Tyla's Run

"Go, hurry," Tyla told William. "If we can make it to the river then we can swim across, and they won't be able to follow our scents."

"We should try turning again. We're faster as wolves." William stopped running but Tyla grabbed his arm and refused to quit moving.

"No, we don't have time. We just need to keep moving." Tyla pulled him along with her as they pushed further into the woods towards the river.

They had stopped twice already and tried to change into their wolf forms, but unfortunately, they hadn't been able to turn. Their packs hadn't been very dedicated to the Moon in the past few decades, and it had clearly taken its effects on the members. Now, it seemed as though neglecting the wolves within them had weakened them. They couldn't turn under stress, and it usually took a full Moon to turn smoothly without trouble. She cursed Alphas like her father that had abandoned traditions.

Now, William and Tyla were practically helpless against the wolves that kidnapped them hours before. She had no idea why they took them or what they had planned, but she didn't want to stick around to find out.

Tyla was trying to escape her father and the male she was forced to marry when she was taken against her will in her front yard. The males had put something over her mouth to knock her unconscious. When she awakened, she was in a barn, tied up next to William. She feared the worse, but William somehow managed to get himself loose and untie them both.

They both were prepared to fight their way out of the barn, but the males guarding the front exit were so drunk that they passed out cold and never even heard the two of them climbing out from the back of the barn. After they reached the woods behind the barn, William and Tyla tried to change into their wolves, but couldn't. They ran for what seemed like miles, and they tried changing again, but there was no use, they were only wasting energy trying.

They had to be close to the river now, she knew it was nearby.

"Come on, we're almost there." Tyla picked up the pace.

The sound of wolves howling sent shivers down her spine. They were on their trail.

"Hurry." William jerked her from her frightened state. "Keep going."

They continued towards the river, despite knowing the wolves were getting closer, trying to stay calm and not panic. Panicking would only make matters worse.

"I hear the water," Tyla told him as the sound of the river was like a beautiful symphony in her ears. "We made it."

Sure, the wolves could chase them over the river, but the water would stall them, washing away their strong scents and preventing them from being able to track them as well. Tyla pushed herself harder to get to the river. Soon, they made it out of the woods and only feet away from the water. The river wasn't too deep, and the current wasn't rough. They would make it across just fine.

William jumped into the river first. The water was only up to his hips. He reached his hand out to Tyla and she smiled as she was happy, he was there to help her escape. Suddenly, she was tackled to the ground. Pain vibrated through her body as the wolf slammed her down so hard that her bones felt like they were crushed. Tyla turned her head towards the river, hoping to see William coming back to rescue her, but he was nowhere in sight. Her heart sank at the realization that her groom had escaped into the water and left her behind to die.

Hopeless, she turned back to face the wolf that was hovering on top of her. It's eyes were glowing yellow and it's belly was rumbling with a heavy growl. Tyla knew that she had a chance of fighting back in her human form, even as her wolf she wouldn't stand a chance against the stronger more skilled male that was holding her down. Just as she thought it was all over, a wolf came darting in and tackled the wolf away from her.

William. It was William. He'd somehow managed to change into his wolf and he had come back for her. Tyla jumped to her feet and watched in shock as the two males began tumbling around. After a few seconds of wrestling, the wolves parted from each other and William came to stand in front of Tyla, protecting her. Just as it seemed that they may have a chance, two more wolves came out of the woods. One was the Alpha, the other his Beta. They were the biggest wolves she'd ever seen, and their strong auras were filling the air, making it unmistakable to identify them.

The wolves stepped towards them. William growled a warning at them, protecting Tyla. Suddenly, the Alpha turned back to his human form. It was Alpha Ram from the most feared Darkest Moon Pack. Tyla sighed as she realized that neither William nor her would ever be able to defeat these males, they were the strongest and toughest males around, and they had no morals or hesitation when it came to fighting and killing.

"We're not going to harm either of you." The Alpha claimed as he took a step towards them. "But you have to come back with us."

William growled, which caused the other two wolves to charge forward, but the Alpha motioned for the males to stop.

"We're not going anywhere with you," Tyla yelled at him.

"You don't have a choice." Alpha Ram told her.

Just then, five more wolves from his pack came stalking out of the woods. Tyla sighed, knowing that they were trapped and defeated. In front of her, William stayed in fight mode, and she realized that he wasn't going to just give up and go with the Darkest Moon Pack without a fight, and it was a fight he'd never win. The Alpha took another step towards them, and William growled threateningly. Still, in human form, Alpha Ram roared his own growl back as his eyes lit up red.

Suddenly, a new wolf dashed from out of the woods and dove between the Alpha and William. The new wolf roared its own growl right into the Alpha's face. Tyla recognized the small wolf, as not many wolves around those parts had blonde fur, but her sister Tymarie did. Tymarie quickly turned into her human form and stood there bare-skinned, face to face with the fierce Alpha. Her sister was petite, and he towered over her, but the female didn't back down.

"Do not touch them!" Tymarie screamed into the Alpha's scared face.

"Move out of my way." He stepped forward but Tymarie shoved his chest.

Tyla gasped as she knew her sister would pay for putting her hands on an Alpha like that. A few of the wolves began to growl at her, but her brave sister threw her hands up at them, cursing them, taunting them to even try to come her way.

"Tymarie, stop!" Tyla called out to her sister.

"No." Tymarie shot a look back at her sister. The female didn't look scared at all, to the contrary, she seemed to be enjoying challenging the wolves. "They won't touch me. They can't touch me. None of them would dare touch their Alpha's bonded mate."

The wolves all cocked their heads in confusion, some of them making a whining-like noise as though they were begging their Alpha to deny Tymarie's claims. Alpha Ram's Beta changed to human form and stepped forward beside him. In shock, Tyla waited to see what exactly the truth was. One wolf moved forward towards Tymarie and the Alpha quickly turned to face him.

"Everyone move back." The Beta ordered the Darkest Moon wolves.

"No one touches her. No one! She's my mate. She's telling the truth." The Alpha sighed and then looked down at Tymarie. "But your sister and that male are coming back to my place, no matter what you say."

"Or what?" She challenged him.

"Don't test me." He warned her.

Tyla stepped forward and put one hand on Willam's head and her other hand on her sister's bare shoulder.

"Please, I don't want anyone getting hurt." Tyla urged them.

"I already told you, come with us without a fight and we won't harm you." The Alpha said.

"You kidnapped us by force, why would we believe that?" Tyla asked him.

"Because he's telling the truth." Tymarie told her sister. "I can feel it through our bond. He's not lying."

William suddenly switched back to his human form, it seemed as though it was because he now trusted the Alpha, but Tyla knew that it was because he wasn't strong enough to stay any longer as his wolf.

"Why do you even want us anyway? Why did you kidnap us?" William asked the Alpha.

"I can't explain it yet, but I can tell you that it's not to harm you." Alpha Ram said. "Now, you can come back with us the easy way, or you can make it the hard way. My men love a good fight, so know that they will get you both back to our packhouse. It's up to you whether you get there bleeding or not."

"Please, William." Tyla grabbed his hand and squeezed. "Let's just go with them. They would've killed us by now if they wanted us dead."

"Payne, take the pack back to the house. I got this." The Alpha called out to his Beta.

The Beta whistled at his pack, and then quickly turned back to his wolf form and took off into the woods, the pack all followed his lead and hurried behind him. Now, it was only William, Tymarie, and Tyla. Tyla found it very interesting that the Alpha would send his whole pack back without him, leaving only himself to have to handle them if something went wrong. The Alpha must've been confident that he could take down them all if he had to.

"Go." Alpha Ram motioned for them to follow the pack. William hesitated, but knowing there was no other way, Tyla grabbed his arm and pulled him with her as she began walking back to the packhouse.

Tyla still didn't know why they were kidnapped or what the Darkest Moon pack had planned, but she headed blindly back into the woods and hoped that her sister's bond with the Alpha would be enough to keep them all alive.