Alpha or Beta? (Being edited)

Chapter 1

Kari's POV:

"Kari, we have to leave now!"

I feel the blood drain from my face. Not this again.

"Kari now!" my mom shouts as she flies past me.

I quickly push off the couch and grab my backpack. I rush around the house grabbing the very few necessities we need. I have no idea where we're going or why we always end up running but, I do know we'll need food and water. After grabbing all the food and water, I find myself in the living room looking for Evie's stuffed teddy bear; she won't sleep without it. I suddenly stop in my tracks. Evelyn.

This cannot be happening now out of all times.

"Mom! I can't find Evelyn!" I shout.

"I can't find her either." My mom comes to a stop in front of me with eyes wild and scared.

"Check out back!" I order as I frantically run up the stairs. Out of all times, now is the time I can't find her.

I open up the bathroom door but to my dismay find nothing but dirty clothes on the floor. I checked her room already and she wasn't there. I guess I should look again.

I fling over to her room and rip the door open. Her room looks deserted. Where is she?

A small cry comes from the closet and I eye it suspiciously. I hurry over to the door and open it. I let out a relieved sigh as I see my little sister sitting on the floor of her closet hugging her favorite worn out teddy bear. I sigh in relief as I fall to my knees in front of her.

"Evie we need to go, I'm going to grab some of your clothes and put them in my bag. But you need to help me, mom wants us to hurry." I say hastily.

I stand and walk over to her drawers to pack her clothes for her. I hear small sniffles come from behind me. I quickly turn around.

"Evie what's wrong?" I ask hurriedly. "Mom's going to freak out if we don't leave soon!"

"It's just... I don't want to leave. I like this place Kari." She looks up with sad eyes. "I was finally able to make some friends."

I don't reply. I can't. The look in her eyes breaks my heart. I turn and finish grabbing the clothes, run over to her, and grab her hand. She doesn't resist when I pull her up. I look her in the eyes with what I hope is a compassionate but stern look.

"I know you don't want to leave Evie, but we have to. Now let's go."

Still holding hands we run down the stairs. When we hit the bottom, I see my mom looking frantically out of the front window. When she finally hears us, she turns suddenly and looks at me with worried questioning eyes.

"Mom, we are all set. Lets go." She nods, and without speaking another word we all head out the back door and into the woods.

We start off with a steady jog, but suddenly my mom stops and turns to me.

"Kari, There might come a point in time where we will have to split up. I will go one way, and you will take Evelyn and go another. We will meet up in a town called Lexington. There we will take the train to New Haven. If I'm not able to meet you at the train station by midnight, leave without me."

I don't say anything. How does she expect me to leave her?

She grabs my face and searches my eyes. "Do you understand? You have to be able do this Kari. To keep you and Evie safe." I nod my head. I know I have no other choice.

We begin jogging again, but faster this time. After what seems like forever, I look to my right and notice that Evie is panting fiercely with a red face. Poor girl can't keep up with the pace we are going.

"Mom, Evie's getting tired. Maybe we should take a break." I suggest through short quick breaths.

Even I am getting tired and I'm in the best shape out of the three of us. I see my mom shake her head, but she proceeds to slow down anyway. I sigh in relief and sit down on a nearby rock. Evie joins me as mom walks over to us and leans on a tree. We sit there for a while just trying to collect our breath and calm down. I take in my surroundings. Nothing but lush green trees and a beautiful forest. I notice something odd though. It's eerily silent. Too silent.

Suddenly we hear a feral howl followed by viscous barks. Mom's head snaps up and she looks at me. She quickly runs over, picks my bag up off the floor, hands it to me, and pulls me and Evelyn up. She kisses both of us on the head. I stare at her with sad eyes, knowing the meaning of this action. Tears threaten to spill, but my mom reaches her hand up and quickly wipes them away.

She gazes at me with her beautiful light blue eyes and says, "Shh, it will all be okay Kari." Then she turns serious and fierce.

"I want you to run. Don't stop until you reach the train station. When you get there, don't wait for me. Head straight to where I told you to go." She pulls me into a hug and whispers, "I love you so much, please take care of your little sister."

After all this time, we have gone through so much together. How can she give up now?

Tears stream down my face, and I pull back to look at her "Mom I love you so much, you can't leave us, please we can do this together." I plead. She gives me a sad smile.

"We can't." A sob escapes my throat. I pull her into a bone crushing hug that she returns wholeheartedly.

"I love you so much mom!" She gives me a watery smile.

"I love you too honey." More sobs escape and I feel my body start to shake as she slowly detaches me from herself and walks over to Evie and hugs her tight.

"I love you too Evie, now I want you to take care of your big sister. Mommy is going to be gone for a while but just remember I will always be with you right here." She points to Evie's heart and Evie puts on a puzzled face. At eight years old she has no idea why mom is saying this.

"I love you too mommy, but where are you going?" She asks in her cute confused voice. Suddenly a growl echos off the trees from an even closer distance than before. Mom stands quickly and turns to me.

"Go!" She demands. I stare at her for a few seconds before she yells, "Now!"

I grab Evie's hand and run the other direction. I look back once more and see my mom's stone cold face and body poised for action. Evie stumbles for a bit but soon catches up. The barks and growls grow closer to mom, but farther away from us. Then I hear a loud and painful howl that screams and echos throughout the woods. My vision blurs as tears pool from my eyes. It's the same howl I've heard so many times in my life. One that I will never forget.

It's over thirty minutes of us running, when I finally feel Evie give up. Her body slugs to the floor, pulling me to a halt. I look down at her.

"Evie we need to keep going baby, you heard mom" I plead, "We aren't allowed to stop!" She looks up at me with barely open eyes.

"Sis, I can't do it anymore... My body won't move." I sigh. Releasing her hand I take my backpack off and place it on her back. She looks up at me with a puzzled face. I ignore it and kneel onto the ground with my back facing her front side.

"Get on."

She slowly wipes her tired eyes and nods at me. She stands and just barely manages to hop onto my back. I hold onto her legs and begin to run again. It's a good thing I'm a werewolf, because this would be impossible any other way.

Unfortunately, it takes us about three hours to reach the train station my mother told me about. By the time I step foot onto the concrete, I realized that Evie is asleep. Much to my luck, in order to buy our tickets I needed to wake her up. I reach my hand over my shoulder and poke her cheek.

"Wake up silly-goose, we're here." She begins to stir slightly. I kneel down and place her onto the ground. She hops off my back then hands me my back pack. "Thank you, I just need to buy these tickets, then we will be on our way." She nods and reaches up to grab my hand. I squeeze back gently then approach the train station stand.

"Hi, two tickets to New Haven please." The man nods then passes me my tickets.