--- Beonnie ---

Berta had just finished tending to my wounds when the phone rang. She got up before me and fetched her phone from behind the counter. The conversation was short.

"Mhm. Okay. Yes. Of course, dear. Oh, okay. Mhm. Yes. Immediately."

She walked around the pharmacy and grabbed things from different shelves as she talked. The last thing she aimed for was a rack of training clothes. She threw me a pair of black tights and a black long-sleeved top and signalled for me to put them on.

When the conversation was over, she turned to me.

"You must leave. Immediately. I don't know any details, but you will probably have trackers chasing you."

Ouch. I knew nothing about how to avoid trackers. My strategy thus far had been to avoid contact with anyone altogether. I fumbled with the clothes but eventually managed, and for a few fleeting seconds, I rejoiced in having fresh clothes on again. Fleeting seconds passed fast, though, and reality came quickly as Berta ushered me towards the room behind the counter, where my stuff was.

"Keep close to the main roads. Whoever will be hunting you will not want to run in shifted form if they are close to humans."

"Berta, thanks for everything." I hugged her, and she smiled. Although I had only known her for a few hours, it had been just the soothing experience I needed.

"Of course, dear."

While I put all my stuff together, adding the things she had grabbed earlier, she continued:

"I will take the bloodied bandages and my car and drive in one direction; you just get going in another. I'll throw them out of the car little by little. That will hopefully make the trackers go the wrong way and buy you a couple of hours at least."

I smiled at her, took one of her business cards, and left with one last look, almost bumping into a woman as I went through the door.

"Sorry, mam."

She was human.

"Oh, girl. Wait for a second!" Berta yelled.

I stopped and turned around. Berta turned towards the woman.

"Dear Annabelle, are you on your way home after your errand here? Would you mind giving my friend's niece a lift? She is going in the same direction, but her ride never showed up."

The woman happily agreed, and after she was finished shopping, she drove me a good half an hour in almost the opposite direction of Berta's fake blood dispersal before she dropped me off. I thanked her and walked a few seconds on the road before darting into the forest.

Time to run again.

With my new connection to Siri, I felt faster already. I wished I could've shifted and run even quicker, but there was nothing to it. I also, uhm, didn't exactly know how to shift.

I stayed parallel to the main road, close enough to prevent my hunters from shifting into wolf form but far enough not to be noticed as anything other than someone out for a run. I could only hope that Berta's diversion would work, as I was very well aware of how slim my chances were otherwise.

If my calculations were correct, I would have at least a 2-3 hour advantage over whoever was chasing me. They would be faster than me during the night, but I got half an hour in a car, which saved me a lot of time since they couldn't shift during the day. Assuming they didn't have cars.

I hoped that Zac hadn't gotten into too much trouble over this. This was obviously not his doing, as he had managed to call and warn me; instead, it must be the work of his monstrous alpha.

--- Henry ---

It took us about an hour to arrive at Berta's place. Antonio, our tracker, stood clueless outside the pharmacy and waited for me. Neither Berta nor her car could be seen, and the "Closed" sign was up. I had Tristan drop me off around the corner so I could pretend to arrive from the forest. As I emerged, Antonio came up to me.

"I have already found blood traces from across the road. Let's go in that direction," he said, pointing toward the main road, which was going slightly north-westerly. "I can smell blood."

"Alright, why don't you go ahead that way? I will do a second circle check to ensure we are chasing the correct blood.

He nodded and darted toward the trace he had sniffed up. I stayed put. I had already snuffed out a very faint werewolf scent going in another direction. I just needed to wait for Tristan to get his tracker buddy off track so we could start following what I assumed was the girl.

A few minutes later, I saw Zane start a circle check and find the same blood trace that Antonio had found. He darted off in the same direction. I walked around the corner of the house to find Tristan leaning towards the car.

"So, are we guessing that the blood they are chasing is a Berta trick?" he smiled and nodded toward the southwest. I have caught another scent going in that direction. I mean, I only met her for about half an hour, and she was passed out, but still. It is a werewolf smell and not a blood one. It could be her."

"Let's go."

We darted off, and after running for a couple of hours based on a very faint scent, we got hold of a more potent scent near a house along the road. Now, we had a stronger trace to follow, but as it followed the road, Tristan had no choice but to run in human form. Clever girl.

--- Ben ---

I stayed in the meeting room for hours.

The weight of the imaginary crown of being Alpha King Prospect was impossibly heavy, and I wished for a moment that I was the rogue out there somewhere running for my life. At least the rogue was free. At least the rogue was free.

I wanted to destroy something, but the room offered nothing destructible as an added punishment, so not even that relief was bestowed upon me. Maybe I was as empty as everyone assumed. A shell. Nothing left to give anymore.

Again, I pondered what I could have done to deserve this. Yes, I had inherited the pack and the title early. Yes, I had started to train my pack to be harder and more brutal than ever. Yes, I had looked for my mate, the pack's Luna. I had done everything I thought I should but never found her.

I visited all the packs regularly so I wouldn't miss any she-wolfs there. After a couple of years, I felt stupid doing it. After another couple of years, I could almost hear the whispers upon my arrival. The possible mates also became increasingly my junior, which made my gut wrench. It didn't feel right. So I stopped. I didn't go to meetings or councils but sent my beta instead.

I cursed the Moon Goddess. If she cursed me, I would curse her. I learned to live with the pain. I got used to it. I wasn't even sure if I could feel it anymore. I let him in when Ivalde showed up at the gate, promising to break the curse. I didn't necessarily believe in what he said, but we needed something. The pack needed some hope to cling to. His claim to be able to find mates without the help of the Moon Goddess was the sliver of hope I allowed myself to believe in. It was also for the good of the pack.

Was I cruel?

All I had ever done was for this pack.

Since the Moon Goddess refused to bestow a mate on me, my pack's powers were at risk of diminishing. What could I do but have everyone train harder? How could I make them understand without punishing them when they misbehaved? Punishment in the form of even harder training so that if they weren't obedient, at least they could serve their pack by being strong.

And I had started to believe it helped. For a couple of months, I felt stronger than I had in a long time. Like Ivalde actually could give us the power we needed.

But now.

Now, my brother was afraid to help some innocent girl in fear of me. An innocent girl. And what do I do? I issue a manhunt.

I couldn't be angry at Zac. I never could. On the contrary, he had done right by himself and the pack in the strict sense. He had followed the rules. He had also done right by me by telling me, showcasing the trust he had in me. Still, his actions had devastated me. It was a hard pill to swallow to realise that the monster everyone was hiding from was you.

Zac would be an incredible Alpha. Strong, friendly, and loved. Maybe I should get up and leave.

I got up, walked over to the corner of the room, and opened the liquor cabinet we kept there. I grabbed a bottle of whiskey, opened it, and stared down into the abyss. Hesitated. And then, I raised the bottle to my lips and pulled the trigger. I would allow myself one more night of dulled emotions before setting things straight. I gulped it down.

--- Beonnie ---

I was soaked. My new clothes were already stained with sweat and blood under the knee and some by the shoulder. It was dark and in the middle of the night, and I was exhausted. I ate another chocolate bar and debated whether I should get out on the main road and try to catch a ride with someone. It felt like a somewhat unsafe option, though. I didn't know if my pursuers had cars, and I was a girl. I wasn't a girlie girl, but still a girl, and I realised that catching a ride with a stranger in the middle of the night could lead to other dangerous situations.

I was strong; I was. My father had trained me well. It had been part of his paranoia to train me as hard as he could. For someone so obsessed with my safety, I was amazed that he would spend so much time away from home rather than with those who needed his protection. In his mind, though, we were more protected when he was not with us.

His probable death by now made me sad, of course, but I was so used to not having him around that the worst heartache healed a long time ago.

However, I wanted to avoid testing my skills against unknown drivers at night, so I had to run. That was it.

I allowed myself one hour of sleep, figuring and hoping that I moved almost as fast as whoever was after me. Admittedly, running without knowing what was behind you was a bit annoying. Perhaps they had already stopped looking for me because, in reality, I was of absolutely no value to anyone. There was no need for me.

Unless. Unless it was because I was a girl. Perhaps I was going to be kidnapped and offered to someone. Did that really happen these days? I knew the answer to that. Yes, it did happen today. Not perhaps to anyone I knew, but it did happen to women in other parts of the world, even today.

I ran faster. I was not going to be some trophy to anyone. Nope. Not me. I was my own person. I could feel Siri muse. "We bend to no one."

I almost fell over. Siri hadn't said anything since she introduced herself or made her name known, but since we weren't fully connected, this was the type of conversation we could have. I felt what she meant rather than hear her say the words.

Daylight came, but it made no difference. I ran.