The Alpha Chose Me

Introduction

Six Months Prior

"We need to keep moving!" My fathers voice boomed above the pouring rain. We stayed close to the wall of the steep ditch, the highway just a few feet above our heads. We stopped every few minutes in fear the pack watch would find us. The ditch loosened allowing the mud to move freely with the rain. My boots slipped on the moving mud, tripping both me and my younger sister Kate. She shouted in fear but I grabbed her elbow and pulled her body to mine before she could fall. She wrapped her arms around my neck and I wrap mine around her waist and tighten.

"I'm so sorry Kate."

"It's okay, I'm okay. Are you?" We moved our hands to grab the others elbows to keep steady.

"I'm okay."

"Hold," said the person in front of me. I repeat the command for the people behind me. In fear of other pack members finding us we keep our voices to a whisper. The team lead said the command to the person behind him and allows the word to flow throughout the group. A way to keep everyone quiet at a certain scale and so far it's been working. The pack board already knows that members of the pack were caught sneaking out after curfew. The watch is keeping a look out for any suspicious activity and to guard all territory exits. I asked the person in front of me what the hold was for.

"The team lead thinks he found the tunnel that opens up to one of the country's Universal Territories." The kind woman smiled at my sigh of relief and gripped my shoulder, "we're going to make it." My sister pressed her face against my back.

"I'm so tired." I turned my body and supported her weight. The hard water bounced off her jacket onto my face. 

"I know, but Dad thinks he found the tunnel that leads to a Universal Territory."

"I hope he's right." She looked up, her dark bangs laid flat against her forehead. The rain mixed with my sweat and dripped down my chin in a hurry. 

"Me too."

The Universal Territories are designated pieces of land scattered across the country that no pack can claim. They were initiated to allow families and travelers to get around the country safely without the fear of staying in claimed land for too long. If an unidentifiable group of travelers stay in claimed land for more than three days they're seen as a threat.

"Move," whispered the woman in front of me, I think her name was Gretchen. I said the word to my sister who repeated it the next and so on. We walked to the bottom of the ditch to a hidden path in the trees. I looked past all the people between my father and I and saw him take the first step into the dark woods. He was the bravest man I knew. He was willing to put his life on the line to get the freedom his family and others deserved. He knew what he was doing and he knew the consequences of the choices he made but he continued on. He wasn't going to stop until we made it out.

It was almost my turn to enter the path but I hesitated. The clouds opened a window just big enough for the bright light of the moon to cascade over my face. I let the rest of my family and other escapees walk past my stationary figure. I look up at the moon. Our connection felt deeper than it ever had, I could feel her energy absorbing through my clothes to my skin. She reassured me that leaving was the only choice. She supported us, she would protect us. We weren't safe there. Other families seemed unsettled as well which encouraged the idea of escaping. It was always a thought but never an action. Until it was.