Chapter 5

"So, how do I do it?"

"You just clear your head and let it happen."

"Are you fucking kidding me? That's not helpful at all!" I was freaking out. I already felt the pack warriors closing in on me.

"Do it now!" Sky yelled at me. I screamed, and suddenly, I was seeing everything in 4K. Everything around me moved so much faster; my senses were heightened, and everything looked so colorful.

"Well done," Sky said, "You shifted wonderfully." It was weird being a wolf. I couldn't move this body or speak; it was like I was a voice in Sky's head.

"You'll learn to control me. For now, I'm taking over to ensure we lose them."

After that, we ran in silence for a few minutes. I could no longer hear other paws running after us, so I asked Sky, "Did we lose them?" I ask her.

"Yeah," she said with such conviction that I felt relieved. "But not for long. They'll catch up eventually," now I was panicking again.

"What do we do?" I didn't think they'd chase after me. None of them liked me, so I thought they'd say good riddance.

"Well, you tell me. You're the one who read the novel. You know how Damon tracked Emma down and won her over," Sky said.

That's right, I knew Damon would chase me since that's what he did in the book, but this time it was different. He chases Emma to win her back, but this time, he's chasing Emma to keep her next to him, whether she wants to or not. This is bad. Well, at least we're not bonded anymore; that's a plus.

"Um… we're still mated to him," Sky said. I was wide-eyed.

"What do you mean we're still mated?! I rejected him!"

"Rejection goes both ways. You rejected Damon, and now he has to accept your rejection. If he doesn't, you're both still mated," Sky said, basically shrugging as if this situation didn't concern her.

"That's total bull!"

"Didn't you say you read the novel? I thought you knew."

"Well, yeah, but I thought it wasn't necessary as long as one rejected the other. When someone's crush rejects them, they just have to accept it and move on. Or when a couple breaks up, as long as one doesn't want to be in a relationship, the other just has to accept it."

"Exactly, accept it, and Damon didn't accept it."

I groaned. What the fuck is with these loopholes?! "So, that's how he found Emma. He could track her down because they were mated?"

"I guess? Though he could have also gotten other wolves to track her down. Don't forget, he's the next Alpha to one of the most powerful packs in the Kingdom. But hey, maybe because you're not Emma, they won't be able to find you," Sky said optimistically. She is horrible at making me feel better.

"This is still Emma's body. I doubt Emma will smell different just because a different soul inhabits her body."

"Hey! You don't know that. Remember how we didn't feel fear when the Alpha used his aura on us or when we didn't feel pain when we rejected Damon. Don't sell yourself short. If you can do this, who knows what else you can do?"

Wow, this is the first time she's managed to comfort me.

"We should sever the pack bond now," Sky said. Oh yeah, I almost forgot that in these novels, one has to sever their bond with the pack to leave it.

"Do I just say I sever my bond with the pack?" I ask her. Sky nods. I did and felt a slight sting in my chest. In the distance, I heard howling. We're so far away, and I can still hear them.

"It's done," Sky said. Does that mean they felt the sting, just as I did?

"Well, we're rogues now. Where do you want to go?"

Shit! I forgot that rogues in these types of novels are seen as scum and treated like criminals. They can only live on neutral grounds because they are killed on sight if they are caught stepping into a pack's territory.

"So, where to?" Sky asked again.

"You know, you can at least try to make me feel better," I said. Sky chuckled, and I sighed. "To be honest, I don't know. Where would you like to go?"

"As a werewolf, I'd like to be among my own kind. It'd be nice if another pack accepted us, but you are a human. I'm sure it must be very stressful being around werewolves, especially when you've known them to be fictitious your whole life," Sky said. She sounded much more understanding than I thought she'd be.

"Of course, I'd be understanding. I'm you, after all," she said. I still need to get used to the mind reading.

"You're not my wolf; you're Emma's wolf," I corrected her. She's never called me by my name since we introduced ourselves. I know deep down a part of her misses Emma and maybe even wishes I was gone.

No, I have to stop thinking this way before things get awkward between us.

"You're right. My soul and Emma's are connected. If she died, I would have also perished, but the fact that I'm here and Emma isn't, means that my soul is now connected to yours," Sky said.

"Is that even possible?" I asked.

"Who knows?" Sky said, I scoffed. "There's no use in questioning what can only be answered by the Moon Goddess; all we can do is theorize." I had to agree. In stories with reincarnation, the ones that reincarnate rarely get an answer as to why they reincarnated. This may be one of those plots. I should just stop questioning it and just live as I want.

Before I realized it, it was already dawn. We had been running for a whole day nonstop, and I wasn't even tired.

"That's the adrenaline talking. Emma always wanted to leave but couldn't bring herself to do it, thinking that her mate would be here and save her," Sky said.

"In the book, she had the courage to leave," I told her, "She managed to make friends, have adventures, and have romance. She got the happily ever after she wanted," I tried to comfort her. This version of Sky lost Emma, but the book version of her lived a happy life with her.

"I wouldn't call that a happily ever after. I'd call it indecisiveness, selfishness, and settling. Emma finally left that godforsaken pack and managed to find happiness, only to throw it all away for that piece of garbage. What the hell was she thinking?" Sky was upset. I never thought I'd ever hear her speak badly about Emma. I agree, but how do I answer that? So, we ran in silence until Sky reached a creek.

"Do you want to change back and rest for a while?" It suddenly dawned on me that Sky had been me this whole time, and I didn't know how to switch back.

"Just like you changed into me, but do it backward," Sky answered. That mind-reading is still weird.

"You'd make a great teacher," I told her.

"Thanks…wait," Sky said. I chuckled.

I imagined myself being Emma again and quickly shifted back into a human. It was easier than changing into a wolf. I was also naked. Thank goodness we were still in the woods and next to water, no less. It's also great that Sky had quick reflexes and managed to hold onto the duffle bag when we shifted. I took out the bar of soap and headed towards the water to wash up. While passing the soap around my body, everything started to hurt. I had forgotten Emma was still badly injured. The adrenaline is starting to lose effect.

"How long do you think it will take for this to heal?" I ask Sky.

"We're still pretty weak, but if we can afford healthy meals, exercise, and have decent rest, we could be fully healed in a week, give or take." One week is shorter than what I was expecting. Still, considering we're being tracked by highly trained werewolf warriors, it's too long. We have to move faster, but it will be difficult for us to move in this condition.

"It can't be helped," Sky said, "Anyways, we should stop by a pawn shop first and get some cash. With that, we could get a room in a motel and hide there for a few days." Wow, Sky is more efficient than I thought she'd be. "I don't know if you're insulting or praising me," Sky said.

"Take it however you want," I said with a chuckle. I finished washing up and put on a new set of underwear, ripped jeans, and an oversized white t-shirt, left my hair down to not draw attention to my face, and then started walking. After a while, I began to feel hungry; I should have eaten something while preparing breakfast for those bastards.

"We couldn't risk it, remember?" Sky reminded me. I nodded. She suddenly sensed a small town a few miles away. Sky mentioned it was better to remain human than risk being seen as a wolf. A werewolf attracts attention, and if the guys from Emma's pack come searching for us, they can just ask the residents if they've seen a wolf.

When I arrived, there were few people around. Mostly joggers and a few shops that were opening up. I received a lot of stares, though I couldn't tell if they were out of hostility or just out of curiosity. Luckily, it was only a short time until I found a pawn shop, and even better, it was already open.

The person behind the counter was an old man with short white hair and a clean-cut beard.

"Good morning, young lady. I haven't seen a new face here in a long time. What brings you around these parts?"

"Good morning, sir. I'm just a tourist. Decided to stop by this pawn shop to see how much I can get for my jewelry," I said,

"You're a pretty good liar," Sky said. Of course, the less you say, the more believable you sound.

"They are all in very good condition and quite valuable. They are at least 500,000 gold," the man said. Of course, I don't know how money works here, but if I think of all that gold in thousands, that's a lot of money. "Each," he added, my jaw almost dropped. I tried not to show any emotion, but I was surprised. Holy shit!

"Sadly, I don't have enough to get all of them off your hands," the old man said. Wow, they are so expensive that a pawn shop owner can't accept them all. How the hell does Emma have such expensive jewelry? Sky seemed as surprised as I was.

"How about you pick one, and I'll be on my way?" I asked. The old man decided on a pair of earrings. I asked him to give me some silver and bronze to avoid carrying around 500,000 gold.

"I thought you didn't know how money works here," Sky said. I don't; I just know that the currency is divided into gold, silver, and bronze. Gold is the epitome of expensive. So much so that many people have never seen a gold coin. So, the majority of things are paid in silver and bronze.

After the exchange, I asked the old man if a diner and a motel were nearby. Once he did, I thanked him and walked out. At the diner, I was greeted by a woman with pointy ears, flawless pale skin, and long silver hair. I couldn't take my eyes off her. It was like I was in a trance. She was so beautiful. She sat me down, gave me the menu, and told me she'd be right back to take my order.

Once she was out of eyesight, I asked Sky, "Was that an elf?"

"You don't have elves in your world?" Sky asked.

"I told you we don't have mythological creatures in my world," I whispered.

"You don't have to talk for me to hear you," Sky said. I noticed a few people eyeing me. I looked down in embarrassment, opened the menu, and hid behind it. Once the elf girl returned, I ordered a simple hamburger and fries with a chocolate shake. Like the old man, she asked what brought me here. I told her I was just passing by, heading west.

After breakfast, which cost 20 bronze, I went around town into stores, giving mostly the same information but different directions. I even said I was heading overseas.

"Why are you telling everyone different stories of where we're going?" Sky asked.

"The men from Emma's pack are still following us, right?" I ask.

"Yeah," Sky said, wondering where I was going with this.

"Then, this town will be one of their stops. They'll obviously sniff around and ask the locals. Once they hear so much contradictory information, they'll have no choice but to separate and continue their search. Meanwhile, we'll stay at the motel recuperating. Also, if one of them stays around to search for me, they'll be far easier to fight off than a whole group.

When all was said and done, I headed to a convenience store and bought red hair dye and ice cream. Apart from the fact that there are mythological creatures, everything else is surprisingly similar to my world.

Once at the motel, I couldn't just put down Emma's name, so I used my real one. The clerk looked at me up and down, and a hint of pity was evident. "Stay as long as you like," he said, giving me the key to a room on the first floor, close to the fire escape. I guess looking like I just came out of a fight has its perks.

The room had two beds, a TV, a mini fridge, and a small bathroom. The décor was outdated, but it was better than sleeping outside. I put the duffle bag on the bed, then rushed to the bathroom to apply the hair dye. Once I used all of it, I left the bathroom and sat on the bed to watch TV. I couldn't help but want to see what the people here consider entertainment. I turn it on, and I see a man and a woman saying, "Good morning, this is Kingdom News." Wow, a news channel. I could get a lot of information from this.

The man and woman were discussing the imminent war between our Kingdom and the southern Kingdom. Wow, there were already talks about it this early in the novel? At this point, it's still a speculation.

"Hold up, what do you mean by at this point? Did the war actually happen in the novel?" Sky asked me.

"Oh yeah, and it was huge. Lots of characters died. But that's none of our business," I said, shrugging as I took a spoonful of ice cream.

"How is that none of our business?! We know a war is inevitable. The least we should do is tell people so they can be ready!" Sky yelling hurt my ears, but covering them up would do nothing to ease the pain.

"Geez, girl, chill!" I screamed back. "It's not like it's going to happen tomorrow, and besides, who's going to believe us? They'll just think I'm some kind of conspiracy nut. I'm no fighter, either. Emma might have become a great she-wolf warrior, but I'm not Emma. This might be Emma's body, but in here, it's all me. A regular human being," I said, pointing at my head.

"I understand where you're coming from, but this will affect everyone. Even you," Sky said.

I was going to change the channel when the news story changed to one on rogues. They were saying how many werewolves were leaving their packs willingly, and the fewer werewolves a pack has, the easier it'll be for that pack to be invaded.

They also brought in a human professor who specialized in werewolf history. I snorted at that; I did not think that would be a full-on profession. The professor gave examples of what would happen depending on what kind of werewolf left the pack. Then, he gave an example of the next Luna.

"He's talking about you!" Sky said teasingly. I shushed her. This was finally getting interesting. The professor said that many might think that the Alpha is the most important in a pack, and of course, they are. Every community needs a leader, but who helps the Alpha reach unattainable heights of their power is the Luna. The stronger the bond between the two, the stronger the pack. He also stated that even the environment becomes more fertile, and the people are much happier.

"A pack that has already found their next Luna, but she willingly leaves, is a pack that's basically asking to die." At that point, I quickly turned off the TV.

That was not mentioned in the novel. Damon lusted after Emma, but did he really love her? Did he really redeem himself, or was it all just an act to keep his pack from collapsing?

"You're the one that read the book. What did it look like to you?" Sky asked me.

"At moments, the book showed glimpses into Damon's point of view. He said he loved Emma and needed her. He also promised to be a better man. It also showed how much he regretted letting her go. But what if all that was a lie? He needed her so he could be stronger, and he promised to be better so she would go back to the pack willingly. Now that I think about it, what on Earth happened after the novel ended? Did they really live happily ever after, or did Emma live in a hell far worse than the one she lived in before?

"Okay, let's stop thinking about what ifs for a second and get that dye off your hair before you end up bald," Sky said. I had completely forgotten about that. I decided to shower and then take off the hair dye, and once I took it off and dried my hair, I was a dark redhead. I should have used bleach, but a little change is better than nothing.

"So, what do we do tomorrow?" Sky asked me.

Stay indoors, heal, and watch TV. I want to know more about this world. More than what the book led me to believe," I told her. I laid down on the bed, and in a matter of seconds, I fell asleep.

"...wake..."

Is someone calling me?

"Hey!"

I'm too tired to open my eyes.

"Marie!"

A few more minutes.

"No!"