Prince Reagan

I stare at my reflection in the mirror in awe, not recognizing the girl in front of me. She has straight blond hair that stops directly above her shoulders. Her lips are a bright red and plump, like a ripe fruit. Her cheeks have a temporary blush, and her makeup is done to perfection. The only thing recognizable was the deep blue eyes.

She has a short body con dress that stops mid-thigh and is black in color, the sleeves made in tiny straps with the neckline an inviting V that shows too much cleavage. Silver pearl earrings are dangling from her ear and a gold choker necklace around her neck. She looks nothing less to a hooker that is seen in dark streets at night, making money at an ungodly hour. But she was the perfect disguise I needed to get out of here, and she came to life all thanks to Lana.

Said Lana is holding a can of spray above me as I remain seated on the wooden chair. It's made of natural materials such as leaves, pine needles, and some others like that. I don't know each element used to make it, but it helps to mask one's scent from werewolves. Anyone who uses it just smells like dirt and earth to us.

Our room is in disarray as we hadn't bothered to clean up while working, and there's a duffel bag on my bed with our clothes and other useful toiletries in there. We aren't going to spend long at my aunt's pack because we still have school to think about, and finals are not that far away.

"Okay, I'm done," Lana announces as she puts down the spray can. She turns to stare at me through the mirror, her eyes sparkling in amazement. "Hey there, stranger." She winks at me while I bite my lip in nervousness. "I look like a slut!" I voice out, cringing at my appearance in the mirror.

She crosses her arm over her chest and c***s her head to the side, "Well, you said to make you look the opposite of you. And the opposite of you isn't someone who has 'I'm a virgin' written on their forehead." "I don't have 'I'm a virgin' written on my forehead." I roll my eyes at her.

"Oh, really? And when last was a d**k shoved into any of your holes?" She blatantly asks, shocking me at her choice of words. My mouth hangs open and closes like a fish out of water, speechless.

"Just as I thought. Never. So, embrace your slutty side because that's what's going to help you now. You don't look or smell like yourself, and no one will recognize you." She smoothens my blond hair wig. "Even His Highness' scent on you is gone."

She pats my shoulder before walking to the closet so she could change into a new pair of denim shorts and top.

To be frank, she is right. The goal is to get out of campus and town without being noticed. My outfit calls for a lot of attention but maybe not the kind I'm running from. Reagan probably has werewolves, or Lycans even, watching my every move. That's how he knew I went to my parents' house yesterday. So I had to get those men off my tail. They might have seen me walk into the campus dormitory, but they won't see my leave.

My scent has been masked, and even the little of Reagan's scent lingering on my body is wiped off with Lana's spray. That's why most students felt intimidated by me throughout today and couldn't walk up to me. They could smell the intimidating scent of a Lycan o me, so they always looked away in fear when I caught them staring and sometimes bare their neck open when I stare at them too long.

"I don't need this, but just in case." Lana also sprays herself before going to pick the duffel bag. “Okay, anything else?" She asks while I stand up to follow her towards the room door. I take a look once more around the room before closing the door behind me. We head down the hallway, passing by some students who give me curious looks, but I ignore them all. Lana's car is parked in the parking lot. She's a sophomore, so she's allowed to have her car in campus. I slid into the passenger's seat while she gets into the driver's side.

"Buckle up. It's going to be a long five-hour drive." She announces as she starts up the ignition. I look around to make sure no one's monitoring us as we head out of the campus. I suddenly feel a dull ache in my heart at the thought of leaving Los Angeles, my home. Or maybe it's the thought of leaving Reagan.

I shake my head out of that thought and decide to relax into my seat. The time is 2:15 right now. And the weather is warm with the sun glaring down at us from above. Lana's car is a convertible, but the wind blowing through our hair makes it all worth it. I never had a car as my parents couldn't afford it, and I was terrible at saving. But I have been trying to, so at least before I graduate from college I might be able to afford one.

I take out a pair of black sunglasses and put them on as I lean further into my seat. I stretch my hand out through the window, playfully gliding it through the air. Lana reaches for the radio and scrolls through the channels for her preferred music. She stops when 'Boyfriend' by Selena Gomez comes on. I smile as she begins to sing along and moves with the beat.

Truthfully, I'm not surprised she's on this trip with me. Lana was the wild type that doesn't like to stay in the same spot for too long. If she hadn't come with me, she would have eventually traveled to somewhere else to visit one of those numerous boyfriends she has. She has the on and off thing with them, so when she leaves, they're free to go out with any girl they like. Personally, I think these relationships to be unhealthy, but who am I to tell her that?

"I've always wondered what Red Moon Pack would be like. I'm so excited." She squeals as the song ends before another begins.

"Don't be too much. It's not that entertaining." I mutter before turning my head to my window side and closing my eyes behind the sunglass. I suddenly feel weak and exhausted, like a part of me is being ripped away. This feeling is so different and only intensifies when I see the sign that says, 'Now leaving, Los Angeles!

We were at Bakersfield when I decided to take off my wig and move to the back seat. This way, I could change my outfit into something more appropriate and comfortable. I don't think my aunt would like seeing me dressed as a tramp. Reagan might have realized I was gone by now, I had told him my class would end by four, and it already is. Oh, he'll be pissed.

Lexi might be pissed too, considering I left without telling her, and Reagan might blame her once more. But now's not the time to feel guilty. I have come too far to go back now. Just a few more hours, and we'll be in Oakland.

We bought lunch from a drive-through because it will be stupid to wait and eat in a restaurant. That would take time, and someone might recognize me as I don't have my disguise on. Reagan would have alerted all werewolves in California about me by now, and I couldn't risk it.

So we are in the car, me feeding Lana and myself as she drives. I try to dismiss the aching feeling in my heart, but it only worsens. I swear I'm about to cry, and I'm not even sure why. My heart keeps beating one name all the way: Reagan. Why is that? I try questioning my wolf, but she has been silent for a long time now. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. She's only quiet when she's unhappy with me.

"Are you alright? You look like shit." Lana voices out as she eyes me through the corner of her eyes.

"I'm fine."

I sigh as I watch the city pass by us before my eyes drop once more to sleep. I can barely lift a muscle as my strength drains out of my body. This agonizing feeling is maybe even worse than when Brad had rejected me. As a werewolf, I've never been this weak before It's all new to me. Werewolves hardly get sick. Whenever our human bodies incapacitated from any condition or we get any form of injury, our wolves quickly heal us, and we abruptly get back to normal. It's only if our wolves get weak, like when Brad rejected me, that our health deteriorates with nothing to help us. Some werewolves might even experience death in the process.

Wolf's bane might also weaken our wolves and stop us from healing fast. Excess of it might even kill our wolves and us in the process. Hunters use it to capture werewolves that break laws governing the relationship between werewolves and humans. Werewolves who kill humans or abduct them will be hunted down and either imprisoned or killed by said hunters. And Wolf's bane is one of the popular elements used to weaken and capture a werewolf.

But right now, I don't have any hint wolf's bane in my system, just this empty feeling inside of me, eating me from the inside out. I feel exhausted and sick, wanting to throw up my lunch.

I'm shaken awake just then by Lana, and my eyes snap open to see the sun setting in the distance. The orange glow of the sky mixing with the blue as we drive past trees after trees.

"Wake up, sleepyhead. I need directions." Lana tells me as I stand up straight in my seat. The road seems familiar, and I can recognize the claw marks on the trees we slowly pass by. They're meant as a means of warning for rogue werewolves or any other beasts not welcomed.

I direct Lana into a dirt road leading away from the highway. It's silent here, and only the sound of crickets can be heard as we move further down the dirt tracks. I ask Lana for the time as it was getting very dark, and my phone was switched off. I didn't want Reagan to be able to track it, neither do I wish for my phone to be bombarded with calls and text messages demanding me to come back. I had already called my parents in the morning and chat with them for a little while. And as for my aunt, she doesn't even know I'm on a trip to visit her.

I know she won't mind, though. She loves when I visit and always tells me to come around. Even her mate is very cordial with me. He rarely smiles, but he sees me as family.

"It's almost eight," Lana announces before tucking her phone back in. Her headlights illuminating the dark road for us as we drive further into the deep forest. As I said before, Red Moon Pack is cut out from the rest of the world. They like living in isolation and don' take intruders very kindly. They also have very old customs and beliefs about how a she-wolf is meant to only stay at home, cook, clean, and take care of the kids. While the male makes decisions, hunt and protects both his pack and family.

We suddenly hear the sound of a wolf's howl, and soon, numerous others follow. From the corner of my eyes, I see Lana visibly shaking as she grips the steering wheel with her eyes wide open in fright.

I'm sitting comfortably, though, not dazed by the sounds.

She looks to me, unsure, but regains her composure when she sees my calm expression.

We then hear heavy and loud paws hitting the face of the earth beside us, in-between the trees, along with loud snarls echoing through the night. I turn to see large but fast werewolves, moving in the shadows and obviously trailing after us. I'm sure they could smell we have no scents, and that's what triggered this ambush about to happen. Guess we're already at the border of the pack.

A big black Alpha werewolf jumps in front of our vehicle, the headlight making his fur shimmer and his glowing red eyes peering straight at us. Lana hits the breaks on time, and the car comes to a screeching halt directly in front of the wolf. His teeth bare in a snarl, and Lana jumps in fright beside me. She turns to me, and I give her a reassuring smile as she bites her shivering fingers.

I hear other werewolves beside us come to a halt, but loud howling sounds through the forest. The Alpha werewolf in front of us slowly saunters around the car. Lana beside me is chewing on her bottom lip, and I look down at her lap to see her hands visibly shaking. Her face is pale and her eyes are wide open.

I stare at her in question, but she only shakes her head.

I don't know why she seems so scared when I've told her we'll be fine. These werewolves know me and just can't recognize me now because of my masked scent. She should feel relaxed since I am. They're not rogue werewolves that will kill, and the fact that the Alpha with red eyes is present should convince her. I don't know why, but I feel something else is wrong with her.

The big alpha werewolf comes to stand beside my side of the car, growling lowly at us before his sharp eyes rest solely on me. I lean on the door of the convertible before lifting an eyebrow at him.

"Is that any way to greet a visitor, Alpha Jace?" I ask with a teasing smile on my lips.

The werewolf c***s his head to the side, his guard lowers as he slowly recognizes me.

"Just here to visit my aunt, along with my friend." I gesture to Lana beside me, who's hiding her face away. I ignore her agitate look to stare back at Alpha Jace. It's funny because Lana is always the fearless one.

The Alpha leans his head further to the side to stare at Lana for a while. Maybe longer than necessary before snapping his eyes back to me. He pauses before nodding for us to go on, and I nudge Lana to keep on driving. Leaving behind the Alpha werewolf, still standing at his initial position and staring at us as we drive away, I finally turn to Lana in question.

"What's wrong?"

She doesn't answer yet, but her palm is visibly shaking on the staring wheel. I'm scared she might drive us into a tree.

She licks her lip but doesn't say anything until we've left the werewolves further behind and crossed the border to Red Moon Pack. I can already see the lights from the packhouse ahead when she finally decides to talk. "T...that Alpha werewolf..." she stutters out.

"Alpha Jace?" I arch an eyebrow at her. Even though it is small, I see her Adam apple bob as she swallows.

"I...I think he's my mate, Ellie."