The Deaf Luna

Elara POV.

"Elara, sweetie, please get up," Mom thought-talks as I move a little in my sleep. I whine, not wanting to get up. Why would Mommy want to wake me up in the middle of the night? Maybe she didn't say anything, and I'm just dreaming about this whole thing.

I wave my hands and turn over, falling back to sleep.

"Elara, please." I grumble, trying really hard to get up. She doesn't sound very happy with me.

"What's wrong, Mommy?" I ask her, still sleepy.

"Elara, you need to get up and run. We're being attacked by a bad wolf group. Your dad and I managed to hide your sister somewhere safe, but we can't get to you."

"Where are you, Mommy?"

"The other side of the house, baby. I tried to get to you, and I was so close, but a bad wolf got to me first and hit me, and I passed out. I'm tied up. There are too many of them, so I need you to get out of bed and run away from here as fast as you can. Use the door in Daddy's workroom and the underground ways to get out.

Run to one of the next-door wolf groups, and when you get there, tell them what happened, and then wait there for us to come and get you. Do you understand, my love?"

"Yes, Mommy."

"Good girl. I love you, Elara."

"I love you too, Mommy."

"Run, sweetheart."

"Yes, Mommy," I reply as a tear falls down my face. I sit up quickly and reach over to my table next to my bed. I feel around in the dark, trying to find my hearing things.

My hands touch the cold plastic, and I grab them and put them in as my bedroom light turns on and I come face to face with two big men.

Bad wolves.

I look at them for a split second, frozen in place. Maybe I'll disappear into the blanket if I'm very still. The man on the left is taller than the man on the right. Both of them have dark hair and black eyes, a mix of dirt and blood covering their bodies. I bite my lips, trying not to scream.

"Well, hello there, sweetie," the man on the left says in what I hear as a mumble. I whimper as they get closer, still frozen with fear.

"What's your name?" the other one asks with a mean grin. I shake my head and shuffle back against my headboard.

"Mommy?" I thought-talk. No answer. "Daddy? Please?" Still no answer.

"I said, what's your name, girl?" the man asks again, his voice getting louder, anger clear in his tone. I whimper and point at my hearing things, more tears falling down my cheeks. The men look at each other before looking back at me.

"Are you deaf?" the one on the left asks loudly, his smile becoming mean. I whimper again and nod. He grins at the other guy before looking at me.

"How old are you?" he growls. Not wanting to make him any angrier, I shakily hold up eight fingers.

"Oh, this should be fun," he says, chuckling as he walks over to me. A scream manages to finally escape my throat, more tears rushing down my face as I curl up in a ball, terrified.

The man stops for a second and pulls out some black leather gloves from his back pocket. He puts them on before pulling out a pair of silver hand ties. My heart stops. Daddy told me what silver does to werewolves. It burns their skin and causes them pain. It's meant to be a way of hurting them.

Suddenly, he grabs my hands, yanking my arms behind my back as he turns me around, tying my hands. The silver burns into my skin. Just as Daddy had warned me. I yell out in pain, sobs falling from my lips, and he does the same with my ankles before taking the gloves off. I keep crying, not daring to move because it will make the burns worse.

Completely still, I watch as the shorter of the two men walks over to me, a mean smile spread across his face. He picks me up and carries me in his arms toward the door and out of my room.

I start screaming again, hitting and kicking to try and get free from his grip, but it only makes the burns worse. I give up trying to break free, knowing now that it will only cause me more pain. A pain worse than I have ever felt before.

Out of nowhere, we stop, and the taller man turns and walks up to the bad wolf and me.

He looks at me, grinning, and touches my hearing things. Oh, no, he's seen them.

"You won't need these where we're going," he says angrily, loud enough for me to hear him clearly, still smiling. Time slows down as he rips my hearing things out of my ears, dropping them on the ground and stepping on them. Smashing them into a million pieces.

I start to cry even harder as the quiet ringing fills my ears. The pain of the burns starts to get really bad, and I begin to see black dots.

"Mommy?" I try thought-talking again. Nothing. I really hope she and Daddy and Blaire are okay. My eyes start to close, and the last thing I see is the back of the other man as we walk out the door and toward a car. I whimper one last time before everything goes black.

___

TEN YEARS LATER...

I slowly walk around my tiny jail room, trying to stay awake. I haven't had anything to eat in two days, and I'm surprised my wolf and I are still alive after all this time.

This dirty, yucky jail room I've been stuck in for more than half of my life.

I look up and see a guard looking at me with a smirk on his face. He says something, but all I hear are unclear sounds. But that's all I ever hear, so I'm used to it.

He walks up to my room and unlocks it, and I know I'm about to be hit again when suddenly, the ground shakes. I look up to see the guards start to freak out and run out of the room, leaving my jail room wide open.

This is my chance.

I've been waiting for so long to get away, and now is finally the time. I say a silent thank-you prayer to the Moon Goddess before stumbling out of my room and out the door.

I walk through the office and over to the window to see a fight outside. The whole bad wolf group is fighting what looks and smells like another bad wolf group. I take one last look before slipping out of the door and into the forest without anyone seeing me.

Elara POV.

I sprint quickly.

I can sense my inner wolf gaining a little strength as I dash through the woods, the clean air filling me up. I haven't left that tiny prison in a decade, and now I'm free.

It's almost too good to be real. I know I have to stay moving, or they'll catch me. I keep feeling my wolf grow stronger and begin to emerge as I continue to sprint, trees blurring past.

After a bit, I pause for a second and feel myself begin to change as my wolf takes over my body entirely. I yelp in pain, my bones snapping and I feel my dirty clothes tear apart. God, it hurt just as much as the first time. Let's hope it gets easier with practice. I quickly make a hole and bury the torn clothes to hide any trace of me being here before covering it up and dashing off again.

My wolf lets out a happy snarl and runs faster. It feels amazing to release my wolf again after I first changed.

I changed about a year ago, I think, in my cramped cell and they yelled at me, and I changed back because I was scared. They then hit me and tortured me, and that made my wolf vanish.

I haven't felt her in so long which makes sense with everything that's happened. But now I know she's still there which is great.

I keep sprinting, clueless about where I'm headed but it doesn't matter. As long as I get away from that awful place, I'll be alright.

_______

I've been sprinting for maybe an hour, I'm not really sure. It feels like I haven't gone anywhere.

The Outlaw Haven must've been tucked away in the middle of nowhere because honestly, I haven't run into a single Lycan Domain yet. Or at least I don't think I have.

All I know is that I'm not on the rogues' land so either it's Boundary Plains or a wolf pack's territory, both of which scare me. I can feel my wolf getting tired, but I know the rogues will have discovered I'm gone, so I have to keep moving. I can't get caught. I won't let myself get caught. I can't go back to that horrible place now that I'm free. God only knows what Kyler will do to me if he does find me. I shudder at the thought. I have to keep running.

_______

I think I've been running for what feels like hours now, and I'm wiped.

Honestly, I can't believe I'm still going.

I'm surprised I'm still alive today after everything I've been through. I know if I had been human, I definitely would have died a long time ago.

I keep running even though I feel myself slowing down again, my wolf getting more tired by the second.

At this point, I don't know how many territories I've crossed. My wolf senses have gotten weaker, almost gone from being locked in my cell with silver chains and wolfsbane injections for so many years, so it's harder to tell. Either that or packs have gotten better at hiding their scent nowadays, but I really doubt that.

I can't tell how many I've gone through, I'm just glad I haven't been caught by anyone yet.

I slow down a little to catch my breath when suddenly something darts past in the corner of my eye. Whatever it was, it disappeared as quickly as it came. Taking a deep breath, the faint scent of wolf hits me.

Oh, no.

Panic surges through me, and I instantly speed up, but another wolf quickly knocks me to the ground. I whimper, trying not to fight back too much because I know from experience that if you struggle, you'll get hurt. There are always consequences for your actions.

I close my eyes, another whimper escaping my throat and feel the weight suddenly vanish. I stand up and slowly back towards a tree, and the wolf gives me a strange look.

Suddenly, two more wolves appear and stand next to the first one. I whimper again and slowly back away until I hit the tree behind me. I lose my balance, fall over, and decide to stay on the ground because I'm exhausted. The wolves stare at me: one has a brown coat, another sandy blonde, and the third pure white.

The brown-coated wolf steps toward me and I whimper in fear, bowing my head. After a few minutes, I look up to see the wolves have transformed into three handsome men. They're tall, over 6 feet, two blondes and one with brown hair, each with stunning eyes and muscular bodies.

They exchange confused looks and talk amongst themselves, which scares me because I'm deaf. I try to read their lips but they speak too quickly. Suddenly, a black wolf appears from the trees behind them—the alpha of their pack.

Realizing I'm in wolf territory, I panic. The alpha, the scariest-looking of them all, joins the men and talks quickly. When he looks at me, something inside me stirs—I feel drawn to him, though I can't explain why.

He walks toward me and instinctively I howl, trembling with fear. He stops, hands up in surrender. I try to move, but I'm already backed against a tree. He approaches again, seeming annoyed, possibly trying to communicate with me.

I'm terrified and look around for an escape. He gets closer, and I howl again, shaking violently. His presence terrifies me so much that I involuntarily shift back into human form, screaming in pain as bones crack and fur disappears.

Now naked and vulnerable, I instinctively try to cover myself. The alpha surprises me by gently covering me with his shirt instead of attacking. Confused and panicked, I shuffle away from him, back against the tree.

He looks at me sadly, and I wonder why. Glancing down, I remember my scars and bruises showing under his shirt. Does he feel sorry for me? Why would an alpha care about someone like me?

He reaches out to touch my face, and I panic, screaming and crying. He withdraws his hand quickly, but I'm already spiraling into a panic attack, shaking and hyperventilating.

Everything goes black, but before I pass out, I see the alpha's worried face looking at me.