Golden Rule

Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – Miriam

              It was the night before I would leave my pack for the planned two years and I could not find sleep. Golden Cross had seemed so far away a year ago and now the day was upon me. My wolf was also feeling restless. I was getting a bit worried, if she couldn’t rest, she wouldn’t be able to give me any energy that I knew I would need from her tomorrow.

              We had everything loaded in my small SUV. We needed 4x4 traction vehicles to get around the rough terrain of the Mother Mountain. It would be a long drive, but I was excited about the scenery I would enjoy. I could feel my wolf getting excited about that as well.  

              When I saw my alarm flash two o’clock in the morning I groaned. Why, why, why?! I decided to grab another two blankets to throw over myself. Wolves give off a lot of body heat and I remembered when not too long ago, I would get sleepy if I got too warm and comfortable.

              Sure enough, after I fixed the blankets over me, I began to feel a comfort from my toes to my head. I wondered if this was what it was like to sleep beside your mate. Wrapped in their embrace and security. It was not long after that thought that I finally dozed off.

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              The next morning, mom, dad and I meet some of my co-workers and students at the school cafeteria for a going away breakfast. We ate and I was able to say my final goodbyes to everyone there. Aaron and Chris were able to meet us there since they both loved a good breakfast meal; they couldn’t miss it. I gave all my loved ones that had been able to come out a final goodbye.

              My parents and two brothers walked me to my SUV. Aaron opened the door and I slid in before he closed it for me. My dad was hugging mom as she was trying not to cry. I started feeling defeated.

              “Maybe I don’t have to go.” I said felling guilty for leaving my mother in her current state.

              “babygirl, don’t mind your mother. She will miss you and you are the last of our children to leave the family. She’s just emotional, we’ll take care of her.” My father said.

              “you focus on your four-hour drive baby sis, we’ve got mom.” Said Chris.

              “keep your eyes on the road and watch for all the curves and hills, you hear me?” piped Aaron.

              “yes, sir” I answered him in an annoyed tone. He shook his head at me and gave me big brother look. I smiled back at him.

              “go on, the sooner you get there, the sooner we’ll all relax” added my father.

              “I love you guys and tell the rest the family I love them and will miss them too!”

              They all nodded their heads and with that I turned the ignition on and started to leave the parking lot. I gave them I final wave goodbye and started my way to the Golden Cross pack.

              I was going to drive straight through; I had a full tank of gas and a full belly. I also had a couple bottles of water and snacks that mom had packed for me. I was playing music from my phone with both hands on the wheel taking in the beautiful landscapes all around me. These mountains and hills were calling out to my and my wolf’s soul. To describe its beauty would be impossible and where the road met with the Nazas River was like something out of a painting.

              I was three hours into my drive when I noticed the roadside stands and stores were becoming fewer and fewer as I got nearer to the Golden Cross border. I felt my body relax somewhat but my wolf was at attention. Maybe she was just on edge about entering another packs territory. She was always on alert when we went to classes at the university, but we were never alone then. We always had my sister or other girls from our pack with us.

              I drove on for another 20 or so minutes when I came up to what looked like a makeshift checkpoint. The guards looked a bit disheveled, and my wolf began to growl. I tried to calm her down and wondered why she was distrusting of these wolves who were only guards. But I trusted her and followed her lead to be cautious as well.

               One of them motioned for me to drive up and then waved for me to pull off to the shoulder of the road. ‘okay girl, I am really not liking this either now’ I said to my wolf. I looked in the guard shack as I drove by and noticed two guards in there. I stopped my SUV a short distance from the shack and the one guard that was directing me came up to my door and tapped on my window. I opened my window only about three inches, just enough to communicate.

              “what’s your business at Golden Cross” asked the rough sounding guard. I could tell he was smoker just by his voice, but when the wind blew into the SUV, I smelled him then. How can he be a warrior or guard and have a vice like smoking? It was not uncommon for wolves to drink and smoke, some even messed around with illegal d***s. But guards, patrols and especially warriors did not usually smoke. This made me tense up.

              “I am Miriam Levy. I’m from the Canon Mountain pack to start as the new education coordinator. The pack and education councils should be expecting me” I say to him.

              “alright, let me verify, you just stay put miss” he walks away to speak with his partners. They have a small chat while I watch them, and I notice they did not call anyone or check any paperwork.

The same guard comes back up to my window followed by one of the two that had been at the guard shack before. “we don’t have any record or information of you coming, so our patrol and security leader is on his way to escort you to the municipal building. But we have to search your vehicle before it can pass through into the territory. Please step out of the vehicle.”

“well, I’ll just wait for your leader then and you can search my vehicle with him here.” I say back to him, at this point I am very tensed up and my wolf is growling. This is a terrible first impression of Golden Cross and I already regret coming.

“it would make our jobs a lot easier if you went ahead and turned off your vehicle and stepped out of it so we can begin the search. That way we don’t hold you and our leader up for too long once he gets here.” He retorts back, clearly annoyed.

“I’m not getting out sir, I was never informed by my contacts that my vehicle would be searched. I know they are expecting me today, but I’ll just turn around and go back to where I came from.” My wolf barked in my head in agreement. I went to put it in drive to make a U-turn when the third guard stepped in front of my SUV.

I hear the first guard let out a nasty growl before he punches my door window, and it shatters all around me. I cover my face to protect my eyes and I feel his hand grab my throat and my door opens as he drags me out. I am holding onto his arm for leverage.

I feel the second guard behind me as he grabs my arms to restrain me. I jump to put my weight on the guard behind me and throw my legs up and kick the first guard off me landing my heels on his stomach and chest. He scratches my throat as he lets go of it, and stumbles back. As my body is coming down, I crouch down to the ground and I am able to bring my elbow up and knock the second guard who is still restraining me, on the side of his face and I hear a gross crack. He is in pain and disoriented from the impact to his cheek bone, I take advantage to let my wolf out extending my claws and tearing his throat out.

I hear a menacing growl and turn to find the first and third guards coming at me, the third and younger one has his wolf at the surface as his eyes are pitch black.

“you killed my brother you b***h!” he yells.

“let’s finish her and get this s**t over with!” growls the first jerk. I take a fighting stance letting my wolf to the surface ready to kill again. But they come at me with a vengeance. I take hits all over my body. I am unable to hit as I am busy blocking hits from the two guards. They have no mercy, not holding back, raining blow after blow everywhere on me. I think about shifting and making a run for it, ‘live to fight another day’ my dad would say all the time. But all I can do is try and block the hits from the guards.

This is how I die. I don’t even know why. Why did these Golden Cross guards attack me? I die at the hands of these two men, I start feeling panic. I do not want to die like this. Not to these dishonorable men. What the hell is wrong with Golden Moon, is this why they are cursed?

I get ready to let my wolf take over when I feel a hit to the back of my head, on the sensitive area between my head and neck. I am already on my knees and the hit lounges me forward, on my face on the ground. I am a bloody mess. I feel pain everywhere and I try to shift into my wolf to heal and fight or run. I know I can get out of this. If I just shift, my wolf will heal me and can help me take them down.

I receive a blow to my ribs and wince in pain, my wolf is whimpering trying to come out.

“I don’t think so you little stupid b***h!” yells the younger guard whose brother I killed. I feel hands grab my throat and a heavy body position itself on top of me so that I am unable to move. My lower body is pinned down and knees are pinning my arms to my side.

“this will do it” says the one standing over me. I look up to see through my already swollen eyes, the first guard with a syringe and I immediately know what it is by the faint purple color. My wolf starts going crazy in my head and I beg her to leave to retreat as far back as she can in my mind. But immediately she starts to try and heal my head, trying to lessen the throbbing and internal injuries there. It will give her chance to survive the wolfsbane. She starts to whimper because she does not want to leave me. But she will suffer too much with that crap in us and neither of us will survive.

The guard kneels beside me and grabs my right arm and brings the needle up so I can see it.

‘Please leave girl, it will be too much for you.’ I tell her again, but she stays put wanting to help me heal. My injuries are severe. My face is throbbing, that lets me know I took a lot of hits to the face and I think of my parents. They will receive my body with my face unrecognizable. My wolf whimpers at that thought. The guard whose brother I killed is putting all his weight on me and squeezing my body with my arms still to my sides. Its already an excruciating pain and it is hard for me breathe and I can feel the pain all through my body and legs.

As soon as I feel the needle on my skin, I scream at my wolf ‘leave now!’ She whimpers as I feel the needle break my skin and an unworldly burning sensation starts to go up my arm. I start to push my wolf away as I feel her keep trying to heal my head and mind. But I manage to push her out. As the burning sensation is spreading slowly through my arm, down my fingertips almost to my shoulder.

“she is down, it won’t be long now. The wolfsbane will kill her wolf and she won’t be able to heal. Let’s pack up and go!” says the first guard.

“She deserves more, worse for killing Joe!” says the younger one who is still on top of me.

“help pack up now! We’ve got to get rid of this s**t!” screams the older one at Joe’s brother.

He starts to get up but stops and brings down his fist on the side of face, two times. He stands up and kicks my body three times. When he stops, I feel his anger from his gaze down at me. My body is getting numb and cold. I know it won’t be long now. I will die here on this ground away from my pack.

“alright, you’ve had your fun, now get you ass over here and help! Go get the truck, we’ve got to load Joe’s body!” yells out the first guard from where he is tearing down the guard shack, as the younger guard growls at the mention of his brother. I just lay there feeling the burning and the pain in my body. I start feeling so tired and I want to just sleep. But I know if I fall asleep, I’ll never wake up. My wolf is gone so the wolfsbane won’t kill us but I’m afraid my injuries will.

“alright load up, you drive the truck and I’ll take her vehicle, I’m going to check on her one last time. We’ve got to get this right for the alpha, or he’ll have our heads.” My eyes opened wide. The alpha?! The alpha of Golden Cross ordered me be killed? Why? Which of the twins? Or was it both? But why? I am just an educator, I’m no one of importance whatsoever. Why would the alpha or alphas want me dead?

The guard comes over to me and looks down on me.

“alpha” I manage to say before a cough tears through my body jerking it with pain and blood splatters out of my mouth.

“yes, little she wolf, the alpha. You would be in his way.” He looks me over and presses down on my chest with his fist and I moan in pain as my body can not take the pressure and more blood splatters out of my mouth. “she’s as good as dead, it will take a while before someone comes on patrol all the way out here and finds her. Let’s go!” He says as he stuffs my phone in my jean jacket’s pocket.

“why did you leave her phone?” asks the other guard.

“we want it to look messy, like amateurs or rogues hijacked her. They attacked, took her vehicle and took off. Hance the shattered glass, that’s the plan.” He says walking away.

I hear the vehicles leave as I struggle to stay awake. I concentrate on my breathing, while trying to think of a way to save myself. I cannot move enough to reach for my phone, everything hurts to move. I don’t want to die like this, on the ground like I’m nothing. I know I cannot call my wolf back to help me heal, the wolfsbane will kill her for sure, probably instantly. I have to survive this somehow. Why would the alpha or maybe even alphas of Golden Cross want me dead? What will my family think, how will my parents overcome this?

I feel like I’ve been lying there for hours. But by the sun’s position, I know it hasn’t been long at all. I feel like giving up, I don’t know what is keeping me awake, I’m so tired I want to give up. I am literally baking in the sun. We don’t usually sunburn too bad, but even through the pain of my injuries and the wolfsbane, I can feel the burning of the sun. Vultures start circling over me and I begin to think that maybe I am already dead. I almost expect to get up and look down at my disfigured body. I think back to my family and how we have a saying when someone looks rough or beat up. That they look like Christ after he was flogged. That is how my family will see me. But maybe they will not let my mother, or the other women see my body. I hope not.

Then I hear a noise, a vehicle approaching, and it stops close enough to me that I feel the warmth of its fumes. And I see three beautiful angel looking women over me. Two kneel beside me and I feel I am moving lips but cannot hear myself. Before I can process anything more, I let go and I fall into darkness.