Rain poured softly on the gravel streets of Blodhaven the streetlights illuminated every corner of the town, there was no one in sight except for a young man who appeared to be taking a leisurely stroll in the rain. He wore an expressionless gaze, his dark eyes appearing almost lifeless. His short blonde hair now stuck to his forehead, and the rags he wore offered no protection against the rain not that he could afford new clothes. He was an Omega, which was the lowest ranked wolf in a pack.
Omegas were treated like shit, usually they were treated as servants since they had no real use in the battlefield or hunting. They were the first to wake up and the last to sleep, during dinner they were only allowed to eat after everyone else had finished their meals. And at night they were playthings for the powerful members of the pack.
Lincoln, like all werewolves was born an omega but on his 21st birthday he failed to evolve past the rank of omega leading to him remaining an omega and having his chance of evolving naturally fail. He still had another alternative which was to challenge any member of the pack except the alpha, but he knew he stood no chance against the gammas and the Beta.
He made his peace with his position, knowing that the reason his life had turned out the way it did was because of fate and the only being he knew capable of changing a person's fate was the rumored, Archive Keeper of Midnight.
But that was just a legend passed around the Midnight Court, he was not one to believe in fairy tales even though he was a living example of one. Blodhaven was founded by their alpha four centuries ago when he first formed the pack, their alpha was a rare specimen even among were-folk.
Just after he had turned twenty one he evolved to an alpha leaving him with only two choices, whether to challenge and kill the alpha of his pack or leave to go start his own. And Blodhaven is the result of his choice Five centuries ago, his name is Lucien king the alpha of Blodhaven pack and Lincoln's father.
He was the last born in his family and the most hated child because of the fact that his mother passed away while giving birth to him, since birth his father had never spoken a word to him and his three older siblings treated him like garbage.
He had thought that their mistreatment would stop once he evolved past Omega but life was not that fond of him, his failure made his situation much worse than it was before.
Currently he was on his way to his place, he had just finished his duties for the day and he could not wait to get some sleep. Tomorrow was bound to be a big day for him, it was the day he would finally leave his pack behind. His decision meant that he would be labeled a deserter and be hunted for life, by the Sanguine courts, The witness Assembly and The Deserter Hunters.
But he had a plan that would buy him some time for at least a year, everything was already in place he just needed to fake his death and make his escape to the human world. He had a contact there that would provide him with a new identity and life, the only downside of his plan was that he was leaving behind his girlfriend Annabelle without an explanation.
Their town was situated in the middle of the Pisgah national forest encompassed by the Blue Ridge mountains. Hikers usually stumbled into their town by mistake every now and again but they always left the place with missing memories, the closest human settlement was the city Asheville. Asheville was the first stop he would make once outside the pack walls.
His house was located near Blodhaven's entrance, as an Omega he knew that he could not leave the town without supervision. And he knew that the woods surrounding their town was filled with Gammas patrolling the area, and in order to leave without getting his scent tracked he had to mask it otherwise his plan would fail.
His house came into view, he had been living in this place ever since he turned sixteen. Over the course of the years he had many roommates but none of them stayed for long, most of them died trying to challenge the upper ranks of the pack and two of them managed to evolve past Omega. He took out his keys and unlocked the door, he flipped the lights on and went straight to the bathroom.
He stood under the shower, ignoring the searing hot water pouring on him. Unlike the Gammas who were healthy and strong, he was scrawny and weak. If he was well fed his lean build would appear more prominent, he stayed in the shower for thirty more minutes.
Once done he went straight to his bedroom and threw himself on the bed, tonight was going to be his last night sleeping in it. He reached underneath the mattress and took out a phone, Omegas were not allowed to have phones that is why he kept this one hidden. He took it from a stray hiker that had stumbled into their town and hid it without anyone noticing, it was because of this phone he was going to escape Blodhaven.
He went to his texts messages and on top was the pinned contact saved Malcolm, he entered the chat and began typing;
Lincoln: Evening, I hope that this text find you well. I am writing to inform you that I will be making my escape in the early hours of tomorrows morning, I will meet you at our planned rendezvous at six O clock.
After sending the text he put away his cell and let sleep consume him, after tonight he was going to be a wanted men hunted by the humans and the creatures of the night.
…
In the early hours of the morning a fire broke out in Blodhaven, it was near the entrance of the town. The house belonging to an Omega was on fire, and it was not just any Omega it was the house belonging to the son of the alpha. Many pack members were out trying to put out the fire, but the house was almost reduced to rubble. At first they heard screaming until it eventually stopped, currently the alpha was not present leaving the pack under the Beta's protection and supervision.
They had to wait until the flames died down before anyone could rush into the house, but it was clear in the eyes of every single one of them that Lincoln had not survived the fire. A dark skinned young woman with short black hair knelt in front of the house crying, her screams tore through the crowd.
The beta stepped forward accompanied by two others, a man and a woman. Unlike most packs Blodhaven's Beta was a middle aged woman with brown skin, long red hair and eyes of the same color. She was in her summer Pj's, consisting of a short and vest she was also barefoot. The two accompanying her resembled Lincoln, especially the woman. The woman was also in her Pj's, she had long blonde hair and piercing black eyes as for the man his hair was raven black with blue eyes and he was fully dressed in biker clothes.
"Who was here when the fire broke out?" the Beta asked.
A big man stepped out of the crowd, he wore no clothes except for a short. He was bigger than the average male, and he was also bald with no distinctive features. He knelt before the Beta and began speaking;
"I am the one that saw the smoke while patrolling just outside of the town boundary."
"Bruce, did Lincoln come out?" the woman that was accompanying the beta asked, the man named Bruce shook his head.
"No one came out and we also heard muffled screaming coming from the house it stopped only a few moments ago." Bruce reported.
The Beta remained silent, the biker took a step forward and took in a deep breath.
"He is not dead." his soft spoken words did not go unheard.
The flames died down and the biker went inside to inspect the burnt down house, of course there was not much meant to inspect everything had been lost to the fire. But the man wanted to confirm a suspicion and he did, standing in what was left of his little brother's bedroom a dark smiled graced his countenance.
"What a sly little bastard."
…
Lincoln sprinted through the dense woods, his breath huffing in time with his footsteps. He chose not to shift, fearing that they might be able to trail him using his wolf's scent. The fire was a great diversion and also it helped with masking his scent, he knew that the gammas in charge of patrolling would rush back to the town which meant that he had a clear path of escape.
He had no luggage on him only a few stolen bank cards belonging to his siblings, and the clothes he was wearing. But even so he was excited, noting was going to stop him from getting his freedom not even his family.
Just when he was about to break past the tree line he heard an earth shattering howl coming from Blodhaven, his body momentarily froze and he could feel his wolf wanting to take over. His pupils dilated, his fingers locking and nails thickening. His teeth aching as if pushed from within, one hand fully clawed while the other stayed human. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths, trying to resist the shift.
Slowly his eyes reverted back to their initial appearance and his clawed hand reverted back, he had denied his Beta's howl which was the greatest act of defiance and with it his connection to the pack was severed.
He chose this day for his escape because he was aware that his father was out of the pack, and if it had been his father who had howled he was certain that he would have shifted on the spot.
It was not the fact that the Beta was weaker but other variables also helped with him resisting the howl like the distance and also taking the years of mistreatment into account, his loyalty within the pack was fragile.
But not to say that severing his bond with the pack came without costs, the first was difficult shifting, the second was the mark of the forsaken where the scent will change and other werewolves will know that his a deserter. And the temporary effects like pain, nausea and head splitting headaches would begin as soon as possible.
But he knew that he could not give up now, not when he was just a short distance away from getting his freedom. He took shaky steps forward his vision blurry, he was aware that they were aware he was not dead. And the gammas have now been released into the woods to search for him, he had no time to wait and recover.
"Hello, Lin is that you?" a soft feminine voice called out to him from beyond the tree line.
He suspected it was Malcolm, but wasn't Malcolm supposed to be male why did he have a woman's voice? Pushing his thoughts to the side he responded as loudly as he could muster.
"Yes...It's...me." His voice was shaky and hoarse, as if he had not drank water in ages.
The effects were getting to him, his headache was getting worse and his feet felt heavy. His vision was already blurry, but he fought hard to take another step forward. Failing to escape meant a fate worse than death, and he was not eager to find out what they would do to him once they have caught.
Just as his vision was about to go dark he felt a soft hand grab his waist and preventing him from falling, and then he heard two words;
"Got you."