Mads

I sat in my room and made new flower pictures. I hummed quietly to myself. It was horrible and so I tried to distract myself. Every time I saw my parents, I was confronted with grief on their faces. They mourned my loss, even though I wasn't gone yet. I was still there! I was here!

My sister, on the other hand, celebrated that she was right. I was now officially an omega wolf. Congratulations to myself! Thank you! I will do everything I can to live up to this role! At least Adahlia now fought with my parents because they didn't want to hear from her, that she had always said that I would end up with the witches.

Right now, they were arguing so loudly that I could hear everything.

"Why are you sad? You should be glad we're getting rid of the Omega!", scolded Adahlia. "How do you think I felt? I'll be Beta once! How am I supposed to gain respect if my brother is no good as a wolf? I will always be associated with him!"  My mother cried and my father roared angrily.

"He is your brother! How can you say such a thing? We should have left this pack years ago!"

"Then you would have ruined my future! No pack takes in wolves that have fled out of shame! No pack takes wolves that bring an omega into their pack! No one is that stupid!"

Sighing, I lay down on my bed. Would Emmie keep her promise?

And would Levi's pack really take me in? Adahlia was right. It was not easy to leave your pack and be accepted into another. If wolves wanted to change their pack, they needed the approval of their alpha and the alpha of the other pack. A pack was a family. And a family does not abandon each other. Alpha Ava would never have let us go, and if we had left without her consent, we would have become strays. Wolves without packs. Wolves basically end up on the slave market as soon as soldiers discover them. That's what we learned right from the beginning at school.

Nobody wanted that.

Levi

Alpha Aksel was happy to add a new wolf to the pack. He also offered Emmie to stay in his pack, but she, again, refused.

At some point, Alpha Aksel learned that Levi was in love with said wolf, who had to be rescued. The alpha grinned as if it were his birthday. "So, we're saving the future partner of our future Beta, yes? Wonderful!", he murmured softly.

Noah sighed in annoyance. "I hope we don't get another troublemaker..."

The plan was relatively simple. They wanted to sneak into the pack, get Mads and escape. Noah's brothers Arthur and Valdemar and Levi's brother Abbe would start a diversionary maneuver. Abbe was far from thrilled when Alpha Aksel wanted him to help them. He listened sullenly as Noah explained the exact plan. Emmie and Levi would go and get Mads. Noah, Balder, and Aaren served as their support. Especially if it should come to a fight.

Alpha Aksel and Nilla would then receive them here. And then the rest depended on the other pack. Whether they left Mads to the pack without a fight, or whether they would attack as soon as they noticed his disappearance. After all, Levi 'kidnapped' a wolf from Alpha Alva's pack and she had the right to reclaim Mads. But Alpha Aksel wouldn't give Mads back.

Levi's parents prepared their house for a new roommate. For this, they cleared the second pantry to set up a room there. They got furniture, and everything a young werewolf needed, from other families in the pack. Balder had gone from door to door asking for support. Everyone gave what he had left or could do without. Smilla was looking forward to getting another big brother.

Then, the time had come. Arthur and Valdemar turned into wolves to go ahead as such. They would start a fight with some wolves of the pack. They planned to riot in the village and attract all the attention. They would lure as many wolves as possible out of the village into a small piece of forest that was close to the village and was considered a neutral area. There they were waiting for some wolves from Levi's pack, who had offered their help. In addition to the path through the gorge, another narrow path led to the small piece of forest, which they were very lucky about. At best, the two groups would not meet and they could bring Mads to their pack unnoticed.

The two brothers were strong fighters, even if they were not alpha wolves. Next to them, Abbe was the best young fighter of the pack. "I hope this Mads is worth it!", he grumbled before turning into a wolf as well.

"He's worth it!", snorted Emmie. "You will love him!"

Levi couldn't agree more. Mads was worth it. And much more!

The three wolves rushed ahead to wreak havoc. Levi, Emmie, Noah, Aaren, and Balder followed them cautiously. Aaren and Balder had also turned into wolves. The way to Alpha Ava's pack was not very far and so far everything seemed to go according to plan: When they saw how several wolves left their homes to drive away the troublemakers, they took their chance.

Silently they crept along the narrow paths. Emmie showed them the way. Some of the wolves were asleep, but they took good care to avoid being noticed. They had previously rolled in moss and flowers to cover up their foreign smell and thus not be noticed. But the smell would not stick to them for long. Especially not on alpha and beta wolves, as their own smell was difficult to mask.

Finally, they arrived at an old house carved in stone. Here Emmie knocked on the door.

The door was opened by a werewolf with green eyes and light brown curls. "Emmie! What are you doing here so late? Who are your friends?" He sniffed skeptically.

"May we come in?", asked Noah quickly. "It's about your son. We want to help. Emmie?" Now he looked at her. "Go home. You never saw us. From here, we take over."

The girl nodded and hurried away. They agreed on this because she wanted to stay in her pack.

The wolf blinked and frowned, but he let them in. He was probably too caught off guard to rethink the situation. "You're from another pack, right?"

"We’re from Alpha Aksel's pack. He is willing to take Mads into his pack. We're here to take him", Levi explained when they were all in the house. "My name is Levi and I... really like your son! I don't want him to end up as a slave! He will be fine with us!"

"To take Mads?" Now a woman appeared in the hallway. "We don't have Alpha Alva's approval! And we don't know you..."

While Mads's mother protested, the man, Mads's father, handed Levi some keys. "We had to lock him up. It's the room on the left. Fast. It's the first door."

"Malthe!" protested his wife. "The... Alpha Ava will disagree... Stop!"

"That's the best thing we can do for our son, Otilie." The wolf smiled sadly and prevented her from getting in Levi's way. His wife nodded. As Levi ran upstairs, he heard Noah suggest they accompany them. But the couple refused. They wanted to stay with their daughter because she needed them. Levi's mother scolded confused.

Mads looked at him startled as Levi stood in the room. "You're here!"

"Of course!" Levi rushed to him and wrapped his arms around the younger wolf. Then he pressed a fleeting kiss to his cheek. "Come. Quick. We flee. You live in my pack!"

"My parents?"

"Will stay here. With your sister. Come. Quick. We don't have much time." He grabbed Mads's hand and pulled him behind him, out of the room. In the hallway, a girl stood in their way. She was a beta wolf just like Levi. Mads's sister.

"You won't do that! Mads has a job! He sacrifices himself for us!", she growled softly. "I heard mom scolding! So that's what it's all about! You want to steal my good-for-nothing brother!"

Levi didn't think twice. He growled, pushed her rudely into Mads's room, and closed the door.

Then the two ran down the stairs. Mads quickly hugged his parents. "If Alpha asks Ava, we kidnapped him and you were inferior to u", Noah instructed them. The two nodded. Mads's mother clung to his hands. He kissed her cheek, then withdrew his hands. "I'll be fine", he promised her quietly. She nodded.

Levi returned the key to Mads's father. "Your daughter is locked in Mads's room."

The wolf smiled. "This will do her good. She still has many lessons to learn."

"Go now!" Mads's mother kissed his cheek. "It's all happening so fast! My boy! Take care of yourself." Mads nodded with tears in his eyes.

"Good. Let's go! Now!", urged Noah, and they left the house with a short, fleeting farewell. Mads sobbed softly.

They hurried back the narrow paths to the last houses of the village, but this time someone came to meet them. "Beta Lifa", Mads stammered softly. Lifa was a small, muscular wolf with dark skin, grey eyes, and white curls. She was about forty years old and smiled kindly at them. "Mads. Are you leaving us? I assume your friends are responsible for the trouble? Quick. Before the others notice the trap. I have never seen you. Go!" The wolf made room for them.

"Thank you!" Noah nodded at her, then they hurried away.

The first part was done.

(I was free. Beta Lifa let me go. My parents let me go, even if Mom didn't like it. But she also preferred to see me in a different pack than with the witches. I was free.)