The Girl Who Cried Wolf

Chapter 17

Saturday Morning

_____

"Jess?!"

"Jess Wake Up!!"

My eyes fluttered open and I came face to face with my mother, her eyes full of grief.

"what's wrong?" I asked, rubbing my eyes "why'd you have to wake me up? I was having the best dream ever!".

In my dream I was lying in a soft cloud, floating through the sky. For some reason, cheeseburgers kept appearing all around me. It was weird but awesome.

"somebody told the Alpha" she whispered in a shaky voice "told him about you 'defending' yourself".

She used air quotes.

Ok, now I was really awake.

"what do you mean 'defending'" I used the air quotes too.

"well, the person you were defending yourself from was Penny" mum explained.

Oh no.

Penny was the biggest, most dramatic big mouth ever to walk this earth. She find a story that's no big deal and milks it for all it's worth. She loves attention, practically lives on the stuff. Her father owns a car business out of town, as well as three different houses, two of them being holiday houses. They were probably the richest family in the pack other than Alpha Kyle.

"what did she do?" I asked, jumping up and throwing some clothes to wear on my bed.

"well, I don't know much about your side of the story" mum explained "but apparently Penny was doing a perimeter check, making sure there weren't any rouges or West Fielders around, when you jumped out of the bushes and attacked. Apparently you began tearing at her neck and limbs. She said she was drenched in blood and fell in the river washing most of it off. By the time she got back her wounds had healed and the only proof she had was her 'honest' opinion"

I gaped at her. Mum didn't like Penny either.

"what, and the pack just believed her?" I almost shouted "what proof do they have it was me?!".

"apparently she knew your scent" mum explained "and someone who doesn't want to be named, told her".

"WHO?!" I basically screamed.

"I don't know" mum said softly "but you may want to come with me, we have to go tell Alpha your side of the story".

I couldn't believe this. What had I done to Penny to deserve this?!

"give me five minutes" I muttered.

***

We entered the soft yellow lounge of the pack house, several of the main pack members standing in the background, all eyes on us.

The alpha sat on one of the two couches, looking stressed and almost angry.

"please explain why you did not tell us" Kyle began.

I knew what he was talking about, he was talking about my 'late shift'.

"I....." I began but I could not find the words.

"we already know that you made several of your friends" he almost spat friends "swear to secrecy, but why to inform the alpha at the least?".

"I-I didn't feel that I-It was right" I was starting to freak out here, I had no explanation whatsoever.

"FEEL right?!" he bellowed, making me shrink back in fright (I now know why Chris got so scared) "what does it MATTER if it FEELS right?! What if one day I wake up and think 'I don't FEEL like working today. I dont FEEL like protecting the pack'. What if I decided that I didn't FEEL like looking for you while YOU were scampering around the forest playing HIDE AND SEEK?!"

I almost started crying, which is unusual for me.

"I-I'm sorry" I whispered, uncontrollable tears welling up in my eyes.

Kyle sat back and folded his arms, looking slightly more relaxed after his outburst.

"now I want you to explain why you attacked Miss Penny " he said calmly. It was so silent in the lounge that even an ant taking a single step could be heard.

"I swear I didn't attack her" I blurted out "I was practicing training in wolf form, just running and stuff. I was heading back to the house when this wolf begins to chase me. She was growling and catching up to me, trying to nip at my tail and stuff". Glanced around at all the surprised faces, seeing Felix's in the background "then she made one massive launch for me and we both ended up tumbling down the hill. I tried to show I didn't want to fight but in the end she had me a the ankle and was sinking her teeth in, not letting me go. So I bit her on the ankle and she freed me. Then she started howling so I ran. I couldn't let them find out my secret" I ended it with a huff.

Alpha stared a me.

"a trainer?!" he roared "WHO had been TRAINING Miss BOYDE?!".

Crap

What have I done?

I tried to think up some witty excuse, something great that would cover it all up. But before I could say a word, someone else spoke up.

"it was me, Alpha" Felix confessed "I trained Jessica here so we could show you how great she was, try and get her into the main pack. She'd be great, she's smart, witty and a damn fast runner, I was struggling to keep up".

My heart warmed, strangely. I couldn't help but give a small, shy smile. I was still treading water so I didn't want to seem to happy.

Kyle, on the other hand, looked furious.

"you TRAINED her WITHOUT my PERMISSION?!" he roared "GET OUT!! I'LL DEAL WITH YOU LATER".

Felix, looking calm, as ever, stood and walked out. He winked at me as he left.

"so YOU are not responsible for hurting Penny?" he asked.

I shook my head and said "merely an act of self defense".

He nodded and rose.

"alright" he sighed "as you were acting out of fear and self defense, I shall let you off. But if you go and hurt any of my pack members again, I shall have to punish you. In the meantime, I would like to-".

"THIS IS RUBBISH" screamed a high pitched scream. It was like she appeared out of nowhere. She looked angry, with angry tears streaming down her face and causing eyeliner marks.

"ENOUGH, Rider (her last name)" Kyle shouted "or it won't be HER I'll be punishing".

"this isn't fair" Penny whined "she hurt me on purpose and kept secrets from the ENITRE pack" she pointed a pampered finger at me.

"not the entire pack" a farmiliar voice came from behind me (what's with all these surprise voices coming from behind me?!).

I turned to see Isabelle standing in the doorway.

"she told three of us, three people she trusted" Isabelle explained "I couldn't believe it, just a late bloomer" she shook her head "it wasn't right, it felt too different. I didn't want to believe my sister was human but it was another thing entirely when she was a late bloomer. I rejected my sister, pretended I didn't have one if you like. But she's always been my little sister".

I ran and hugged her, or more like I was dragged along with mum. I heard mum whisper "Thankyou for coming to your senses sweetheart".