Seven Years Ago ...
"Callie, run! Run!"
I heard the sound of glass shattering in the distance and the shouts and screams of everyone outside. Everything was in complete chaos. I stood at the back door of my childhood home, already in my wolf form. I tried to understand what was going on.
One moment everything was peaceful-and the next, war broke out.
At first, I thought I was dreaming, trapped in a horrible nightmare. But, when I saw the petrified look in my mother's eyes, I knew this was real.
My mother, the strong unyielding warrior she-wolf, never once showed her fear but, at this moment, all I could see in her expression was terror.
We were under attack. Homes were catching fire.
Torches were being thrown at my people as they tried to flee and find safety. The smoke from the flames filled my lungs and burnt my tissue from the inside.
Who had started all of this? Why had they started all of this?
'Run, Callie!' My mother screamed through the mind-link.
'I'm not leaving you!' I screamed back at her. I was not going to leave her when this place was like this. She would die--and I couldn't lose her.
'Callie, listen to me. Run into the forest and run as fast as you can. Don't stop moving and don't look back. Do you understand me?'
'No, I can't leave you, mom. And what about dad? Where is he?'
She shook her head. She wanted me to leave, but I wouldn't go anywhere without them.
'I don't know where your father is, but I will find him. I promise that, once I find him, we will be right behind you, okay? I just need you safe right now -and the only way I can make sure if that is if you leave this place now.'
I heard the collapse of a building not too far away and the screams of the people inside of it. The flames grew larger, and the screams of my people grew louder.
"Search the back of the house!" A gruff voice ordered.
They were coming toward where we were. My heart beat frantically in my chest as the terror set into my bones.
'Callie, Run!' My mother ordered through our link. 'Run while you still have time! We will come and find you! I love you like the moon loves the stars.
Like the moon loves the stars, I echoed her words. It was a phrase we had been saying to one another since I was five. I felt the tears leaking through my eyes and wetting my fur. Something in her words made me feel like this was goodbye.
'Now, run, Callie! Run and don't look back."
Her words echoed in my mind as I took off across the dark yard. I did as I was told and pushed my legs as fast as they could carry me.
I ran straight for the tree line, hiding under the cover of the night sky, and crossed into the woods.
Soon, I was far away enough I couldn't hear the screams, but the smell of smoke and burning flesh was still pungent in the air. I slowed my pace until I came to halt in the center of the forest. I had never gone beyond the forest line on my own. This was unknown territory for me.
I closed my eyes, doing my best to focus my senses. I listened to my surroundings.
The forest came to life. I could hear the crickets, the bats flapping through the night's darkness. I listened for footsteps, but I heard nothing. I then lifted my nose into the air, hoping to catch their special scents, but I caught nothing.
"Mom? Dad? Can you hear me?" I tried my mind-link, hoping, praying that my parents somehow managed to find their way out of the packed village.
I waited-but no answer.
The link only worked at certain distances, so I was most likely out of range. That was the reason I chose to believe because the alternative answer was something I did not want to face.
I found a thick enough bush to hide behind. I would wait here for a few moments, and maybe my parents would get close enough that they could mind-link with me. My mom promised she would come to find me. She promised that she would find dad and we would be together. She was coming. She had to.
I waited and waited, but I heard nothing.
I knew what the reality of my situation was but I didn't want to accept it. I didn't want to believe that this was my life now.
I felt the sting hit my eyes and before I knew it my vision blurred. I wanted to let out a cry and let all the pain out, but I couldn't. That would've attracted attention, and that was the last thing I needed to be doing.
'Run, Callie. Run and never look back.'
My mother's words echoed through my mind like a broken record, and that was exactly what I did. I started running and I never stopped.
***
"Are you alright?" Alpha Kameron's voice brought me back out of my head.
I took a few shaky breaths in and out, trying to center myself. I was okay. I wasn't back there I was here; I was safe. At least, I was safe for now.
I rarely thought of that night. I schooled myself to avoid thinking about what happened altogether. I did pretty well for the most part. I even stopped dreaming about those horrific images and sounds.
But, on occasion, the memory would creep up like a spider at night. The memory was so vivid that it always made it feel like it happened yesterday. It was one of those memories that would stay with me for life.
I shook my head, realizing that I still had the eyes of both Rex and Alpha Kameron on me. He was waiting for his answers, and I was struggling to find the best one to give him.
Staring into his green eyes I was compelled to tell him the truth-but it was too dangerous.
Regardless of the strange pull between us, I didn't trust him.
Alphas lived by one code and one code alone, and that was, "my life is my pack, and my pack is my life." Their entire world revolved around their people. They were loyal to them, and that meant being loyal to their allies. I didn't know if Alpha Kameron was friends with Alpha Damien. He would be obligated by law to return me to my alpha.
I couldn't go back there.
"Your name." Kameron stared me down. He was using his alpha authority. I could feel it weighing on me, forcing me to comply.
"Yes ... my ... um ... my name is ... Callie," I stuttered.
Rex had been right about the intimidating part.
"Callie." He tested my name on his lips. I would have been lying if I had said I didn't like the way my name sounded on his lips. His voice had my stomach fluttering. I saw the slight tilt of his lips until he schooled his features and returned to his stoic expression.
"What pack are you from?"
I gulped. I knew the answer to that question, but I didn't want to say it. Not only because I didn't want anyone to know the truth about me, but also because that wasn't my pack anymore. I didn't identify with it any longer. I may have been born into it, but that was the choice of fate, not of me.
It wasn't my home anymore. It hadn't been my home for almost eight years now.
I spent almost a decade running from those people. There was no way I was returning back to those lands. I would have rather swallowed wolfsbane.
I cast my eyes to my hands that lay on my lap.
"Callie," Kameron ordered.
I flinched at his tone, and I watched as his features softened slightly. He sighed. "Look, I want to help you, but I can't do that if you don't help me. And you can help me by telling me what's going on. You need to be honest with me, Callie, and then, after you tell me your story will we be able to move forward."
"I will ask you again, Callie. What pack are you from?"
I stared into his eyes. My mother always told me that the lips may lie, but the eyes never do. I searched his eyes for tricks, for the deception that I was sure was hidden somewhere, but I couldn't find it.
I wanted to trust him. I wanted to tell him my story so that I could finally stop running-so that I could finally find rest.
But all I knew for the last eight years was to trust no one but my instincts and my wolf. I saw how people could flip a switch just like that, and I couldn't count on him not doing what others had done before.
I didn't want to lie to him, but I also wasn't going to tell him the whole truth.
"My name is Callie. I do not belong to any pack. I am a lone wolf and I have lived in the woods for a long time."
I tried to keep my voice steady and my heart rate even. I never had much practice lying, but hopefully, I did a good enough job to convince him.
Alpha Kameron arched a brow at me. "I don't believe you."