Rylie looked around the small cabin she used to sleep in in the last few months. Then she jiggled her backpack before turning around.
She'll surely miss the whole pack. Everything she had learned in the summer. All the werewolf myth she doesn't know existed is right before her eyes. Like a dream, she was waking up from her long slumber.
Aly stood at the door and turned the knob for her. But Rylie avoided those sky-blue eyes as they stared at her intensely. If Aly noticed something in her demeanour, she didn't comment.
Instead, Rylie turned her eyes toward the other pack members. Alpha Gab, Kelly, Nathan, Hanna, Hunter and Helga looked at her as soon as she went out.
Kelly smiled, held her hand and squeezed it.
While Hanna is tearing up, she steps toward Hanna and hugs the latter. A sob escaped from Macey's mother.
"Rylie...."
Rylie felt the tremors from Hanna's body, and her heart started to tear into pieces. She closed her fist to stop it from trembling. Even though Rylie wants to start searching for answers to Macey's condition right now, there's nothing she can do but go back first. Sort out her school life before covertly going back to the pack.
"It's alright. I'll continue to search for a solution to our problems, Han." She tapped Hanna's back, but her eyes were downcast. "I'll find a way."
There was a determination in her voice that she could feel in the air. The whole pack is silent, but she can feel the tension in the air.
Hanna untangled herself from Rylie and put a hand to her face. Nathan swept Hanna in his arms and caressed his wife's back.
Nathan smiled at her halfheartedly, and Rylie just nodded her head.
She felt the guilt gnawing at her. Her father was the root cause of all this. And as his daughter. It's her responsibility to fix it all. Isn't it? If only her father hadn't done it.
She closed her eyes tightly. Just then, she felt an arm holding her.
She opened her eyes and saw Alpha Gab's green eyes. "Hey. Don't forget about us. Communicate with us through the mind link. I'll answer immediately."
Rylie nodded her head and awkwardly removed herself from Alpha Gab's arms. She wouldn't say that she didn't feel any attraction to Alpha Gab, but her body is betraying her like what she did with Aly yesterday. Mating is a powerful thing.
She whipped her head to the side when she felt a sudden tension. Aly's blue eyes were burning right through her. She bit her lip and looked away.
She doesn't have to feel guilty, doesn't she? They are not yet mated, and she still has a choice if she wants. But she liked Aly despite the latter's indecisiveness about the relationship they would establish.
But right now, she needed to focus, so she took her backpack, rummaged through it, took a piece of paper and gave it to Alpha Gab. It was the formula for the green vial that she copied from the notebook journal of her Dad.
"Here, the formula for the green vial."
Alpha Gab opened her mouth and looked at her with astonishment. "T-Thanks, Rylie."
Rylie's lips tugged upwards. It's the only thing she could do right now for the whole pack. "It's just a small act."
"No, it's not." Alpha Gab shook her head and smiled in her gentle way. Then she hugged her one last time.
Alpha Gab squeezed her one last time before letting go.
Rylie awkwardly shifted her feet. Aly wouldn't look her way. And all the pack members lightly smile as they turn their eyes from Alpha Gab to Aly and her. But she chooses to keep her mouth shut. She doesn't know what to say either.
It's good that they are still humorous despite what is happening in the pack.
"I'll oversee everything here in the meantime. My wife and I will patrol the whole border." Hunter nodded at her.
His face was set in a determined line. "I'll make sure that no witches will be able to step on our location," Helga said.
Rylie nodded at Helga and looked around one last time. "I'll miss this place. You are all like a family to me."
Maybe if she didn't become a werewolf, she'd waste away in her grandmother's cabin, wondering what happened to her father. She'll never get to know this wonderful pack that treats each other as families. Or she would still be an archaeological student without any clue about this side of the world.
Rylie bowed her head down. "Thank you for letting me stay here. Thank you for teaching me things about becoming a werewolf. I am really...really..... grateful."
Her voice cracked at the end. Then her eyes started watering. It was hard for her to say goodbye. She was used to being a werewolf inside the pack. She could never have fitted herself again in the human world.
She felt an arm wrap itself around her.
"No... we are family here. Family care for each other and help each other."
Aly smiled at her and wiped her tears. Rylie looked at Aly's sky-blue eyes and felt the sincerity in her voice.
Although earlier Aly was jealous of Alpha Gab, she hugged Aly before turning around to look all around her. Even though Aly turned away from her that time, she couldn't help but feel sad that she would leave the werewolf behind.
Other pack members are also outside and looking at her. They didn't approach her, but Rylie knew they were all saying their goodbyes to her in their way.
"Aly will be your companion." Alpha Gab looked at the sky and sighed. "You two should keep going before it's nighttime again. We never know when the remaining were-witches will strike."
They all agreed that Aly would be the one accompanying her because they were a mate. Alpha Gab has so much to do as an Alpha, and Rylie also decides because she can't bother the Alpha with her duties. Besides, Aly is Alpha Gab's beta.
"Let's go?" Aly quickly transformed into her white wolf.
Mate...
Rylie shook her head. Her wolf is like a teenager with so many hormones inside her body. She can't entirely concentrate when it would just nag her about mating with Aly.
Aly lowered herself to the ground, and Rylie immediately hopped on Aly's back. She waved one last time to the pack before Aly took off running.
She gripped Aly's mane on each side and closed her eyes. They are speeding off, and Rylie can feel the wind sweeping her hair off either side. Aly didn't say a word, and Rylie wouldn't talk about what happened either.
She feels sad that they would part like this. Aly?
Yes, Ry?
I-I know why you didn't consummate our mate bond.
Rylie read it a few times in the books she found in the library. She could now understand why Aly wouldn't consummate their bond.
Y-You knew?
The wind whips her hair from side to side, but she doesn't care. She would at least want to part ways with Aly on good terms.
Aly stopped when they were in the woods near her home and gracefully craned her head to let her slide down.
Rylie climbed down and gazed at the white wolf's eyes. "You know I would regret my decision to mate because of what I am still after."
Aly's white fur moved with the wind, and Rylie put her hair to the side to stop her hair from whipping all over the place.
'Yes.'