ISABELLA

Looking at myself in the mirror, I wonder exactly why I'm doing this. I found myself in a little black dress, a face full of makeup and in heels I could not walk in. This was not a dinner that I was looking forward to. After all, this was the day where a powerful Alpha will come to visit. They are at the top of all the packs, the one who clawed their way to this position through violence and death.

My thoughts are interrupted by my sister's yell, "Izzy, hurry up! The Alpha is going to be here soon!" I groan out loud. I knew exactly how this dinner was going to go. My father who always wants to improve his way of life will attempt to negotiate with this asshole of an Alpha. As his oldest daughter, he will use me as bait. It's happened before and makes me sick.

"ISABELLA!" my mom is the one calling for me this time.

I answer quickly, "Coming!" My father is the Alpha of our pack, the Thunder Manes. We're considered to be the toughest 'weak' pack. Our warriors aren't strong enough to fight, so we're only better than other 'weaker' packs. That puts us as the seventh strongest or something like that.

I exit my room quickly. I couldn't afford to be late on a day like this. At 18 years old, I was still lacking a mate and that disappointed my parents. I couldn't say that I like my father. He considered women as only good for mating, though he never really said so. I think at this point he might be trying to hand me off to some wolf who isn't my true mate. It's been done before, but I never wanted that to be my situation.

DING DONG!

The sound of the doorbell practically echoes through the house. I have to run in order to make it to the front of the house on time. My family breathes a sigh of relief, realizing that I finally showed up. It could be disrespectful towards the visiting Alpha if I was not present. A lowly pack member opens the door and the Alpha walked in.

HE walks in at the same time as the delicious smell of melting chocolate floats into the house. I feel my animal instincts that come along with being a werewolf attempt to take over my current human behavior. I know exactly what this means, it's my mate. We've been told by our parents ever since we were pups how meeting your mate felt. Given that our animal instincts couldn't talk to us, we have to recognize the current signs.

Despite myself, excitement takes over. My mate is probably one of the guards of this Alpha, maybe even the Beta. Either way, I was going to be able to leave. There is also a part of me that's terrified. The stories about these violent packs are gory. Our pack heard about how their Alpha Carson killed a woman for claiming to be his mate. I pray with all I have that he's not my mate. I've heard how these packs hurt the females, how disrespect is harshly dealt with . . .

Suddenly, I am staring into a pair of dark brown eyes and my thoughts fade into obscurity. There is the sign of a barely concealed shift in my mate's eyes, how close his animal instincts are to overwhelming the human ones. This was my mate and I allowed myself a second to appreciate the pleasure

The first hint that something is wrong is the silence. When someone finds their mate, we usually cheer. However, now, there is no sound. I break the eye contact with my mate to look around. Everyone close to us looks to be in shock.

It takes me less than a second to understand when I don't see my mate's Alpha. He is the Alpha. Well, shit!

The Alpha is at my side in a second and looks around at everyone dangerously before turning back to me. There is a hint of barely hidden violence in his every move. I immediately stiffen in discomfort. Despite my baser instincts scream at me to get closer to my other half, my gut tells me that this is a wolf who won't hesitate to kill me if I do anything wrong. I know that he's willing to kill.

After all, this isn't my first meeting with Alpha Carson, the bastard

Speaking of the devil, the Alpha wrapped his arm around me possessively, making me feel like an object, before asking, "What is your name?"

Still on the edge, I answer, "Isabella, Alpha."

He nuzzles his face into my neck, "No need to call me Alpha mate. Call me Carson." It's usually a sign of affection, but all I can think of is how that my most vulnerable spot, how he could tear my throat open in a second.

My parents are looking at me with their mouths hanging open. My dad is the first to recover and I can see the greed in his eyes. Father never wanted pups, he only did it to please my mother. All I am to him is another bargaining chip. He offers to my mate, "Shall we go eat, Alpha Carson?"

In response, Carson growls and in a very dangerous sounding voice says, "I believe that this dinner can be postponed. I am going to spend some quality time with my mate and head back home. Our talks will resume later."

He starts walking out of the house dragging me behind him. I stumble in my heels and I can feel my anger growing. How dare he man-handle me! The last of my happiness of meeting my mate disappears. My memory reminds me of how this man is a killer of children!

Before I can let myself be intimidated once again, I plant my feet and whisper, "No."

Carson turns back rapidly and leans in to whisper a response in my ear, " MINE! You will only be mine! No one else can see you or touch you!"

I understand how he feels and I respect it. I am not a human mate who so often rejects this sentiment. However, this was not the right moment to express his feelings. My anger rises to a crescendo for no other reason that what the Alpha has done to my pack in the past.

I say in a louder tone, "No!"

Carson's eyes are turning black in anger and my instincts are yelling to get away from the dangerous predator. Finally, my brain kicks in and tells me to calm him. That's what a good mate is supposed to do, right? Unfortunately, I was never so much the nurturing type, but I have to try.

I use a girly voice and let my fear be heard, "Stop it! You are scaring me!" I was playing off the soon-to-be mate bond. I see his eyes soften and I breath a sigh of relief. I press quickly my advantage, " Could I stay with my family one more night before leaving with you? To say goodbye."

He looks at me, and gruffly says, " Fine! But I will come for you tomorrow morning."

I give him a kiss on his cheek to make sure he does not change his mind and turn to go back inside. Once inside, I take a breath of relief and look at my family. They have not moved an inch. My mother was still in shock. My siblings looked disbelieving.

Then, my dad starts to talk, " What is going to happen? Your brother will take over my pack, so there is no worry about that. You will have to be his Luna. That is a good position." He continues rambling and I am getting annoyed. I don't want to marry such a cold-hearted killer, I rather kill myself.

My dad is interrupted by my younger sister bursting into tears and my older brother hugging me. I reassure them, " It's gonna be fine. It will be okay. He has given me permission to stay here until tomorrow morning." Not mentioning that I was planning to be gone by tomorrow morning.

My mom breaks down crying to, " Sweetie. Oh my daughter! What has the Moon Goddess done by giving you this mate?"

My father interrupts, "Don't worry! This is wonderful. Now, Alpha Carson must aid us. He will have to give us the funds I wanted..." He trails off before speaking again, "It is time to go to bed. We want our Izzy to be fresh for tomorrow. This mating will ensure that our pack will be safe forever with Alpha Carson's protection."

Now, I feel slightly bad about my plans to run away, but then I remember Carson's possessiveness and his bloodthirsty pack. I remember the people he killed. I remembered my friends he killed.

*Flashback*

It is a normal weekend at the pack house. We had celebrated my 12th birthday yesterday, and my little sister had finally walked. Suddenly, there is a noise.

BAM! BAM!

All the wolves around us tense, knowing that is an attack on the pack. I am hurried downstairs with all the other kids and defenseless wolves. We lock ourselves in and try to tune out the noise of the battle raging upstairs. My father, the Alpha, had had an disagreement with Carson's pack, Blood Moon. They had wanted a part of our territory and we had refused because many of our pack lived on it. Apparently, Carson did not like our response. He was a living nightmare for the children and we knew that we was as ruthless and bloodthirsty as they come. I was terrified and I was hiding with my two best friends, Leo and Margaux. Then, the sound of fighting stopped and we heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

We all knew that it meant we had lost and there was a high chance of dying. Being me, I decided that Alpha Carson would not get through me. I pushed my way to the front and when the door blew off its hinges, I was the first person to see the wolf. He was an immense black wolf with eyes as dark as his fur.

I stood my ground, telling him,"You shall not pass. I will not let you." His wolf let out a chuckle and gently pushed me aside. Then, the few adults in the room rushed at him and tried to kill him. The wolf who I now know was Carson killed them easily. Some foolhardy kids tried as well to kill him and were killed as well. Everyone started cowering in the corner and the wolf just left after proving his point.

*End of Flashback*

Afterwards, I found out that those "foolhardy kids" were Leo and Margaux, trying to get to me. It broke my hurt. So, NO, I will not go with Carson. I go upstairs and wait a half-hour to make sure people are asleep. I creep out of my bedroom and grab my bag: putting in clothes, guns, knives, a scent masking spray and food.

Now, the next step: sneaking out of the house and territory to avoid detection. I used the masking spray so they cannot track me. I use my window to leave my bedroom and jump to the ground. I take one last look at my home and hesitate. Should I do this? Am I prepared to go rogue? I bring back the memories of my dead friends, dead because of him, my mate.

Shifting into my wolf, I started running out of here to freedom. I hope that my pack would not be punished for my disappearance. I had also studied a map of the different packs. The pack to the left hated Carson and my pack with a burning passion so I could stay there for up to three weeks before leaving. That was my plan and he would have to see how it would turn out. All I wanted was to be away from it all.

So, just try to come get me now Carson. You will find that it is much more difficult than you think.

***

Word Count: 2050