Prison Break

That evening when Anabelle went to bed, she left her phone on the table outside her father's room, as she always did. She prayed to the goddess that he would not find the messages from Evan. She feared what he would do to her if he did.

She fell into yet another restless sleep and woke feeling more nervous than when she went to sleep. She got up and acted like nothing had happened and spent the rest of the week as she usually would. On Sunday night she had made up her mind – she was going to go with Evan. She did not know what she would find, but she had a burning desire to know the truth.

She packed a bag of her essentials and hid it behind the bins outside of her house when she walked Casey. It would be hard to leave her beloved dog behind, but she couldn't risk it. To get away safely she had to ensure she didn't raise any suspicions. She ate her breakfast and walked Casey as usual but stopped behind a wall to say her goodbyes to the animal. She did not know if she would ever see her companion again.

When she was due to leave for school, she said goodbye to Jenna and Fred and exited out of the front door. She collected the bag she had hidden behind the rubbish and set off to meet Evan.

She waited at the crossroads for him. Suddenly she panicked as a thought entered her mind – what if it was a trap set by her father to test her loyalty? She had almost decided to head to school and forget the whole thing when a car pulled up and Evan got out. "Hurry, get in quickly," he said. She didn't hesitate to jump in the back of the car. Evan hit the gas and they both remained silent until they were safely out of the pack territories and on the open road.

"Evan, it's great to see you, … but um, where are we going?" Anabelle asked furtively. "To see mom" he simply replied and turned his eyes back to the road. Anabelle sensed she was not going to get much more information from the boy, so she simply watched the roads as they drove. It wasn't long before she drifted off to sleep. The car stopped and Evan roused her gently from her sleep.

She opened her eyes and glanced around slowly. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked up at Evan. "Welcome home Belle," he said, using the childhood nickname only he called her. Suddenly Anabelle felt excited. She looked around and noticed a woman with Fiery auburn hair coming toward her. "How did it go?" she asked Evan. "Without a hitch mom, she was right where we agreed, and no one noticed us" he answered. "mom", Anabelle breathed. It was then the woman turned to look at the girl in front of her. "Well at first glance you are underfed and need a change of clothes, but that can be sorted. Your room is next to Evans he will show you where to go". With that, she walked off. Anabelle looked pointedly at Evan. "You promised me answers" she stated. Evan shrugged his shoulders and looked away. "Come on I'll show you your room and you can get settled. You'll find everything out in time".

Anabelle sighed and followed her brother. She felt defeated, she had assumed after not seeing her child for so many years her mother would be overjoyed at her return and tell her everything immediately. This did not seem to be the case. Anabelle followed Evan into the house and up the stairs to her new room. It was already decorated in neutral greys and pinks and decked out with a double bed, dresser, and wardrobe. It was plain but beautiful.

Evan put her bags on the floor by the dresser. Anabelle had not noticed he was carrying them. "Thank you," she said. He simply nodded and left the room. This was shaping up to be a weird experience but at least she had her brother back. She placed her clothes in the wardrobe right as there was a knock on the door. Evan entered the room with bags and bags of items. "Mom sent someone to town to get you new clothes," he said. "You are to bin your old items". Anabelle was speechless.

When she had finished changing out of her old clothes with her new outfits in the wardrobe she wandered around the house. The size of the house was modest. It had three bedrooms and a spacious kitchen with two bathrooms and a living room. It was smaller than her father's house, but she was unsure of her mother's status or if they were even in a pack.

In the living room is where she found Evan and her mother. They were sitting on the couch talking quietly when Evan looked up and saw Anabelle. He cleared his throat and their mother noticed her standing in the doorway. "Anabelle! Come sit!" she nervously sat on the end of the couch and looked toward her family. It felt weird to Anabelle when she realized that this strange, standoffish woman sitting across from her was her family.

"So how do you like your room," Geraldine asked her. "Oh, it's lovely thank you and the clothes are fabulous your very generous" Anabelle replied. "Oh, it's no problem now Evan said you have some questions?" she asked. "Um yes… I have a lot of questions actually", Anabelle replied.

They spent the next few hours and went late into the night talking about everything that had transpired in the last 15 years. Geraldine revealed that while she was married to Alpha Kevin the pack was happy and content and thriving. Alpha Kevin had struck up a friendship with a neighbouring Alpha. Allegedly this man ran his pack through fear and had a pack with over 800 members. Our pack only had a little over 200. He explained it to Geraldine at the time that it was a strategic friendship to add extra protection for their pack.

It was all going fine until dinner, when the packs Alpha, Darren, came to dinner and met Geraldine. He was mated to his true mate but did not seem to care when he laid eyes on Geraldine. He spent the entire meal ogling Geraldine which enraged Kevin. As Darren was leaving, he pulled Kevin aside while Geraldine went to pour a glass of wine. Geraldine told Anabelle that Darren informed Kevin that he wanted to take Geraldine as his wife. Kevin of course refused and told Darren to leave their pack at once.

Darren then informed Alpha Kevin that if he did not accept the offer, he would start a war with his pack. Kevin knew he had no choice but to give in or the whole pack would die and thus he lost his mate. Darren's warriors grabbed Geraldine and dragged her out of the packhouse. Alpha Kevin was devastated as he felt the mate bond snap that night. He knew what that meant – Darren had bitten Geraldine. Alpha Kevin had not yet bitten Geraldine as she was human and was afraid of the process.