I know it took me a while to translate this one but it was a bit longer and I haven't written a lot lately. The second part is done, I just have to read it again so it should be published tomorrow !

Happy reading !

Nocturnal Escape

A full moon. The day of the month I'm waiting for. As a werewolf, we can turn whenever we want but on the night of the full moon, our senses get a ten-fold increase. Our time in the forest are unforgettable. That's why I'm waiting for the sun to go down.

My mother feels my wolf dying to come out, which makes her smile. I am pacing next to the door as she arranges a bouquet of flowers my father gave her.

My father is the Alpha of the pack. When my brother will meet his female, he will be able to confront my father to become the new Alpha. Only a mated male can pretend to become Alpha.

"Calm down, honey!"

"I'm hungry! And I want to go out!"

"Just a few more minutes… you know, you could go hunt with Robert tonight. He also loves to wander outside on a full moon night."

"Mom… you know there's nothing between Robert and me. He's not my soulmate."

"You are 19, it is past time you find it."

"Caleb's 20 and you say nothing to him."

"I think Caleb's not ready to find her if he doesn't go out of the mansion. I met your father when I was 16. I was hunting…"

"He killed the doe you were following, you wanted to fight so you could keep it and when he touched you, you know it was him…. Bla..bla…bla… I know the story."

"I just wanted to say that age doesn't matter with us. Your grandmother mated at 13."

"That's definitely too young."

"Still, she lived so many beautiful years with your grandfather. That's all I want for you. Meet this young male who will make you feel like you haven't lived before him."

"But I don't need him. I just want to be me."

She comes closer and puts her hands on my cheeks.

"You'll always be you. Even with him."

"What if he is too dominant?"

"You are the daughter of an Alpha. You'll know how to tame him."

She kisses my forehead then look above my shoulder and smiles.

"Now, have a good night!"

I look behind and let my mother go. I run to the door, take my shoes and my dress off and make a few steps naked before jumping out of the mansion as a wolf.

I run a few kilometres without tiring. My senses are on the alert, I feel like being reborn tonight. After stretching my legs, I decide it is time to go hunt. I use my flair to detect a prey. It only takes me ten seconds to locate a deer. I follow him during five minutes before jumping at the right moment. I can't miss it. I never miss it. I jump on it as it grazes. I cut its carotid artery and hold it down until it stops moving. When it isn't trembling anymore, the feast begins. I eat but keep an eye open around me to make sure no one comes to steal it. My mother may have met her soulmate this way but I won't take the risk to lose my dinner.

When I'm done, I leave the bones behind me and head to the lake nearby. I have to clean off the blood. I turn back to my human form before going in the water. I hate having my fur wet and I dry faster as a human.

I rub my arms, my neck and my mouth then I pick under my nails to wash out everything that could be stuck underneath.

I rinse my mouth because even though I am half wolf, I don't like the metallic taste of blood on my tongue.

I swim out and lay on the grass, stargazing. My breathing is fast, adrenalin runs through my veins. My smile lights my face, I love my nocturnal escapes.

I hear a twig snap on my right. In a second, I transform again and am on my paws. I groan toward the noise and the scent of this outsider. It's a werewolf, I smell it. He is young, never mated and not an Alpha. He lives in another pack.

He walks out the bushes, his fur is black, his eyes are deep blue and his step is sure and elegant.

"What are you doing here? This isn't your territory." He groans.

"You aren't an Alpha, you can't do anything about that."

"You aren't mated, you have nothing to do here. Go away!"

"You gonna force me?"

He groans again showing his fangs and sinking his claws in the ground. He comes closer.

"Where are you from?"

"South"

"Where?"

He questions me while pacing around me. I know my silver and white fur is rare and intriguing to an outsider.

"The pack Prior."

"Prior..." He mumbles. "What are you doing so far away from home?

"It's the full moon."

"Hum. You should go home." He advises kindlier.

"What if I don't want to?"

"Eric won't be as lenient. Knowing you hunted on our lands, he could put you to death."

I back up slowly to put some space between he and me. I can't take this warning lightly; some werewolves kill for less than that.

"Thank you."

"Don't come back. I warned you."

I bow my head in sign of gratefulness and run back to my territory. It's unusual to meet lycanthrope like him. In my run, I am hit on my right side by another wolf. I crash against a tree and when I look up, I see a wolf with brown fur and green eyes. I try to stand up but the pain in my ribcage is crushing. And like every wolf in pain, I turn back to my human form. I lay on my stomach, unable to move.

"You thought you could hunt on our land without being punished."

He almost bites my face when the other wolf comes back.

"Leave her Eric. I've already punished her."

"I don't think so. She's still breathing."

"You are the only one to execute the intruders."

"This is the only way to make sure they never come back."

I whimper but fortunately the fast healing already began. The pain subsides slowly as the two males argue.

"Show your potential to be an Alpha. Kill her." Eric dictates.

"You're not to give me orders. And as you said, I have to choose. You have no authority here."

Eric must bow to the dominant. He throws one last glance at me and leaves in the bushes. The dominant walks to me.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I think I healed already".

I stand up slowly then see a hand stretched to me. I meet the wolf's stare now turned into a human. His eyes haven't changed, and I smile at his kindness. I catch his hand while getting up and when our eyes meet, I feel like I've been frozen here. I feel like my heart is finally beating, as if it didn't work the past 19 years. My already hot blood is boiling now. The world around me is spinning but it could burn to the ground, I wouldn't notice. There is just him.

Our bodies crash violently. The feel of his naked skin against mine mixed with the full moon and our desire to be one, make us untameable animals.

My nights of hunting are usually full of screams of pain and my laughs of joy. But tonight, we can only hear the sound of our breathings, our moans and groans, our promises to protect each other. And all that, until dawn.

When I open my eyes, I immediately notice my body is wrapped around another. I feel my blood boiling and I know exactly why.

Tobias. My soulmate. My male.

When he notices I am awake, he rolls us so I am on my back.

'Hi." He greets me with a kiss.

'Hi. Is this real?"

"If this a dream, I don't want to wake up."

I wrap my legs around his waist and with my arms, force him to fall on me. I want to feel his weigh on me. His protection. I caress his hair while holding him to my chest.

"And now?" I ask.

"I follow you to your pack. I won't leave you."

"I should be the one joining your pack."

"I don't want to go back. Where you are happy, I am happy.'

'I am happy with you."

He kisses me passionately, almost lightening a fire that we couldn't put out.

"Let's go. I want to go home."

"Anything you want."

We turn back to wolves then run to the house. We never lose sight of each other. We stop sometimes to have fun.

That's what my mother told me about. She was right. I never thought I was missing something before. Now, I can't imagine a life without him.

We arrive at the mansion where clothes are put outside. There is always a pile for those who went out. Tobias takes some randomly and we walk and hand in the mansion.

The pack is almost entirely together in the main hall. This is the room we use the most. Now, every stare is aimed at us. My mother approaches slowly and when she smells my odour which must be Tobias', she hugs me.

"Honey… you found him."

Robert comes closer too to see what's happening, but a deep growl is heard in the room when he is just a few meters away from me. Tobias steps in front of me and shows his dominance. Robert just bows.

My father smiles at that and lifts his glass of rum I suppose, that's the only liquid he drinks usually.

"My daughter mated! I wish her and her soulmate a long life full of happiness and love!"

Tobias kisses me in front of everyone, giving them what they want.

Christina jumps out of nowhere and tries to take me away from the pack, which seems to be a problem with my soulmate.

"We're just going to have a talk. I'm not leaving the room."

He nods his head as my father and brother approach him. My father seems happy to meet him but Caleb is more warry. I don't have time to see more because Christina drags me in a corner where sit my cousins Shauna and Lynn, and childhood friends Marlene and Myra.

They are forming a tight cercle around me, giggling. I smile unwillingly at their enthusiasm; they must have been waiting for a long time for this as I was the last one non-mated. Well, me and Lynn, she still hasn't found him.

"How did you meet him?" Shauna asks.

"I was wandering in another territory. He found me and advised to leave before someone finds me. On my way back, the other found me. Tobias convinced him to let me live then he helped me up. And well…"

"When was it?"

"Don't know… around 11pm or midnight."

"And it's 10 am… Must have had a long night, didn't you?"

I smile thinking of what happened.

"You could say that…"

"Were you humans or wolves?'

'Hum.. both?"

They laugh and demand details I will never give them.

"What does his wolf look like?"

"Tall and his fur is black. He is so confident when he walks and when he runs, he's powerful."

They giggle a bit but we are interrupted by growling and cheering. We hurry to the entrance where deux wolves I recognize, in a combat. Tobias in front of a brown wolf with grey eyes, my father.

I try to step in but my mother stops me.

"What's happening? He seemed happy. And Tobias…"

"Don't worry. Everything is fine. Your father convinced Tobias to fight to become Alpha."

"But it as a fight to death! No!" I scream.

"Calm down. You father established the same rules as if it were Caleb fighting. Tobias is his son now. First to surrender loses."

I watch the fight before me, worried sick.

My father attacks first but Tobias moves. Tobias fights back by biting my father at the neck. With his paw, he frees himself and throw Tobias aside.

I bite the inside of my cheek to stay calm but I am terrified, my love or my father could get seriously hurt.

Tobias stands up but I see his left front paw his injured. He limps a bit and my mother has to stop me with the help of my brother from stepping in the fight. He faces my father again while calculating his next move. My father jumps to my partner's neck to hold him down on the ground and finish the combat but Tobias moves and turns around in a second. He holds my father by the throat on the ground. If he moves, Tobias will rip his throat. He relaxes and submit to the wolf above him.

Tobias lets him go and is cheered by the pack. He howls to show his dominance before turning back to his human form and my mother drops my arm to let me run to him.

I take him in my arms being careful with his arm. He holds me tight then kisses me.

"You won!"

"I'm not surprised my daughter chose you. You're tough."

I smile at my father then at the new Alpha. My mother approaches too to make sure my father is okay and wipes some blood from his throat.

"Come Tobias, let me check your arm."

We sit on the couch. He puts on his jeans as I take care of his arm. It doesn't look dislocated so he should heal quickly.

I catch my cousin Nita's stare on my mate in a way I don't appreciate. I give her a dark glance with a growl to make her understand she must back off now. Unfortunately for her, she doesn't catch it. She even walks toward us, licking her lips at Tobias' bare chest.

"Leave, Nita."

"I just came to congratulate our new Alpha. The fight was amazing. I was scared for you at the beginning."

Tobias must feel my blood boiling because of this bitch who doesn't know when to stop.

"We're busy." He says.

"Oh but you'll have to get used to it. You know, all this attention."

"I don't want it from you."

He surprises me with a breath-taking kiss and lets me go when he is sure she's gone.

"Is she always like that?"

"Yes."

"Who is she?"

"My cousin."

"It's obvious she's never mated before."

"She has been. But he's dead. He fought my father and got killed. It was an accident, my father didn't want to kill him but Peter didn't stop. It was suicide to keep fighting when my father held him by the throat, just like you did. He tried to get free, my father ripped his throat. That's why she jumps on everything she sees. But I promise you I'll make sure she knows you're mine."

I apply pressure on his arm to check his pain level but he doesn't say anything.

"Alright, seems healed to me."

He kisses me one last time before we join the pack to celebrate the new Alpha.

The party lasted three days and three nights where we organized huge hunt trips, huge parties filled with alcohol, stupid games and for unmated wolves or those like Nita, meaningless sex. As for Tobias and me, we celebrated our 'marriage'. It was impossible to keep us apart. My mother told me it was perfectly normal in the first days.

But now, two weeks later, my heart still beats faster when I observe Tobias get ready for the fall hunt. This is the first time he'll be away for so long.

"Why can't I come with you? You know I love hunting."

"And you are the best huntress, but you've been sick lately. I'll bring you some deer, you love that."

"Thank you".

He turns and leaves the bedroom to go join the hunting team. I fall back on the bed, a bit uneasy. I don't want to do anything today. I am nauseous and have a big headache. I don't leave the bedroom the entire morning.

My mother and Shauna come knocking at my door in the afternoon to see how I feel but I just moan in pain. My head is spinning and pounding, my pressure is high, my body temperature must be above 40 degrees, my stomach is bloated.

Shauna sits beside me and caresses my hair.

"Hey, it's going to be okay."

"Mom, do you think that's because he's gone?"

She sits down too next to me.

"Maybe but I've never seen anyone be this sick before. I think it's something else. You may have caught something when you went out last time."

She takes her bag to examine me. My mother is a doctor outside the mansion to bring some money home. Others are working too but not everyone. I'm not working because I'm part of the hunting team.

She checks my eyes with a flashlight then my heartbeat and my blood pressure. She then frowns.

"You'll stay in bed today. I'm going to draw some blood and I'm going to the hospital to analyse it. I can't make a diagnosis with what I know. But try to not worry."

I nod my head and she kisses my forehead.

"Rest now. We'll give you something to eat and a cold cloth for your head. I'm taking pills from the hospital. I don't want to give you a bad one, okay?"

I nod again, unable to do more. I've never been one to stay in bed or exaggerate a sickness but I literally cannot move. Shauna stays with me during the blood draw then during the entire afternoon. Marlene and Myra come too to keep me company but I fall asleep.

I wake up alone. I didn't expect them to wait here neither. My headache is less painful. I try to stand up to breath some fresh air on the balcony. I'm happy because from here, I can see the glade where the hunters have to go to come home. I've been sitting here for only ten minutes when I hear howling nearby. I hurry to get in to meet Tobias in the hall but my head starts spinning again before I even walk out the door. I decide to stay on the bed, he'll find me easily.

I was right. Not even two minutes later after I lay down, he's here. He comes closer slowly but the smell of blood, dirt and sweat; three odours I usually don't mind, make me feel sick. I run to the bathroom and throw up my meals in the toilets. Tobias takes a shower after that and puts his clothes in a closed bag. I'm back in the bed when he comes out the bathroom. He lays next to me and holds me.

"Your father told me. How are you?"

"It's okay. I'll feel better tomorrow. How was the hunt?"

"Would have been better with you. Robert missed the boar and almost got killed. You'd got it. But I brought you a deer and Marlene is cooking it for you."

"Thank you."

"Rest. I'll stay here."

I cuddle against him, the heat of his skin and his heartbeat lull me to sleep. This time I wake to something cold on my forehead. Tobias is holding a cold cloth against it to help with my fever. He smiles when he sees I'm awake.

"You mother came but she didn't give me results." He whispers to help with my headache.

"Did she look worried?"

"No, not really. She told me not to worry and she would come with your aunt Hana and your grandmother."

I sigh. They are all three doctors. If my mother asks for their opinion, it can't be harmless.

"Tobias, what if something is seriously wrong with me?"

"I'm sure everything is fine. You're worried for nothing. We'll get you healed and you'll come back to the hunting team soon."

I caress his curly hair. We are interrupted by my family. They seem happy to see me awake.

"Honey, how are you doing?" My mother asks.

"I'm okay, as long as I don't move."

My grandmother is scanning me making me a bit nervous. However, I try to ignore it to focus on what my mother says.

"So what's wrong with me?"

"We talk together. We think we know but we'd like to analyse your urine and an echography of your stomach and your liver first."

She gives me a small cup to get the urine sample. My aunt takes it from me when I come out the bathroom to analyse it and my mother helps me on the table. She puts some cold gel on my stomach and makes sure everything is fine in there.

My mother and grandmother watch the screen when their faces change suddenly.

"Bij de volle maan." My grandmother says in Dutch, her mother tongue.

I look at Tobias, worried, as he holds my hand.

"Mama, is het mogelijk?" My mother asks.

"What is possible? Tell me!"

"Ja maar ze moet zichzelf transformeren."

"Speak in English!" Tobias screams. "What is wrong with her?"

"Turn, Tris! We'll speak then."

I do what I'm told. Suddenly, I feel perfectly fine. My headache disappeared, my stomach doesn't hurt and hunger shows up immediately. They all seem to notice the difference and my grandmother smiles.

"Why do I feel better? I feel great, I could go hunt."

"Your grandmother found out. She's seen it when she was young."

"How long do I have to stay a wolf?"

"Around a month."

"A month?"

"What's happening, Natalie?"

"She's pregnant."

I fall on my behind when my mother says that. Pregnant? That's impossible. I've already seen werewolves pregnant and they were humans.

"Why did I have to turn? It doesn't make any sense."

"Your gestation is unusual…"

"Gestation?"

"You don't have a baby in your womb, you have two cubs."

"What? Cubs? As in wolf cubs?"

I start to panic but Tobias caresses my fur, that calms me immediately. But he seems as stressed as I am.

"How is this possible?" He asks.

"Because of your mating. It happened a night of a full moon and during the one in June, one of the most powerful. If the fertilization happened at midnight and you were turned into wolves, you created wolf cubs."

"But… but… will they be wolves forever?"

"No. They'll grow up wolves but around 6 months, they should start to turn. You should know they'll grow faster than the usual but they'll be perfectly healthy."

"So I have to stay like that until I give birth?"

"Yes, otherwise you'll be sick again. Your human body isn't made to care for cubs and you could die, all three of you."

I nod my head then look at Tobias. He turned too.

"You're not going through this alone."

I cuddle against him. They leave to let us process everything.

"Cubs… do you realize?"

"I forgot to ask how far along I am."

"If it happened when we met, it's been three weeks."

"It's going to be difficult. I've never been a wolf this long."

"I'll be with you. But now, we're going to eat something. You are eating for three now."

We walk down the stairs to the dining room where almost everyone is. I am asked so many questions. I try to explain the best I can with my mother and grandmother.

My father has always been the first to toast and raises his glass to us as Christina, Lynn and Myra are laughing so hard.

My mate doesn't wait to defend me then looks at me to make sure I'm not hurt by their behaviour. He looks at me as if I was everything to him. And I am.

But he isn't everything to me. These two cubs inside of me are competition to him. But my heart is big enough to love the three of them.

Thank you all for your support and the reviews, it helps a lot! See you tomorrow for part 2!