The Great Escape Series

IRA

“To the pack house. You, little one, are going to meet the alpha. He is the one who will decide your fate,” the man that I now knew was Rafa’s brother said with a low chuckle.

I could feel my face turn pale, and all the relief I had felt a moment ago vanished at the mention of their alpha. I had never seen one in person, but I had heard horror stories about them from the people in the clan.

I’d heard a few from the people who had come head to head with an alpha and had been lucky enough to live to tell the tale and a lot more from the ones who had lost their families to one.

Every single one of those stories had one thing in common: alphas were the strongest and the most vicious of the werewolves, not to mention the biggest.

I looked around at the giants surrounding me. Knowing they were just pack warriors, I couldn’t help but be terrified at what their leader was going to look like.

I kept my mouth shut, too scared of what was going to unravel to make any kind of noise. Seeing the edge of the forest coming closer, I steeled myself, deciding that if I was destined to die, then I would not go out as a coward.

Don’t get me wrong, I was scared out of my mind, more terrified than I’d ever been before. But I would be damned if I would allow them to see it.

After a few minutes, we came out of the forest, and I could see an enormous yard stretching in front of us. The big guy and Rafa were at the front of our little group, laughing and playing, obviously happy to be reunited.

I let a small smile appear on my lips, feeling proud to be the reason for their happiness. If I had to die that day, I would at least die with the knowledge that I had brought a family together. That was good enough for me.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by a strange feeling in my stomach. It was faint and barely there, but I could feel it getting slightly stronger with every step I took forward.

The voice that occasionally popped up inside my head was quiet at the moment. All I could hear was a small humming sound, like a faint word, but for the life of me, I couldn’t understand what it meant.

The group suddenly came to a halt, and I had just enough time to catch myself before bumping into Rafa. They were all strangely quiet, the tension around us so strong that I thought I would faint.

I couldn’t see what they were looking at so intently as they were all a lot taller than me, including Rafa. I went around him and chanced a look, and my eyes immediately locked on a gigantic man standing there. I froze.

He was incredibly tall and broad, with muscles so huge that I was sure I’d break if he happened to push me with his finger.

He had a number of tattoos sprawled all over his body that was barely covered with just a pair of cargo shorts. He didn’t even have shoes on.

What is it with these people and their aversion to clothes? ~Haven’t ~they heard of common decency~? I shook my head, moved my eyes toward the ground, and tried to clear my mind while the man continued to stare at me like he had seen a ghost.

“Alpha?” I heard Rafa’s brother say and made a mental note to find out the guy’s name if I managed to somehow survive that horrible day. Then his words hit me, and my eyes bulged out of their sockets.

This is the alpha?~ Well I am definitely going to die today~. I turned around to look at him and saw him already looking at me.

“Who are you?” the man asked me, his voice so deep and low that it sent shivers down my back.

“Ira. My name is Ira, Mr. Alpha,” I said quickly and watched him step closer to me until he was well into my personal space. I gulped, and the heat radiating from his body made me tremble.

His scent drifted to my nose because he was in such close proximity. I inhaled hard, desperate for more. He smelled incredible—like a mix of pine, fresh dirt, and musk.

“Wow…you smell nice,” the words escaped my mouth before my brain had enough time to register what I was saying. My face flushed red as my eyes widened.

“Sorry, that was kind of creepy,” I said quickly and heard Rafa and his brother snort loudly in unison before they erupted into laughter.

“Enough!” Mr. Alpha growled.

Everyone immediately went quiet.

“What are you doing in my land? Who are you, and what was Rafa doing with you?” he fired his questions at me, setting a hard glare on my face.

I stood silent, shaking in my boots.

He growled yet again: “I asked you a question!”

I squeaked, taking a step back.

“My name is Ira. Rafa brought me here because I have nowhere else to go. He was captured by the Hunter Clan, and since it is my eighteenth birthday today, I was supposed to be initiated into the clan and was tasked with killing him.”

He growled even louder upon hearing my words and grabbed my arm harshly.

“You are a fucking Huntress?” he shouted in my face, hardening his grip on my arm to the point that it hurt.

I squeezed my eyes shut as a few tears escaped. “Please don’t hurt me, Mr. Alpha. Please,” I whispered.

Even though he still had his hand wrapped around my arm, his grip did ease a little bit.

“I am not a Huntress. They wanted me to become one, but I couldn’t do it because I am not a killer. Please believe me. Instead of killing Rafa, I saved him and told him to run away, but he refused to go without me.

“I knew that Father and the others would kill me for my betrayal if I stayed, so I left. That’s the whole story. I swear,” I said to him in whispers, desperately trying not to cry. After a few seconds, I looked at him.

He was looking at me like he was in pain, but I couldn’t think of a reason why he would be. He then moved his other hand toward my face, and I flinched, thinking he was going to hit me. But he didn’t.

I felt his finger softly touch the edge of a scar on my cheek, the sudden contact sending tingles down my body. It was sadly over in a second, and for a moment, I thought that I had imagined it.

He stepped away quickly as if he got burned. And then, he turned his back to me.

“Give her a room at the house and keep a close eye on her until I say otherwise. She might be small and weak, but I know never to trust a Hunter, even a failed one,” he spat out.

His harsh words felt like a blow to the gut, making my eyes water despite being used to hearing them every day. I watched him as he stomped away into the woods.