Chapter 5- Grace

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 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 walked over and peer into the back where the cages that held me and Amelia in 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 couldn’t help but roll my eyes.

[Me-me calm the fuck down before some dumb ass decides he likes it rough and feisty.] I growl out in annoyance through our link. She needs to be quiet, pretend to not care if she were to survive this event mateless.

[Sorry Ace.] the growls beside me subside and the air around us settles as Amelia stops and calms down. I know that when our cages are removed from the truck and that we would be separated making this harder to win the bet. Her father would not want me being at her side preventing a strong male from claiming her and becoming the Alpha of her pack instead of Amelia taking over. I have to protect Amelia now knowing that she was here as well. The she-wolf I consider my Alpha and sister.

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 pack who climb onto the back of the truck and make their way to the cage Amelia is kept in. They work fast, 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 unmated. She has a wolf 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 my 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.] Surprised by Chris linking me, I lower my head onto my paws while my pack mates bring my cage to a clear spot lined with cages already, still growling as a warning to Mark to stay away from me.

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 I reality I wanted to go out and destroy all those males. There is still a few hours left before the blue moon would show, just waiting till midnight when it would be at its highest peak. My night mare will begin the moment the clock struck twelve and if I did not make it out as an unmated wolf, I would 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 is set up with a screen as a 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. Please welcome the Vampire Eli, the Ancient.” Wolves clapped respectfully as Eli, head of the Vampire coven in this area, 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.

“I hope your Alpha’s informed you that many of newly made vampires have taken refuge in the Moon Goddess’ Forest before we could initiate them into the coven. 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.” Eli explains, 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 for losing these rogues. Thankfully, my pack was warned earlier this week. We already knew of the risk this year. He continues on, 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.

“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 wolf from earlier, nodding before leaving the stage. With a reminder of the rules being told once more, I drone out of the conversation and focus on resting. I will need my energy for later tonight. If vampires are roaming around, then I have more then just males thinking with their dick to deal with.

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, 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 off, the chatter of wolves still in skin form growing louder as many inch closer to the starting line. Then, there is a shift in the air.

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 grin, 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 their calmly or sit, watching the forest are the ones I know will survive.

On my right are the un-mated she-wolves, the ones wanting to be here and get a mate that can take care of them or 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.

I just want our of this cage.

Out of this event and to gain my freedom back.

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 could not afford any distractions right now. Then silence settles and 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. So when the air began to shimmer, I instinctively look to the full silver moon high in the sky just barely reaching midnight and intime to watch the magic unfold. It started off like fairy dust, swirling in the air around the outer edges of the moon, a swirl of blue glitter that danced 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.

The even will begin and I return my focus to the forest before me. As pretty as the moon is, my safety and survival as an unmated wolf came first.

Five

The men shift above the cages, grabbing the lock.

Four

Male wolves changed as the sound of clothing tearing could be heard

Three

The frantic growls of the caged she wolves fill the silent night.

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 unmated.

One

The cage doors are released and I open my sapphire coloured eyes, dashing out of the prison and into the forest, the first to reach the safety of the trees that were once green but now glowed blue like the moon, dodging them 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 unmated female.