Page 6 of Marked By Moonlight
“No,” I finally break free enough of the alpha command he has on me to speak.
Father ignores my outburst and picks up my duffel bag on the floor. He carries it outside to the Jeep parked at the side of the cabin. There’s just one road that leads back here, and it isn’t well-kept. Our Jeep usually gets stuck multiple times on the drive into the closest town.
After putting my duffel bag into the back of the Jeep, he walks over to Kael. I notice Kael’s uncle carrying his bags to the back of the Jeep next.
I stare into each pack member’s face. Not one of them speaks up on our behalf. No one is on our side, and everyone agrees we should leave.
“Go south. Go to the border. Go somewhere warm,” Kael’s uncle says to him.
Kael looks at him with a wide stare, and I know he can’t believe what Theron is saying either. Then Kael looks to me.
“I’m trusting my daughter in your hands. Take care of her,” Father says to Kael.
I frown. I don’t need anyone to take care of me, especially not Kael.
There’s a low growl from the woods, followed by several howls. It’s our only warning before wolves jump through the lining of the forest and into the clearing where we’ve made our homes.
The wolf shifters of our pack, who still possess the ability to shift, begin to take their wolf form. Fur and claws and muscles begin appearing from where human skin and bones just were. But it takes our pack too long. The intruders have already shifted and are attacking—their claws slice through skin mid-shift.
No!
I have to do something. I can’t let them take the last of my family and pack.
Father doesn’t give me a chance. He knows me well enough to know that I will stay and fight—even if it means certain death.
“Run! Run away, take the Jeep and drive until you run out of gas, then get another tank and drive some more. Live as humans, be happy, and never return,” he says, giving an alpha command that I feel deep in my bones. “Both of you.” He says, commanding Kael as well.
We both run to the Jeep. I jump into the driver’s side as Kael jumps into the passenger’s. Before I can think of what I’m doing, my foot is pressed all the way down on the gas, and we’re driving full speed away from the carnage, away from my home.
We don’t speak as the clearing turns to woods. The Jeep bounces roughly over dried mud and small fallen branches on the road.
All I can think about is my pack—my father, Kael’s aunt and uncle, Akela, Tavian, and Aire.How many are left? Did any of them survive? And who was the wolf pack that attacked us? Most likely, the Nightshade or Frostbite packs. Both live near us and have made it their mission to end our pack in hopes that it ends the curse.
We drive through the night until the Jeep is almost out of gas before I finally stop. I’m out of breath, and my heart is racing rapidly. I turn to Kael, who hasn’t blinked in a while. He seems to be in shock.
“Are you okay?”
He nods.
And then I feel it—I can breathe again. I look over at Kael as he sucks in big lungfuls of air. The magic my father used on us suddenly disappeared—the alpha command gone.
“Does it mean…?” I ask, but I can’t finish my sentence out loud.Does it mean that my father was killed?
Kael shakes his head. “With how weak our pack is, the command probably just wore off the further away we drove.”
“What now? We could go back,” I say, blinking back my tears, trying to remain strong.He’s not dead. He’s not dead. He’s not dead. None of them are.
He shakes his head. “What good would that do? We can’t help the pack, and your father would just command us to leave again.”
I nod and swallow the lump in my throat. Anxiety races through my chest. I need to know if they’re still alive, but going back would only devastate me. I’d either realize they are all dead or have my own father banish me all over again.
I yawn, and my heightened eyesight begins to strain as I stare out at the endless road. It’s after four in the morning, and neither of us has slept. We need to find a hotel to regroup before driving onward in the morning.
Where will we go? And are we really going to forget about the pack and live as humans?
No.
I can’t.
