It has been just over three months since I left my home. My stomach is starting to protrude, showing that I am in fact pregnant. I know I am somewhere in North Dakota. For the last month, I have felt like I was being followed. I have also been eating edible plants a lot in a desperate attempt to not have to go to any packs or get discovered by any packs. When I first started my life of solitude, I still looked clean, but now I haven't had a shower in three months and I now look and smell like a real rogue. I knew now I would for sure be killed on the spot.
Suddenly, a little boy came out and wrapped his arms around my leg. I looked down at him. He had to be no older than 6 or 7 years old. "Where is your mother?" I asked as he looked at me with the most beautiful blue eyes.
"I am lost." He said as tears started to fall down his face. "She told me to stay so she could find food and I saw a kitty and I wanted it to be my friend."
"Are you a part of a pack?" I asked. I could smell he was a werewolf, so I knew I was able to talk to him about being a werewolf.
"No. It is just my mom and me," he said.
"My name is Sophia. What is your name?" I asked as I carefully bent down to him.
"My name is Henry." He said as I heard footsteps coming up behind me. I turned and kept Henry behind me. A woman came out of the trees. She looked very similar to Henry but her hair was black and he was dark brown. "Mommy!" he said as he ran up to the woman. I stood there watching. I wonder why a pack would exile a woman and her child. The woman looks at me and smiles.
"How far along are you?" She asks as she slowly walks up to me. Knowing what she was talking about, I shielded my belly. These pups were the last thing I had left of my mate, my pack, and my old life and I would protect them with everything I had or die trying.
"Three and a half months. I am having twins." I said as kindly as possible.
"I am Lia. What is your name?" She said, smiling.
"I am Sophia Zimmerman," I said my name for the second time in three months. I had thought I had forgotten my own name since I hadn't said it in a long time.
"Get away from my daughter." My mom came out of the trees from behind me with Ginsing beside her.
"I am sorry. I just thought, since we were both rogues, we could form an alliance. After all, I had my son without a pack and I have done pretty well with his care without a pack. I thought maybe if we worked together my son wouldn't wander off when I search for food and she would have an easier time with her pups." Lia says, holding one hand up and keeping her other hand on her son. She was trying to keep him behind her.
"Do you know what happened with Jonathan and the challenge?" I asked.
"He lost. I do not know if the challenger kept their deal. Brent told him that he thought you were pregnant and Jonathan and the rogue agreed to fight until one of them was willing to give in. I don't know what happened after that. I went to Ginsing and I left to try and find you." Mom said as she came and gave me a hug. "I think I will join you. It is up to Ginsing if he wants to join us. All I know is I will not follow an Alpha that is not Jonathan."
"I am not going back," Ginsing said.
"I think Sophia should be our Luna. She has experience. She will make a great Luna. Maybe you will have a son and he can become our Alpha when he turns eighteen." Mom says, and it seems Lia and Ginsing are in agreement.
"What will we call our pack?" Lia said, sounding quite intrigued.
"Well, since we are all rogues now, how about something like the Castaway Pack," I said, not thinking anyone would agree. All three of them seemed to really like the idea. So we were forming a pack that would be known as the Castaway pack but which would be the Alpha. Ginsing and Henry were the ones that were males and Henry was too young to be any kind of Alpha. "Ginsing, I think you should be Alpha. You're the only male. I don't think that any alphas will accept me as Luna without my mate being Alpha." I said suddenly, causing everyone to look at me weirdly.
"No. I never had a desire to be an alpha. I don't mind being your beta, but not an alpha. Although I would be alright with being Beta, I think perhaps Lia should be because the two of you are the founders of this new pack. I will be the head warrior since I am the only warrior. I will start by training this little one and then when your little one is old enough I will train it as well. Maybe we should also search for some other rogues." Ginsing said. As we stood around, I heard footsteps coming.
Out came the Lycan I had met three months ago when I was still new to being a rogue. I never learned his name. I had half a mind to run up to him and hug him, but I was also terrified he was here to try and steal this new pack before it was even a real pack.
"Oh look, it is Elderberry eater. I wasn't expecting to see you hear. This is my territory. I won a challenge three weeks ago. I overheard you were starting your own pack. What are you going to do about a territory?" He asked, stepping closer.
"Please stay back." My mom said as she stood between me and the Lycan.
"And who are you?" He said, looking at my mom with a glare.
"I am Lindsey Jameson. I am Sophia's mother. Who are you?" My mom said with a growl. I could tell her wolf was trying to take control.
"I am Maximus Müller. I am a Lycanthrope from Germany." He said more calmly. "I was going to offer you a part of my territory. It is hard to have a pack with no territory. There are four cottages at the edge of my territory," Maximus said as he turned and led the way toward the cottages. When we got to them, we saw that they were little two-story houses. "Each one had two bedrooms. One kitchen, a bathroom, and a living room. I figured the little male could stay in one with his mother. Sophia can have one so her pups can live with her. And you two can have the two remaining cottages. You have my permission to use the stores that are nearby, but keep in mind I may be being nice, but you are still not a part of my pack. This is now your small territory and the store we will share. My wolves will run it but you can go and get anything you need. I will inform them that you get anything on me." Maximus said something before he tossed us a key ring with four keys on it.
"Luna gets the best one and Beta gets the second-best one," Ginsing said, and mom agreed to that. So Lia and I looked in all of the cottages and quickly found which ones we would live in. The one I picked was a cute little house. Upstairs there were two bedrooms. The one I would be sleeping in had walls painted lilac. It had a small walk-in closet that would be good if I got some clothes. The next room was small but it was going to have to do when my pups were born. Downstairs, the kitchen and living room looked like one room. There was one door that led to the small bathroom with a single stand-up shower.
I couldn't wait to take a shower for the first time in three months. Lia's cottage was the same other than the colors. Hers, however, needed cleaning. We agreed that I would have a hard time getting my cottage clean before my pups were born. It would be easier to keep it clean if it wasn't too messy. I noticed another door in the kitchen area. I went through it and saw a small yard where I could grow a garden. In the front of the cottage, there was a small walking path that led from the front door to the driveway. Just next to the door there is a small garden with rose bushes.
I can't help wondering what happened to the people that lived in this cottage before. It wasn't messy enough to have been empty for a very long time. The whole cottage was furnished and reeked of humans. I didn't mind though. Soon enough, this cottage will smell of werewolves. Especially when my pups were born. I noticed outside was a small shed. I would have an office I would share with Lia.
I walked out to the shed and noticed it was unlocked. I walked in and it was empty and needed cleaning. I wasn't going to do it until the pups were born. Werewolves usually care for their pups for no more than six months and I am going toward the fourth month of my pregnancy, so my belly was starting to get quite large with twins. I decided I wanted to see what kind of movies were on the shelves and if they actually had any DVDs on them. I found a movie that was recorded by the previous occupants called, Werewolves the Dark Survivors. I decided I would give this a try. I wanted to see how accurate it was. It was not very accurate, but it was still interesting.
After watching the movie, I was ready to sleep. I was excited about sleeping in a bed for the first time in months. But those months on my own made me nervous about going to sleep. Sure, I was in a house now with my mom and a best friend close by and even a new friend, but I still felt very alone. Being very tired, I allowed myself to go to sleep in the soft bed. It felt like I was lying on soft cotton. The pillows were really soft. I wasn't much into soft pillows. Now I was used to laying my head on a pile of leaves that weren't soft at all. I was fast asleep once my head hit the pillows.
The next morning I had forgotten where I was and woke in a panic. Looking around, it took a while to remember where I was. I got up out of bed quickly. I wanted to see that I was not alone. I left outside the front door and saw Ginsing watering his plants. It was funny seeing a great big man watering little daisies like he was attached to them. I even heard him talking to the flowers telling them that he was going to take good care of them. He was going to water them every day. I couldn't help but let out a chuckle when I walked up.
"Morning Luna." He said when he heard me laughing.
"Why are you talking to plants?" I asked, trying not to continue to laugh at him.
"I believe all life has feelings and if the plants know I will care for them, they will grow and be pretty," Ginsing said as my mom came out of the cottage she chose. Soon after, Henry went out of the one he was living in with his mom and took off in the opposite direction to where we were standing. Mom took off after him.
"Little one, you must stay close. There could be dangers out there. Hey, why don't you help Ginsing water the plants? Perhaps he would be willing to care for mine too." Mom said as she walked up with Henry's hand in hers.
"Don't you want to care for your own plants?" Ginsing said, looking at mom's Hydrangea plants. She also had some Calla Lilies. They were pretty purple.
"Yeah, if you leave it up to me, they will all die. I never had a green thumb." Mom said as Lia came out in a panic.
"Why would you want your thumbs to be green?" Henry said as his mom walked up to him.
"It is a saying. It means that I can't keep plants alive no matter how hard I try," Mom said with a smile. She was really sweet towards children.
"But Sophia didn't die," Henry said.
"Well, it is easier to care for children because they can ask for what they need." Mom said, even though I know she wanted to tell the truth that Joseph didn't allow her to be my mom. I watched as Ginsing turned his attention to my mom's flowers before I went to my own and began to water them before pulling some weeds.
After getting the weeds out, I tried to stand up but I couldn't. My belly kept getting in the way. It was Ginsing who rushed over to help me stand up. It was embarrassing that I couldn't stand up without help. It also reminded me of the fact my mate would never be here to help me. I watched as Henry and Ginsing played tag and was yet again reminded that Jonathan wasn't here with me. Our little pack will be filled with children who don't know what it is like to be with their fathers. I did wonder where Lia's mate was.
"Why are you and Henry not with your pack?" I asked as I sat down next to Lia.
"I left my pack to find my mate at a time when my pack was at war with a neighboring pack. The future Alpha found his mate in that pack. The neighboring pack didn't like that she had run away to be with the future alpha. But when I left my pack to go find my mate, Henry's father and grandfather found me, took me hostage, and forced some things on me, and then Henry was born. He was born as a rogue because I was going to rescue the future Luna. I failed and she threw herself and Henry's grandfather off of a cliff. I tried to save her but I missed her. I am afraid that if I tried to go back, not only would I be exiled for failing to protect my future Luna, but also for letting Henry live. I couldn't terminate my pregnancy with him. I left on my own so I could say I am not truly a rogue but more of a lone wolf or a packless wolf." Lia explained, not looking away from her son.
"Well, you're not a packless," I said as I rubbed her back trying to comfort her. I felt bad for her. It looked like this past was painful for her. I know how she felt. I missed my birthpack. I missed all my friends and my mate and my best friend. I would be happy if I just had some of them back. Of course, I had my mom and Ginsing, but I wish I knew they were all safe and happy. I hoped the Lycan that won the Alpha ship from Jonathan was treating everyone safely.
As we played with Henry, Maximus came walking up. "Evening Werewolves. Here, Sophia, do you know him?" He said as he motioned toward a male werewolf. It was Jimmi. I couldn't help but run up to him.
"What are you doing here?" I said as I wrapped my hands around my mate's beta.
"I came to find you. When the Lycan won, the entire pack refused to follow him. He killed three members of our pack. One of which was a part of our little group," he said as he fell to his knees. I knew it either had to be someone in his family or his mate, Taylor.
"Who?" I asked as I tried to hold in my tears.
"Taylor," Jimmi said as he looked over my shoulder toward Lia. "Mate."
"What?" I said. I was very confused.
"I think she is my second chance mate." He said as I noticed Lia looking at him as she stiffened.
"What about the other two members?" I asked.
"Someone named Luca and another named Andy," he said. I don't believe I ever met them, but it still made me mad.
"Why?" I asked, not caring if my anger showed.
"He killed Taylor because she refused to tell him where you were. She kept telling him she didn't know. Andy and Luca are Brent's two youngest brothers and they refuse to follow the Lycan. As he killed the three of them, the rest of the pack left. We spread out and kept our Pack link so we could tell Jonathan, Anya, and Brent where we were. I have already told him I found you. And that you are pregnant." Jimmi said as he looked at my stomach.
"Jonathan is alive?" I asked. That was all I heard from what he said.
"Yes. Lincoln and Ashleigh are close behind me. I told them to come quickly." He said as he looked at the Lycan.
"Can my friends pass through your territory?" I asked. He nodded.
"As long as they say they know Sophia, I will bring them here myself." He said with a smile as he walked off.