Chapter 2

“How?!” she screamed in her head.

There were only two of them this time so she assumed that one of them might have died or been injured by her little stunt at the printing press. That would explain why they were still after her. She guessed that they might have gotten on the train and gotten onto the platform at each station hoping to catch her as she got off the train.

She watched them as they looked around the platform, scanning the crowd of people looking for her. Then they ran forward and got back onto the train in the car ahead of the one she was sitting in as the train started to leave the station. She slowly shuffled onto the seat on the aisle and slowly looked down the aisle and saw that the rogues were making their way down the train towards her. She stood up, pulled her backpack on and slowly started walking towards the back of the train taking care not to run so as not to draw attention to herself.

She carefully looked back down the aisle, watching the rogues as they entered the train car she was sitting in. She slowly walked through another set of doors into the next carriage trying to put some more space between her and the rogues.

The two rogues immediately perked up and scanned the carriage when they got closer to where she had been sitting. They had caught her scent. They kept moving down the aisle and stared at her empty seat before moving on down the carriage still looking for her.

She was running out of time.

As she walked down the train aisle, she looked at the little screen that announced the next stop. Thankfully, the next train station wasn’t far now. She was almost halfway down the train when she heard the automatic carriage doors open behind her. Turning around, she saw the two rogues spot her and immediately freeze in their place.

They were being cautious.

She had rattled them with her stunt at the old printing press. And now she had a full carriage of people between her and them. She froze in her place too, staring down the rogues.

All three knew that if they caused a disturbance and caused the death of innocent civilians, the Council would send all manner of warriors and hunters to make an example of them.

The werewolf community wasn’t deliberately trying to hide themselves, they just had a deal with the human government to keep a low profile and police their citizens to prevent unnecessary panic and bloodshed. Most people knew they existed, but chose to ignore their existence thanks to the Council’s efforts to maintain the peace. Not to mention, most wolf packs owned large influential corporations that also helped to run the human communities. So to the average person, wolves were regarded as beings of a higher existence that most people would not come in contact with their whole lives.

So all three waited. Not wanting to be strung up as examples by the Council.

They waited.

The train’s horn blared as it slowed down and rolled into the next train station.

She took a sideways glance at the platform as it came into view, with the rogues mirroring her and taking a look as well. She then reached for the straps of her backpack and pulled them, tightening it onto her shoulders as she took a deep breath. She was getting ready to run again.

The two rogues noticed her movements and flexed their hands and necks, both of them were determined to catch her this time.

It felt like an age for the train to stop at the station and several more seconds for the doors to start beeping to signal that they could now be opened.

She immediately spun around and rushed for the door, dodging a standing passenger. The rogues also rushed towards her but were slowed down by several passengers standing to get off the train. Noticing the distraction, she ran for the barriers and hopped over them as members of the train station security screamed for her to stop.

When she got out of the station, she scanned her surroundings looking for anything that could help her escape. She spotted a man getting on a cruiser motorcycle and inserting the key into the ignition. Without hesitating, she ran towards the man and kicked him off his bike. He cursed as he landed on the ground. She ignored him and jumped on, starting the bike as she flicked the kickstand and sped off out of the station car park. Taking a quick look back at the train station entrance, she noticed the two wolves running out and spotting her as she rode off.

She knew she wouldn’t be able to get very far on the motorcycle before the rogues caught up to her. Her only chance was to get to the pack lands that were scattered around the area. She hoped that the rogues would be discouraged to continue chasing her when they noticed that they were on pack land.

For the second time in less than six hours, she was not that lucky.

She heard the familiar sound of howling behind her as she rode down the back road. She looked in her side mirror and noticed two big black wolves chasing her. They had shifted. She was as good as dead now. They were faster in their shifted form. She put the motorbike into a higher gear and pushed the engine as hard as she could to pick up speed.

It didn’t help, the wolves got closer. Close enough to touch her. One of the rogues swiped at the bike and hit the back tire, making her lose control and slide off the road and into a ditch covered in bushes.

The bushes broke her fall but she still sustained some road rash down her right leg and scratches all over, with a cut above her right temple bleeding into her eye. She quickly wiped away the blood and reached into the pocket of her cargo pants as she saw the two wolves come into view above the ditch. She raised her hand revealing a revolver and aimed it at one of the wolves. She pulled the trigger and shot the wolf in the shoulder. It whimpered and fell backward, with the other wolf rushing to his companion confused as to why a bullet could hurt him in his wolf form.

She turned around and ran as fast as she could while trying to ignore the pain radiating down the right side of her body. There was growling and whimpering behind her that seemed to get farther away as she ran, but she didn’t stop. She hoped and prayed that she had made it closer to at least one of the smaller pack lands in the region. At least the wolves in the pack would be more concerned with the rogues than an injured human.

So she carried on limping through the forest knowing that she had no way to escape this time if the rogues resumed their chase.

She stopped in her tracks when she heard a commotion coming from her left and not her back where she had left the rogue wolves. The noises stopped for a moment then seemed to change directions and head behind her. She let out a deep sigh realizing that her hunch was correct and continued walking through the forest. When she got to a small clearing, she took off her backpack and leaned against a tree while rummaging through her bag looking for her first aid kit.

The sound of a twig snapping made her jolt upright and she looked in the direction of the sound. She leaned her head to the side, trying to focus her hearing to see if she could figure out who was coming her way. The footsteps were heavy and fast. And whoever it was, they were big.

She nervously looked all around. There was no escape for her anymore.

Resigning herself to her fate, she then reached into her cargo pant pocket and retrieved the revolver and aimed it at the wolf praying that it didn’t call her bluff.

It was closer now. She guessed it was close enough to hear her speak.

“It’s silver," she said pointing the gun at the approaching wolf.

In a cloud of dust, the wolf came to an abrupt stop just a few feet in front of her. She blinked a couple of times trying to avoid the dust before she took a good look at the wolf before her. It was a massive dark grey wolf that was double the size of the rogues who had been pursuing her. Its height at its shoulders was taller than her five foot five frame, and its eyes glowed a blue-grey tone brightly through the forest mist.

She was in real trouble now. This was no ordinary wolf. This was an ….

“Alpha…” she gasped under her breath.