The truck finally comes to a stop and I lifted my head, the sky slightly darker as the sun begins to set. By the smell of many wolves congregating together I conclude that we have finally reached our destination - The Run. The engine is turned off as I watch wolves walk by the truck. Some call out to their friends while others walk over and peer under the tarps and into the cages that hold me and Amelia to see if we are good mate candidates. I can hear the she-wolf beside me growl at those curious to see who were held and can’t help but frown. She should know by now that giving these men attention will cause them to want to break her.
[Amelia calm the fuck down before some dumb ass decides he likes it rough and feisty.] I snap out through our link. She needs to be quiet, pretend to not care if she is to survive this event mateless.
[Sorry Grace.] She responds with guilt in her voice. The growls beside me subside and the air around us settles as Amelia takes deep even breaths and slowly calms down. I know that when our cages are removed from the truck that we will be separated, a tidbit of information I gleamed on one of the rare stops the wolves driving the truck made. The Alpha wants to keep us from meeting up, from protecting each other and making it harder to win the bet. But he has no idea we already have a plan we made years ago after one of the beatings Amelia and I received when we voiced our reluctance in going to the Run.
[Do you remember the cave we said we would meet up at in three days time?] I ask my friend, carefully eyeing the wolves that come to sate their curiosity of us in the cages.
[Yes!] She answers quickly making me smile in relief.
[Good. Meet me there. Your father and I have a bet and I intend to win it with both of us being un-mated.] I continue, getting a yip of approval. Her father would not want me being at her side and would not want me preventing a strong male from claiming her and becoming the Alpha of her pack instead of allowing Amelia to take over. He knows I will put protecting Amelia over the bet but the thing is as much as I know I have to protect Amelia now knowing that she was here as well, I also know Amelia is a strong fighter and will take down any male that stands in her way. As long as she stays away from the center of the forest and follows the plan we have created since our seventeenth birthday she will make it to the lodge un-mated with or without me.
Hearing voices drawing near, I go on high alert waiting to see who it is coming up the side of the truck and sigh, realizing it is two of my packmates who climb onto the back of the truck and make their way to the cage Amelia is kept in. They work fast with their hands gloved to protect them from the silver while they remove both tarps covering our cages. Amelia sends me a look of fear as she is the first to be carried away to have the cage be placed at the starting line. Watching her being loaded onto a golf cart provided by event co-ordinators, I send her a reassuring look, reminding her through our link that we will find each other and we will come out un-mated. She has a boyfriend waiting for her back home and knows I would do anything to see them together in the end.
With my stomach growling, I wait silently for the men to return, noticing their mark-less necks earlier when they took Amelia away. These men are here to participate and were in charge of delivering Amelia and me. No doubt they did their best to keep her and I starving in order to weaken us and try their best at claiming the Beta and Alpha blooded she-wolves of the pack. Too bad for them as I plan to keep the two of us mateless.
Finally, the men return both laughing about how easy Amelia will be to take down and I growl, ready to rip them to shreds for disrespecting our future Alpha like that.
“Just ignore her. I bet within a day with how weak Grace is she will be claimed instantaneously by a Beta, maybe even an Alpha.” The brunet, a warrior named Mark, laughs out as he takes hold of the silver bars to my right.
“Honestly, I want to see her win the bet against the Alpha. I have a little sister that turns eighteen next year. I don’t want her being raped.” The red-head, Chris, states. My anger towards him diminishes and I look at him with a questioning glace, deciding to ignore Mark.
[I don’t want to be here either Grace. I am just keeping Mark in check. If he goes to rape someone, I will knock him out and allow the she-wolf to escape.] Surprised by Chris linking me, I lower my head onto my paws while my pack mates bring my cage to a golf cart and hop onto the empty seats. The drive is quick and once again the boys are back lifting my cage and carefully bring me to a clear spot lined with a few cages already. Mark tries to poke at me and I send him a warning snarl, ready to claw his hand apart if he trues anything. Chris thankfully pulls him away - reminding the idiot that I have on numerous occasions sent Mark to the infirmary for a month long stay when he has pissed me off in training - and watch as the two walk away, Mark staring at me with slight fear.
With a puff of breath I stop growling, realizing that all the growling I am doing is drawing unwanted attention from the more power hungry wolves; the ones looking for a female they can break into ultimate submission. I refuse to be one of them.
With a flick of my tail I close my eyes, playing indifference to the idea when in reality I want to go out and destroy all those males that stare at the she-wolves like a buffet ready for the taking. Like a commodity they can buy and do as they please to them. These are the wolves I will need to stay away from during my week in the forest.
There is still a few hours left before the blue moon will appear, just waiting till midnight when it will be at its highest peak. My night mare will begin the moment the clock strikes twelve and if I did not make it out as an un-mated wolf, I will lose the bet and any chance at respect from the males in my pack.
“Hello ladies and gentlemen.” A voice calls the attention of all wolves to the center of the field between the starting line and the trees of the forest. A stage I had not noticed till now is set up with a screen displaying a man as the wolf waits for everyone’s attention to be on him. If a stage is set up, that means something important is to be announce.
“Today we have a special guest to explain some new dangers that have come up recently.” The announcer states with his lips set into a grim line.
“Please welcome the Vampire Eli, the Ancient.” Wolves clapped respectfully as Eli, head of the Vampire coven in Ontario, steps forward and smiles down at everyone. His skin is as white as snow but the sun did not harm him in the slightest. Courtesy of his age and tolerance he’s built up over the years. I watch this man, studying and wondering just how strong this ancient vampire is and whether or not I can take him in a fight even if it is a mock fight for training.
“I hope each of your Alphas informed you that many of my newly awoken vampires have taken refuge in the Moon Goddess’ Forest before we could initiate them into the coven.” Eli the Ancient begins with a sigh, his pristine face looking a little haggard on the large screen behind him.
“This was neglect on our fault. As such if you see one, kill the rogue vampire without hesitation. They will be blood deprived and feral as a result of running away and will attack anything with a pulse.” He continues explaining, his face holding no smiles or smirks. Just a frown as his bright blue eyes display a weary and exhausted look. This man must be beating himself up on the inside for losing these rogues and letting them escape into the world before they can be trained properly. Thankfully, my pack was warned earlier this week. We already knew of the risk this year and I am ready to face one and kill the fledgling if need be.
Eli continues to apologize for his negligence before explaining the many ways to kill a vampire fledgling, making sure we all know to decapitate them and leave their bodies in a sunny spot to burn away to ash. He did not want any to come out alive. This was a statement, a truth between the Vampires and Werewolves with him giving us permission to kill these newly awoken vampires.
“How many fledglings are loose?” Some one calls out once Eli has finished speaking.
“Ten. Four females and six males.” The ancient answers, turning to the announcer from before hand.
“If there are no other questions, this man seems to have something to say.” With that, we all watch as Eli vanishes from the stage as the wolf from earlier returns to the podium and gives the crowd a friendly smile.
“It seems this year will be a bit more precarious. Please be careful when out in the forest. Once the barrier settles around the Goddess’ Forest, no one will be able to leave unless it is to exit out the lodge.” The announce awkwardly states before giving everyone a reminder of the rules especially for those newly turned eighteen year old wolves participating for the first time.
I drone out of the conversation and focus on resting since I will need my energy for later tonight as I already know the rules being she wolves will have a head start to enter the forest first. There are caves and dug outs we can hide in as long as we want but we must make it to the lodge by the end of the seventh day at exactly midnight. There is no killing allowed in the forest, it is sacrilegious to the Goddess and can result in execution. No raping a claimed she-wolf if you stumble across one. They already bear a mark. If a she-wolf is to be raped by a man other than the one who marked her, then the mating will be null and void and the mark will fade within a day.
The wolf up on stage continues to talk and I decide that I need to improve my plan for this event. If vampires are roaming around, then I have more then just males thinking with their dicks to deal with this year. As I think about what I will need to do to guard against these vampires more, male wolves start to walk by the cages, sizing up the ones that try to break out of the silver cages and attack their on lookers, looking like feral beasts needing to be tames. I just role my eyes, silently laughing at how stupid these she wolves are as their actions only cause the strongest here to become interested in them. Many walk by me eyeing my silver fur but loosing interest quickly when they realize I am just curled up resting and ignoring their presence. They mean nothing to me and not drawing a male’s attention is my plan.
"She's harmless..."
"Why is she even in a cage..."
"Let the weak ones have her..." I chuckle inwardly, listening to the criticism thrown my way by the males. They have no idea just what a force I can be. Have no idea that I sent the Theta’s son – our top warrior- to the infirmary just a breath away from death when he tried to rape me on my sixteenth birthday. If these males cross my path in the forest, they will learn just how lethal of a warrior I can be. Another hour passes and I doze in and out of sleep while the chatter of wolves still in skin form grows louder and louder as many inch closer to the starting line. The Run will beginning soon.
Suddenly the scent in the air changes and the clearing quiets down. I open my eyes and smirk.
The moon begins to ascend into the sky, climbing higher and higher signalling the time is near. Co-ordinators of The Run – mated wolves whose job is to keep us safe – climb onto the cages keeping the problem females captive. They are waiting for the gun shot to release us.
Thankfully, the wind is blowing softly from behind us. I could not get any luckier with nature on my side. With my scent blowing away from the males and deep into the forest, I will be able to get away quickly and find a hiding spot that hopefully has gear or food for me to take. With a plan in mind, I slowly climb to my feet and lazily stretch, preparing my body to run because my life depends on it. Taking a look of my surroundings, I count the number of cages I can see on my left, realizing I am the first in the long line that slowly fades after counting to fifty. Most she-wolves continue to growl and snarl at the males that eye them like a prize to be won, a pet to tame and claim as their own and I role my eyes. The ones that lay there calmly or sit watching the forest with intent are the ones I know will survive un-mated and make it safely to the lodge.
On my right are the un-mated she-wolves still in skin form. The ones wanting to be here and gain themselves a mate that can take care of them or are here to officially mark the man the have been sweet hearts with for years. I can tolerate the ones here for love and making their relationship official, but the ones stretching in provocative ways - teasing the males behind them - are the ones I would rather claw apart than get to know.
Personally, I just want out of this cage.
Out of this event and to gain the freedom to choose my own mate and live my life my way.
Deciding to face the forest, I focus on breathing and readying myself to run like the wind. Ignoring the noise behind and beside me. I can not afford any distractions right now.
As the moon continues to climb, the air around the clearing begins to hum. I have never participated in the run before - always being sent on missions just before the event was to start as soon as I turned eighteen - so I never got to see the spectacle of how the moon turns blue. As such, when the air began to shimmer, I instinctively look to the full silver moon high in the sky just barely reaching midnight and in time to watch the magic unfold.
It started off like faerie dust, swirling in the air around the outer edges of the moon. A swirl of blue glitter that dances to a song silent to everyone else. Mesmerized by the swirls slowly covering the silver moon, I stare in awe as the seconds tick by and the silver fades away. That is until a thin veil falls from the sky, the colour just as blue as the magic covering the moon above. This veil surrounds the forest before us wolves, making the green trees appear a brilliant sapphire like my eyes.
The event will begin soon and I reluctantly return my focus to the forest path before me. As pretty as the moon is, my safety and survival as an un-mated wolf came first.
Five
The men shift above the cages, grabbing the lock while I count down the seconds until I am free.
Four
Male wolves changed as the sound of clothing tearing breaks the silence.
Three
The frantic growls of the caged she wolves fill my ears.
Two
I take one last deep breath, closing my eyes and sending a silent prayer to the Moon Goddess that I make it out of the forest safely and un-mated.
One
The cage doors are released and I open my sapphire coloured eyes, dashing out of the prison and into the forest. I am the first to reach the safety of the trees that were once green but now glowed blue like the moon above, dodging and weaving around the sturdy trunks and making my way as quickly as I can to the sound of water.
Seven days for the full moon to be blue.
Seven days from the starting line to the finish
Seven days, that’s how long I had to make it to the lodge as an un-mated female.