Chapter 10

"We are in a forest deep in the woods, and we don't know where we are, so I ask that you don't talk. Have some of my security men ping the cellphone towers for this phone while it is on. There are rogues on their way to talk to my brother about trading me for some men we have in our dungeons.

Let my brother know I escape but keep it quiet for everyone else. I don't want to take any chances that there are moles ready to listen. The rogues do not know I escaped yet, so tell him to play with the deal. Then he can have trackers follow them. There is a little girl here who needs a pack doctor, since the rogues beat her with whips laced with wolfbane. I implore you, hurry for this little girl."

Prince Xander.

"Okay, but when I get you back here, we need to talk."

Clair -

I keep the phone open, sliding it in one of my pockets.

I look at Colt my twin, and signal we need to move, "Colt, let's get out of here. We need to keep our cell phones on until we reach a signal, hopefully that means we are near civilization.

Back with Alpha Cameron – Prince Xander:

Prince Xander –

"Alpha Cameron I just talked to your sister on the phone."

Alpha –

"Why is it that my sister is calling you instead of me?"

Xander –

"She is my mate; I am not so sure why are you surprised."

Alpha –

"I know my sister, and she tried running from you, not to you. I don't get it."

Xander –

A bit annoyed by the Alpha's reply, he feels exasperated. Are you sure that matters right now? Your sister Clair has called. Would you like me to relay her messages to you?

Clair –

"Colt, we need to find our direction, but because your sister black out, we are walking instead of relying on scents and our wolf to help us find our way. Would it be possible to find some spiders with webs in a tree? Spiders build their webs facing south. This way we can get a clue about our direction we are headed."

Colt –

"You know about spiders in woods? As wolves, we normally don't need direction, so how was that learned?"

Clair –

"There are no words to describe what it is like to have six older brothers who never let you leave their sight. I have not left their site hardly ever since I was born. I have no autonomy over my own actions or decisions. I kept trying to run away just for a few hours. I studied Moss and Spiders once to figure out how to run away in human form and not get lost in the forest without my Wolfie senses."

Colt –

"Clair, I don't see how being loved by your family willing to protect you is a hardship? So many wolves would love that type of love."

Clair –

"I've already been told I'm an Alpha since the day I was born, and I will end up being a Luna. If I haven't been through life to show empathy, how can I become a Luna? Oh, and when you kidnapped me, I was running from my new mate. Guess who it is? The Prince of Freaking wolves. I haven't learned yet to figure out how to be me, whoever I am."

Colt –

"I heard all my life I was to be the Alpha of the pack. Sure, I am nervous, sometimes it makes me feel insecure. While growing up, I did not realize I was not the biological heir to the pack. I was constantly being trained to be meaner, bigger, more authoritative, to hide my emotions. Now that I know the truth about who I am, that means that my sister here is the pack alpha, if there is a pack left. I will probably have to take over until she is of age. I don't even know if our parents are still alive."

Clair –

As I hear my brother refer to his kidnappers as his parents, I feel a mixture of anger and pain. Surely he does not know what anguish my mother must have gone through, not knowing whether he is dead or alive? Because of the wars among wolves, there are many pack orphanages, with misplaced pups seeking homes. The only reason I could fathom, is that they want an Alpha pup to take over their pack when he grows older. Regardless, he is not their pup to steal.

I walk amongst the trees looking for spiderwebs, more like a mass of spider webs, if you only find one, well it could be just an oddball spider that grows its web on the wrong side of the tree.

Catherine – my wolf

Okay, nature girl, as much as I hate to interrupt your spider hunt and use your poor human sense of smell, there is something in the woods that smells rancid. What is it? A rogue or two, perhaps? However, keep up with those human skills, they work for you." My wolf remarks snarkily.

Clair –

"Oh, just shut up Catherine, I will put you back in your dark hole otherwise."

Catherine –

Snorting Catherine Replies, "Whatever!" Catherine disappears into the back of Clair's mind.

"Colt, try getting a sniff of the air, it is strong."

Upon sniffing the air, Colt's eyes widen, for he knew that stench, the stench of rogues. These were the rogues who raided his pack and murdered so many wolves. Looking down at his sister, who is still unconscious, he hurriedly hides her under a pile of leaves and branches.

Colt –

"I must be near my pack right now, these rogues. I know their scent, Clair."

Clair –

"Okay, let's get up into some trees and catch them by surprise, hopefully."

The aroma becomes more rancid, so I wait in the tree with a knife held between my teeth, ready to pounce. I see about six rogues emerge from the trees to my right. I watch them argue about whose kill is the bloodiest as they approach my tree.

There are two rogues under my tree as I stand with a knife in my hand, and I nestle one knife in my teeth. In the blink of an eye, I leap out of the tree and stab each rogue in the jugular with a knife. Their faces are priceless as they fall.

Colt is shooting arrows at the rogues, striking them in the head. He has taken down three rogues, leaving one that is charging at me. When the rogue gets close enough to me, I deliver a roundhouse kick to his head, knocking him out.

I smile at Colt, "That was a good workout.". Let's tie this rogue to a tree so that we can interrogate him when he awakens." Using a shirt from my backpack, we tie up the rogue using boy scout knots.

Colt goes to check on his sister and finds that she is still burning up; she is moaning in her unconscious state. Have you figured out where your pack is from here, Colt?

They have killed or taken most of my pack members hostage when I left, so it won't be safe to take my sister there. As this is my wood, I know how to get to the freeway, and we're going in the wrong direction.

The rogue stirs, and his eyes fight their way open. I turn and kick him in the gut. “Rogue, tell me where the pack nearest us is located, and I might let you live.”

The Rogue spits out boogers flying and barely missing my face.