The Alpha's Lost Mate

The Explosion

Cat and I finally made it to the club a little past 9, and of course, I couldn't hear s**t as we made our way into the entrance. There were people everywhere; how in the hell was anyone able to walk in here.

We pushed our way through the crowd and made it to the bar. The bartender was quite handsome and entirely professional. He had a stern look on his face as Cat asked him for two s*x on the beaches and four fireball shots. It was like she was trying to get me hammered.

There was no way in this world I would be able to keep up with her at this rate.

"I.D.'s please," he spoke with a deep masculine voice.

I couldn't help but notice Cat eye-f*****g him the whole time. It was quite funny. We showed him our I.D.'s, grabbed our drinks, and I followed Cat to the nearest table closest towards the back.

It was bad enough being in here like sardines; I felt uncomfortable with someone's drunk ass all up on me.

It was like Cat read my mind. "I figured you would like a table closer to the back far enough away from people," she said as she sat her purse and cell phone on the table.

We were about three s*x on the beaches and six shots in when I started to have a good buzz. I wanted to relax and have a good time with my girl. She knew I needed it.

I began to feel the music as a song I recognized started playing. The D.J. sure knew what he was doing.

Catalina was in mid-sentence when I grabbed her by the arm and started to pull her toward the dance floor, causing her to spill her drink. "Let's go dance, this is my jam," I slurred to her as she looked at me, laughed, and rolled her eyes.

I was pop, locking, and dropping it when I felt a hand come across my waist so smoothly that I didn't even realize someone was dancing with me.

Turning around and trying to keep my balance at the same time, I looked straight into Elijah's eyes. "Hoolly shiit...whhat arre you doinng here?" I said, looking into his beautiful brown eyes as he held me up.

If it wasn't for him, I knew I would probably hit the floor face first.

I looked around for Cat, noticing her over at the bar, talking to the bartender more like flirting with him. She was a big girl, and I knew she could handle herself.

"Let me take you home, Julia; you are pretty wasted," he said as he leaned down to my ear where I could hear him.

"Youu caan...take mee homme anytime," I said as I could feel myself trying to wink at him. He smirked and smiled as he held on to me so I would not fall.

I managed to let Cat know that I had a ride home and not to wait up; with the way my head was spinning, I knew I wasn't lasting much longer.

Elijah helped me into his car, buckled my seat belt, and made it to my house in no time.

"How the hell did he know I was even at the club," I thought as I tried to brace myself, walking up the steps.

He held onto my waist; I couldn't help but lean into him and sniff his scent. He smelled wonderful. I sneaked a peek at his face and noticed how he was trying not to move. It was like I was a drug to him; he was doing everything to resist me.

I wanted so badly for him to take me right then. I was so drunk I knew I wouldn't remember half of it. I thanked him for bringing me home and apologized at least ten times about being so intoxicated. All I wanted to do was pass out.

I knew I was going to be feeling like s**t in the morning.

I managed to make it to the medicine cabinet and take some pain medicine to prepare for the massive hangover in the morning.

I proceeded upstairs and slipped out of my clothes and in bed only to drift off within minutes.

***

"NO!! Please help me; someone please," I screamed as I ran through the forest in a haze. All I could remember was that one minute I was helping our pack's female Beta with things in the kitchen, and the next, I woke up in and out of consciousness from an explosion.

All I could hear were people screaming for help and begging for their lives.

I must have somehow made it outside the packhouse and began running; everything was a blur off and on. I couldn't even shift due to I hadn't turned sixteen yet and was not able to. I was so vulnerable and felt like a helpless pup.

I tried looking for my mother and father. I couldn't see anything but fire, smoke, people, and wolves running everywhere.

Half of our pack was shifted into their wolf form and had younger wolves on their backs, trying to make it to the forest without being killed. I was making my way to the woodline as I tripped and fell over something. Looking down, I noticed it was my brother.

My only brother.

I broke down and sobbed for a few minutes as I tried to gain my composure.

There in the middle of our garden was my brother, dead. I needed my mom and dad. I had to find them. I tried yelling for them, but I got nothing. I made it to the west side of the packhouse and saw the most horrible sight I had ever seen.

There lying only a few feet in front of me was my mother and father.

Their heads had been ripped off, and limbs torn apart as they lay in each other's blood. I felt my stomach turning and flipping at the display of my family and friends. I swiftly turned around as I vomited the contents I had eaten earlier.

I managed to wipe my mouth as the reality started sinking in. My whole family and pack were gone; I couldn't believe it.

I started running, not stopping until I felt like my legs were going to give any minute. I was afraid that whoever did this would surely be back to make sure there were no survivors.

The thing I remember next was lying down in the middle of the forest, and when I awoke, I was in a dim-lit, cold room.

There was a small window just high enough where I couldn't reach it. It was wide enough where I could slide through it, but how would I get to it.

There was nothing in the room; no chair, bed, or anything. My wrists and ankles were burning and stinging. I looked down to see what the culprit was to my pain, just as I thought, silver chains locked around them.

There must have been wolfsbane in them as I felt like I didn't have hardly any energy even to move, or it may just have been the fact that I just ran for my life and was exhausted.

Everything started coming back to me as I realized that I was alone now. Everyone that I had ever known and loved was dead.

Murdered and slaughtered as if my pack were nothing. I couldn't help but start weeping as I cried myself back to sleep.

I woke up with the rays of the sun shining through the window on the wall. I'm not sure how long I had been sleeping, but I felt somewhat refreshed.

Where was I?

It sure didn't look like the packhouse or even the lockdown room we had. I had no idea where I was.

If I was going to survive and escape out of here, I needed to save my strength. I was young but very wise for my age.

I remembered a thing or two from training with the warriors on survival and needed to develop a plan.

I heard someone walking as the sound of keys being jingling caught my attention. The door slowly opened as a man stepped in with a tray of food, clothes, and shoes in his hands.

He looked to be about 6'5 and a good 280 lbs. His breath ranked of rotting teeth, a foul odor that could scare off the vultures. Sizing him up and down, I knew there was no way I could take him, not like this anyway.

His face had a deep scar that began above his brow and went straight down through his cheek, stopping right above his lip. There was a different tattoo on his neck in the shape of a single B and P.

He ranked as if he hadn't bathed in months, causing my stomach to turn.

"You need to eat; the boss wants you healthy."

"Why are you doing this?" I asked in a weary and loud voice.

"You will soon find out, my future Luna."

"Luna? I am not your Luna, nor will I ever be. I just want to go home. Please let me go; I am only a child," I begged and cried as he stared with no expression on his face.

"You can not leave, and if you try, you will regret it," he sneered at me as he grabbed me by my wrists with his gloved hand, causing me to wince in pain, and pulling me close so he could lick the side of my face.

I felt like filth.

I felt so dirty and worthless.

Would I ever get out of here, I thought? The filthy man left, not before he abused me physically. Slapping me down like I was nothing to him and hitting me furiously, I began to think I wouldn't make it out.

I was only fifteen, and my wolf had not woken up yet. I held onto my throbbing head and felt the sting and the burn from my split lip as I spat the blood that had been pooling in my mouth on the floor.

The abuse went on for days, then months. I was finally able to have a small cot and washtub brought into my cell with a few other items that were necessities.

I had not started my heats yet; at least I wouldn't have to worry about the wolves that were beating me, raping me also. I just knew if I didn't do something, I was going to die in here.

Then, one night, my prayers were answered.

As I lay on the cot, waiting for my eyes to get heavy, I slowly drifted off to sleep. I felt my body pull and float as I started moving into a foggy, dim-lit, creepy forest.

I noticed the further I glided into it, the brighter it got.

I reached an open area where there was nothing but the softest green grass I had ever seen.

I couldn't help embracing its touch as the tips of my toes softly grazed across it.

I looked on ahead and noticed a pond with a woman who seemed like she was floating on top.

I had to be dreaming.

She was magnificent as she stood tall and slender. Her onyx colored hair glistened in the moonlight as if it was diamonds.

She was wearing a beautiful, elegant gown that drug across the top of the water, causing it to ripple.

Scared to say anything to her, I stood there and admired her beauty.

"Hello, my child. Do not be afraid. I am Selene, the Moon Goddess, and I am here to help you."

My eyes are playing tricks on me; it couldn't be real. She is floating in the air for Pete's sake. She levitated closer to me, startling me, causing me to step back a few steps.

"Don't be afraid," she said again, taking my hand and leading me to the water's edge.

Trying to catch my breath and blink at the same time, I glanced down to look in the water.

It was supposed to be me I was looking at, but instead, I was looking into the eyes of a black wolf with a perfect white crescent moon on her forehead. No longer able to move from being in shock, I stood there looking and tilting my head side to side.

As I moved my head, the wolf moved her head; this felt too real.

"My child, Julia, you are a descendent from the bloodlines, Black Crescent Wolf. Your mother was among one of the original Black wolf bloodlines and your father among one of the original Crescent wolf bloodlines, bringing you into this world as the rarest bloodlines there are."

How could I be so rare? I'm just me.

"You are a very extraordinary wolf. You possess gifts, unlike no other breed of wolf. Once you decide that living is more important than giving up, you will be able to tap into some of your gifts. Until you can fully use your courage and bravery, they will stay hidden."

I was just trying to survive and somehow make it out alive.

"When you find your mate and you two mark each other, then you will be able to tap into all your gifts fully, for you will be whole completely," she spoke, holding my hand and petting my head.

"You are a brave soul. Do not ever think that you are never worthy of happiness."

She slowly started to step back.

How am I special questioning myself as I stood still staring into the water at my wolf. I had never seen my wolf, but she was magnificent with cerulean blue eyes. I was only fifteen and hadn't shifted yet. Our wolves didn't awake until sixteen.

"How will I know when my powers will start working?" I asked, looking up to face her, but she was gone.

This was so much to take in, and I was surely losing my mind.

Suddenly, I could feel myself self moving at full force back from the l, ght only to be pulled out of my dream and sitting upon the cot.

I then realized I was still in this god-awful place and still bound by my wrists and ankles.

"What did she mean when I could use my courage and bravery to tap into my powers," I said out loud.

Looking down at my hands, I couldn't help but heed at what she told me. Selene, the Moon Goddess, had visited me in a dream. It still felt like a dream; only now, I was back in a nightmare.

I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate and clear my mind. Thinking of all the good memories I had as a young pup and watching my life fast forward in time seeing me older, I kept thinking of my family, friends, and my pack.

Listening to the laughter from my mother and father, I couldn't help but start to feel a sharp pain in my neck and back.

It was as if someone was breaking me in half. My head was on fire; my mouth was in excruciating pain as my teeth started to grow to a longer length.

Every bone in my body was breaking at one time. I couldn't keep it in. I released a howl of pain as it continued to torture me.

My whole body was on fire. I was waiting for someone to come busting through the door any moment to see what the hell was going on.

I remember my brother telling me how it felt to shift for the first time and described it as if it was the most excruciating pain you would ever experience.

I could hear a clanging sound as I looked down to see the shackles on the floor. My feet were no longer feet but paws.

I had shifted.

How was that possible?

I wasn't even old enough to turn. Standing on my hind legs, I noticed that I was as tall as the window now and could see straight out of it.

There was a forest not too far off. I knew that once I was out of here, I would run and keep running and never look back. I was bigger than my human self, but not too big to jump out of the window.

Gaining enough momentum and trying hard not to wince from the pain of shifting, I punched the window out and stood there, not moving a muscle, hoping that no one would find here me trying to escape.

It was now or never; I had stayed here and endured enough; I am not going to die in here.

Placing my back against the opposite wall to where the window was, I took off running and jumped as high and straight as I could. I hoped I had not made a lot of noise from jumping, but it was either try or die, and I was not going down that easy.

Surprisingly, I cleared the window like it was nothing.

Life was hard, and I knew it could have been worse. They never r***d me because the boss was waiting for me to turn of age to shift, then he would mark me and make me his Luna.

I was glad they never took that part of me. Although I never met 'the boss', I took the beatings and the burnings, and that was far from enough.

Regaining my train of thought and the task at hand, I slowly made my way towards the forest, getting closer by the second I broke out into a run.

I could feel the wind against my face and flowing gracefully through my fur. I kept running, often stopping to rest. I continued to stay in my wolf form as I stayed in the forest.

When I could feel myself getting closer to civilization, I shifted back into my human form.

I managed to find some spare clothes on the side of the road to put on so people wouldn't think I was some crazy person walking the streets naked.

I slept in alleys and under bridges as I made my way through Colorado. Trying to keep my distance from anyone and not be discovered, I started to cross the road on a not so busy highway when the next thing I know, I hear a loud blaring sound coming from a honking horn and bright headlights.