breathing made all the animals around him scatter in fright.

•Don't lose focus just yet, Ashley• my wolf said, feeling the presence of Mark right behind us nipping at my heel. I knew he was playing with us, tormenting, even showing us how much better he is; it made me sick.

As I felt myself slow down, I switched places with Aly, and with a burst of energy, we gained another mile ahead of Mark; the wind breezing past our faces at the speed we was going. The thought of any wolf other then Mark catching us was a very slim chance. The excitement that coursed through my body as I saw the border up ahead was too much to describe, but the fear that overcame that was terrible; seeing as one minute, Aly was running, and the next we were pinned under the rage-filled Mark.

•Did you really think you could get away from me• His wolf voice dominating my mind caused an explosive headache to form from the power of it. He bit into my leg, causing me to yelp in pain. It felt like it was broken, as part of my leg went limp. He started to drag me away from the border, but Was I about to give up? No; I was gonna fight to the last drop of my strength left my body. I kicked and clawed at him until he had no choice but to drop me. Having enough time to get up and support myself on my good leg, I attacked him, wasting no time and going for his neck. I was able to bite into his shoulder blades, causing him to howl in pain before throwing me off of him, my back crashing into a tree. For a second, it was dead silent. No noise could be heard. Every creature, be it little or big, looked upon the fight in wonder of who might get up first. This was the survival of the fittest, and it just so happened that Mark was the one to get up and prey over me as I tried to regain my strength. Aly had to give up control, since she was impacted the most from the battle. I had to sit there for a little while, feeling the fire burning through my body as Mark's wolf Damien attacked me over and over and over again. Every new attack brought a new pain to my body, but I was slowly gaining back enough strength. When the next time he moved back, preparing to attack again, my sharp claws slashed out, swiping across his face, going over his left eye, permanently causing him to lose sight in it. That was the distraction I needed, in order to limp the away as fast as I could towards the border towards my freedom. By then, all the inner circle wolves had joined the party, but instead of attacking me, they parted the way for me to leave.

I had just crossed the border and turned around when I saw my brother attacking Mark, pinning him down to the ground with his throat in his mouth. I turned my back and shifted forms, not wanting to see what happened next.

"Ashley!"

It wasn't until my name was called from the wrong voice that I turned back around and screamed. Instead of Mark laying on the ground dead, he held my brother's neck in his hand, facing me. I could see the fear, relief, shock; all type of emotions pass through my brother's eyes. Him pleading with his eyes was the only thing that kept me from taking a step back into pack territory.

"Ashley, if you don't come back, your brother here will die," Mark said, smiling at me. A sob broke through my lips as I knew what he meant, tears poured down my eyes as I did what my brother secretly told me to do earlier that day. I grabbed ahold of my backpack and took one more glance at Mark and my brother before replying.

"I will come back with help; I will save you, so don't give up. I love you." I turned around, knowing that I might never see my brother again, but I need to get help quick as the blood from my wounds were pouring out like a fountain. I was not gonna let what he did go in vain. So with that thought, I pushed myself to run to Ash's territory, easily bypassing the guards that were not paying attention, and followed Ash's scent to a balcony. It took a little more strength to climb it, but I did, right before I collapsed onto the ground outside her balcony door.