Slaves of the Night

Chapter 11 - Utter Chaos

Chapter 11: Utter Chaos

Alex’s Point of View

   “It’s barely dawn, where do you think you’re going?” my mom asked, as I failed to sneak past her room without waking her up. I looked back quickly, deciding that the truth was the safest option.

  “I’m going for a run with Wes and Sam,” I said quickly and then took the stairs two at a time to get out of her line of questioning. As it was I was already late, having slept through my alarm and I can’t imagine that Wes would wait for me to begin Sam’s training. Stumbling out the doorway, I struggled to slip on my running shoes over my sock covered feet. I was going to have to run double time to catch up with them if they had already started their routine.

  I sprinted down the path towards the Pack House, glad that I only chose a black sports bra and running shorts today instead of something heavier because the air was hot even without the sun making its full appearance. Nobody else was walking down the dirt road so early in the morning; why in the world was I? To tell the truth, I didn’t really have a clue as to why I loved going out to train with Wes and Sam, I just did. Sam had become a fast friend since Tristan left and sometimes reminded me of my older sister, Charlene, who had gone off to live with her mate in a pack down in Texas a couple months ago. The two girls were both stubborn to no end and had a relationship with their mates that wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine—it was real. Real as in you could see they obviously loved one another, but didn’t act like everything was perfect in the world because of that. It seems like everyone here tried so hard to make it seem like nothing was wrong. Things were very wrong and I refused to not acknowledge that fact.

  As I neared the pack house the hair on the back of my neck prickled with alertness. I stopped far enough from the front steps that no one would be able to see me from the front windows and just listened. The woods were silent as I looked my head at the area around me. Something was off but I just couldn’t put my finger on what it was. A breeze drifted in and my heightened sense of smell caught the faint whiff of an unfamiliar scent; it wasn’t a smell that naturally had me on edge but my wolf was growling in agitation.

  Suddenly the front door opened and Wes stepped out onto the porch. It took a moment for him to notice me standing there, but when he did he gave me a brief nod of good morning before noticing my unease. “Alex, what’s wrong?”

  I shifted from foot to foot unsteadily, eyes still scanning the woods as my jaw clenched. “Nothing…I mean I—I’m not sure”

  The scent was gone now and wasn’t returning--it had only been a small tidbit caught in the breeze—so I shook it off. “Where’s Sam?”

  Wes didn’t roll his eyes like I expected him to when I mentioned Sam; it wasn’t a secret that he was easily annoyed with the Beta’s choice of mate. Instead he tilted his head slightly to the side, analyzing my skittishness with the calculation of a warrior. He knew something was wrong. “I’m not sure, she’s usually late,” he said slowly before glancing to the still open door behind him.

  “I’ll go get her,” I suggested as I hurried up the porch and through the door, brushing aside Wes while I was doing so. The warmth of his bare arm against mine had shivers running through me but I ignored it like I had done so many other times. Wes was not someone I should be crushing after; he was not only four years older than me but also could be so emotionless that sometimes I wondered if he had a soul to have feelings with.  He was built and trained to be nothing but a fighter and I wasn’t going to be the one to hinder him from doing so.