Damon, Ava, and Elizabeth jogged through the barely used forest paths, silent except for the crunch of leaves and brush underfoot and their breathing. Damon, for his part, felt like he was breathing a lot harder than the both of them, so he definitely needed to exercise more. He also felt a bit lightheaded, but he attributed that to not being able to eat anything before he left.

They ran for what felt like a solid two hours – and honestly, it probably was that long. There was a lot of ground to cover between where they began and where the pack territory ended, and they also stopped every few minutes whenever one of them heard a remotely suspicious sound nearby to make sure they hadn't been discovered. Although, Elizabeth warned them, right now was the easy part. The hard part would happen at the border, where it would be likely that Peter had already ordered guards to stand watch. By now, someone should have noticed Damon's disappearance and they would know exactly what he would try to do, so the border would probably be swarming with betas by the time they arrived.

They traveled in relative silence, but something was still bothering Damon, and he couldn't help but ask.

"Elizabeth," he panted in a hushed voice from the back of their little squad, "why didn't you try to talk to me or Jun before now? It sounds like you've been in Ganymede pack for a while, so why wait?"

Elizabeth sighed up ahead, not sounding at all out of breath. "It's hard to explain, but though I was able to get a visitor's pass and was allowed to stay here, it wasn't really safe for me to show my face."

Not safe? What did that mean? Venus pack and Ganymede pack were allies. There should be no reason for her to be unsafe in Ganymede territory.

Ava, sensing Damon's confusion, looked over her shoulder at him while still running, effortlessly avoiding every obstacle in her path. Honestly, these girls must be wizards. No one's reflexes are that good.

"I've been hiding her in my house pretty much since she got here. Malachi's tried to intimidate me into telling him where she is four or five times now."

What – Malachi? Why the fuck would he care? Other than the fact that she's Jun's fiancé, of course. Or maybe that was the whole reason. Damon had no idea why he would go to such lengths just to make Jun's life harder, but that was Malachi for you. An asshole for no reason. Or seemingly no reason.

"What does he want with you?" Damon asked.

Elizabeth shook her head, but kept her gaze focused on the path this time. "No idea."

Hm. Damon wouldn't question her about that – right now, anyway. He didn't know much about Elizabeth, but even only having known her for about an hour and a half, he got the sense that Elizabeth was the type of person to have a hand in a lot of different cookie jars. She knew more than she was letting on.

But there was a reason for her not to say, Damon was sure. It might not matter at all. Damon was perfectly willing to forget anything and everything related to Malachi and his nefarious plans as long as he found Jun and found a place for them to settle down.

After that, they kept running in silence, stopping two more times for suspicious sounds and shadows that turned out to be nothing. Then, after a period of time that was both too long and too short, they came up to the pack boundary, crouching in the low-hanging branches of a pine tree while they discussed the plan.

The pack boundary ended with the forest. The forest let out into a wide, untamed field, commonly referred to as No Man's Land. Why? Because it was the space in between. Being in No Man's Land didn't mean that you were still in pack territory, but it didn't mean you were out of it either. It was unclaimed territory, essentially. But the land beyond No Man's Land was owned by the nearest human city, which you could easily tell was the case because beyond the untamed field was another field, but a plowed one filled with neat rows of soybeans. Once you've crossed into human territory, no one from Ganymede could legally pull you back in. After that, it was just a matter of getting Peter to formally dissolve your pack membership, and you would become an unclaimed wolf.

Damon was just hoping that Peter would dissolve his membership sooner rather than later. Otherwise, he would have to cross into Venus territory and plead with their Alpha to override Ganymede pack's claim on him. That was a lot of paperwork that the Venus Alpha probably didn't want to do, especially for someone sleeping with his son.

"Alright," Elizabeth said, pulling up the hood on her sweater. Ava did the same. Damon understood. The betas were going to recognize him regardless, and it didn't matter if they did or didn't recognize him. But Ava and Elizabeth were planning to stay here, and if they were recognized they could be put on trial for helping Damon. "Here's the plan. Damon, when I say go, you're going to make a beeline for No Man's Land. The area directly in front of us looks clear, so they'll see you once you start running, but hopefully it'll take them a second to catch up with you. Ava and I will cover you, but we can't get too close to them, or they'll be able to see who we are. That's why we're going to take these," she said, reaching into the ground to pull up two big handfuls of tiny rocks. She stuffed them in her pockets until they were bulging and then grabbed more to keep ready in her hands. Ava followed suit.

"We can keep them distracted, but not for long, so you have to run like hell. Once you're in No Man's Land, don't stop for anything because they can still grab you and bring you back legally. You have to get to the other side."

"Then what?" Damon asked. After that point, if Damon successfully crossed No Man's Land, he would be alone. Damon had only the barest idea of what direction they were facing on a compass, let alone what direction Venus pack was in. He had no money, and only his cell phone and the clothes on his back. Maybe if he traveled as a wolf, it wouldn't be so bad, but he was going into human territory. The area was pretty rural for the next several miles, but that didn't mean there wasn't the possibility that he would get shot by a farmer or a hunter. Plus, even if he did manage to go in the right direction, Venus pack was miles away. When he went on that field trip when he was sixteen, his class took a bus to get there, and it had taken two hours and forty-five minutes. On foot, that was most of a day. He would need to sleep and eat eventually.

Elizabeth stared at him calmly for several moments, the barest hint of a smile playing around her mouth. Damon wasn't sure what that meant. "Don't worry about that. Everything will work itself out."

Okay. Well. That's not at all helpful. Elizabeth's smile widened as Damon's uneasy frown deepened.

"I promise, you'll be fine. Just focus on getting through this next part, okay?"

Damon nodded reluctantly, still unsure how she was so certain it would be fine.

Elizabeth nodded once, determined. "Good. Now let's break you out of Ganymede pack. On my count. One, two, three... Go!"