Chapter 4: A Rogue in the Wild

I was still trembling, but I knew that if he were going to kill me he would have done it already.

He paced towards me, slow and steady, maintaining eye contact with me until he was close enough for me to reach a hand out and place my palm on his nose.

“Thank you, " I said and he nudged me.

I stood to my feet and turned my eyes to the alley piled with the torn dead bodies of those that hadn’t gotten away from the vicious wolf.

Trembling, I made it through the alley and the wolf stopped walking, remaining in the shadows as I stepped onto the street. My backpack was where I left it. I walked over to it and picked it up and when I looked back, the wolf was gone. I hurried to my room and locked myself in. I stripped my torn clothes off and went to the bathroom getting under the hot shower.

I stayed there crying until I could get myself under control.

I quickly worked to clean myself up, throwing away the clothes that had been torn and soiled in the alley and changing into a clean bra and underwear, a comfortable pair of gray sweatpants and matching hoodie.

I wondered when Ms. Julie had taken the time to buy this and began to cry again. How had she known I would need all of this? Why hadn’t she warned me?

I took a seat on the bed knowing that it would be a bad idea to fall asleep.

Julie had told me to stay off the grid and keep my head down. Somehow that psycho woman had tracked me to this bus station. I couldn’t risk taking another bus. She could be waiting for me again at any stop and my rogue status had already proven no one would help me. I collected my bag and checked out of the room.

I looked at the forest behind the motel and knew that staying off the grid meant staying off the grid. But would it be less dangerous hiking through the wild from Tennessee to Virginia?

I walked into the tree line and suddenly wondered about the wolf that had come to save me in the alley. I wished that I could hug him and say thank you again. I turned back into the woods and knew that I had to make my way towards the Appalachian Trail.

I was motivated mainly by adrenaline for the first two hours of my hike. Then I began to feel exhaustion and fatigue take over my muscles and my bones. I walked until I heard water and then resolved to camp until morning.

Ms. Julie’s voice was there to guide me as if during all of those camping trips, she’d been able to see through to this day and had told me everything I would need to know to survive. The night was warm so I didn't need a fire.

I took out the hammock that she packed for me and found space between two steady trees to tie it to. I hopped in and it took a while for the hammock to settle down enough for me to relax and look up at the sky.

Through the tree canopy, everything was clear and peaceful, nothing like the war of emotions that were inside of me. I tried to remember everything about that insane encounter with that woman.

Had she called herself a Luna? I remembered that she got into an SUV, one that looked like it was driven by government officials… or drug dealers. She had gotten into the back seat which meant she had a driver. Which also meant she had money… or at least her Alpha did.

Was he the one who wanted me? Was he my father? What the h*ll had my biological mother gotten herself, and now me, into?

I fell asleep clutching my pocket knife with these and more questions on my mind.

I woke up just before dawn feeling cold and cramped. When I heard the water the previous night, I knew that I’d made it to the Appalachian Trail. In my mind's eye, I thought of the map in my rucksack and knew there were approximately 170 miles of the trail ahead of me until I entered Virginia. If I hiked 10 to 15 miles a day, I would be there in 2 or 3 weeks.

I knew there were state parks I could camp in along the way for cheap. But I also knew that I’d need to stop at least every two days for a warm bed, a good shower, clean clothes, and supplies for the hike. I also wondered if it might not be a good idea to get a bike.

I’d have to go to a shopping area and that concerned me more than staying on the outskirts. But it would make the journey easier. I made it 15 miles that first full day of hiking after my attack. I rested in a state park overnight and washed up in the river in the morning. I covered another 15 miles the next day.

After two days, I was exhausted and grimy, so I took the chance to find a hotel not too far from the trail.

I stood under the shower and washed until the hot water ran out. Then I ordered room service. I was down to my last set of clean clothes and made use of the laundry service as I looked over the map marking places to stop and rest, pinpointing where to find hotels along the way, and contemplated again on whether or not to get a bike.

“Hello traveler…” His smooth baritone voice broke me out of my concentration and I turned to see my Alpha – I mean, the Alpha from the diner – enter with a sack full of clothes. I was speechless as I watched him dump them all of it in one washing machine.

“You should separate those,” I told him before he could close the lid. He raised an eyebrow at me, sending a slight shiver over my body. “Your colors and your whites.”

He smiled, and quirked an eyebrow while shaking his head, but I was surprised to see him sift through to sort out the colors and put them in a separate machine.

“I never knew a traveler to be so particular about the laundry before,” he commented.

“Well, we’re shifters, not Neanderthals,” I said and he laughed. I was surprised at the sound and even more surprised at how relaxed and warm I now felt in his presence.

I turned back to my map not sure what else to say. After a space of time, I looked up again and he was gone. I stayed to wash, dry and fold but the alpha didn’t return.

After the laundry, I took a trip into town with enough money for a bike and supplies and came back to the hotel with both. When I climbed into bed, I scanned the news channels to see if there might be another story about my home.

Instead, I found breaking news of the dissemination of a rogue pack in Tennessee known to terrorize the town and travelers.

“Our police were even frightened. We couldn’t even go on our own streets,” a local said to the camera. “Now, it’s like a whole new town.”

I shuddered at the memory of my attack and wondered about the merciful beast that had saved me and apparently an entire town in the process.

I slept the rest of the day and night and was back on the trail at first light. I wondered if the alpha had already moved along. He could shift, so he might have left the previous night and could have been thirty miles away already.

I enjoyed riding the bike for the most part, but on steep inclines I had to push it and almost wanted to leave it behind. But I was grateful for it again when the road went down hill. By the time I reached a national park campsite, the sun was high and scorching. I relieved myself in the restroom and came out to find my bike gone.

“Sh*t,” I muttered, shaking my head. I looked around, but knew that the bike was long gone. “It was nice while it lasted.”