Heartless Angels

Chapter 5 – Oakley

Chapter 5 – Oakley

Goddess forgive me for all the things that I’ve done to get away from my mate, my pack, and my family. I knew that my family would easily find me from my debit card, so I stopped at the first decent-sized town with multiple banks and withdrew

everything I could from the ATMs. I know that my father would have gotten an alert for suspicious activity and he was likely looking for transactions on the card anyway, so I had to get as much money out as I could and then ditch it.

I took $200 from what I could find in the cabin, but that wasn’t going to get me far. I needed something that was going to

get me a room, gas, food, and who knows what else for a while. Two weeks at least until I could figure out a place to stay and

work.

At the next town, I stole some hair dye and clothes to cover my blonde hair and figure. I didn’t want to draw attention to

myself or have my image on the camera that was over the register. I had to exit out the back door, setting off the alarm, but I was fairly certain that I hadn’t been recorded on camera. I quickly dyed my hair and changed my clothes at a nasty gas station

on the highway.

The last thing that I needed to do was ditch my brother’s car. They would be looking for that. I had switched the license

plates out in the first town I had come to, so at least they couldn’t track me through traffic cams or observant passersby. But

that would only throw them off for a little bit in figuring out the initial direction I’d gone. Jack has OnStar in his vehicle, so

eventually, they’ll think of that and find my location.

I find the janklest, oldest, most reliable car on the street. I want to be sure that it doesn’t have any electronics attached to it.

I know that it has to be some 16 year old’s first car based on the pink fur steering wheel cover and the sticker on the dashboard

that says “Bad Bi tch. I feel so bad for taking it, but I’ve gotta do what I’ve gotta do. I refuse to go back to that.

I know that I said in my letter to my family that I didn’t think they would look for me. It was honestly my way of twisting the

knife of my departure in a little bit more. I know that they’ll be coming for me, if only to bring back the alpha’s breeding bit ch.

That’s the only reason I can think of that they would look for me because they obviously don’t care.

I had thought that my family could see past the fact that I don’t really have a wolf that I can use and see me for the value

that I could bring. I’m extremely smart. I’m not bragging. Thave a genius-level 10. To paraphrase Sheldon from The Big Bang

Theory. “My father had me tested” I have a head for figures and had aspirations of going into IT so that we could beef up the

tech around our territory’s perimeter. That way wolves like my father and brothers weren’t putting their lives on the line to

protect the territory. I’d already gotten a full ride to LSU and I had hoped to bring the skills back to make not only my pack safer,

but my family as well.

But beyond just being smart and justifying my right to be here, I thought that my family loved me. Turns out it was all an act

until something better came along.

Whelp, I hope that Levi liked them enough to keep them around, because they don’t have his breeder there to hold over him

anymore.

Oh s hit! That just gave me the thought that he could hurt them. Goddess, please don’t let him hurt them. I know I should

hate them for what they said to me and put me through, but they were the only family that I had. Father had nursed me to

health when I was sick, taught me to fight, and treated me like a princess. Jack and James comforted me in a big puppy pile

when I was sad, took care of the bullies at school, and gave me some of the best memories growing up. As much as it was fake

to them, it was my life and I can’t just forget my love for them.

Tears run down my cheeks as I think about the cruelty that Levi could show them now that they know I’m gone. I send one

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Chapter 5 – Oakley

last prayer to the Goddess to them for their safety and vow to myself that I will never think of them again.

I’m driving down the interstate, trying to figure out where to go, what to do, and how to go about it. I’ve been driving all night and I’m exhausted. Depression will do that to you. I’ve been sleeping for 16+ hours every day. When you’re a prisoner in your own house, you tend to do that.

I don’t know if I should pull over and get some sleep or push on after getting some caffeine in me. It’s just shy of 6:00, so drive-thrus will be opening soon. Maybe try the coffee first? Ugh!

I’ve had to deal with too much sh it in the past 12 hours, processing and making decisions is too hard right now. I drive until! find a sign for food and pull off, stopping at a diner. Scrambled eggs and french toast are calling. Just a 30-minute stop to screw my head on straight and then figure out what I’m going to do. I left my territory several hours ago. I’ve actually gone through two more territories and am in a third now and I feel comfortable enough to take a break.

This is an interesting little diner. Seems to be wolf only. They actually scented me when I came in. He was very subtle about it, but having to look out for this type of behavior all my life so that I could defend myself has made me a bit more hyperaware. I was pretty sure that I would have been sent on with my proverbial tail between my legs. I mean, my wolf died after I rejected Levi 1 felt it.

But when this wolf smelled me, his eyes went wide and he actually barred his n*eck to me. He must be smelling my brother

on me. Right? Why would he show me any sign of submission? I’m basically a human now. Whatever, at least I can come in

here and not have to worry about all the chatter and perfumes that humans tend to bring with them. I just shrug my shoulders

and move to find a seat.

There are only two other wolves in the diner, plus a waitress, the bouncer at the front, and a short-order cook. I grab a seat

at the end of the counter, ordering a coffee along with my food when the waitress comes by

While I’m waiting. I listen in to the radio story that they are playing it seems to be some kind of religious station. Oh joy. I

think, rolling my eyes. My family has never been super religious. I mean, the whole mate thing and the fact that we can turn into

wolves is pretty magical for those that it works out for Me? The Goddess never really helped me out. The prayers that I’ve

been sending to her while I’ve been on the road were more out of desperation than anything. Seems like this place is more

devout.

I try to tune it out, but there’s something about the announcer’s voice that makes me pay attention. This is a story that I’ve

never heard before

Friends, the Goddess has been pulling heavily on my heart to go back to the beginning. To think of the time that we first

started out. So, I wanted to share the story of how we came to be.

Long ago, at the beginning of time, there were the g ods and the sprites, ny mphs, nalads, and spirits that served them. And

there were the humans who worshiped the go ds and with whom the go ds fought to curry favor. For the go d s were deeply

curious of these beings who lived and died in the blink of an eye, causing them to live, love, and hate to degrees that the go ds

had never felt.

There were many times that the go ds fell in love with these mortals, craving to have that vitality for themselves, if only for the brief life that the humans possessed. And so it was with our Mother Goddess, Selene, the goddess who drives her silver chariot across the sky every night to light the darkness. In her travels, she found a rich merchant, Theos, in the city of Corinth His beauty and manner drew her to Theos and the two mated.

Now the matings of humans and go ds were never as straightforward as one would think. Sometimes, mere humans were born Songtimes born Sometimes creatures of great power, like the Snow White Stag and Unicorns. And sometimes there would be creatures

Chapter 5 Oakley

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that were partially both, such as the Minotaur. The last is what happened with the twins that Selene bore to her lover.

For both of these twins were born half-wolf, half-human, able to switch between forms at will. They were the first of their

kind, these sons of Theos and Selene. And they were a splender to behold. Their wolves, golden, strong, and large, were among the fiercest fighters of their time. Their human forms powerful and harrowing in their beauty. They were the pride and joy of

Selene and Theos, who stayed together for the remainder of Theos’ life.

Alas, to Selene’s great dismay, she was unable to extend Theos’ life and he aged and died. Our great goddess was

inconsolable in her pain and she left Earth, returning to the realm of the go ds to grieve for a generations’ time.

When she returned, she was stunned. Her sons had found mates themselves, similar to the way that a wolf would find a

mate for their life, among the human women. Each of the twins had five children who retained their fathers’ abilities to shift between wolf and human form, along with great healing abilities, wolf senses even when in human form, and an increased

longevity.

Selene doted on her grandchildren, knowing that though Theos was gone, his legacy continued on. She endowed these

grandchildren with magical abilities to be used to guard a special secret that only they knew of against a coming danger. It is

said that they continue to guard that secret to this day.

Seeing how her children lived and thrived, Selene was well pleased, making sure that the mating between the werewolves,

as she called them, and humans continued until there were enough werewolves to find mates among themselves.

And that is how the great nation of wolves was created.

It’s then that the waitress sets my food in front of me and I’m brought out of the spell that the announcer had on me. I

shake my head, attempting to get my wits back about me. But as I finish my meal and get back on the road, that story sticks in

my mind.

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