Luna Aleksa's Escape
Luna Aleksa’s Escape Chapter 10

*Aleksa POV*

I see the border about half a mile ahead of us, the rugged terrain is uneven and bumpy, full of rabbit burrows and grass mounds. I quickly scanned the dark treeline ahead to see if I could detect our getaway car. I can’t see anything as of yet. I start to tighten my grip on Liam and he is starting to unravel from the sling I have nestled him in. I turned my head back to see where the others were. I can see that they are all still fighting. Caleb and Rick have finished mind-linking, and started fighting, and being that Caleb is of Gamma b***d, he has the upper hand in the fight. Although Rick is loyal to his alpha and I sense that he won’t give up easily.

Mason and Patrick are still fighting, but Patrick appears to be wounded, bleeding heavily from his shoulder. I am not surprised that Mason is winning in this fight, as while I don’t know much about his bloodlines or ranking, he appears to have a strong aura about him and I suspect he has beta b***d in him, possibly even alpha b***d.

I looked to my side at Kaia. She looked how I felt. Short winded and exhausted. It’s so much harder running in human form carrying a baby. Especially when you are already weakened. I have been feeling the effects more and more recently of Lachlan betraying our mate bond, coupled with the lack of proper nutrition, hygiene and natural light. Let’s just say I don’t feel at my usual strength. I imagine it would be similar for Kaia.

We are just about to reach the border, when we turn our heads to see that Caleb and Mason have won their battles and have almost caught up to us.

We paused for a moment for Caleb to catch up, and then we followed him to the spot where he had left the car. It is just behind a big grass mound. It is a black SUV, one of the fleet from the packhouse garage. There is a canopy of greenery placed on top of the car, so we quickly push them off and throw them aside. We begin to open the doors and start piling in.

Caleb has thought of everything and there are two car seats for the twins, so Kaia and I start to quickly strap them in. The twins close their eyes and seem snug enough that they will soon fall back to sleep. We are all in the car and Caleb starts the engine. He starts to drive northwards, through the rough terrain. He pushes his foot down and accelerates as fast as the car can go.

It’s at this time we can see the pack warriors starting to arrive in the far distance. We weren’t fast enough, I think to myself. We need to move faster. They will have the upper hand in this terrain, especially in their wolf forms. The fact that we are slightly ahead will buy us the slightest bit of time.

Caleb puts his foot down and makes a right turn. He is driving the car at full throttle, and luckily for us the tar-sealed road is just ahead.

I turned back to look out the rear window and I could see the pack warriors were right behind us. My heart rate accelerates as I see another wolf join the others from the left of them. I know who it is immediately. I can tell his wolf anywhere. It’s Lachlan! His wolf, Cyrus, has tawny coloured fur with big brown eyes.

He looked furious. As our eyes met, I felt shivers running down my spine. I was starting to feel a sense of dread. I felt like the walls were starting to close in on me. My body started to shake and shiver. I could feel my heart racing frantically. My stomach started to churn and my breathing rate started to speed up.

Kaia grabbed my face, “Aleksa, just breathe. It’s going to be okay. We won’t let them get to you and the twins. Look at me. Focus on your breathing. You need to be strong for Liam and Layla”. She calmly reassured me.

My breathing started to slow down, and slowly a new feeling started to replace my anxiety. Anger. And that was what I was going to hold on to. I needed to focus on my anger towards this man, this situation. I am a fighter. And I would continue to fight for my pups, and for my freedom. For our freedom. My friends and I.

I looked back out the window and I shook my head defiantly. I was gonna show Lachlan that I would not let him win. I would not show him my fear ever again.

We have already come too far and sacrificed too much to be caught now. We just needed to get to the nearest human town and then we would be safe for a bit.

Humans were unaware of our existence, so the pack wouldn’t be able to do anything on human territory. Every wolf has to obey the sacred vow that they won’t share their secrets with humans. They would never understand us and would hunt us down out of fear. Even though we are superior to them in almost every way, we didn’t need that complication. Nothing good would come of them knowing about us. Although there was always an exception to every rule, the point was that human ground would be our safe haven for now.

“Caleb – Lachlan and the others are right behind us, and seem to be gaining momentum. Please tell me we are almost there.” I yelled hopefully.

“We are just a few minutes away now, they will have to pull back any minute now or they risk being seen – just a few more minutes guys” Caleb yells while he takes the corner aggressively, wheels screeching furiously, as he swerves to miss something on the road. I can smell the burning rubber as he hits the breaks frantically. He then puts his foot down eagerly on the accelerator as he attempts to make up for the time lost on breaking a few seconds ago.

I look back at Lachlan and the others. They are still gaining on us, but we are still just out of their reach. As I turned forward I could see the buildings of the city center. Caleb pushes his foot down as far as he can and we all say a silent prayer to the moon goddess. We have almost made it! It’s not over by a long shot but we are safe for the moment while we strategize our next move.

Out the rear of the window I see that Lachlan and the pack warriors have pulled back and have moved into the woods. I know they will still be out there, watching us, but for now they can’t make any drastic moves.

We keep driving and after a few minutes we pull into the city’s central park and central business district. We will regroup, get something to eat and drink and plan our next move. It will be dark in a few hours and we will need to decide whether we risk staying here the night or keep moving.

We all looked at each other with slight relief, and took a moment to breathe. We are all aware that we are not free by a longshot. We had hoped to be further ahead than this. We had hoped we would escape and Lachlan would be none the wiser for a period of time. But it hasn’t worked out that way. They were still hot on our tails.

Caleb turned to us. “Let’s go get something to drink at the diner and plan our next move. They are at bay for now, but there’s nothing to stop them coming right up to us at any time. We need to keep moving.”

We all got out of the SUV and took a moment. We knew we were being watched. We also knew for the moment we were untouchable, but that had an expiry date.

It would be nightfall soon enough and then all bets were off.

“We need to make this quick. We are going to need to ditch this car. They will flag it immediately. If we are to have any chance of getting out of here and putting some distance between us, we are going to need to split up”, Caleb says, matter of factly.

“We had always planned to go our separate ways, this is a little sooner than planned, but you are right. At least we still have the potion in effect for another twenty hours plus.” I said to the group.

“Kali and I will start heading to our destination. We will be going in a northwest direction, so if you all go in a northeast direction, that should divide their group into two. That way, if they do manage to catch up with us, there will be fewer of them to deal with”, Caleb said.

“I agree. Mason and Kaia – do you still want to come with me? I completely understand if you would prefer to go your separate ways, given the circumstances, this is not your fight, you shouldn’t have to get caught up in my problem”, I said sympathetically.

“Aleksa, I am coming with you, if you will have me. For some reason, I feel the need to protect you and your pups. It would be my honor”, Mason says.

“You’re not getting rid of me that easily, Aleksa!” Kaia added.

“Then it’s settled. Kali and I will pair off, and the rest of you will go off in the opposite direction,” Caleb said.

“Mason, if you take Aleksa, Kaia and the twins into the diner for some food, Kali and I will source some new transportation. Meet back here in thirty minutes?” Caleb suggested.

“Affirmative. Watch your backs. I will protect your Luna and the pups.” Mason declared.

“Please be safe, Caleb and Kali”, I said with concern in my voice.

Caleb and Kali walk off onto a busy side street, while Kaia helps me with Liam and Layla, and Mason leads the way to the diner.