When I woke up the next day I found out that Silver and Valerie were both gone and would be gone for the next couple of days. I sat down on the couch next to Libra who was braiding Bunny's hair, "Is this something they normally do?" I can't help but be curious about my mate and my wolf wasn't to happy that he'd run off again. Libra tilts her head toward me nodding, "If we were a larger pack than they wouldn't have to but considering how things are there isn't much of a choice. They have to go on scouting parties to make sure that everything is still safe for us to stay here, and thanks to those hunters they seemed even more on edge about it this time."
I pulled my lip between my teeth nibbling on it, "I'm sorry about that. I wasn't trying to cause any trouble for you guys..." Bunny reaches back and pats my leg gently, "You're not causing trouble. Well not anymore than the rest of us have caused." She reassures me and I can't help but smile at the back of her head. Libra snorts a bit, "Yeah, I remember when Bunny showed up. You think you're causing trouble for us—" Bunny smacks Libra's leg playfully.
"Don't tease her about that Lib." Marshall's voice comes from the entryway. I turn my gaze towards him to see a serious scowl on his face. He comes into the room looking towards Bunny as if to make sure that she is still in tact.
She let's out a small sigh before meeting his gaze, "Marshall, I told you that you don't have to coddle me. I'm not a baby—I'm not going to break over a little teasing. Plus she's right. I did cause quite a bit of trouble when I showed up." She shrugs her shoulders a bit as if to show that she didn't mind. I however couldn't understand Marshall's behavior towards her, she was pretty sensitive from what I had witnessed.
"There! All done!" Libra pats Bunny on her shoulders. Bunny reaches back and smooths her hand over the braid before turning around to look at her friend with a bright smile, "Thank you Lib."
Libra waved her hand and rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah—"
Bunny got up off the ground and moved to Marshall who quickly pulled her to his side throwing and arm around her shoulders. He looked down at her with a smile and tugged on the braid playfully, "You look beautiful today mate, though you always look beautiful of course." He leaned down and planted a kiss on the top of her head. She blushed a deep cherry red and pushed Marshall as if wanting to escape his attention but he only chuckle before pulling her tighter against him. Watching them made caused and ache to build in my chest. I reach up and rubbed at my chest hoping for some relief to the phantom ache.
"You two are disgustingly cute—I'm going to start throwing up kittens and rainbows if you don't stop soon." Libra teases.
"When you meet your mate I'll remember that..." Marshall teases back and Libra sticks out her tongue at him. I laughed slightly at them and there childish behavior. It was easy to forget about all the horrible things in my past when I was surrounded by this strange yet amusing pack of wolves.
"So whose in charge while Silver and Valerie are gone?" I interrupt there childish banter. Marshall looks towards me losing a bit of his good humor, "That would be me..."
"Yeah Marshall used to be the beta in his old pack, isn't that right?" Libra smirks. I focus my gaze on Marshall who looks less than pleased at her declaration. Though it did seem to make since as to why his wolf seemed much more dominant than the others. I tilted my head to the side inspecting him further, "If you were the Beta why did you leave?"
His eyes narrowed, "Its none of your business—"
"He didn't leave by choice, he was banished—" Bunny said at the same time as him. He looked down at her with slight annoyance. She looked up toward him with an apologetic grin as if to apologize for blurting out his business. I knew banishment was a big deal because it usually resulted in said wolf turning rogue and rogues were something I was well acquainted with.
"Banishment..." I softened my gaze, "I'm sorry to hear that. No one deserves that..."
"No, I deserved it." He snaps back quickly. I'm sure my eyes widened with my surprise at his response. He pulled away from Bunny and without another word marched out of the room. Everyone in the room was completely still and silent. I closed my eyes and let out a deep sigh, "I'm sorry—It seems like all I'm good at is upsetting the balance you guys have got going on here."
"Grace, there is somethings you have to understand about us, about this pack. We all have pasts that are questionable at best—they make us undesirables to all those other alphas but Silver has never once questioned or treated us any less. He has offered us a place and kept us safe. This is the only place we belong now—but the past is hard to forget." Libra said with a solemn tone.
"I can understand that..."
"I know you can. I saw the scars on your body. I know that those must have be a part of whatever happened to you before we found you." I grit my teeth at her words but keep myself from snapping at her. She lets out a heavy breath, "All I'm saying is that if you aren't planning on sticking around that you shouldn't expect us to share ourselves with you like that." She was clearly warning me that I had stepped over an invisible boundary. I couldn't be angry at her for her slight reprimand, she was only trying to protect herself and her family.
"Well, I don't plan on sticking around—I have things I have to do." I state plainly but my wolf growls at me in my head.
What is your problem now? I question her, annoyed by her behavior lately.
This is where our mate is. This is where we belong. She snarls at me.
What about our pack? You're being ridiculous. I snap feeling my irritation rising.
They left us to the rogues! Let them rot with the bastard, he'll be the death of them all. This is our pack now. I grit my teeth wanting to shake her to make her realize that we had to make my uncle pay for what he had done to us and my parents.
"You're going to leave us?" Bunny's soft voice pulled me out of my internal battle. She was looking at me with big sad eyes that made me bite the inside of my cheek to keep from taking back what I had said. I swallow the words and nodded my head, "I have too—this is about my past. I can't move forward until I've made sure I've buried it six feet under."
She gave me a look that could only be described at pity, "I hope you change your mind because if I've learned anything its that revenge is a poison that doesn't stop until it's destroyed everything you've ever cared about." Her words were like ice in my veins and I had no response because I wasn't sure what to say to such a foreboding statement.
"Come on, let's go find Leo—" Libra says to Bunny with an outstretched hand, "I have a feeling he's trying to burn the house down again." Bunny put her hand into Libra's and allowed her to lead them out of the room. I sat awkwardly on the couch, once again left alone to my own devices. I could feel the tension in my body and the dark imagines of the past brewing a storm in my mind. I pushed myself up off the couch and bolted from the room, heading straight for the front door. I needed to get out of here—I needed to finish what I had set out to do and I needed to do it before anyone could talk me out of it.
A firm hand caught my arm in a tight grip. I turned frantically with a snarl, flashing my canines. Marshall stared at me with wide eyes but he didn't release me, "Where do you think you're going?"
"Out!" I snap and yank my arm free from his grasp, hurrying towards the door. He catches up to me quickly and jumps in front of my path, "I can't let you leave Grace." He says to me a in firm yet calm demeanor. I sneer at him, "Oh, and I suppose you think you're going to stop me then?"
"If I have to yes..." His words make a panic build in my chest. I can't be trapped, not again. My wolf clings to my distress and scratches at confines of my skin, "Get out of my way! You can't keep me here!"
"And I can't let you leave!" He snaps loudly.
"Why the hell not?!"
"Because Silver made me promise to make sure that you remained here until he returned." His words wash over me like a splash of cold water. My wolf immediately calmed and I was left to deal with the strange panic alone. I felt like the walls were closing in on me and I couldn't get enough air, "Please..." I whimpered feeling weak for the first time since I was released from my prison. I staggered back away from Marshall and the door to my freedom, "I just want out..."
Marshall's gaze softened and he took a step towards me, "Calm down Grace—you need to calm down." He reached out for me but I slapped his hand away. My breaths were coming in short and quick as my eyes wandered around the room looking for a new escape. Marshall took another step towards me as Bunny and Libra rushed into the room probably from all the commotion. I snarled at them as I backed away further panic driving my actions.
"Stay back!" He growls at them.
"What's going on?" Libra asks.
"The hell if I know—it looks like she's have a breakdown." Marshall replies eyeing me suspiciously, "Grace, we are not going to hurt you okay? Calm down." He tries to keep his tone light.
I hear movement behind me and spin around quickly to see Leo right before he hits me with a metal pan to the side of my head. The room begins to grow hazy as I drop to the ground the sharp pain in my head drowning out most everything else.
"What the hell man?" I hear Marshall growl.
"She looked like she was two seconds away from ripping out everyones throat—excuse me for trying to save your sorry asses." Leo grumbles. I groan as the room grows darker by the second.
"Silver isn't going to be very happy about this when he gets back..." Marshall quips as I feel strong arms lifting me up off the ground. I look up into his face for a quick moment, "Silver?" everything grows dark and I fall into the blackness happy to be free from the panic that had been clouding my mind moments before.
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Song: 'The Wolf'- Mumford and Sons
A/N: So now we've learned some more about the pack. I know this chapter might have been odd but it's important to remember Grace spent two years locked up and tortured. She used her hatred to keep herself alive and now things are challenging that and so she is still struggling to adapt to her freedom--