Chapter One

Author Note:

I am open to the grammar police but 2 people are the max. If you see someone has already corrected me 2x, don't bother to correct me.

PMs are always open. I don't take story requests tho.

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Kian's POV

I'm not sure how I got into this position, but I know if I try to back off now then I'm better off dead. I also know that if we get caught then we're all 100% dead. We all know that we're putting our lives on the line right now...yet we don't turn back. We don't say a word to each other as we silently make our way through the woods. I'm too scared to even breathe loudly, fearing that someone from our pack will hear me. I'm sure Mika is struggling to breathe with the way his heart is beating so loudly and quickly. I want to grab his hand and squeeze it -- for him or for me, I don't know -- but the fear running rampant in my body keeps my arms stiff by my sides. I barely feel my legs moving back and forth as I walk behind Peyton. He leads us deeper into the woods, further away from the pack...from our hell. Shouldn't I be relieved? Shouldn't I be happy that we're finally leaving, that freedom will be in our hands soon and we won't have to live in fear? I should be happy...

Why aren't I?

Maybe it's because we're still technically on packlands and anyone can find us. Then we'll be caught and turned in to the alpha who will surely show us no mercy. I shudder, my mind conjuring up all the ways he'd torture us more than he already has. Just the mere thought of him makes the bruises on my arms ache.

I guess it's what we get for being omegas. We're at the bottom of everything: the pack, the food chain, the supernatural race itself. We mean absolutely nothing and it's fitting we're treated as such. Abused in all sorts of ways, cursed at, attacked...forced to have pups for our higher-ups and have them taken from us right after they're born. I have 2: Ava and Ivory. Ava was born through artificial insemination. She's the alpha's daughter. It had to be done that way because the alpha already had a mate, yet they still used me. Ivory belongs to a zeta who I lived with before being kicked out. They're a year and some months apart, I barely got to see them.

They stay on my mind every day. They'll never know they're sisters until their wolves come to them and I won't be here to explain to them. To tell them that I gave birth to them, that they're my daughters. But I guess it's for the best. I'm just happy they're not omegas. They don't deserve such a shitty life.

"Stop thinking about them," Peyton says to me without looking behind himself. How does he even know that I'm thinking about them?

"How?" I ask, "how can you not think of yours?"

I already know the answer to that. He doesn't think about his pups because he doesn't see them as his. Peyton is about to turn 22 and he's been part of this pack since birth. He has given the beta two pups, a zeta one, and another zeta two with a total of five. He never even bats an eye at them when he sees them in the pack and I wish I could be like him; I wish I could just deny the fact that I gave birth to two pups, I wish I could deny my purpose, I wish I could deny everything. But I can't. Peyton is strong. Stronger than any omega I know.

Peyton doesn't respond and suddenly, I feel bad. I'm always feeling bad. All of us have had at least one pup and Jenna is pregnant right now. Her pregnancy makes me anxious because the father can easily scent her out better than us. But I'm also a little happy for her. She'll get to keep one and be a real mother.

I don't know how long we've been walking, but I know it's been hours. The sun is going down now and I know the pack's Kappa and her Lambdas are heading to the outskirts of the pack. I wonder if they know we've escaped...if they're watching us and letting us get our hopes up. Our kappa is a strong woman who I've only ever seen a handful of times. She's nearing her 40s and has been leading the lambdas since she was 20 according to everyone else. All I know is that she's good and her hunters are good too - they have to be. They could be hunting us down right now, watching us like we're their prey.

I'm even more nervous now. All the dark shapes and shadows seem alive as the wind rustles through. I swear I see a wolf shape but as I narrow my eyes onto it, I see it's just an odd-shaped branch. I wrap my arms around myself and try to calm down.

"We're almost in No Man's Land," Peyton whispers, "just a few more miles."

A few more miles can mean 2 or 20 in Peyton's language. I glance over to Jenna. Sweat beads her forehead and her breathing is labored. She has one arm wrapped around her big belly and the other hand pressed tightly against her back. I wonder if she can make it a few more miles but decide not to voice my concern. She's been complaining about issues with her pregnancy for a while, I just hope she and her pup will be okay.

I try to tell myself that all will be well once we've made it to No Man's Land. But that just means the threat of being killed by our pack is no longer our main concern. There are still rogues that we'll have to watch out for. And they don't always have scents. We'll only be safe once we've made it to the human-populated areas - our destination.

Peyton has had our escape planned for months. There are angels that live in certain parts of the human areas who will be willing to help us. We just have to find them. Peyton explained that they're the kindest species on earth and will help anyone and everyone, no matter their ranks. They have even once helped vampires! Or so I've heard...

It's not a fool-proof plan but Peyton is sure everything will go well. I wish I were as optimistic as him.

I glance behind us, sensing something other than us five. There's nothing there but my heart spikes as I slow down. The other four don't seem to notice as they continue at the same pace, letting me fall behind.

The sun has mostly set, making the forest dark and eerie. I try to strain my ears to pick up on a foreign heartbeat or breathing that's not coming from our little group. I listen for footsteps, look for odd shadows - anything that would tell me that we've been caught.

'It's nothing' I tell myself as I take a shuddering breath 'you're just a nervous wreck'

I close my eyes briefly and stand still, trying to calm myself down from having what Peyton calls a panic attack. I used to have them frequently and I never knew what was happening until Peyton helped me one day. When I open my eyes, I notice the group has gone further and I can't see them anymore. I try to stay calm as I jog a little to catch up with them, but then I hear a noise again. I whip around, frozen in my tracks as I try to find the owner of the noise. I pray to Goddess Herself that it's just a wild animal and no one else. But then my eyes land on a pair of glowing yellow ones. My breathing stops as I stumble back, a loud yelp breaking the silence that I hadn't known was surrounding me. The huge wolf emerges from the dark trees and I don't have time to turn as it pounces on me.

I scream as its talons dig into my skin and bring me down to the ground. I hit at the wolf, pulling at its fur around its neck and kicking my legs out from under it but nothing works. Another wolf emerges and tears well up in my eyes as I start to beg. It's all I can do now that I've been caught.

"Please," I say, "please don't hurt me."

It's useless. They'll always hurt me. But I don't know what else to say, how else to react. The brown wolf above me pauses, his front legs stepping in front of my face as if to guard me from the other one. He bares his teeth and the other wolf immediately submits, his rank obviously lower than the one above me. I sense the others running towards me now and I want to yell at them to stay back. I don't, however, as the wolf looks down at me and growls. I close my eyes, too scared of what's to come.

Nothing comes.

I open my eyes and notice the wolf isn't over me anymore. I roll onto my stomach and dare to look up. Peyton glares down at the brown wolf while Mika, Katie, and Jenna hide in the darkness provided by the trees.

I slowly get up and when I realize the two wolves aren't trying to stop me, I bolt past Peyton and join the other 3 in hiding.

The brown wolf shifts and my eyes widen when I realize who it is. It's Leon Calter. When I was given to this pack, I was taken in by Leon's father who was a zeta. Zetas are the head warriors of the pack and our pack had 3 including Zeta Calter. Living him was hell; constantly beaten for the littlest of things, being overworked with no breaks and barely any food. Not to mention his oldest son...

I shudder just at the thought of him.

Zeta Calter died shortly after his mate and that's when the real horrors started when his oldest son, Jason, took ownership of me.

Leon was never really a problem. He stayed to himself. His presence always disturbed me, though. He would look at me with an unreadable expression but he'd never talk to me. He would leave every time I was being beaten or when his brother tortured me. Then sometimes he'd help me, never uttering a word to me. Zeta Calter always called him soft and had even fought against his position as eta which made him become an iota instead. He used to help me heal the bleeding and bruises. He helped me when I gave birth to Ivory too.

"Do you think Leon will turn us in?" Jenna asks, her small hands resting tightly around her stomach. She's four months pregnant, just a month or two to go and she'd be a real mother.

No one answers and I'm half ready to run knowing I couldn't outrun them. My fingers twitch against the dirt as I balance on my heels, ready to jump up and run if things go south.

I've gotten a taste of freedom and I want to do whatever I can to prolong my recapture.

Peyton stands before Leon, craning his neck to look Leon directly in the eyes. He's always challenged the authority of higher-ranking wolves...it always makes me nervous when he does it. I've learned enough from Leon about how to treat my own wounds and I've treated Peyton's many, many times.

"You're not allowed to follow me," Peyton says, his voice laced with nothing but hatred. Even I flinch at the poison in his words.

He's always hated Leon more than anyone else and to this day, I don't know why. Leon has never physically hurt any of us the way others have. But even the slightest mention of Leon's name sours Peyton's naturally hateful mood.

Leon stays quiet and I'm shocked to see the way his head droops down, like a defeated pup. Peyton isn't the first to break eye contact, instead, it's Leon. The wolf behind him grunts, pacing from left to right as if rushing him to get on with whatever he set out to do.

"I just...I wanted to tell you bye," Leon says. He's...nervous? My interest is piqued and I lean further in to hear their conversation.

The moonlight shines through the trees and highlights Peyton's face a pale blue. I watch his hard expression soften just a bit before it turns back to hatred. Leon on the other hand looks pitiful. His face sags and the more he looks Peyton in the eye, the more pained he becomes.

"Then bye," Peyton says as he turns his back, "bye, Leon."

Leon watches as Peyton makes his way to us. I look down at the ground, feeling nothing but anger and sadness flowing from Peyton. I glance back at Leon and he's staring at the ground, his fists balled tightly at his sides. He doesn't follow us when we leave.

Everything is silent, but I catch the way Peyton's breathing is more ragged than usual. I can hear his silent gasps for air, the sniffles of his nose, and the way he swallows down sobs.

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Word Count: 1960

I changed a character's name to Katie, so if anyone sees a mistake where I mentioned "Leo" instead of Katie, plz say so~