The Alpha's Prisoner

Prologue (Losing my pack)

"Mommy!" I whined. I wanted the cookies she'd promised after I picked up my toys. Being six years old, my toys and sweets were all that mattered.

She looked down at me and I could see steaks in her makeup where she'd been crying. She smiled very lightly and picked me up, settling me in her lap.

"Hi baby," she said quietly. "Alpha just called for daddy so he had to go."

"Why?"

"Because there are some bad wolves here. Daddy had to go fight. If they get any closer then we'll have to hide okay?" She explained quietly.

"Okay," I said. The cookies had left my thoughts as I watched another tear fall down my mother's cheek. I watched her run her hand through her long dark hair for what had to be the tenth time.

I felt her entire body tense as we heard a deep howl of pain in the distance. It went on for a long moment before my mother joined in the howl. Then the other howl was cut short and my mother began to sob, resting her head on my tiny shoulder. She had to gasp for her breath between her cries and she held me tighter than I could remember ever being held before.

I knew what that howl meant. It meant daddy was gone.

After a while, I heard scratching at the door and waited for my mother to put me down so she could answer it, but she didn't move. She just continued to cry. There was another scratch and a small whine.

I quickly jumped from my mother's lap and ran to the door. It was one of our pack wolves. My older brother. He rushed by me and I closed the door behind him. There was blood running down the fur on his shoulder. He looked at my mother before tugging a blanket from the couch to cover up with.

I heard his bones cracking and looked away as he shifted.

"We have to hide you two." He said picking me up. He spoke like he was on an important mission and I knew I needed to pay attention. He always seemed to know what he was doing. He had the blanket wrapped around his hips and held me with one arm as he pulled my sobbing mother with the other. "Stay quiet."

He pulled us down to the basement and put my mother in a corner behind our drier and put me in a basket before dropping a pile of clothes on top of me. I could tell they were dirty cause they smelled like old sweat.

"Don't move, okay?" He said. He sounded frantic, like he knew something bad was getting closer and he was running out of time. "Lewana, did you hear me?"

"Yes."

"Good. Mom, I know it's hard, but I need you. Can you shift?" My brother asked. I saw my mother shake her head. She didn't want to. "Mom, please. I can't do this alone. We need you."

She was quiet for a moment before I heard her shift. Her wolf laid on its belly in front of the basket and I heard my brother shift too.

He came over to the basket and pulled the clothes over my face with his mouth. I couldn't see a thing and all I could smell was old sweat and faint detergent.

It was a long silence before I heard anything. I was beginning to think nothing was going to happen, then there was something upstairs. A loud bang before paws pounded across the floor. I could tell there were multiple wolves. Then there were footsteps, like a man in boots would make. My mother and brother were being absolutely silent and I imagined them staring at the basement door together.

The movement upstairs faded away after a moment. It was quiet for a while, aside from the occasional bang of something being knocked over or tossed to the side. I heard the steps coming back down to the first floor.

I waited. I could feel the tension radiating off of my brother and mother.

It was so quiet I could hear the wolves sniffing at the door to the basement and I held my breath. The door slammed open and heard my brother's deep growl. My mother gave a tiny growl as the footsteps stomped down the stairs.

"Well, hello." A man said. He moved closer and I had to keep myself from whining. "A strong young male and you."

I heard my brother growl and I could imagine him stepping in front of my mother in a protective stance. He was always trying to keep us safe.

"We can take the male, but I doubt he will be an easy break." The man said. I heard multiple more footsteps of men followed by growling and teeth snapping before I heard one man scream out in pain. Then I heard my mother's whimper before it was cut short.

My brother howled and I knew it meant my mother was dead. I looked up and peeked through a hole in the basket. I couldn't see the man, but my brother was being shoved inside a cage. He fell against the back of the cage, still fighting to escape before the door was closed. He froze when he made eye contact with me. He just stared at me as the cage was lifted and carried up the stairs. Everything in his green eyes told me not to move. The men stayed for a while after they took my brother. They were going through our stuff, looking for supplies I suppose. I kept my eyes closed and waited for them to find me.

Then they just left. They didn't find me and I didn't see my brother. I quietly climbed out of the basket and kept my eyes closed until I heard a tiny whine. My eyes immediately popped open and I saw my mother on the ground. There was blood coming out of her mouth and pooling around her face. I walked over to her slowly and she looked up at me. She looked at me with so much love, but I could see her fear there too.

"Mommy?" I whispered. I sat beside her and ran my hand through her fur.

She put her head in my lap and closed her eyes with a quiet whimper. I kept petting her for a while until she just stopped breathing.

"Mommy?" I started to cry. "Mommy!"

She didn't move. She just stayed there. I started crying harder and shaking her, but she never woke up.

I looked at the small window and saw that it was dark outside, but there was a glowing. I stood up and wiped my eyes as I moved to the window. I climbed on top of the drier to look out into what used to be my back yard.

The houses around mine were glowing orange as they burned. There were multiple crates being loaded into the back of a truck with more of the pack in them.

I heard movement upstairs and tried to stay quiet before I started smelling smoke. I quietly crawled up the stairs and the smell got stronger. As I reached the top of the stairs I heard a snap. I heard a board creak and looked up to see one of them falling towards me. I ran to the bottom of the stairs and out the basement door, leaving everything behind. I ran until I reached the woods.

There was a place my brother and I played. A small cave.

I crawled inside the cave and hid, covered up with the blankets we kept there.

I stayed there and cried until I fell asleep.

And that's how I became a rogue.