The Wolf Society

Chapter 3: On the Edge

              I forced myself to sit up in my bed, my arms pushing my body up as my bare legs slid over the edge of the mattress.I was in only my underclothes now. The clock to my right, hanging in its brilliance on the wall ticked ever so slowly. 11:45A:M. As my eyes adjusted to the gloom, I slid a gray t-shirt over my head, before sliding on my black cargo pants that all initiates wore. I quickly laced my scuffed black boots given to me by General Aquarius, or less formerly Sloan, and buttoned up my pants, allowing my hair to stay up in a messy, high ponytail.
              I swiftly tip toed through the silent room, my eyes surveying the peaceful sleeping faces of the boys and girls I had only now just gotten to know. 10 initiates. Besides Enzo and the sisters, there was Piper, Seph, Damon, Mala, Zamora, Lily, and George. All were around age 20 as I had suspected. I was for sure the youngest. Damon and Seph were the ones I didn't trust. Each were cunning, suspicious, and surveyed me like prey, although I found that common around these... wolves. Or puppies, as Sloan liked to refer to them as. Although, I could see from the initiates expressions in the commons earlier-Which was what they referred to our room as- that most initiates shared a dislike for Damon and Seph, which was natural with their cocky and narcissistic tendencies. All except for Piper, and Lily, who flirted with them until the point where I wanted to smash my head into a wall.
               After the show in apparently one of the many training rooms, the initiates-even Damon and Seph- all seemed surprised by the fact that I had stood up to Sloan. I simply told them it was nothing. It was, nothing, to me, but apparently, like their hate for Damon and Seph, most shared a sense of fear around Sloan, including Piper, Lily, and Mala who all had an apparent liking of him. Apparently none of them had had a private audience with the General, which I'd also confirmed during talk at dinner. I found that confusing as I thought everyone had one, but I suppose it was just me, leading myself to think, what the hell is so special about me? I didn't know, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to.
                As I creeped down the empty, lifeless hallways, I gazed around at paintings of former Kings and Queens, famous for their ability to break a empire until there was nothing left except dust. I wondered if the king of Arden could somehow do the same with his destructive nature.
                 As I reached the training rooms from the day before, I stepped inside. They were illuminated by dim lights, the source coming from the ceiling. I was shocked to find Damon in his cockiness, and Maria, accompanied by Sloan, looking somewhat annoyed. All sat at a large table in another portion of the room. I stepped slowly toward the meeting space, my eyes resting on Sloan. He nodded, and I sat down across from Damon in the 4th chair. Maria and Sloan sat at the heads, and Damons and myself at the sides. 10 soldiers, including Sergeant Davy surrounded the table, keeping hidden in the shadows. "Adelina, Damon, and Maria." Sloan addressed us formerly. "You hobbling pregnant bitches have been chosen to participate in a more advanced course. Former tests of intellect have proven that you are advanced." Former tests? What tests? There were none, absolutely none. I'd never met Sloan before this situation. Confusion bubbled in my throat, and I could see equal looks from Maria and Damon.
               It was clear Sloan would answer none of our questions. He leaned back lazily in his chair, arms crossed, legs spread. I had to admit he looked good. "You'll be separated from the rest. New quarters, different education, and different training. Each of you will one day become a King, Queen, General, or other high ranking personnel. Which means I must tell you what The Wolf Society is." I blinked at that, more attention now focused to him.
              "The Wolf Society is an empire built to take down the king of Arden. We believe we will soon have all the tools necessary to do so." I could've swore Sloan stole a glance at me, but I wasn't sure. It lasted for less than a second. I studied Damon and Maria's faces. Damon looked cocky as usual, overly proud, and ready to go brag to everyone. Maria, however, gave away nothing. She was smart, and I could tell.
                "You will each receive a test that will determine where you should be put in the higher ranks. Your future." Sloan stole a quick glance at me with a warning involved in his eyes. I wasn't entirely sure why this was being directed at me. Before I had more time to think, he swiftly looked away. "The test will occur two days from now. Midnight. If any of you tell another soul about your new positions, you'll be redirected to a different area." More danger in his eyes. What did redirected mean? Any warning was gone from his body in a second, as if he was hiding it. Hiding it, obviously not from us, but from the soldiers. Either that, or there were cameras hidden somewhere in here. I wasn't sure, and I couldn't be without more inspection. "Your dismissed." Sloan said swiftly, before standing and engaging in immediate conversation with our surveyors. I stood, looking at what must now be considered my competition. Maria and Damon stood without a second thought and scurried out of the door. I narrowed my eyes at that. I could see Sloan shoot a quick look in my direction, before I turned myself, and trudged into the dark hallways.
I was on edge. I had a horrible feeling. The halls seemed to close in on me like my former prison walls, and I hated it. My breathing sped up as I moved faster. I was being watched. I was being watched. The thought ran through my head over and over as I began to panic. With panic came rushing, and with rushing, there was no observing. Hands slammed over my mouth as I was pulled into the shadows. I fought to scream, fought to break free from the strong grasps of 3, what must have been men. My arms were pulled backward as I was driven onto a large bridge crossing over to another part of the building. Below, was a ravine. Huge, looming, and pitch black, waiting to consume me, to eat me whole. I shoved and kicked as they attempted to force me over. Panic ran through my veins full speed as I attempted to escape their grasps. A knife slashed across my arm, leaving a deep cut. I lashed out in pain, eyes full of panic, of fear for the unknown.
I was suddenly knocked back onto the bridge, gasping for breath as a man punched out every one of them with ease, with grace in his every move. Sloan. I clutched the cut across my arm as I sat up, just as Sloan crouched down in front of me, grabbing my arm immediately and examining it. "You're an idiot, Adelina. A retarded idiot." I couldn't care less at his words. "You should've been more careful." He snapped with anger.
I shook my head as he pulled down one of the captors' hood. Shock filled every inch of my body. The face had come to me, had become a friend to me. "Enzo." I said softly, turning my head away as Sloan umasked the others. "Arden. They're with Arden." Disbelief filled me. Enzo was working with my father, which meant other initiates could be as well. Sloan turned on the small device on his wrist, and used it to inform the soldiers of what had occurred. Soon he hung up.
"Soldiers are on their way." He said simply, offering his hand to me once again. I looked up into his eyes, before reaching my own up, and taking it.

I winced with every stitch entering my flesh. There was nothing Sloan had to numb my pain, but for some reason, I didn't mind. Silence stretched between us. "Why is Arden after me?" I asked, staring down at my arm. He paused, as if debating.
"They don't like wolves like us very much. And you were their heir." He was leaving a detail out, I could tell. The story didn't quite fit together, but it was as much as I'd get for now. He finally finished, tying the knot, he wrapped the bandages around my arm.
"You're spending the night here. Take the bed." He tilted his head towards what must have been his bed. I began to protest at simply staying here, let alone taking his bed. "Just take the bed, and shut up." He stood, and before I could begin to speak again, he was in another room. I stood, turning to the bed, and began walking to it. I stopped at the edge, running my hand over the covers, before switching the lights off, and laying down. I stared up at the ceiling with my icy blue eyes, unable to sleep.
I sat up, pushing myself out of the bed, and walking over to the doors that led out to the balcony. I stepped out, shutting the door softly behind me, I stared out into the black abyss of forest, of hunters, circling their prey. But the prey, unlike me, would be shown no mercy.
"Adelina. Adelina." Whispers echoing throughout nothing. Just blackness. No ground, no ceiling, no walls. Blackness. "Shut up!" I snarled angrily. My father behind me, brushing his hand down my arm. I slammed my arm back into him, but it simply went through empty space. "Come home to me, daughter.." I glared around at the abyss. "No." The words repeated over and over. "No!" I screamed. They grew louder and louder, until I doubled over, clutching my hands over my ears, shaking. "SHUT UP!" I screamed. My father crouched in front of me with a wild grin. "No."

My eyes darted open as I sat up, blue eyes filled with pain from the past. I glanced over to the clock. 6:45A:M. My legs shook weakly as I climbed out of the soft feathery bed, stumbling over to the place where Sloan had disappeared. I found him shirtless, passed out on a large couch with a blanket covering him. One arm hung off lazily. I didn't care whatsoever, I simply gazed around the room before I found what I was looking for. A large selection of knives. I slid two out and shoved them into my belt, covering them with my shirt. I took one last look at Sloan, before making my way to the exit.
Walking through the already bustling halls, I made my way back to bunk room 2. As I stepped in, I found everyone was gone, off to breakfast. I grabbed my bags, shoving my clothes laying on my bed into them with a hurry.
"Adelina." I stiffened, turning. "Enzo?" I said, a knife suddenly clutched in my hand. He took a quick glance at it before looking back up at my eyes. "I'm sorry. Please. They were going to kill me." I snarled at him. "Get away from me!" I shouted, grabbing my bag, and swiftly walking past him. He chased after me to my disdain. "Please, Adelina. Forgive me." I turned my head to him. "Shut up." He shook his head. "Please." He whispered softly. "Shut up!" I shouted, causing several looks from the people around me. For once, however, the voice stopped, as I took off down the hall.
I picked at my lunch, not at all hungrily. "Where were you last night? You missed breakfast to." George asked curiously. "Ask Enzo, he knows." I murmured. More curious gazes in my direction. George stood, stalking over to Enzo. I didn't mean for him to actually ask. I rolled my eyes, picking at a slice of sausage. I sighed as George came back, slouching down into his chair. He stayed silent. "Well?" Seph said impatiently. "Enzo and his buddies attacked me in the halls, get over it. He'll be gone soon, anyway." Silence at my words. "What?" I snapped at all of them angrily, standing up, leaving my plate, just as I saw Sloan. I knew what was coming. "Shut up. Just shut up." I said, and stalked out the door angrily. I knew he was following me. "Pregnant hobbling dog." He said sarcastically. I continued walking through the halls. He grabbed my arm, making me face him. I could see instant regret in his eyes, unsure why, i waited.
"I have news from Arden." He said eyes searching mine. "You're father plans to find you." He shook his head in disgust, looking away. "And marry you."

Thanks for reading! You might have noticed this might be similar to something else... *cough Divergent *cough. Lol.. I just thought that part of the story would go good in here, and if you've never seen or read Divergent than... oh well! 😂 anyway, please vote for this story if you liked it. Also, I've been uploading way to much because.. *cough I have no life *cough. Wow I must be getting sick. 😂😂 anyway, I'm going to keep writing these a lot, and just preparing the parts ahead of time and uploading when I feel like it's been long enough.