Permission to escape - The Rogue Pack

Chapter 12 - Past

The trio left the compound, slowly jogging towards the edge of the forest. As they crossed the boundary, Sam dropped the remaining weapons she had strapped to her person. They advanced through the forest, a gentle breeze wafting through the wandering foliage.

"How did you know to come for me?" she questioned.

"You sent us a mind link..." Aiden seemed confused. He'd assumed that Sam had wanted them there, and the weakness of her communication had made him worried that she was in danger. Obviously she hadn't been, but surely she wasn't stupid enough to take on an entire compound alone without alerting them at all?

"Ah, I'd hoped you hadn't received that..." Sam seemed embarrassed. "I honestly didn't mean to send it, I was just really angry at myself so I started internally shouting." Sam turned her face away from the boys, not wanting them to see her flushed cheeks. She didn't usually get so emotional that she couldn't control her thoughts, and she felt ashamed at her display of weakness.

Kicking the tree roots as she walked, Sam lost herself in her thoughts.

Over her head, Liam and Aiden glanced at each other, sharing a look of concern and worry. Liam turned and opened his mouth. But before he could get a word out, Sam interrupted,

"I guess I owe you an explanation don't I?" admitted Sam. Liam was startled; Sam had never willingly talked about anything relating to the things she had experienced. Everything he knew about her past he'd learned through probing questions.

"Only if you're ready, and only what you're comfortable with," he replied. "But yes, you do."

Sam paused, fidgeting as she debated how to start her story.

"Have you heard of the DIR?"

"Yeah, they're the organisation who captured young wolves and used technologies to experiment on them, trying to turn them into their own personal warriors. Humans experimenting on the supernatural, treating them as less than human. As the vile monsters they believe us to be," Aiden paused.

"Well... I was eight when they took me. My Dad was the Alpha of a very small pack at the time, and we were very poor. So poor that he decided he had to use their last resort. You see I have a brother, who is meant to become Alpha when he turns of age. So in a way I was expendable. And I was too young to be of any use as a Luna to exchange with another, more powerful pack. So they sold me. I guess the DIR offered the highest price."

"I can still remember the look in my mum's eyes as I was driven away. That look... the pain in her eyes... it haunts me. But she couldn't speak up against the Alpha. It was his decision."

Liam gingerly reached out a hand, resting it on Sam's shoulder. She'd stopped walking as she spoke, her eyes glazing off as if she was reliving the memory. On her other side, Aiden gripped her hand, softly massaging her tense knuckles. He gestured to a nearby fallen log, indicating that they should sit, but didn't dare speak from fear of interrupting the spell that Sam had cast with her dark words. She needed to let this out.

Sam offered a slight smile to each of them before continuing.

"The day they took me, I was in the training area, training for some competition, I don't remember which. My father came in first, his head held down, unable to look me in the eye. I remember that. He had such kind eyes, and I never got to look into them again. And then they stormed in, these men in dark suits. They all had that emblem on them," Sam gestured to the papers Liam carried. "I was stuffed in the back of a van. It was dark and I was terrified. Those first few days were horrific. I-I-.." Sam paused, twisting her hands in her lap.