Joel

The sun had started to set. The sky was burning with vibrant hues of red and amber.

It had been a beautiful day. Perfect for a wedding.

I hoped it had gone well and to plan. I hoped Duncan had survived through any last minute hiccups.

I chuckled to myself. Of course he would have survived. He'd planned everything with military precision.

I took in some deep breaths and stood up ready to make my way back home. My stomach growled loudly, reminding myself I'd not eaten all day.

As I made my way through the woods, I realised that I felt surprisingly calm. Today had not panned out at all like I expected. I had been so distracted with what happened with Casper this morning, that I had hardly even thought about the wedding at all. In fact, I didn't even feel sorry that he would now be married.

Maybe that was because I knew that we were not mates. I think that the thought that we might have been was overshadowing all my thoughts and feelings about him.

Now, the whole idea seemed a bit.......well........unrealistic.

It's not like we had anything in common.

And would I really want to be part of something that I had always despised?

Would I want to have people bowing their heads to me, and not being able to look me in the eye?

No, I'd definitely dodged a bullet there.

The light seemed to be fading fast, so I changed into my wolf and began the long run home.

It was dark by the time I made it, and I was starving.

I walked in the front door, and immediately heard voices in the living room.

"Mum, dad, I'm home!" I shouted.

My dad came out into the hallway, and I could tell straight away, by the look on his face that something was wrong.

He looked.......scared.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

My dad opened then closed his mouth.

"Joel! JOEL!" my mum suddenly shouted as she appeared in the hallway, and before I could react she had thrown herself at me, immersing me in a huge hug.

As my mum sobbed into my shoulder I could feel my blood run cold. My mum wasn't what you'd call emotional, so I knew that something bad had happened.

"What's happened?" I asked. "Has someone died?" My head was frantically working to see if I could think of any relative that had recently been unwell, and I briefly paused when I thought of Duncan and the stress he must have been under today.

"I.....I.....I thought you might have," my mum stuttered into my shoulder.

My eyebrows knitted together and I puller her back gently by the shoulders so I could see her face.

"Why on earth would you think that?" I asked, looking for signs that she might have actually gone mad.

"Because the Alpha wants you dead," she said.

I blinked at her a few times, waiting for her to tell me she was joking, or that she'd got it wrong.

When she said nothing, I turned to my dad, my head full of questions that I couldn't seem to get out.

It was only then that I noticed the back pack in my dad's arms. It was the type that was specially designed to be carried on a wolf's back.

"What's that for?" I asked, but the way my stomach had dropped to the floor told me that I already knew the answer to that.

"You have to go Joel," he said in a hushed voice, "and tonight."

"What? Wait? Go where?" I felt like my brain was spinning and my thoughts were travelling at 100mph. Too fast for me to grab hold of just one.

"Everything you need is in here," my dad said, thrusting the bag into my arms.

I looked down at the bag, resisting the urge to throw it far away from me, like it was the reason all this was happening.

"But why?" I managed to choke out, the tears now threatening to spill from my eyes.

"He saw you," my mum explained, "the Alpha saw you coming out of Casper's room this morning."

I slid down onto the floor, grabbing my head in my hands. I squeezed my eyes shut and pictured exactly what the Alpha would have seen. I gripped my hair tightly in an effort to stop my hands from shaking.

"Duncan told us everything," my dad said, "I just wish you'd talked to us about it."

"Not now Mike!" my mum said sternly.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled.

"Don't be sorry love," my mum said crouching down beside me to put a hand on my shoulder. "It'll all be ok, you'll see."

"But where will I go?" I said, looking up at her in desperation.

My mum looked down and I could see guilt in her eyes.

"What is it mum, what are you not telling me?"

My dad placed a comforting arm around her, before she took a deep breath in preparation.

"I haven't time to explain everything now, but I've put a letter in your bag for you to read when you're a safe distance away. In the letter is your mother.......your real mother's address."

My eyes widened and I felt myself draw in a gasp of air. So I had been right.

"But....but, I don't understand," I said, not really knowing where to even begin with this.

"You don't need to understand right now," my dad said firmly. "Right now you have to get yourself ready and quickly. Duncan said that the order was to come after you tomorrow, so you only have tonight to get away.

"I've been looking at maps all day, and your best bet is to head south to the river, crossing by Hickory's farm. Then you need to go east, through the woodland, onto the moors. Don't follow the river as that's what they'd expect you to do."

I nodded along, although I knew I wasn't really taking in anything he said.

"Here." My mum thrust a large chicken sandwich into my hands. "Eat this quickly, then you need to get going."

I slowly stood up with my sandwich and walked into the kitchen, before sitting down at the table.

My dad hurried over to the window and quickly closed the blinds.

Even though I was starving just moments ago, now the thought of eating this sandwich made me want to throw up.

Still, I forced it, bite by bite, down my throat, washing the dryness away with plenty of water.

When I was done, I looked up at my parents, and I could see tears in both of their eyes.

"Come on Joel," my dad said, "it's time you left."

I stood up slowly and picked up the back pack, strapping it on tightly so it would cling to my wolf form.

My mum suddenly threw herself in my arms again and I quickly returned the hug with the same force, burying my face in her hair, and taking a last deep breath of her scent.

"Thank you mum," I murmed, "thank you for everything."

She just nodded, unable to speak. She knew what I meant by that. She knew that I was thanking her for being the best mum that anyone could possibly wish for, even though she never gave birth to me.

She finally let me go and I turned to my dad. My dad, came over and gave me a quick hug, releasing me after a couple of seconds. My dad had never been one to show affection, so that small gesture spoke volumes.

"Now you need to go out of the back door, and over the garden wall. You can't be seen leaving this house. Tomorrow we'll have to file a report that you're missing. We're going to say that you came home, but must have slipped out in the night. You've only got tonight to get away Joel, so make sure you make it count."

"Ok," I said, the reality of the situation finally starting to hit home.

I took a few deep breaths then headed to the back door.

I put my hand on the door handle, then turned back for one last look at my mum, dad and my home.

"I guess this is goodbye then," I said, forcing the lump in my throat back down.

"Goodbye son," my dad said. My mum just nodded, unable to speak.

I opened the door then shut it quietly behind me.

I looked up at the clear sky. At least it wasn't raining.

I walked to the back of the garden, and quickly hopped over the wall.

My senses were on full alert as I looked around for anything moving.

I couldn't see or hear anything so I quickly ran across the open grass and hopped over another fence into some bushes.

Once I'd clawed my way through the bushes, there were open fields in front of me. I'd have to cross about 3 or 4 fields before I would make it into the cover of the woods.

I quickly changed into my wolf and began to run.

Despite me already having run far today, the adrenaline from the situation I was in gave me a boost and I found myself tearing up the ground quickly, making it to the relative safety of the trees.

I knew exactly where I needed to go, and made my way straight to the patch of hockwort that I regularly rolled in to disappear during training sessions.

After I had rolled in it for a few minutes, I took off again, running, and running, and running, like my life depended on it.

Only my life did depend on it.

I finally reached the border of our territory, and out of habit I stopped.

This was it. The moment I stepped across, I became a rogue wolf.

I looked out into the vast moorland that lay ahead of me. There were threats out there that were just as big as the threats waiting for me at home. There could be hunters, or other rogue wolves that would want to kill me.

But I knew I had to try.

I thought about the letter in my bag with my birth mum's address on. I knew I couldn't go there though. I didn't know whether Casper would be helping in my search, and the fact I'd only told him yesterday that I was curious about my birth mum, made going to her not an option. At least not for a while.

When would they give up looking? Or would I be on the run forever?

I sniffed the air for any sign of danger, and finding none, I crossed the boundary, immediately breaking out into a run.

I ran and ran and ran.

The ground pounding beneath my feet.

Brrrthump Brrrthump Brrthump Brrthump

Beating out a rhythm.

Brrthump Brrthump Brrthump Brrthump

I had to keep going.

I couldn't go back.

Had to keep moving forward.

I felt some drips on my head, and I looked up to see that the clear sky had now been covered by cloud. The stars no longer visible.

The further I ran, the harder the rain came down.

It whipped at my face and clung to my fur.

But I kept going.

I was going to start a new life.

Maybe a better life.....eventually.

The rain got heavier still and I tilted my head forward to try to shield my eyes.

And still I kept running.

Running to the beat of the ground beneath my feet.

Running to the beat of my heart.

Running to the beat of those words that had now become more than just a school assignment.

The pounding of my heart echoes the beat beneath my feet

My future burning brightly, releasing fire and heat

That melts the chains that bind me, as from your land I flee

And burns a brand upon my heart that says, at last I'm free

I'll travel far away from here and find myself anew

I'll learn all about the world without the cloak of you

I'll climb the highest mountain and swim across the seas

I'll fix the world of poverty, and cure the worst disease

I'll write a perfect love song, and sing it to the world

And I'll tell my story proudly, until everyone has heard

Then one day I'll come back here and see your face again

And I'll be twice the man that you remember from back then

But your eyes will see right through me, just like the day I left to roam

Because how can I ever be that man, if I couldn't save my home

******** End of Part 1 ********