The Unknown Wolf

Chapter 8

It was 3 am when the alarm went off. Alayna hurried to silence the alarm and crawled out of bed to tiptoe to the closet. Almost as if she was scared that someone would hear her, even though she knew no one could hear her. She shook her head and started walking normally and quickly. Before she fell asleep she had found a duffel bag that she thought no one would miss, since only part of her things somehow ended up in her room, and shoved it in the closet.

She grabbed the back and started throwing clothes at it. She wanted to make sure she was prepared for any type of weather she encountered. She was going to go as far as she possibly could. She peeked out the door to see if anyone was standing guard. She didn't know what Damon had planned, and when she saw no one there she breathed a sigh of relief. She slipped out of the room and made her way to the stairs, tiptoeing down to the first floor. She made it all the way to the first floor without seeing anyone! She almost laughed to herself, thinking that this was going to be hard.

She went to the front door when she heard someone clear their throat behind her. She froze, almost hoping that she would turn invisible, but she had never been that lucky in life. As she slowly turned around she strained her eyes in the dark, trying to locate who made the noise. " Where you running off to Little Wolf? " Alayna stood straighter and slid the duffel bag off to the side hoping that whoever it was didn't notice it. " I wanted to go for a walk, I couldn't sleep " " Uh huh. Why don't we go to the kitchen, bring the bag and you can load up on some food to start your journey. "

Alayna followed the mystery man. As she was walking behind him she could see that he was only in a pair of gray sweatpants and no shirt. He had dirty blonde hair that looked like he had just crawled out of bed. " What's your name? " " Zach. I'm the Beta to Damon. I was out for a run when I got the link that you were walking around the pack house, so I came back. What's your plan? " Alayna scoffs at him. " You really think if I had a plan I would tell you? " Zach stopped at the island in the kitchen, " What do you think is good travel food? Maybe something easy to carry, doesn't leave too much trash to carry around, and gives a lot of protein? " " How about apples, oranges and such? " Alayna replied and eyed him with suspicion. " Great! We have plenty of those. " Zach started putting together a smaller lunch back. " And I know you have a plan because I would do the same thing. But what I can't figure out is why you want to leave so badly. Brett told me about your camp and honestly it doesn't seem like a place anyone would want to go back to. " " Its not that I want to go back to it, I HAVE to. " Alayna didn't want to give too much of herself away so she would have a better chance of leaving. " I have a feeling that you are not going to tell me why you HAVE to, are you? " Zach stared at her, almost as if he was trying to read her mind. " Nope " popping her P. " How about I make you a real meal before you up and leave and goddess knows when you'll get a real meal next. " Alayna thought she had time so she agreed.

While Zach cooked what smelled like steak and potatoes, they started talking about the pack lands, and the other people living there. Alayna started to feel comfortable around him, and she hated it but loved it at the same time. It had been a long time since someone just sat down and talked to her like a person.

Alayna heard an alarm going off in another room and looked up from her empty plate and looked around. " Oh s**t, what time is it?! " Zach looked down at his phone that he had pulled out of the pockets of his sweatpants. " 0530, why? Are you worried about something? " " Zyla, do you think we have enough time to still leave before Damon? " " Alayna, I don't think we should leave yet. I can't shift again right now and I don't know why, but they may be able to help us. " " I want to do this alone, but I trust you so I suppose we could stay just a little longer. " " No, I just don't want to get in anyone's way " Alayna said to Zach. " Alright, well I will clean up here, maybe you can join us for training at 0600? You might like it, just wear something light because you'll sweat your ass off! " Zach gave a deep laugh. " I just might! " Alayna jumped off the stool and started back upstairs to change.

As Alayna was walking up the stairs she spotted Damon coming down. " What are your plans today? " Damon stopped to ask her. Alayna eyed him. She didn't fully trust him yet but knew she should try and stay on good terms with him. " Zach offered for me to go to training today and I thought I would take him up on it, that is if it is OK with you? " " Um sure, I think that would be a good idea. " " Thanks! I am going to change and then be down. "