A Rose Among Thorns- Book 2 in the Corvale Pack Series

Chapter 3

The Rose Among Thorns

Chapter 3

Joseph

After a long and pretty awkward ride in a Mercedes with tinted windows (where they made me sit in the back with the girl on the other side of the car with another werewolf between us like we were criminals), we arrived at the ‘alpha’ house. My new home for the next twenty or so years, and it looked like a dump compared to the palace, but I guess it’ll do.

Drake and the other wolf looked at each other before getting out of the car, Drake moving to stand in front of the girl. I rolled my eyes and looked towards the house. Why were they treating the girl like she was made of glass? Is she that ‘special’?

“Remember, if you step one foot off of pack boundaries, Richard will drag you back. Understood?” Drake warned her.

I didn’t hear an answer but she must have nodded as he sighed,” Good.” Before following me towards the steps leading up to the wood, stone and glass building. It was obviously new and I asked why it looked this way. Most packs have alpha houses much older than this one.

“It’s because of a fire...around ten years ago the old one burnt to the ground, and it killed several people, including her adoptive parents,” He gestured to the girl being led up the stairs,” She and her sister got out, but they haven’t spoken much since.”

I nodded at the mini life-story and made my way inside. God, there was so much glass here. How was I supposed to keep out of the sun? Sleep during the day? One of the many clichés that humans got wrong was that vampires slept in coffins, but one of the few they got right was our ‘sensitivity’ to the sunlight. We burn like hot water has just been poured over us, not nice to go through. Back home, a spell had been cast over the island so that UV rays couldn’t get through, Like we were sealed in a bubble.

The main room on this floor consisted of the kitchen, dining room and the living room. All of the lights as well as the fireplace were on, and it looked...okay I guess. Like I said, I’ve seen better. I sat on one of the couches and waited for them to drag the girl in.

“Richard said that he’ll announce your taking over the alpha position next full moon, until then he asks for her to show you around.” The other werewolf muttered before they both left her standing in the hallway as they half-ran back to the Mercedes.

I sighed and leaned back on the couch, staring at the wooden beams that made up the ceiling. I realised that I still held the necklace in my hand, and I threw it at her. She caught it surprisingly, it should’ve soared past her and probably dented the wooden wall behind her.

“What was he going on about anyway, about that thing?” I asked.

“It’s the source of my powers, but they are out of control. Too long with this on, and bad shit happens, too long without it, bad shit also happens.” She murmured and lowered her hood so that she could put it around her neck.

She had curly brown hair with blue, purple and pink tips, and her eyes were black. Not exactly common for any supernatural, never mind a human. She was pale, not vampire-pale, but not the tanned skin of a werewolf or anyone that I’ve seen around here so far. She had headphones around her neck which she then tucked into the pocket at the front of her hoodie.

Basically...like the house, I’ve seen better. I like my girls with a little...life in them, this one looked depressed.

“You’re the first I’ve come across since I’ve got here that hasn’t been nervous around me,” I replied,” Are you gonna sit down?”

“They’re not nervous,”  She laughed humourlessly, instead walking over to the kitchen area and rummaging through the cupboards ,”They’re terrified of you. Freaks like us...we’re they’re worst nightmare.”

“Why?”

She looked over her shoulder at me,” You don’t know about the attack?”

“The big guy mentioned something earlier.” I called,” Find anything good in there?”

“You eat human food?”

“Yeah, we’re not gods.” I said, and she threw me a packet of pretzels and took one out for herself before kicking the door shut.

“Last time I saw you guys, human food was the last thing on your mind. This pack is shit, you may need to work on more training or something.” She explained, flopping on the other side of the couch.

“He didn’t say anything about vampires.” Well, the ‘rouge vampire’ conversation was something that I couldn’t blab to anyone, but this seemed to be about something else.

“About ten years ago, about fifty vampires attacked us. Killed about half of the pack, most of them had joined our pack when we defeated their pack leader twenty years ago, but still sad,” She paused, looking into her pretzel bag,” From what they’ve experienced, the wolves think that you’re gonna drain me dry, they don’t trust you to behave yourself.”

“Why get me to do this alpha shit then?”

“Pride, tradition, I don’t know. I tend to stay out of things like that, the mutts will blame me for anything.” She sighed,” At least I’m not a suspect for the killings, I was sick for weeks after I was bitten, but I fought it off.”

“You were bitten?” I asked.

She pulled back her sleeve, showing two sets of fang marks on her wrist,” Vampire venom is the only thing that scars my skin.”

“So you’re a witch?”

“The mutts prefer the term ‘sorcerer’. Makes them sound big and clever when they use big words at their state balls and shit. I’m to be seen and not heard.”She explained, rolling her eyes.

“Why are you here then? The Doomstalker clan was originally based in...Belgium somewhere?”

“There are more of us?”She gasped.

“Not that we’ve seen in the past fifty years.” I said, and she leaned back, sighing.

“Your dad brought me here, a few days old. They said that he found me alone in the woods around your castle. Last time I saw him was about thirty years ago, he was pretty pissed at me.” She explained.

“You met my dad?”

“Yes, a moody guy he is too.” She rolled her eyes and stuffed another pretzel into her mouth.

“Why was he angry?”

She bit her lip, looking uneasy for the first time,” That’s a long story, and there’s only a half hour until sunrise, you should get to bed.”

“Okay mother.” I said, grinning as I walked down one of the corridors.

“Make sure to shut the drapes, I don’t want to wake up to the smell of burning.” She called back, putting the earphones into her elfin ears again.

Okay, a little introduction for Tabitha. Look out for her, she’s important :D