Shackled

Chapter Six

They trekked until Mason and the girls couldn't hold in their complaints anymore and their feet were worn and weary from the hours of rubbing in their boots. They stopped and made camp, dragging logs over to a communal point and starting a fire. They didn't fear attracting unwanted attention with the flames, they knew that in this world, they were what people were afraid of, they were the creatures that went bump in the night.

It was a reassuring thing sometimes, to be feared by humans and animals alike, it made it safer doing things like traveling in the forest. They needn't fear the bears and other wildlife that would threaten simple humans. The animals could sense their feral nature, tell that something was slightly off about them, and for the most part, they were left alone.

They slept under the night sky, and for Eden, it felt like any other night lying amidst the trees. Until she closed her eyes and all she could see was the grey wolf, standing over the corpses of her parents. She slept restlessly for a few hours then got up, relieving Jonathan of his watch duty, taking over guarding the remains of her pack. She didn't know if she'd ever sleep normally again, not with the images that were ingrained on the backs of her eyelids, but she took solace in the fact that she could care for her people in the dead of the night.

They were off at the first ray of sun over the horizon. Backpacks once again slung over their shoulders. She felt bad for the rest of her pack, the journey would have been much faster if they traveled in wolf form, but she held them back. At the rate they were going it would take them a week's journey to get to the border of Twin Peak territory, but that was the reality they were stuck with.

The days passed slowly, with every step they felt more and more lethargic as if they were walking through water. Lily was a great tracker, with a great nose and unbelievably fast gait and so at night she hunted for the pack, bringing back rabbits and whatever meager catches she could find. It was barely enough to feed them all, even with the food they had packed along the way. They were wolves, with fast metabolisms that demanded large portion sizes and an abundance of protein. Unfortunately, they were traveling through no man's land, which lacked in resources and prey for them to hunt.

She could feel the pack life force dimming and she knew that they had to travel faster, the weaker they were the more susceptible they were to attack. They needed to look strong and fierce upon their arrival, they could not show weakness to their potential enemy. Eden weighed scenarios in her mind, wondering just how exactly they would be received by the pack that would either act as their saviours or their executioners.

But it didn't matter. She could weigh as many options as she wanted in her mind, but she wouldn't know until they arrived. It was a waiting game, one that held no risk for her opponents and all the risk for her people. They kept on, covering as much ground as they were physically able before resting for the night until finally, they found themselves only about a mile away from the border lines.

"Alright everyone, this is it." She turned to face the pack that followed her. Their expressions were forlorn and exhausted, but she could see the glimmer of hope that rested between the eyes of her wolves. Only Jonathan seemed to be lacking any sign of excitement, he too knew just how risky the rest of their journey would be.

She could feel her heart beating a fast rhythm in her chest, a feeling of nervousness that she hadn't felt for years. Only now, instead of simple nerves, she was also weighed down by the lives of those who followed her. She was the sole person responsible for the lives of all who stood next to her, and the events that followed would unquestionably test her newfound Alpha status.

"Let's go." There was no inspiring speech, she would not fill their heads with false promises of happy endings and new beginnings. She refused to make the mistake of being optimistic, too many new Alphas did, and it was the last mistake they ever made.