THE LOST SON OF THE ALPHA

Chapter Nine: Breaking Free

FATUMA’S POV~

Since I was brought to the camp, my life there had been hard. I couldn’t even remember how many days I stayed there, maybe a week or more. Every day I would be tied up on the wooden bed and every night I would be taken outside by Damian to see the wolf soldiers of the Black Moon Pack practice. It was hard and creepy to watch.

The soldiers would howl every time like wolves, some just turned into wolves and back to human form again. Others would roar right in my face. Damian did not practice with them though. He would stay by my side and guard me so as I didn’t try to run away. And I couldn’t because I knew one thing was before me: death!

These wolf people looked dangerous, and of course they were dangerous. They were keeping me for killing me, but first killing my boyfriend. I was their bait.

Damian was different. He looked more like a watcher and less aggressive fighter. When other soldiers were absent, he would initiate stories, which some of them are funny and they kind of cheered me up. I was not happy there. Not at all. My hands were sore and I felt a lot of pain in my wrists for being tied up for a long time. Nobody cared when I cried in pain. Nobody cared when I called Tony’s name, and when I did, some guys would smile at me like I was a delicious-looking chicken just about to be slaughtered!

Tonight I felt a lot of pain and I couldn’t bear it longer. No human being would survive my situation. Besides, I had brought myself into this mess, and I was dealing with the consequences.

“Are you okay, Fatuma?” Damian called from beside the bed.

“No!” I called urgently, “These ropes are hurting me!” I cried.

Damian stepped closer and hurriedly untied my right hand. Then he stood up and gazed at me like he was regretting what he had done.

“Come on,” I persuaded him, “open the other hand.”

He knelt and untied the other hand then the feet. And I was free for the first time since I came at the camp. I sat on the bed and clutched my wrists, feeling the pain which was worse than before. My wrists were all swollen and already severely bruised. Dried blood and big wounds made my wrists look like they were tied up by the dog chains.

Damian looked down at my hands. He came closer and looked at my face. He knelt before me like someone who wanted to make a proposal.

“I am so dumb!” Damian said, and surely, he sounded dumb!

“Yeah,” I said angrily, “I know. Why?”

“I have been standing here,” he said, “watching you, feeding you. But I never noticed the wounds in your wrists.”

“Oh yeah,” I said very angrily, but I tried to sound as calm as I could, “because you think this is having fun? I know. No wolf can care about a human. All you wolves care is eating people and all. You’re doing great!”

Damian looked away sheepishly. Then he stood up and seemed to be trying to man up.

“I’m sorry, Fatuma.” He said, “I don’t like you being tied like this too. It is just the dumb soldiers everywhere and it is the order of the King.”

“Oh yeah!” I cried, “The dumb king of yours!”

Damian gasped and made a step back as if avoiding me.

“You can’t speak of the king like that! It is bad!” He said.

“Ok,” I said, “I can see that. So the king’s orders are stronger than the feeling of care to humanity! I mean to feel compassion to others… oh! I know. You can’t understand things about how humans live. In our world, we care for each other, and help each other in different problems. Wonder what? We care about animals too. Even wolves!”

“We are not wolves!” Damian said angrily.

“What are you then,” I asked, “dogs?”

“What?!” He was serious now, “We are werewolves. The upgraded version of wolf wolves! Okay?”

That was funny. I laughed, my laughter mixed with anger and laughter.

“And also,” Damian added, “we don’t always behave ravage. It was the king’s orders to tie you up. And what I did right now, untying you? When I am caught, I must be slaughtered.”

“Why did you do it then, huh?” I asked disdainfully.

“I don’t know.” He said, “Maybe because I felt your pain. But I tell you, our lives are in danger.”

“I don’t care.” I said arrogantly.

“Fatuma, just allow me to tie you up whenever the soldiers come in.”

“NEVER!” I cried and started to look around for the exit. I saw one around the far corner of the hall. I scanned the place for my backpack and my Maasai sheet, and I saw them. About clothes, I hadn’t changed my dress since I was brought in the camp/Pack, and I hadn’t bathed since then. So you can imagine the shitty smell. That is why I hated this place even more.

“Oh!” Suddenly, Damian exclaimed and ran to me urgently, “They are coming! Hurry, to your bed!”

“No!” I said and dodged him aside so he ran ahead and jumped behind some sacks full of weapons.

The soldiers entered in the room with so much ruckus. They banged the door open and entered in making a boring noise. When they entered, their eyes fell on the wooden bed where I had been. Finding me not there, they turned their eyes and scanned the room. They spotted me. They all gaped and made sudden angry faces which terrified me so much.

“The lover boy opened for him!” One soldier shouted.

I didn’t understand what he meant by the word lover boy. But I stood there, trying to not lose the bearing of my backpack. I was ready to run away from the hall and disappear in the forest. I was ready for anything.

“I knew they were in love!” Another soldier said angrily.

“In love?!” I asked in shock, “What are you talking about?!”

“Where is he?” The same soldier asked me, stepping forward with his fangs out.

“Umm…” I said. I was about to point where he hid, but I suddenly remembered how he was nice to me. He was strong, he would have taken me by force and tied me back to the bed, but he was trying to be nice and loyal at the same time. “I don’t know.”

“She hid him!” Another soldier cried.

“Get her!” Another ordered, “She must say where she hid him!”

“I didn’t hide…” I began to say, but the soldiers charged.

I tried to run for my backpack, but it was harder than I thought! The backpack was far from where I was and I needed a lot of energy to get to it! As I dived for it, one soldier caught me on the way and pushed me down. His fangs were scary and his body was hairy and he looked very dangerous. He was even more dangerous than I saw Tony on his birthday!

He rose his spear to stab me when suddenly a strong kick got him on the stomach and made him fly and hit other soldiers! The soldiers fell down, and those who didn’t fall held their spears and swords ready to fight the attacker!

It was Damian. He stood over me by my side with a huge mace in his hands.

He looked even angrier than the other soldiers. He looked stronger, and his fangs were out too. I felt better. I stood up hurriedly and hid behind him. He didn’t look at me, but he kept glaring at the other soldiers.

“He is rebelling!” One soldier shouted, “Kill him! And take the girl!”

Damian slightly pushed me aside and looked at me. He smiled. Now I began to trust him. I felt safe on his existence.

“Go, wait for me outside.” Damian whispered, “I will find you there, and I will take you home. To your people.”

“Really?” I asked in excitement.

“Go.” He said calmly and turned to the soldiers.

As I ran outside the hall with my backpack in my hands, I heard a ruckus of the dangling spears and roars and howls! Damian was fighting the whole group of soldiers, and he was doing that for me. Some soldiers tried to catch me, but I heard them groan in pain as Damian’s mace hit their heads. He killed them.

I ran as I wondered how Damian was strong enough to fight all those wolf soldiers! Finally, I reached at the little exit I saw and jumped through it and found myself outside the hall. At first I thought the back part of the hall was a huge forest with thick and tall trees, but I was totally wrong.

When I jumped outside the hall, I fell in the middle of many kids playing. They were playing on the ground, just in the middle of a large and strong iron-fenced yard.

“Hi kidos!” I greeted sheepishly, wondering if those wolf kids would leave me alone.

“Hello,” some of them answered, “are you training, aunt?” One asked.

“Yes, honey.” I answered, “I am training. Now show me the door to get out of this yard.”

“It is right there,” one girl pointed on the far side of the iron fence where I saw nothing but a small bush.

“Ok,” I said. I heard the noises in the hall begin to fade and fewer were heard.

I ran towards the bush where the kid showed me. I entered in the bush and really, there was a little hole made from rust of the thick iron!

I was about to get out through the little hole when I heard the kids scream. I peeped through the bush and saw Damian with a spear in his hands in the middle of the kids. His body and clothes were full of blood!

He sniffed the air a little then ran to where I was. I jumped out of the fence. He also jumped in the bush and found himself also out of the fence.

When he was out, I couldn’t control myself. I hugged him tightly and cried. He hugged me back tightly, and I could feel full affection in his hug.

“I’m sorry for everything, Fatuma!” Damian said in a low voice.

“I’m sorry too, Damian.” I said, feeling very bad for what I caused to him.

He just sacrificed himself to save me from the soldiers. He would be punished severely for that, maybe killed. He was endangering his life for me. I hugged him ever tighter.

“Fatuma.” Damian whispered, “You are alright. You are with me now. Don’t worry.”

When I looked in his eyes, he was… oh! He was crying! His eyes were full of tears, his face full of blue wolfish blood.

I kissed him. We kissed deeply.

Now this was the beginning of something else. When I kissed him, he didn’t expect it. And I didn’t intend to do it. I did it because I felt like I had every reason of doing it. We kissed for a long time. He threw down his spear and used his both hands to press me on my back and my butt.

Well, I felt something that made me forget about getting chased by soldiers for a while. We both breathed heavily as we kissed. He was solid and so sexy. I couldn’t resist to touch him here and there on his belly and his back. I closed my eyes and felt the sweetness of the moment. My heart was thumping faster and faster. Then he looked me in the eyes, while still holding me firmly. I was so small in his arms, and it looked like he was holding a doll. He was very strong.

“Fatuma,” He called softly.

“Damian!” I called back. I have no idea why I called back his name instead of replying his call.

“They are going to report us to the king.” He said, “We have to go. We are in great danger!”

“What?” I asked in a whisper.

“We must run, Fatuma.” He said, making me feel sorry for him and guilty for what was happening.

“Thank you for saving my life, Damian!” I said softly.

She smiled.

Then he held my hand and we began to run through the forest. At first his speed was so high I couldn’t handle it, but when he remembered that I was a human with no superpowers, he ran in my speed. He sniffed the air every time to make sure there was no soldier in our way. We jumped over thorns and crawling plants so as we couldn’t trip over them.

The cold stung my neck and my face, but we kept running. I knew soon we would be in the city, and all this would be over. As we ran I thought about Tony for a while. Strangely, I felt something else for him: anger! I felt angry for him.

He was the one causing me all these problems, and I still didn’t know where he was. The day he was taken to his pack, he did not even come over to say goodbye. He was such a bad boyfriend. But as long as Damian was here, saving my life, everything was fine! I felt safer with Damian, and I felt rage for Tony!

We ran on.