The Ghost Mate

Blood Creek Pack 6 years ago.... Sara "What is going on mom? Why are you packing my stuff?" I had woken from a deep sleep, when I heard the nagging sound of footsteps and anxious whispers of my parents entering my bedroom. I thought for sure they were planning some sort of trip for my birthday, since they kept going in and out of my closet, so I tried to pretend I was still asleep. It wasn't until the fourth time my mother shushed my father that I decided I was tired of waiting to see where this was going, so I decided to sit up and ask. "Oh, Sara dear, we didn't mean to wake you. We were just," my mom hesitated and looked to my father for help. They were both staring with a sadness I had only seen when my grandparents passed away a few years ago within a week of each other. Before they could finish, I decided to interrupt, while watching them continue to pack my things. "It's okay, you don't have to be sad. I know this birthday is important. Let me guess, you just wanted to take me on one last vacation before the Alpha presents me to his son Blake and I become mated. It's not like I will be leaving the pack. I promise to come home for weekly dinners!" My parents again exchanged a look, but this time, it seemed to present worry. My parents are the betas of the pack, and it was agreed upon when my mom and Blake's mom were pregnant that I would become his mate. Our pack has always been different from some of the others. Alpha Baron wanted to keep the most powerful wolves at the top, so that meant maintaining strength in mating when it came to leading our pack. This was far from unusual, as it was considered deplorable to mate with a rank below gamma when you are of Alpha, or Beta blood. Up until my family came along, the Blood Creek Pack would often marry out their beta and alpha families to our alliance packs, but from what I understand, Alpha Baron was no longer willing to share his bloodline outside of our specific pack. I found it strange, but I grew up with Blake and he was my best friend, for a while, anyway. When we were in high school, he became a jock, and although I was a competitive cheerleader, we didn't hang out with the same people anymore. I was focused on befriending the underdog and finding a life as a veterinarian, maybe even a pack doctor one day. Blake, well, he didn't understand why I felt it was acceptable to associate myself with the "scum" of the pack. He was a golden boy, golden blonde hair, blue eyes, six feet tall, abs for days, and the football quarterback who could become someone if he kept going. Training daily certainly helped him in the looks and strength department and, like any other alpha, he had people fawning over him and bowing at his feet. Although we weren't friends at school, or well anywhere else, at that point, we still had a weekly date per the contract of Alpha Baron. So every Saturday, we would have fun and he would act like the same little kid who used to play tea parties with me when we were kids. Over the last year, though, he had changed into someone completely different. His father started training him to take over the Alpha position, and it was not fun. I watched as his father would catch glimpses of "weakness" and he would beat Blake for allowing any type of sympathy towards the lower ranks in our pack. It made me so angry, but I still believed I could help him get the pack to a better place. We would just have to mate, on my 18th birthday, which was only 2 days away, when my parents rudely came in and woke me from my beauty sleep. "Honey, we don't know how to say this without upsetting you, but you cannot do this." My dad sat on the end of my bed while closing up my bag, and I didn't understand what was happening. Did I do something to make them mad? Did they find out about my drinking at a party? "Can't do what dad? I don't understand. Is there something I've done to get in trouble? " My dad looked back at my mother, and she, too, sat at the end of my bed. "You cannot marry Blake, my sweet Sara," she said, looking at me with a pain that hurt my heart. Confused, and extremely exhausted, I responded, "why not? What did I do wrong? Is Alpha Baron mad at me? I have done everything according to the contract! You guys aren't in trouble, are you? Please, tell me what I did wrong. I can fix it." At this point, all I could think of was the punishment my parents would receive for whatever it was that I did to upset Alpha Baron. He has not been a kind leader since his mate betrayed him and he had her killed for attempting to murder him. He's been strict, hard, and given zero mercy towards any mistakes made within the pack. "No, Sara, you don't understand. We are the ones who made a mistake," my father looked at me with a sadness that made my stomach turn. "What do you mean you made a mistake?" I asked, growing more concerned by the minute. "It was time you were told the truth about the contract, Sara." My mother looked ashamed and I didn't understand why. I already knew about the contract. It was my duty as their daughter and a beta. I would do what I was told. Shaking my head, I went to speak, but my mother raised her hand to silence me, so I closed my mouth and listened. "When I was pregnant with you, Alpha Baron's mate had just turned against him, and was slain for doing so. You see, he had decided, moving forward, we would only mate within our pack, alpha to beta, for as long as the Blood Creek Pack is in existence, giving no choice to any of the future women of the pack. The Alpha males would be allowed to take as many women as they wanted, as long as it was within our own pack, but the Alpha and Beta women must always remain faithful to the Alpha, whether they were fated mates or not. We were terrified of what would happen if we didn't agree to this. Your father and I were lucky to be fated mates and it's a blessing from the moon goddess. Even Alpha Baron's wife was his fated mate, but he had greed for power and strength. His wife came from the Alpha of The New Moon Pack, and I was her Beta. He knew how powerful our children would be, and he was not willing to let that go. So he proposed the idea to his wife, who refused to agree. That is the true reason the Luna no longer lives." I gasped, shocked at this new information. I was always told that the Luna had tried to kill the Alpha because any pack with the name Blood in it is the devil. It makes sense, knowing how our Alpha reigns, and nobody would ever question it. Our pack was savage, and people feared us. "So you agreed to the contract, knowing he killed his wife? HOW COULD YOU!" I screamed in anger. My parents were okay with the Alpha being all powerful, and they used me as a pawn for that. "Before you go screaming at us, young lady, let your mother finish the story, and then we will discuss our mistake! Do not speak in that tone to her." My father glared at me with the look only a father can give that makes fear build up within your body and gives you shivers. So I shut my mouth again, and signaled for my mother to proceed. "Alpha Baron called us to his office, and as we arrived, Blake was crying his infant head off, and Luna Kaylee laid on the floor in a pool of her own blood. It was then, that Alpha Baron told us everything, and when he finished, he said he would kill your father, wait for you to be born, kill me, and raise you, himself under the premise that we had betrayed our duties as betas, and that he had taken you under his wing so you would not be led astray as we had been. The only chance we had, at that moment, to protect our family, was to agree. It was then he placed an Alpha command on us to sign a contract stating that we would adhere to this plan. The only thing that command didn't cover, was following through with the contract. So in two days, instead of mating Blake, you have to be as far away from here as possible. Do you understand me?" Still reeling from all of the new information, I whispered, "How will we get away? The guards will know not to let us pass knowing I am not 18 yet." It was law in our pack that if you were under 18 you were not allowed to leave pack lands. When I looked up to my parents, it had become evident immediately that they would not be going with me. "Mother, father, what exactly is your plan?" I wasn't sure I wanted the answer, but there clearly wasn't much time. They both looked at me with sorrow, checked their watches, and handed my bags to me with a burner phone. "We never wanted any of this for you, Sara. You will go out of the southern border of the pack where you will meet with a witch who we have known for many years. Her name is Amara. She will open a portal to another dimension that is just like this one, but safer. She will equip you with the information you need to get into contact with her, and she will call you when it is safe to return." My mother hugged and kissed me, and started to walk out of my bedroom. She turned around and said "I love you, now listen to your father. Goodbye my Sweet Sara." As my bedroom door clicked closed, I heard her footsteps head for the back door, and looked at my father, tears filling my eyes, "it is too much. I cannot go alone. Dad, I don't want to go. I will find a solution! I can get through to Blake, I know I can! Please don't make me leave." My dad looked away, as his own eyes filled up with tears. "We wanted to give you another hour, but you woke up. It's best this way. We will be a distraction on the Northern border. They will think we are trying to escape with you, so you won't have to worry about them being chased. We have some friends heading to the border to help us. There will be so many wolves, the southern border will be clear of guards and you can escape. When this is all over, we can discuss everything. Now listen carefully, I love you, you WILL go, and whatever you do, Sara, Don't Look Back." My father hugged me tightly and handed my stuff to me. Just as I was finishing processing everything, I heard my father and mother outside our house as they howled and headed for the northern border. Taking that as my queue, and trying to process everything at the same time, my feet led me to the south as I tried not to cry. I heard Skylar, my wolf, howling with sadness in my head, and it was then I realized this was not a nightmare, but this was my life now. As I got to the southern border, I heard the howl of a wolf losing her mate, and I knew at that moment, my father was gone. I knew my mother's howl apart from anyone. I started to drop to my knees feeling the agony over losing my kind-hearted father, but Skylar would not let his death be in vein. Get up Sara. We have to keep going. I feel the same agony, but we have to remember what father said. Don't look back. The words of my wolf were the last thing I remember as I collapsed on the other side of the border, hearing the howls of another wolf lost, but this time, none sounded like my mother. They were gone. I was alone.