Valerie

Chapter 8

"Valerie lets go," Sophia barges into the art room, she seemed uneasy. I raise my brows, a clear indication she needs to explain why, but she doesn't and leaves, expecting for me to follow. I wanted to finish my painting; it was almost complete as my thoughts ran to last night once again as it has done the entire night.

'... I'll kill them all...'

Would I be a fool to believe that? Maybe it was the look in his eyes, the promise in his words that hadn't made me doubt his words but still. An entire pack? No one has that kind of power. No one would do something so reckless for a mere nobody.

Setting my brush down, I follow the youngest Storm through the mansion. Wolves ran in all directions, from the kitchens to the dining hall, to the living space. I didn't see any kids around, nor any humans.

I did feel a strange presence, though. It wasn't like that which the Storms carried. This felt... warmer. Something I haven't felt since my mother.

We reached Sophia's room, "can you please tell me what the fuck is going on?" I grumble charming isn't around her, which is unusual. A long-exasperated breath escapes her, shuffling through her closet searching through clothes.

"The council is here," she reveals, my brows brush in confusion.

"And they are?" I ask, she pauses in her search for a dress and turns to face me. From the look on her face, I should probably know who they are, but due to unforeseen circumstances, I don't.

"We have a hierarchy. Us Storms sit at the top, we watch over the creatures our Deity's put us in charge off, but there are different species," I nod, I already knew that. What I didn't realise is that they aren't just the rulers of one species, but different species. I assumed Sophia watches over the witches, Jax the werewolves, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

"We then have the council; they watch over us to make sure we're fair. We place votes. There are six so you'll need more than half the votes in your favour. We then have the Royals, a class of creatures that watch over their own species. Wolves, Faeries, Witches, Demons, Beasts, and Mer-creatures. Royals have their classification too within their own jurisdiction, but I won't bore you with those details."

"If that's true, then this pack doesn't belong to Jaxson?" I tell her curiously, why is he here then? Sophia shakes her head and pulls out a simple black skater dress.

"This land belongs to Jax, as far as the troll bridges go. Anyone who steps on his territory is under his rule. We keep order, build a system, and create laws that everyone answers too. The wolves here, are warriors from packs around the world here to protect him and to relay information back to their Alphas. Here put this on."

Sophia passes me the dress. I take it as I ask, "what kind of information?" She shrugs, crouching down to snatch a pair of heels. I cringe internally at the sight of them.

"Whatever the king tells them too," I strip out of my cotton knee-length dress and stare at the simple black skater dress. It was shorter and far more revealing than my simple dress, but I couldn't seem to care.

"Your back?" Sophia mutters, her eyes trained on something behind me. I take a glance and find myself staring into a mirror. Long, jagged scars ran in different directions from every angle to every corner. Not an inch of skin left untouched.

"Silver is quite deadly to us creatures," I murmur, soft tingles running down my spine at the memory of the place I'd gained them. Her glamour green eyes find my violet ones, she seemed... pained?

"It never stops hurting, does it?" she whispers, rubbing her wrists where a soft green light protrudes from her hands, and I see the scars wrapped around her wrists, similar to my own. They no doubt belonged to chains.