Out of the Shadows

Devon slipped out of the house,
hoisting his bag higher on his shoulder. He wiped a clammy hand through his
short sandy blonde hair as his eyes scanned the perimeter. There were no guards
in sight.

The large estate they lived on was
its own community, situated in the woods far away from curious neighbors. To
some it seemed unconventional, but for them it was a way of life. The wolves
inside them craved the large family and densely wooded setting.

He walked toward the large oak
tree in the middle of the yard. Jaw set, listening intently, he moved
stealthily through the grass. The cool spring air did little to calm his
jittery nerves.

Fear crept through him at the idea
of being caught, not for himself, but for his siblings and his friend. His two
siblings, Vincent and Emily, and friend Marcus were the three most important
people to him.
Nothing is going to happen to them.

Devon greeted his companions with
a simple nod. They couldn’t risk being overheard. Emily’s wide green eyes
flicked wildly around, her long brown hair stuck to her forehead and nape of
her neck with sweat. Vincent, Emily’s twin, seemed antsy. His feet shuffled; his
emerald eyes darted around. Marcus’ hand held fast to Emily’s, his olive skin
and jet black hair concealing him slightly more in the darkness.

“Are we ready?” Devon asked, his
voice barely audible.

He looked at each of them as they
nodded.

With a flick of his wrist, he
motioned them on. Silently, Devon led them through the grassy front yard to the
back of the property. Hearing footsteps approaching, he gritted his teeth and
dashed behind a small building. With his hand clenched tightly around the strap
of his bag, Devon pressed his back to the wall. A radio crackling in the
distance.

Emily panted next to him, mimicking
his movements. Her arms shook, green eyes shining with tears. “Dev,” she
mouthed to him panicked.

Devon held a finger to his lips and
placed a hand over her pale shaking hand. His eyes drifted to the others
leaning on the cool hard metal beside them.

Vincent crouched down; fists curled
into tight balls. Standing on his tip toes, he was ready to spring into action.

Marcus rested a hand on Emily’s arm.
He rubbed small circles around her elbow in an effort to soothe her.

The short wave radio cackled again,
now closer to them. Emily flinched and buried her face in her hands. Devon gave
her shoulder a small squeeze, and dropped his hands to his sides. Eyes alert,
fists clenched, he was ready to spring into action. The only cover they had was
a small shed and the starless night.

The man laughed a few feet from
them and jabbered into his walkie talkie. Devon closed his eyes and let out a
long breath. The man’s boot squeaked as he turned on the dewy grass and clomped
away.

“We should go back,” Emily
whispered, tears streaming from her face. “If they catch us, they’ll kill you.”

“Shhhh,” Marcus soothed, placing a
kiss to her temple, his hand cupping her cheeks. “We know what we’re getting
into, come on.” He slid his hand down her arm and grasped her hand.

Emily nodded, wiping tears away. Devon
gave his friend a reassuring nod before peering around the out-building. With
his hands balled tightly, he led the way to the tree line.

He sucked in a gulp of air, letting
it out as the thick brush of the trees enveloped them. Now safely hidden in the
dense bush line, he allowed the paralyzing terror to ebb a little.

Devon nodded at his family and they
quickly undressed. They could move quicker on four feet than two. Nudity was
nothing new to them. It was a part of the transition process. While they could
shift clothed, the transformation destroyed any outfit.

Devon picked up his discarded clothes
and shoved them in his bag. The sack was a messenger bag; the straps adjusted
so he could easily step into it and carry it on his back in wolf form.

He closed his eyes and thought
about the animal inside him. At first, transitioning was difficult. Over time
it became easier. Mind focused, he felt the tug of his inner wolf.

He cringed as each bone snapped,
sending tremors of blinding white heat through him as his body reformed into a
wolf. Within seconds they’d all completed the transformation. Their yellowed
eyes glowed in the moonlight. Marcus’ white and grey coat stood out in the
darkness. The rest of them blended in; Emily and Vincent with their reddish
brown coats, and Devon’s jet black fur made him nearly invisible.

The color of a wolf's coat was
based on lineage, not their human characteristics. Even though Devon had the
markings of an alpha, he doubted he would ever be one.

The wolves took a brief moment to
stretch and acclimate to their new forms. They stepped into their messenger
bags, settling them across their bodies, and charged off at a speedy pace.

As werewolves, they moved
effortlessly through the forest. After years of running together as a group,
they ran flawlessly. Jumping over logs and swerving between the trees, the
wolves had no trouble blending in with the forest.

Devon relished in the dank scent of
mud and wet leaves squishing beneath his paws. The wind whipped his face, his
mind clear, allowing his senses to focus on their surroundings. He moved with
an agility and speed no human ever could.

Within a matter of minutes, they
cleared the vast distance separating them from the highway. In the safety of
the trees they stretched and started changing back into humans.

Devon stretched his front paws
forward. Slipping his pack off, he closed his eyes focusing on his human form. His
body tingled and he grimaced as the bones realigned; breaking and reforming. The
hair on his body bristled and crept away till he crouched bare in the grass. He
stood and picked up his pack from the ground.

They dressed in silence. Devon’s
stomach still twisted with unsettled nerves as he led them to the car. He
swiped his hand across his forehead, wiping away the fine sheen of sweat that
formed on his brow.
Almost there.

“Were we followed?” Emily asked,
brown strands of hair blew across her face as she looked around nervously. Emerald
eyes met his, the repugnant smell of fear and adrenaline radiating from her
body.

“We’re going to be fine, Em,” Devon
assured her.

Everyone had been asleep when
they’d snuck out, except for the night watch, and none of them had followed. Devon
had been diligent in keeping a keen ear for other noise. If someone had spotted
them, especially Emily, the alarm would have sounded.

“We should keep moving.” Devon
motioned for them to get into the vehicle he’d purchased three days ago.

The beat up black sedan left a lot
to be desired, but it ran and only cost a couple hundred dollars. It would get
them from Guymon, Oklahoma to Abilene, Texas. The thought of bringing his own
Civic had crossed his mind. Unfortunately, it would have raised questions when
he didn’t bring it home, not to mention the vehicle could be easily traced by
the police. His stepfather, Emmett, though vile, knew how to make the right
kind of friends, or pay them off.

Emily, Vincent, and Marcus were the
only reasons he’d stuck around that hell hole for the past twenty-six years. Especially
Emily, if it weren’t for her he would have left long ago. His brother and
friend could fend for themselves.

He had made friends in neighboring
packs over the years, and there were several places for them to go. There was
only one person Devon wanted to see, the only man he ever trusted, his Uncle
Rick.

“Come on, Em,” Marcus said, gently
pulling her arm and guiding her into the backseat as he slid in next to her.

Devon climbed in the driver’s seat
and Vincent slid in beside him. Starting the car, he eased them onto the
freeway and away from Guymon.

“Father will come after us,” Emily
whispered, a haunted look in her eyes. “I can’t stand the thought of anything
happening to any of you.”

“He won’t find us, Em.” That was a
promise he intended to keep, no matter what. Emily would have a good future, if
nothing else. He would see to that.

Devon was the only child in the
family who wasn’t Emmett McKinley’s flesh and blood. Anything and everything he
did was a disappointment. Years of being told he didn’t live up to his real
father’s name had taken its toll. After an eternity of insults, Devon couldn’t
help but believe it.

The car hummed, its occupant’s
silent while he got on the main highway. Hopefully his words somehow soothed
his baby sister. Emily was the youngest at twenty-one and being the only female
in the family, she led a sheltered life. Her interactions outside the pack were
rare - Emmett didn’t allow it. He even went so far as to home school her and
only allowed online college courses.

The men of the pack were allowed to
come and go at their leisure. Women were kept closer and always protected above
all else. For some unknown reason, the female birth rate was on the decline. The
few doctors amongst the packs could find no reasons for it. As a paramedic, Devon
had looked over the research, but hadn’t found anything new. The lack of
females didn’t, however, give Emmett the right to send Emily off to be a
breeder for another pack. He was selling his daughter off to secure a place
with the barbaric Gulf packs. They treated women like possessions and were
ruthless, crude men.

Emily was a beautiful, kindhearted
woman. Not a thing to be passed around. His baby sister had always been there
for him. Now it was his turn to return the favor.

Easing the car onto the main
highway, Devon was careful not to drive too fast. There was no need to draw
unwanted attention. Every few minutes the anxiety of being followed crept in,
causing him to grip the steering wheel tighter and his stomach to knot. His
eyes darted to the rearview mirror. Marcus’ head rested atop of Emily’s, his
arm wrapped protectively around her. There was nothing behind their car except
the abandoned road.

Devon knew he made the right choice
as he watched Emily and Marcus together. His stepfather had no grasp of
boundaries and had pledged loyalty to the vulgar Gulf packs. They still lived
in the stone ages and what Emmett planned to do with Emily revolted him. Granted,
packs operated differently than humans, but not enough to excuse these
actions.

“Do you think he will take us in?” Vincent
asked quietly, playing with the vent on the side of the dashboard.

Devon checked the back seat to make
sure his sister was indeed asleep, before turning back to his younger brother. To
be safe, he bumped the volume on the radio up, not wanting Emily to worry any
more than she already did.

“It has been a few years since I
last saw Rick, but he always treated me like one of his own, and he offered me
a place in his home anytime.”

“Yeah, but this is different, Dev,
and you know it,” Vincent replied looking back at their sister before facing
him again. “It’s not just you; it’s all of us and leaving without Emmett’s
consent-”

“Rick is a good man, Vincent,”
Devon interrupted. “When we tell him what Emmett has planned, he will help us. Things
operate differently there.”

His uncle had been more of a
father figure to him than the man his mother married. His own father died when
he was three. While he didn’t remember him, people always told Devon he
reminded them of his father.

“I hope you’re right, but that will
involve his pack in our problems. This might start a war, Dev.”

Devon growled low in his throat;
he’d already realized that. “I know, but I think a war is already brewing. Many
things are changing. Emmett wouldn’t be aligning himself with so many packs for
any other reason.”

Vincent sighed and looked out the
window, his fingertips thrummed against the door handle. “We did the right
thing. Father has changed since he started meeting with the Gulf packs. He’s
become more caveman like. I don’t agree with their ways, and I’m not going to
let him trade our sister off to some other pack to form an alliance. This is
the twenty-first century! And Marcus and Em, they deserve to be together.”

Vincent was right of course. They
lived in too modern of a world to accept such inhumane orders. How the Gulf
packs hadn’t been overthrown was beyond him. It spoke volumes to how they were
led, how they still pulled such antics. While Devon understood pack hierarchy,
he would like to think the alphas should have some respect for the wolves they
oversaw. Apparently not.

Regardless, he believed in his
sister’s rights. Things had been rapidly deteriorating over the past few years.
There was more brutality and unrest. Each alpha doing more to prove they were
superior. Emmett had placed stricter sanctions on all the pack members, and
tighter security details. Emmett had begun screening all phone calls, mail, and
internet activity on the ranch. Something big was happening.

“You know, Dev, there are wolves
there who would follow you,” Vincent said quietly. “Those who believe you to be
our true alpha, especially with everything-”

“Don’t,” Devon growled, cutting him
off. While his brother was right - he did have alpha blood in him - he was no
alpha. “The pack belongs to Emmett now, and he has been grooming Daniel since
he could walk,” Daniel was his younger half brother and Emmett’s oldest son.