All Chapters of Past Life: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The wind howled amongst the sparsely spaced trees. The only other sound that could be heard was the faint, soft crunching of dried leaves and twigs caused by small light feet picking their way through the dense undergrowth of the pitch-black forest. Annalise had used the cover of darkness to escape her cruel tormentors- people she had considered friends and kin. She had watched the habits of many of her pack discreetly for months and suffered at their hands before finding a small window of opportunity to flee the territory. Once the sun began to rise, Annalise knew that her absence would be noticed and that the hunt to bring her back would start. The thought of being hunted down and the punishments she would receive for running away spurred Annalise on, her breath quickened, showing in short little puffs of air. The tatty hood of the cloak she had managed to salvage and sew together again lightly billowed around her shadowed face. ‘How far have I travelled?’, Annalise wondered to

Etta was stunned. This girl who had suffered unknown horrors was an Alphas daughter? 'How could her pack allow this to happen?' she thought to herself, shuddering slightly. "Did you not have any other family? Anyone to take you in and care for you?" Etta asked, fearful of what she might hear next. "No. My aunt and uncle on my fathers side live with another pack across country and my mothers brother was also killed during the rebellion. Once Beta James became Alpha he took me in. He was my fathers most trusted advisor and friend, I had no reason to doubt that he would care for me." Annalise closed her eyes as she thought back to her childhood. "At first he was kind, telling me how missed my parents were. Then he began to change...he would ask me to help in the kitchens. I didn't mind, I loved the smells and my mother had started to teach me to bake." A watery smile appeared on her face as she remembered her younger self with flour on her nose, her mother laughing and the kitchen

"Let me run a bath for you. You can relax and take all the time you want. I'll go find some clothes and leave them on the bed for you." Etta pushed up from the bed and headed towards the bathroom. "Thank you, Etta. No one has been this nice to me in year. I still can't believe you are real." Annalise said shyly. "You'd better believe it! Just wait until you meet the rest of the family. They are going to love you." Her bright, sing song voice was slightly muffled under the noise of the running water. A short while later, Etta reappeared. "All ready. I wasn't sure what kind of bubblebath you would like so I picked one that matches your scent." She smiled and made her way to leave. "See you later, Bestie." She sang as she left. Annalise limped to the bathroom. The bubbles were almost to the lip of the tub, so invting. She gingerly stripped off the pyjamas and unwound the bandage from her knee. Lifting her bad leg first, she balanced on her song one. The heat of the water instan

Everything happened all at once. Several hands landed on Annalise all at once. She was too far gone in her despair. "NO! NO! Let me go, I'm sorry!" She was blinded by her panic. She curled herself into a small ball, shielding her face with her arms. "Hands off, NOW!" another deep voice growled. Annalise felt all the pressure leave her, quickly replaced by two strong arms, one around her shoulders and the other under her knees. Annalise fought as she was pressed against a solid wall of muscle. "Stop fighting, little wolf. No one here is going to hurt you. You're safe." The muscle wall was trying to calm her. Slowly, she stopped struggling. Breathing heavily through the last last throws of her panic attack. Sounds from all around her were filtering into her consciousness. Etta sobbing loudly. Killian and Stella trying to console their daughter. Annalise became acutely aware that she was still wrapped protectively in the arms of another stranger. An absolute mountain of a muscl

Sorens POV I needed to clear my head. I went up to my room, stripped off my dirty, bloody clothes and entered the shower. I stayed under the spray until the water went cold. My mind was still racing. I got out, quickly dried off and threw on some workout clothes. I stuck in my earbuds and went to the gym. It was empty, thank Goddess. My mind wandered as I did some warm-up stretches. the image of the little wolf lying broken on the ground, the feel of her, weightless in my arms. The immediate protectiveness I felt towards her. This is exactly what I was trying to distract myself from. Shaking out my arms and legs, I started on the treadmill, barely jogging for a few minutes before ramping up the speed. The rhythm of steady running was working. I kept running, not really noticing as the songs in my ears changed as beads of sweat started forming on my forehead. I kept pushing until it hurt to breathe. Slowing back to a stop, I didn't bother with the cool down, jumping off and