The Runaway Breeder

Chapter 8

“I smelled the chemicals from the test. I’ll get rid of it for you later. Just stay safe. Also, your cousin asked me to send this to you. I slipped my number in there. You can call me when you find somewhere safe, and I will find you, Laina. You’re like a little sister to me now, and I’ve been waiting to find a reason to leave.” He hands me a letter, and I nod, speechless at how much help he is giving me. He hands me a jacket and pushes me out the back door before he runs out the front. I take the opportunity to run, putting my jacket on and grabbing the bag I had stashed outside the back fence and keep running. The sounds of wolves fighting fill the forest, but I did not chance to look back. I can’t look back, or else I will be captured and taken back to the cottage to resume my life as a Breeder. Being pregnant means I will not face punishment, but the security would be doubled around the cottage.

The soles of my shoes slap against the forest floor, and I clumsily make my way through the underbrush. The sounds of fighting drown out the sounds of my escape. Multiple times I find myself changing directions to avoid the clash of wolves who fight tooth and claw to the death, with clumps of fur littering the ground. The closer to the edge of the territory, the quieter the forest becomes. With the sounds of fighting far behind me now, I make it to the edge of my pack's territory in an hour and stop before crossing it. Now, while everyone is busy with the rogues, I take the time to catch my breath. The forest is quiet away from the rogue attack, giving me peace of mind I haven’t had in a long while. Remembering the letter Alex gave me, I take out the envelope I stashed into my jacket pocket carefully putting away the slip of paper that contains Alex’s number before reading through the contents of the letter.

Lainy,

I hope you would read this before you got pregnant, and if you are, then I hope that it’s the first set of pups you have.

Head to the treehouse we used to play in as children and grab your pink duffle bag. I know that your mind wasn’t in the right place the day you were made a Breeder, but now I want you to do one thing, RUN.

Keep running until you find a mate because he or she will save you from being a Breeder.

This is the law the great Elders set out.

Stay safe and know that we love you.

Chris and Jack

Tears flow down my face again while I read and re-read the letter. It still smells like Chris with his neat handwriting filling the paper. I estimate that I had about an hour run in human form towards the treehouse, but luckily it is close to the pack border. This information makes this whole running away thing a hell of a lot easier. With a smile, I take a risk and strip my clothes off, stashing them into the duffle bag I carry now before shifting into my wolf form. Gingerly, I pick up the straps of the bag with my muzzle before dashing through the forest. I know shifting is taboo for pregnant werewolves, but now it is a desperate situation. I need speed to make my escape, and my human form is not as fast as my wolf form.

The old oak tree comes into view after about forty minutes of running and I let out a sigh of relief, dropping my bag and shifting back to human form. After quickly dressing into the clothes I wore earlier, I make my way to the ancient oak tree, the ladder to the treehouse greeting me. The scent of wolves lingers in the area, and I can’t help but smile at the thought of pups still playing here. Looking around the base of the tree, I search for the little hollow I used to hide in, spying my all-too-familiar pink duffle bag ready and waiting for me. I know that Chris and Jack would stock the bag with things I would need, so I decide not to bother with checking the contents. Right now, I need to leave; when I find somewhere safe, I can look inside the pink duffle bag.

The border is just a few feet away from me, waiting to accept me into the unknown and escape this cruel fate given to me. If I renounce my status as a member of Pine Paw, I will become a rogue, and so will the pup inside me. Slowly I walk towards the border, my toes just on the line as I feel the power rushing through my sneakers. I know what I have to do.

“I, Laina Starcrest, renounce my membership of this pack and henceforth become a rogue until I find my mate or a new pack to call my own.” I take a step over the border and feel the snap as the connection to the pack breaks. Since my pup is only just conceived, it will have no ties to any pack until I join one. I smile and continue to run, moving wherever is farthest from my old life. I will miss my cousin and his mate, as well as Alex, Matthew, and Milly, but I need to do what is right for me and for the little one inside me. I need to find a place where there is no Breeder status and be free once again. Once I have found a place to call home, I will send for those I love to come join me.

Four Months Later

The sounds of their howls were closer than the last time. I am slower than when I first escaped Pine Paw with my now-protruding stomach filled with them, the twins. But for their sake, I will keep going. I have to keep going.

Currently, I’m in no man’s territory where rogues like me bounce from town to town, trying to find a place where we belong. It’s a region where rogues are supposed to be safe, but my pursuers tell me otherwise. The sounds of town life reach my sensitive ears from the safety of the forest trees, and I try my best to run faster. Just a few more kilometres, and I will be safe from my pursuers, from the wolves of Pine Paw who are just a stone’s throw away from me.

I can hear the sounds of both wolves and humans now chasing me, realizing that some have shifted, probably to make it easier to try to persuade me to come back. Hell has a better chance of freezing over than me going back to Pine Paw.

“Don’t hurt her. She is carrying my pup.” Sam calls out to the wolves behind him. He knows I am pregnant.