Life After Escaping By Katlyn Johnston

Chapter 2

Blake's Point of View

There's something missing. I can feel it in my bones, and my soul. I know my wolf has felt it too. These people have come to me many times, asking me if I have any updates on their daughter. It breaks my heart that even after all these years there's still no sign of her. It's like she just disappeared out of thin air, it's just so strange to me. "Ma'am, I think it's time to talk about doing a burial ceremony. It's been eight years with no sign of her. It makes me sad to think that maybe she had been found by hunters and k*lled." I told the poor woman standing in front of me. "But Alfa Blake, we would have felt the tie break we all would have. No one has felt her spirit tie break." She pleaded, not wanting to believe her daughter has passed. "I'll give you one more month. If my trackers still can't find anything by then, I wont be able to give you anymore resources. My men are tired, the trail is long gone cold, and we have other threats my men need to focus on." "Yes, Alfa Blake, thank you," she says gratefully. "You're welcome, Luna maleeya."

I'm not sure why, but my words earlier have seemed to bother me, more than it should. My heart feels like its breaking, onyx stirs uncomfortably. Every time my tracker's comes back empty-handed, it continues to shatter my heart. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because we used to be so close as kids. Losing her has made me into the Alfa I am today. Our packs and family have been close for millennia. Losing her was like losing my little sister.

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Winter's Point of View

"Autumn, I can't do it!" I cry as pain keeps shooting through my body like electic bolts. "Yes you can," she says, stripping off her clothes. "WAIT! What are you doing?!" I whisper yell afraid Jonathan would hear me even talk in my normal voice. "You'll see," she says, shifting into a... A BEAR! "YOU... YOU'RE A... A... A... A BEAR!!!" And for some reason, that helped. Seeing her shift was enough encouragement and incentive for my wolf to decide it was okay. I think she may have been afraid of Autumn, even though she has always helped us in a time of need, she has never liked humans because of Jonathan. After I shift, I slowly make my way over to Autumn and rub against her big form as a way to thank her. I'm a bit wobbly at first, but I soon get the hang of it again, because of muscle memory.

Once I'm fully stable on my four legs again, we run, and we don't stop. Not until we reach a beautiful mansion. "Is this it?" I ask Autumn. "Yes, Winter now as soon as we get into the house, the whole pack will know that there are outsiders. They might already know we're here because we crossed the border. The alfa has probably already sent his men. I just hope Coal warned him that we'd be coming here for sanctuary."

When we walked in, there was a strange man sitting in the corner of what I assumed was the living room. "Is this Winter? The strange man asked, "Who's asking?" Autumn almost yells, getting defensive. "I'm the Beta of Alfa Blakes Pack, The Cursed Blood Moon Pack, to be exact. You're aware she's been missing for eight years, right?" My heart rate picks up and my wolf's ears suddenly stand at attention at his words. Why am I so curious about Alfa Blake? It's not like I knew him or anything, did I? "Wait what!? I was told her family had died in war, and she was wandering in the woods." "No, she was kidnapped and her family has been draining every resource of every ally pack looking for her. Where has she been? How did you suppress her scent?" The Beta, who still hasn't given his name yet, says accusingly, Autumn didn't like the fact that she had just helped me escape, and she was already being interrogated especially because she was innocent, and her husband was the real culprit. "Beta Why does this feel like an interrogation, I just helped her escape, away from my husband. He was torturing her for being a wolf. He was able to suppress her scent with silver bracelets laced with wolfsbane. If you have any questions, you should ask her or ask my ex-husband. I've been trying to keep her safe since he brought her home. I had no idea she was kidnapped." She says angrily. "Where is coal, is he there now?" he asks, his voice getting softer, realizing he was directing his frustration at the wrong person. He could tell she was telling the truth. "Where's my family?" I asked meekly. "In Alfa Blake's territory I can take you there now, if you'd like?" My ears perk up at Alfa Blake's name again. "I would like Autumn to come with she's like my second mom she did her best to protect me for the last eight years. It was her ex-husband and his friends who hurt me." I said, "I don't think you have that kind of authority, Winter, I also want to point out that Alfa Blake isn't too fond of bears." He says, "YOU are a Beta. I am an Alfa daughter. Do you really want to try telling a missing Alfa daughter what she can and can't do? It wasn't a question. I was simply informing you and if you don't like my answer, then you can go tell your alfa that you found me and came up empty-handed. Plus, I have a feeling that Alfa Blake won't mind," I say with a hopeful smile.

He noticeably gulped. He didn't realize I knew I was the Alfa's, daughter of the second-largest wolf pack in the world. "I may be missing some of my memories, but he was a human. He had no power to wipe my memories completely." I said, "Are you going to take her to her family I'd like to formally apologize to them for all the trouble they've gone through. If I had known she was missing, I would have done this a long time ago," Autumn says. "Yes, I'll inform Alfa that I'm on my way to his territory with the both of you." He says. "There are two things i need to do before I leave." Autumn says to us then she openly Mind links her brother "coal there's been a change of plans Winter and I are going to The Cursed Blood Moon Pack. I'll explain when I can." She closes her mind like this shouts, "JONATHAN CARTER, I REJECT YOU AS MY MATE AND HUSBAND! For kidnapping the moon goddess's daughter and treating her and I as if we were nothing." I see her fall as soon as the words fall from her lips. I ran to catch her. I made it just in time to catch her head. "Beta, I'm very weak, I still need you to carry her to the vehicle." He looks at her in shock. "How did she have the power to do that?" he asks, stunned while picking her limp body to the SUV. "She's a very powerful bear, but she knew that if she rejected him that she may never find another mate, and it would kill the only love she ever knew, she's been wanting to do it for years, but then he would have found out what she was, and she'd have the same fate as me. Also, if he found out, we wouldn't have been able to escape, and we'd both be trapped forever," I said while he looked down at her with sad eyes. "She loved you like her own, it's very unlike bears to do." He said, "well she's not just any bear she couldn't complete the mating process, and have kids of her own because of him. She is just as terrified of Jonathan as I am." "He's a terrible man and a terrible mate. She didn't deserve that. I'm glad you had her there so she could help you," he says sadly.

"How long until we're at Alfa Blake's pack house?" I ask as soon as we finish loading up in the SUV. He starts it and looks over to me with a mischievous smile. "Well, that depends on how fast you want to see your family. Thirty minutes if I break a few human laws, or three hours if I go the speed limit." "Thirty minutes, it is." I smile softly at him. "Okay then."