"Glad to hear it, Alex. Since we’ve solved the mystery of why my brothers and I were raised here in captivity, it gives me great pleasure to thwart their plans. So what do you say? Think you can help me escape tomorrow night?"
"Tomorrow night? Holy shit, we’re moving fast." He paused long enough to realize why urgency was key. "Oh, snap. You said you're leaving Monday, right? And today's Saturday. Fuuuuck. Okay, let's do this. I can handle a distraction and probably get at least half of your guardians away from there if that'll work? Plus, I can get my friends here as backup. If you don't mind me having them loop in their pack alpha, I'm sure we'll have even more people here to help."
"I know you've mentioned distracting them in the past, but I don't think you understand how powerful they are. And with plans in place for me to leave, a distraction will probably make them more suspicious. Trust me, Alex. I don't want to risk any of your friends. They won't fight as wolves unless necessary. At least, I don't think they will, since every one of them carry guns. No, I have a better way."
Alex was quiet. "Listen, I get what you’re saying. But there's stuff about me you don't know yet. Believe me when I tell you I'm probably the best person to help you because I’m more familiar with this area than you know. I should've told you sooner, but I was scared you wouldn't trust me."
"Save your secrets until we meet in person, okay? I promise nothing you can tell me will affect our friendship." I really hoped I was correct. My brothers hadn't liked the idea of me mindspeaking with an outsider, but Six's gut said Alex was okay.
"Promise? Swear you won't hate me, no matter what?" My cocky friend sounded like a scared little boy. So vulnerable and worried, in fact, my heart melted and only confirmed I was right to trust him.
"I can easily promise you as much. Whoever you are, wherever you come from, you aren't the person who put me here or plans to sell me. Enough sentiment. Let me tell you what I have in mind. Tomorrow night is our monthly run. The moon will be full, and none of us broke a rule, so we'll be allowed to shift and run around our yard. As long as we don't go up the hill or leave the fence line, we can have fun for a couple hours."
"And where are your guardians while you’re out there? Are they running with you or what?"
"No, I don't think they're allowed to. They space themselves around the yard, armed and ready to shoot if we try to make a break for it. So, I plan to."
"Wait. You want to run away while armed men are literally watching to make sure you don't? No, I think we need to work on a different plan."
"Trusting goes both ways, Alex. You're not the only one with secrets, but the ones I'm keeping aren't mine to share. Believe me when I tell you my brothers are capable of covering for me while I slip away. It wouldn't work if we all tried, but one can be managed. Unless something unexpected happens, my plan should go off without a hitch. Once I get my brothers involved, it'll be smooth as pudding. Nothing will go wrong, you'll see."
Alex groaned so loudly, I would have sworn he was sitting beside me. "Dude. I know you were raised in a bubble, but everyone knows you don't tempt fate. Like, for real, though. And you call me the cocky one. Shit, now I really am worried."
"Relax," I laughed softly, hoping to dispel his concerns. "I'm not being cocky. I'm confident. Now, let's run through this from the top so you're prepared for your part."
Though he groaned again, he at least sounded more at ease. "Okay, we've got this. Lay this flawless plan of yours on me, Thirteen."
"Everything will go down right after sunset." As I lay back onto my pillow and continued to outline my idea, I felt surer than ever it would all work out. We'd never once tried to escape before, so they wouldn't really expect it, I didn't think. Cocky or not, I knew my plan was flawless. It had to be. I didn’t dare consider the alternative.
Two
“Thirteen”
“I don’t know, Thirteen. Your plan is solid, but so many things could go wrong.” Eleven frowned, his eyes narrowing as he stared off into the distance, no doubt calculating my odds of escape.
Eight, possibly the sweetest of us and definitely the most romantic, leaned across the table, his eyes shifting right and left to make sure nobody was listening. “I want to hear more about these true mates. I’m trying to imagine recognizing my soulmate by his scent, and, well… That could backfire. Think about it—what if he just got done working out? Total BO, yeah? How awful would it be if you lost your one chance at true love because you couldn’t smell his secret awesomeness underneath the sweat?”
With an exaggerated eye roll, Six held his hands up. "Focus, brothers. Eight, we're wolves. You know the difference between the scents of fear and anger. You would recognize any of us in a dark place, even if we were drenched in sweat and any other nasty fluids you can imagine. I think we can agree—if a person exists whose very scent embodies everything good and calls to your inner beast, you will recognize it, no matter how it might be disguised in the moment. Now, can we get back to the important conversation?"
I nodded gratefully. "My escape. Yes. We have plenty of time to worry about true mates later. Right now, we need to think about ourselves. My freedom will guarantee all of yours, hopefully sooner than later." I was doing my best to keep positive. Six had already gone on record about having a bad feeling about tonight.
At the sound of a housekeeper's footsteps outside the dining room, we paused. Six waited until she was gone to continue. "Exactly. So like I was telling you, my gut says this isn't going to work like you think. But I have a stronger feeling of dread when I consider not trying."
I perked up. "Are you in?"
Closing his eyes, Six took a deep breath before slowly nodding his agreement. "I'm hesitantly giving my approval to the plan and suggesting we work together to help Thirteen tonight. If we all want to go with him, we have the powers necessary, but my gut says joining him now is the wrong choice. A single wolf—or a pair, I suppose, when we include our brother's mysterious friend, Alex—has a better chance of blending in and finding help than every one of us together."
Eleven appeared horrified at the idea. "Good gracious, yes. The logistics alone of keeping track of us out in the wild would need to be considered. But I don't even care to imagine the statistical chances of a small pack of wolves escaping undetected. We don't know what lies on the other side of the surrounding hills. No, I still don't care for the odds of a pair of wolves making it, but at least those are calculable."
With our brother finally calmed down, Five rested a hand on his arm. "We're all stressed and worried about this, Eleven. It'll be okay, though. I think Six would know if it was going to end in complete disaster. He said things won't work out as planned, but he also said it's the best idea." Turning to me, Five smiled gently. "I vote yes too, and I would beg you to try your best to stay safe and not get hurt."
One by one, the rest of my brothers chimed in with their yes votes and more words of encouragement—and more than one breath of concern. Altogether, whether it worked or not, my plan was a go. Help from the two most essential brothers, Seven and Four, was the only thing I absolutely needed to get away. Still, I felt better about leaving them behind if we were in agreement, and having them on board would aid my escape.