Something is shaking my shoulder. Mumbling, I try to roll over to get away from the insistent shaking, but my rounded stomach prevents me from escaping. My back is sore and the persistent ache has just been getting worse. The blankets I am searching for are not below or around me and the cold wetness of mud squishes as I move. Blinking my eyes open, I realize that I am no longer safe with my mates. The memory of being surrounded by alphas and then total darkness comes rushing back to me as I struggle to sit up.

"Finally," a relieved voice says.

Hesitantly, I turn my head towards the unfamiliar voice and find two bodies hovering next to me. They are both teenagers, probably around my age, but look much younger. The girl has a hard scowl on her face as she meets my gaze, while the boy just has a look of weariness.

"We've been trying to wake you up for hours," the boy says, sitting back on his feet from a kneeled position. The girl scoots closer to the boy as if she is afraid to be too far away from him. I do not blame her. Strangers are some of the most frightening things out there, especially in the world we now live in.

"Who are you?" I question, my voice scratchy from lack of use and sleep. I swallow, trying to relieve the tickle in my throat, but it does not seem to help.

"Better question is who are you?" the girl finally says, a bite to her voice. She does not seem too fond of me if her harsh glare says anything.

"Allie, hush," the boy says, turning to look at her before returning his gaze to me. "I'm Micah, and she's my sister Allie."

I nod my head, looking around for Taylor. Micah notices me looking and points behind me. Turning my head, I see my friend slumped against the wall, eyes closed and lips parted.

"Is he okay?"

"Yeah, just sleeping," Micah tells me, helping me to stand up and waddle over to Taylor. "You guys have been out for days."

"Days?"

"Yeah, at least two, but you lose count in here," he says, motioning his arm around him.

Looking around, I see that we are in a small wooden shack. This place is even smaller than the tree house we had been living in, and that is saying something. Holes in the roof let in bits of sunlight, casting an eerie glow about the room. And there is a perpetual stench, most likely caused by the rusted over bucket in the room, used for god knows what.

"Taylor," I say softly, gently shaking his shoulder to wake him up. He does not budge, staying completely unconscious, unaware of what is happening around him. I am almost hesitant to have him wake up, knowing that he will most likely fall into a full blown panic attack once he realizes what has happened, but my desire to have someone I know around me is too strong.

"Taylor," I try again, shaking him a bit harder than last time. He stirs a little, but his eyes stay closed. "You need to wake up, Taylor."

A moan falls from his lips as his eyes finally flutter open. Slowly, he raises his head up from the awkward sideways position it had been in while he was sleeping. Lethargically, he blinks his eyes and takes in our surroundings. The mud below us and the unfamiliar shack trapping us in makes his breath speed up, and I can tell that the memories are coming back to him, too.

"L-Liam," he says, finally fully awake, the panic clear in his voice. "Please tell me this is a dream." Tears start falling down his face and his bottom lip wobbles as he tries to catch his breath.

I wrap my arms around him, pulling him as close to my body as I can. He buries his head into my neck, and I can feel the wetness of his tears on my skin. Hesitantly, I shake my head and I feel Taylor trying to take in shaky breaths as he fights the panic attack.

"It's okay," I murmur, pressing my cheek to his messy hair. "They'll find us."

Taylor nods his head and we all sit in silence, listening to the chirping of the birds coming from outside. They are so happy in a time that is filled with so much fear. The world outside of humans and the supernatural are unaffected by the changes happening all around us. Sometimes, I wish I could be that free.

Hours later, there is a harsh knock on the door, breaking us from our silent stupor. The clicking of an old lock can be heard as a key is turned and the door swings open, revealing the nasty alpha who seems to be the leader of this rogue pack.

"Ah, you're awake. How nice," he says, a sinister smile on his face. He crosses the room, the mud squelching with every step he takes. Swiftly, he crouches down in front of me and Taylor, causing the other omega to shake. I just hope he does not have a full blown panic attack, and by the quick way his breath is stuttering on my neck, I know he is getting close.

"Stay away from us," I say, hoping the angry growl in my voice is taken seriously. The alpha just laughs, causing his greasy dark hair to fall into his filthy face. He smiles, revealing a mouth of missing teeth.

"You think you have any power here, omega?" he asks, moving his face closer to mine. His stench is terrible, and I pull my face away, squishing me and Taylor against the wall. "As soon as this bastard is born," he pokes to my protruding belly, "you will be all ours."

I growl, wrapping a protective arm around my stomach. This is my baby, nobody, alpha or not, is going to hurt it. I would die protecting it and that could very well be a possibility.

"Now you," he says, turning his malicious gaze towards my cowering pack mate. "As soon as the full moon comes, you're all ours. Like you were before and like you always will be."

With that, he pulls away from us and walks towards the door. He gives us one last look over his shoulder before slamming the rusty wooden door and clicking the locks shut, leaving us once again trapped in this horrible shack.

"You were here before?" a tentative voice asks. Pulling away from Taylor, I turn to look at the other omegas. My pack mate shuffles away from the wall but makes sure that he has as much of his side pressed against me as possible before settling down. Touch always seems to calm him down, but that is how it is for most wolves.

"Yeah," he croaks, voice hoarse from crying. "A while ago."

"How did we not see you?" the girl asks again. Her eyebrows are scrunched as if she really is confused. "We've been here for forever."

"Allie, don't push him," her brother says, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her back up against the wall.

"Sorry," she whispers contritely. This is the first time that she has seemed like someone who I could like, not the queen bitch she was trying to portray herself to be. "It's just, you kind of lose track of time while in here, and they have been going crazy trying to find some one ever since we got here. I guess it makes sense that it's you, since you... escaped?" Her tone shows how she is uncertain as to how Taylor had gotten away from the Alphas.

"Yeah, I escaped," he says, answering her question. He does not bother to acknowledge anything else she had said.

"Great! Then you can probably do it a second time, and you can take us with you."

"There isn't going to be a second time," he says, voice void of any emotion.

"What? What do you mean? Of course we have to escape, th-"

Taylor cuts her off before she can continue, "There are more of them now and more of us. There is no way we could all escape alive without the help of someone else. Besides, the only reason I escaped was because a herd of infected attacked, allowing me to slip away while the Warriors were distracted."

"Leave him alone, Allie," Micah says, tightening his arm around her. She looks like she is about to argue, but must see how out of it Taylor is because she clamps her lips shut.

"We just have to wait," I say, rubbing a hand up and down Taylor's back and using my other one to rub circles on the now awake baby in my stomach. It is kicking my hand and I tap its foot with every kick it gives me.

"They won't be able to get past all the alphas, Liam," Taylor says, flicking his eyes over to me before returning them to the mud below his feet. "There is just no possible way."

"They will find a way," I try to reassure, but I am starting to feel the doubt slip into my mind. I shake my head before giving him a small smile. He does not return it, but I feel some of the tension leave his body.

"You have a pack?" Micah asks, head cocked to the side in curiosity.

"Yeah," I say. "My mates, a beta, and a few pups."

"How'd they survive the Warriors?" Allie asks, and I feel the air rush out of my lungs. The thought that my newly formed pack could be wiped out like my old one causes my eyes to well up, but I do not let the tears fall.

"We told them to run, and by some miracle, they listened," I answer truthfully. Micah and Allie both nod their heads, falling silent.

"What about you two?" They both look at me, the confusion clear on their faces. "How did you end up here?"

They both tense up, and I can see the distant look on both of their faces. Allie starts shaking her head, but Micah nods his. He pulls his sister tighter against his body and leans against the wall before turning his blue gaze to look at me.

"We'll tell you," he says softly. "Just not now. Please not right now."

I can tell that he is holding back his own tears, while Allie's flow freely down her face. Silently, I nod my head. I understand what they went through, and I would never push them to relive it, seeing as some things are just too personal to share. They could tell me on their own time if they decide to tell me at all. It is completely up to them.

We all lean against the walls of the shack and listen to life going on outside of the tiny space we are stuck inside. Hopefully, one day soon we could be as free as the birds singing outside of this shack.

*****

The picture at the top is of Micah.