* * *
Is...Is she the daughter of a—
Humans don't know the proper names of our Alpha-female. She could've just said her name was Luna.
Liam wanted to take his brother's word for it, but Luke's guess was as good as his own. And Sage sounded so sure that it was hard to question the little she does know to what she doesn't.
We'll wait until we get back to the pack and spread the word. Someone has to know something about her.
Luke nodded at the suggestion and began to dig in and eat. Liam, on the other hand, offered up a fry to Sage. Only for her to stare at it, unknowing that it was made of potatoes as well.
But once he said the golden word, she was all for it.
The brothers have come to learn that whenever she wiggled, both she and her wolf showed how happy she is at that given moment. And right now, Liam couldn't think of anything more precious than that.
But after a few more bites, she frowned.
"Bathroom?" She questioned, and again it had put a halt in the male's feast. Neither would be able to go in there with her, but she was indeed old enough to know what to do.
They couldn't hover over her forever.
As the waitress pulled around the corner, Luke signaled for her to come over. "Ma'am...Can you show my sister to the bathroom?" After a quick mention that Sage doesn't speak that much, all the woman needed before motioning for the she-wolf to follow.
Soon a light hand on her back had come forward, and Sage nearly jumped from the contact. But quickly understood that she was bringing her to the bathroom, just as she asked.
Sage gave another light 'thank you,' with a very contagious smile before entering into the single room. It smelled faintly of flower cleaning spray, but it went well enough.
But Luke's eyes managed to keep direct contact to the door, and was given relief only when she was on her way back.
"Think Liam took some of your food, Sagey." He teased, even if Liam hadn't. He wanted to know what her reaction would be, considering she was about to move in with a family of five brothers. But she simply swiped another fry from his plate in retaliation before stabbing a piece of chicken.
Though they had to cut it for her, since their first experience of seeing her hold a knife was the blade against her skin. Now it was residing strictly away from her.
They hadn't given her the proper silverware other than spoons and forks in the facility, which was fortunate as she knew how to eat. And quietly too.
The waitress was ecstatic to see that all the food had been eaten, and so Luke gave the signal for three pieces of apple pie before asking for the bill.
Granted, it would be a hundred bucks no matter what in this case, as he tallied up the total in his head—Maybe they did order too much.
But it was worth it after seeing Sage being introduced to ice cream for the first time. Even if it was cold, she thought it paired well with the warm apple inside a crusty tart. Sure enough, she couldn't contain her excitement and wiggled again.
She pointed down to the ice cream, which Liam had explained what it is and there's a whole list of other flavors. They would definitely have a field day with that once they managed to get home and settled in.
With the bill paid, the brothers told Sage to use the restroom once more before they left. So the two were waiting by the exit playing at the claw machine with the given few coins Liam had in his pocket.
But he cursed again, and banged at the plastic window. All he wanted to do was win the little wolf stuffed animal that he spotted when they first walked in.
And Luke was holding back his laughter in seeing how frustrated the game was causing him to become.
As Sage was leaving the restroom, she smelled the beautiful aroma of chicken once more and recalled the meal she had just had.
She never felt so full in her entire life!
She soon spotted Luke and went ahead to meet up with him, until she heard the waitress that served them. She wasn't looking towards her in particular, but her brothers instead. And the way she was doing so had caused Sage's back hairs to rise up.
Her ears turned into the conversation she was having to—to her hand?
"Hm, they were talking about packs and hunting...Yeah, the license plate is A14-J95. It's a nice black Mercedes. Two males and a female." It was odd to hear, sure. But the numbers started to run through her mind as she returned back to her males.
"Ha! I got it!" Liam's shouts had startled her, all to the point of her eyes flashing to their slick black pools as she held her position in worry. And Luke grew curious as to what could have made her so jumpy all of a sudden. His brother was usually this loud, so what was it?
Soon enough, Liam offered up the stuffed animal towards Sage, and she titled her head in question.
Please tell me she's had toys before.
His brother remained silent, not wanting to think about it any more than that. But he promised that the next scientist he meets will meet the same brutal fate as the last facility.
"Come on, best get moving." They led her back to the car, but this time she was returning with a stuffed animal that is very soft to the touch, and a full stomach. But she started to mumble something under her breath, and Liam leaned in closer to hear it.
"14, 19. 14, 19." it was almost a matron, continuing over and over with a few breaths in between. She knew numbers. However she managed to learn them, but it was odd where Sage plucked them from.
"Luke," He called out, and luckily it didn't disturb her from talking to herself.
"95...14...95. 1495." He, too, stopped to look directly down to the little she-wolf.
"Sage, where did you get those numbers?" she blinked up and thought directly to the waitress inside, Her head turning back towards the diner to silently tell them it was the woman.
"Probably order numbers, come on." Liam didn't accept his brother's suggestion and thought long about the numbers as well, until he caught sight of the license plate.
"A14-J95...Shit, the waitress snitched. Sage, get in the car." Liam ordered, and the panic that grew between the brothers had got her moving quicker, causing her to hurry back into her seat and tug down the seatbelt. All while Luke slammed his foot on the gas and sped off.
Sage clutched the small wolf in her arms as she felt terrified, thinking she had done something wrong. And her only reaction was to curl up in her seat further.
Trying to hide away from the fear in the car.
The heavy emotion laid onto Luke as he growled. "Sage, you're alright, hun. It's that lady inside, she told another pack that we're close by." While his voice was soft and his eye contact was direct, she still didn't understand what he meant.
But she did understand the part where it wasn't her fault.
With that, she began to calm her guilt down. However, that didn't mean she uncurled herself from the corner of the seat.
On the other hand, Liam was hovering over the map, looking as to what pack they might be dealing with. Surely they must've hit a sensitive area if—
"Damnit. A college is off near here. They're protecting their pups." Luke growled at Liam's words. They weren't out of bounds, but it was a safety measure that any pack would do.
There were two options that Luke could manage, they could go and meet the Alpha willingly or with force—on the off chance they get caught before making it out of the state.
But after watching Sage clutch her stuffie and hiding into her seat with the jacket's hood on, it caused him to slam his hand on the wheel.
"We meet up with them. They'll be coming off this direction anyway. We'll just explain that—"
"They're Mystic Grimm! You want to wave a white flag to Mystic Grimm of all the—" The growl that Luke managed to create dropped the temperature in the car by a few degrees.
And in being the oldest, it was Luke's decision that they would stay stationed and parked. Planning to explain to Alpha Harlow what happened the same way he was going to tell his own Alpha.
Residing by the side of the road, it took all the convincing in the world on Liam's behalf that he didn't yell at her because she did something wrong. Neither brother was particularly good at dealing with a crying female. They were blessed that she wasn't much of a crier in captivity.
But here, she was shaking like a leaf.
At least she knew the severity of the situation, but Luke theorized that something else was wrong...Though she wouldn't say anything in the sort.
Fourteen minutes.
It took all of fourteen minutes for two black SUVs to suddenly appear on both opposing sides—taking away their last chance of cutting off their escape plan.
I hope this is the right plan, brother...Sage is—
Sage is strong, don't think so little of her, Liam.
The two were leaning against the car is waiting, while Sage propped herself out the window to be involved and catch the scent of incoming wolves.
Luke wasn't so much worried about how they would respond to her. It was Sage he was more cautious of.
How many years has it been since she saw her own kind?
Interacted with them or been near a pack?
These questions were all dead ends without even a beginning to go off as he peeked down at how obvious Sage was in catching their scent—Her nose pointed high in the air.
Those in Mystic Grimm held a different gene. They were a pack of fierce warriors, and their scent and build proved it. But if Luke mentioned the treaty they have with Crescent Moon, nothing would be considered wrong in passing through.
Liam counted five on his side while there were eight on Luke's. Too many to take on, even with the ultimate weapon waiting in the backseat for the go-ahead.
Once they had gotten close enough, Sage growled. Not liking the fact that they were advancing.
Stay calm, hun. We're going to meet their Alpha. Do not attack.
She huffed in response and flashed her teeth.
Kill.
No. No kill. No attack. Nice...Be nice.
Luke turned towards the men and nodded in a polite greeting, hoping he defused the ticking timebomb.
"Getting close to our borders, boys. What business do you have here?" The male questioned, and Luke sighed. "Was off visiting our Aunt in White Paw, we were heading back home when we got snatch by some scientists. Run the plates if you want, stole one of their cars." Sage listened intently to the stranger's voice and Luke's, but as she heard the word scientist being repeated again and again caused her to hug her stuffie tighter.
The male wolf he was speaking to was indeed the Beta—Beta Josh. As the call was too bizarre for them not to send a representative. Especially when they were now parked out in the open.
"And the other one?"
"She was there at the facility with us. We're just on our way back to Crescent Moon." Beta Josh nodded his head in thought, but he wanted to see the she-wolf in question, and Luke was in no position to deny the request, but he leaned into the Beta in warning. "We don't know how long she was there for..." It was unsettling to those who could hear him example the situation at hand, while Liam went back to coax Sage into coming out to meet the surrounding wolves.
One of the worrying facts that Luke had caught was that they were all males.
"Huh, she's a tiny little thing." The comment had been too close to what Alex taunted her with. And with the young male in her line of sight, her eyes turned black and her canines bared. A leveling growl stilled most, if not all the wolves around them.
Liam turned in question to his brother, but they were on the same page in wondering how the hell she managed to have pup lower his gaze so quickly.
Worried that things would get out of hand, Luke held the scruff of her neck and leaned in close to her ear. "No kill." He repeated, and that flared a reaction from the Beta.
An uncontrollable she-wolf is dangerous, and the Alpha was already pressuring to get this situation under control.
With the go-ahead to return them all back to pack lands for a meeting had been granted. Neither of the brothers was allowed to be together in the car. They wanted each Crescent Moon member to be separated into different vehicles. Still, there was no way to control the wild card if the she-wolf wasn't with one of the males she's familiar with.
The Beta decided to travel in the Mercedes, wanting to drive the luxury vehicle instead of the bulky SUV. This meant the others return to their car, and Luke caught Sage's desperate eyes as he was being escorted to the other vehicle.
He wasn't the only one having trouble leaving the other.
"I'll be in the car right behind, alright? Listen to Liam." He said, only for her to pout as she returned back into the Mercedes. But one of the others enter the row with them. And an instinctive growl prompted Liam to huff as he placed her into his lap.
The Beta noted that she was indeed tiny and underfed, and it was hard not to feel guilty for one of his own kind to be under the same torture. He just hoped his Alpha was as empathetic to the situation.
With the drive now continuing in the opposite direction, Sage's eyes glued out towards the window, intently staring at the trees. But the distance she had from Luke was giving her anxiety.
Lu?
She called out, not knowing if the link would even work, causing her to shiver at the lack of response.
I don't know how I feel about you calling me Lu, Sage. Just stick with Liam and look out the window, hun. We'll be there soon.
The crown of her head was resting onto Liam's shoulder as her legs folded easily into his lap. But the combination of the unknown and lack of Luke's presence, she started scratching at the annoying fabric that's protecting her wound.
"Hey...Stop that. You'll re-open it." He had to hold her wrist from temptation, but the interest the random warrior had beside them was set entirely on Sage's wrist.
"Wouldn't do that. Last person to throw a comment like yours her way doesn't have a throat or face anymore." The Beta had let out a howl of laughter at the warning, and question what exactly happened.
"Human guard didn't suspect a damn thing. Isn't that right, Sage?" The car was silent, and Sage continued the obsessive scratching—All to the point of bleeding once again.
"Sage. Stop. Leave it alone." He spoke, going as far as to roll up her sleeve and rewrap the bandage to secure it better.
"How'd she get that?" Josh question, his eyes catching Sage's in the rearview mirror and earned himself a frown as it wasn't Luke or Liam's eyes.
Her eyes were a calming grey that nearly sparkled with the intent to defend if someone so much as hints at it. The dullness had started to grow out of her expression entirely.
"She ripped out her tracker, all of ours, actually." Liam offered to show his arm to see the she-wolf's bite on him, and the male sitting behind him flinched. "She did that?" The Elwood nodded slowly. They weren't treading as carefully as they should be. And he could already see a problem forming with it if Sage caught onto the subject.
"How long were you and your brother there for?"
"Month and a half...Mind saving this for the Alpha? Rather not have to talk about this twice." Liam tried to be polite about it, and the Beta understood why he didn't want to talk about it so soon. He couldn't imagine what they've been through, but Josh's eyes connected back to Sage's—All in wonder of who she is and where she's from.
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Date: 11-07-2020
Time: 10:47
Words: 2428
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EDITED
DATE: 07-29-2021
WORDS: 2751