I walked through the forest just thinking about how I got into this stupid situation. The dark branches casted shadows across the ground in eerie shapes. Owls spoke to themselves within the tops of the trees. Each sound whispered danger. Each movement screamed enemies--rogues.
Pain on the bottom of my feet seared up to my hips. My siblings had warned me that the first bones to start hurting were my feet. I was supposed to shift for the first time tonight and this was not how I thought it would go. All I could think about was how it was supposed to happen.
Family members and friends were going to surround me. Before I completed the process, they were to shift while comforting me through the change. We were then going to watch the sunset off the cliff that was on the property. My parents' friends, who were alphas, had us come over every time one of us went through the change. Too bad that never happened.
Another wave of pain ran up my spine sending shocks through my limbs. Crunching of leaves sent me sprawling to the floor as I jumped from fright. The pain distracting me from landing back on my feet, causing me to trip. Another surge of pain came from my tailbone this time; probably, already breaking the bone before the others began cracking on their own.
A bare, gangly foot appeared in front of my face. Then, a chuckle sounded from above. A rogue. Why was it here? Did it smell me out? Was it here to hurt me? Was it going to eat me? How am I supposed to run when I can't even stand?
Fear shook my limbs in response to the human-like animal looming over me. I had only been afraid one other time in my life, and that was when I had lost mom in IKEA. That time wasn't even coming close to this.
"Well, I see that we have newbie running around the forest," a deep, sweet male voice chuckled. His voice was too sweet; so sweet, that it sent shivers down my spine. "Where your parents?" He waited a bit while I shook and whimpered not only from fear but now also pain. My adrenaline was pumping too fast for me to think about my parents and the tears that would surely come. "Oh well, it don't matter. Let's get ya to cave, yeah? Wooden wanna have any other rogues to get ya. You mine now, sweety."
His knees came into view as he kneeled down in front of me. No way was I going to let him get a hold of me! Too late, he already had one arm around my shoulders then under my legs. My body slumped down in the space between his arms. I tried to shift myself so I would fall through them but then he gripped me tighter. A crack came from my clavicle and hip. They both had broken in half.
I screamed loud and clear scaring the birds from miles around. My pathetic attempt to get away yet again broke my right shoulder blade as well.
He chuckled once again. "You a fighter alright! I'm gonna have fun killin' ya." After he mentioned that, he let out a loud bellow.
Walking swiftly through the trees, we reached a little hole in the ground. I jerked in his grip all the way forcing him to drop me. Instead of falling on the ground as I had hoped, I fell straight into the hole. Upon impact, a large crack resounded against the dirt walls. My scream fell on silent ears as nothing came out of my mouth. It felt like my ribs were collapsing in on themselves.
Curling in on myself, I stopped paying attention to the rogue that entered the underground home. All I noticed was the dirt on the ground. Soft, powdery dirt and sharp rocks rubbing on my skin.
It felt like hours as each bone shattered in different spots. For a bit, I had passed out because the pain was too magnificent for me to bare. When I opened my eyes, there was no more pain to obstruct my concentration.
A man stood above me as my hands and feet dug into the dirt. Only, my limbs were smaller than normal. The man was also a lot taller than I had remembered. What happened?
A mirror was shoved in my face. I knew he wasn't very kind from the beginning. What was in the mirror was a little petite white wolf that had flaring red tips. Actually, they were more orange than red. My azure blue eyes observed me through the mirror.
I had shifted. Now I was going to die.
Let me deal with this man; just sit tight.
I felt a shift and I was no longer able to control my wolf body. Although I felt weirded out by this change, from all the stories I've heard about, I knew that my wolf was to be trusted.
Before the guy could do anything, my mouth was around the guy's neck. I peered through the wolf's eyes in anticipation; this was like watching a movie except with terrible consequences. The man's hands wrapped around my torso to smash me against the wall. Little did he know that my wolf was way stronger than him.
I jumped back at him, or my wolf, slashing his stomach. Blood and innards splashed to the floor. Pushing off the other side of the wall, my wolf attached me to his neck once again. With one tug, his head was ripped off.
It's pitiful to see someone even try to defeat an immortal werewolf.
How did I even get in this mess?
2 hours earlier
"Would you just shut up!" This was my older sister snapping at my older brother. He had been making weird noises and singing off tune to the radio for way too long.
My sister was the hormonal, temperamental type. If you push her buttons, she'll hurt you until she's satisfied. She loves to blame her fiery temper on her hormones. It's quite tiring, her pmsing all the time. It's not even her hormones; it's just her lousy personality. Actually, she just has anger management problems. Sometimes, I can't blame her. My brother can be quite the devil when he wants.
If I even try to act like her or my brother, my bum would be red for weeks. I think my mom was trying to keep me from acting like them, like she thinks they're a failure. But, I don't know; I'm only a teenager. At least, that's the excuse my parents have for when I ask questions.
Despite our family failures and troubles, we love each other too much to hurt one another on purpose. If something happened to one of us, we would all go blood crazy to hurt that person.
I remember vividly when this human boy at school got a bunch of boys together like they were the wolves. They went after my sister like frenzied sharks. You would think they had never seen a female before. Long story short, they ended up in the hospital before going to juvy. My brother didn't get charged since they attacked first. I think he annoys my sister just to make sure she's still there and okay. It's kind of sweet if I think about it that way.
"Antonio, stop bothering your sister or I'll force you to drive," mom scolded him. "And Rachel, stop reacting; you keep on encouraging him when you do that." It's kind of scary since she's so calm about this. I would've figured that she would be yelling at him since it's hard to drive with a nuisance such as himself. And, it's especially scary since she's driving on the side of the mountain! There's literally rock and then cliff next to us. It seems that nothing ever fazes her.
"Act your age," dad reprimanded backing mom up.
Antonio was 16 and a half; he recently got his driver's permit. On his first day he ran into a tree with our other vehicle. It was still in the yard unsalvageable. He's terrified of driving now, especially with others in the van.
Rachel was 18--about to graduate with her associates degree as well as high school diploma. A couple years ago, she had met her mate but he's 10 hours away from us, so after her graduation she's going to move into his family house.
I was twelve, turning thirteen tonight. Us immortal werewolves only turn at the same hour we were born in. That means at five I turn--which was in an hour and a half. Except, it'll take us an hour and fifteen minutes to get there if we speed; we kind of left the house late. And, that was exactly what my mom was doing on these treacherous roads.
About an hour later my mom switched places with Rachel since we were now in the middle of the forest instead of on the mountain. Rachel was begging to get out of the backseat; we only had thirty minutes until I shifted.
A warm hand wrapped itself in mine squeezing slightly. Mom really knew how to calm my nerves down. It was almost like she had a sixth sense to these things. Good thing I wasn't breaking down, though. I knew that everything would be fine with my family there.
Then suddenly, a large crash screeched in our ears as the car flipped over across the road into a tree. Glass poked out of the ground all around me as my window laid against the dirt. There were groans coming at me from every direction. What happened?
I glanced next to me finding the cement centimeters from my face with glass shattered on top. The side of my face pulsed in pain. Was there glass stuck in my skin?
I felt someone unbuckle my seatbelt then lay on top of me. "Stay quiet, pretend that you're not here. We can't have them see you Kailyn." Them who?
Rustling near the other window had me craning my neck to see what was happening. All I saw was black and car since mom blocked my view. Then, I felt a blanket swiftly covering me whole with Antonio's backpack on top. The car door latch accompanied with a screech gathered everyone's attention.
A deep hollow voice commanded from above. "Get the parents and children out. Make sure you chain them from toe to head and give them a shot of wolfsbane. If you don't come out of the van surrendering, I will kill one of you." I assume the last sentence was to us. Footsteps walked away from the van. Was he leaving?
"Don't move Kalley," dad whispered my nickname.
I tried to think of a way out of this like all those amazing superheroes did to get out of these situations, yet my mind wouldn't even start the train of thought.
I could feel my mother's weight slowly release me from my smushed state. Why were they leaving me here?
"They're already healed!" exclaimed a male from the outside of the vehicle. Suddenly right after that, I heard a smacking sound.
"You fool, have you not heard of immortal werewolves? They can heal in a matter of seconds from internal wounds. I'm pretty sure that car crash would give a normal werewolf scratches; these guys probably didn't even get hurt. We could probably only shock them a bit."
Car crash? Did Rachel swerve so she wouldn't hit an animal?
"Well, our car and their van are pretty totaled."
Our car? Did they hit us? Or did we hit them? Well, we're the ones on our side so I guess they hit us. But why? Was this why mom and dad were so worried? Because they're looking for us on purpose? Of course, I should have known from the male voice #1. Why did it take so long to figure this stuff out?
"I didn't expect them to give up without a fight; they seem kind of cowardly." My throat seemed to constrict while the blanket felt like it was trying to strangle me half to death. I could feel my limbs start to shake unnecessarily.
A snort came from where the men were talking. "They will do anything to protect the ones they love. In fact, immortal werewolves are bound more by blood than any other werewolf out there."
I needed to get out; I needed to get out, now! It was too much... I couldn't breath. It was too much.
Grabbing the blanket, I shoved it to one side of me along with the bag so I could see. If I could just crawl over the driver's seat then I could reach the window on the roof. Luckily, Rachel opened it when she began to drive.
Pulling myself up with the driver's head rest, I could get over the side of the seat. I stepped down onto the broken window making sure that I was discreet in my trek. Ever so slowly, I pushed my way through the window. It was so weird since everything was sideways.
The conversation, I realized, was still going while I was making my escape out of the vehicle--that seemed to have its walls closing in on itself. It had turned from observing to gloating over their 'victory'. There was no way I would count this as their victory; nobody will die.
Loud thumps, that I recognized were footsteps, came forward. I ran into the forest knowing that I just had to go two miles to get to Nathan's territory; they would be able to save them. Before I got out of hearing range, I could hear the deep voice ask where the youngest was.
Could I get to his territory? Wasn't this rogue country? This was rogue country.... Instead of a jog, I began to sprint through the wilderness.
What if one shifted on me? What was I supposed to do then?
Shifted.... I was supposed to shift. In fifteen minutes. Will I be able to get to their territory on time? What will happen if I don't? How am I supposed to sprint two miles in under fifteen minutes?!?! I could only do it in twenty-five!
Calm yourself down. You just need to beat your other records. You got this so pay attention and sprint as fast as you can....
25 minutes later
The blood from the rogue's body swelled into a puddle, reaching out like tiny rivers across the floor. My body moved closer to the wall so my wolf could jump us out of here. With a leap I thought only cats and bunnies could pull off, she sprinted us back on track. We had to travel east, away from the setting sun.
About a few minutes later, she had moved across the territory line. The line had a scent that reminded me of Nathan. Were all boundary lines marked with the Alpha's scent?
A howl caught our attention as three wolves stalked into view. Border patrol? Apparently so, as they circled me while I just sat on the nicely mowed grass. On this side of the line, the grass was kept as well as the undergrowth. It made things a lot easier to see and go through. I was only 7 feet away from the line showing how adept these patrol wolves were.
We were waiting on the Alpha which was perfect because he knew my scent. After another 30 seconds, I became restless knowing that my family was probably still in trouble. Who knew what was happening with them! I don't even know how long it took me to shift. They could be in even more danger now!!
A familiar scent wafted across the air slowing down my pacing I had just begun. Little did I know that this scent would be lost to me forever soon enough. Out came three more people carefully striding over in case I might attack or something. It made no sense really since these people were supposed to help, but I guess they didn't know that yet.
The tall man in the middle had a beard just on the beginnings of turning white. His almond brown eyes shifted from me to his patrollers. Each muscle in him screamed lean as well as the two on either side of him.
Those two had to be brothers as their jaw lines and physique were too similar to be coincidental. They both had brown hair yet two different kinds. On the right side, he had blueish green eyes while the other had eyes the color of an evergreen tree.
The wolves that surrounded me were all a different shade of brown as well. Was my fur weird? I remember my family all having white or black fur with different colored tips. Was it like that for immortal werewolves?
The male in the middle that smelt like the boundary line stepped forward and took a large sniff of the air. It was Alpha Nathan. His face scrunched up and then became wide while his eyes made a resemblance of circular dishes. "Kailyn?" His voice was airy and rushed as he took quick steps towards me. "What happened my dear?"
I stared at him, thinking about how I was supposed to explain the situation. I mean, I was a wolf; they can't speak like humans. There was this one thing mom had mentioned once. What was that?
Mind link. You can mind link anyone you want now.
That's right!
Alpha Nathan? We... We were attacked, or at least I think. Mom... She wanted me to run. She wanted me to get here. I couldn't do anything. They... They're straight across the rogue country on the road. A car hit us and then these men came. I couldn't do anything.'
Nathan knelt down to my puny size; his hand came up to sit on my head. "I need you to stay here for me," he requested softly. Standing up, he commanded to his officers, "I need twenty-three warriors ready to move out in five minutes, no later. The rest need to standby for orders in case things get rough. Get one of the nurses to come with us; we'll be going up the road three or so miles from here."
The two brothers turned to sprint seeing that Nathan's orders were met. His patrol officers scooted closer to me almost in friendship rather than guarding.
Their alpha dazed off for a second before addressing the other four of us. "Alyssa, my wife, is coming over here to help you. Don't worry about your family, alright? They're perfectly safe. Your parents are one of the strongest werewolves I have ever seen. Just think about your shifting process while I go get your family, okay? At least, you'll have someone that you've seen before help you. When we get back, you can show off your wolf to your parents, okay?" After that, he shifted to head straight for the border. Without the slightest hesitation, the male went right into rogue country to help my family.
It was then, I realized, that I could trust this man with whatever I need. My trust in him was something I would need later on in the future.
The bushes crinkled and shook as this woman hurried through. Her long, silver flowing hair, that I remembered, was tied back in a messy bun. The clothes she wore were kind of disarrayed like she wasn't ready to get out of the house so quickly.
Alyssa scampered over to me then kneeled down to hug me. Her hands reached up to put my wolfish face in between them.
"It's so good to see you! Let's get you back into human form shall we?" She jabbered right away. "After we get your family back, you can present to them your lovely wolf! Have you figured out her name? Here I have a towel for you." A towel came out from behind her to land on me. "Just tell your wolf you want to shift back into a human; it's that easy. Though, it'll hurt for just a moment."
I got you.
Pain laced through my nerves once again as the bones broke. You would think all these bones breaking would harm you in other ways as well. But, that's what the speed healing was for I guess. A couple minutes later, I was back to being in my human form writhing in a throbbing ache. It just had to hurt. She lied; it was more than a moment.
The patrol wolves turned towards the line as I got up on my baby faun legs. With the blanket wrapped around my pudgy body, Alyssa and I steadily began to walk. She was probably bringing me to the house the top werewolves lived.
There was a pack house, with many regular houses, and another house that had the rulers: alpha plus family, beta plus family, head warrior plus family, and head nurse plus family. It was almost as big as the pack house.
She lead me through a door that went straight to the kitchen. It was very modern with sleek silver appliances and white cabinets. The walls had sea blue and silver strips covering them. A door was hidden in the right corner of the kitchen. Alyssa opened it revealing a tight staircase that was probably made for servants.
The young woman chuckled, probably at my astonished expression. "It's easier to get from our room to the kitchen without having to travel through the main rooms. We're lazy that way. Besides, I don't think you want to go through all the rooms filled with other people." Without hesitation, we both traveled up the staircase. On the third floor, she had me stay in the room next to hers.
The room was a dark green with cream accents all around the room. There was a t.v. across from the twin bed and a window to the right of it. Two doors were to the left of the bed, but we didn't go in them. There was already a pair of clothes on the bed waiting for us. The outfit had a tank top, sweatshirt, long pajama pants, and exercise shorts.
I immediately took the tank top and put it on. I didn't care about decency since she was a mother; I could tell by the warmth in her eyes. They were the same as mom's. The sweatshirt came on after that then the shorts. Maybe I could find some leggings to go on underneath the shorts later.
All I wanted to do now was sleep. Sleep until next week which meant for five days. Slipping underneath the covers, I cuddled in. My family would be here in the morning, so I needed to get my rest. I had a lot to elaborate about my experiences.
Alyssa laid on the bed above the covers startling me. What was she doing? "I'll stay right here while you sleep okay? If you have a nightmare, just tell me. Your family will arrive sometime soon; don't worry and sleep tight."
I closed my eyes. After everything that happened and the long car ride, I was really exhausted. Gripping the blanket closer, I let go so I could fall into the sweet bliss of darkness.
Sabrina's POV
The car door clicked open at the drivers side. He better have gotten everything situated.
"The men are getting everything in order; they should have the family out of the van soon enough, Sabrina," reported my top man. Well, my third topman that is. The others were insufficient in their tasks.
I glanced down to my royal red painted fingernails right above my black sweatpants. A brilliant smile got placed on my face as I thought about how well my plan was working.
Sweatpants didn't really fit my style that I liked, but they did a good job at keeping me warm. The nice sky blue sweatshirt went over my lovely silk shirt. Each strand of hair was wrapt into a pleasantly elegant bun.
My long, slender fingers gripped the door handle so I could have the contraption let me out. Sometimes I just don't understand why people like riding in these metal boxes. My top man had gotten me some white tennis shoes for the disguise we were going with. I didn't fancy them too much, yet they did the job. If anybody took a good look at me, they would see a teenager.
Each step brought about a splash as this place was adorned with puddles. Forests covered the scenery from neck to toe. The sky was barely visible if you careened your neck upwards. Clouds accompanied with dark blue shades colored the sky this fare evening.
The Gracchus family struggled in their silver, gold, iron, and steel laced bonds. A female doctor I had gained the support of sealed a baggie with five injection needles; one, I noticed, wasn't used. Why was there still one wolfsbane shot? Where was the youngest girl?
My top man's deep hollow voice growled from near their ruined van. "Where's the youngest child? Find her! NOW!" They better find her; she was supposed to shift in another ten minutes or so.
"Sabrina," snarled Adriana Gracchus. I ignored her rude and untimely interruption of my plans.
"Right beyond the rogue country is Alpha Nathan Gindin's territory. Get me scouts to scour the rogue land for Kailyn Gracchus and up the road. I need someone to stand behind each of the family members." My top man swiveled around accompanied with wide eyes.
He had the right to be scared; who knows what might happen if I couldn't get my hands on that little girl. Without another second's hesitation, he began to bark orders to get what I wanted done.
Striding up to the nearest Gracchus, I planted my cool hand upon the young girl's cheek. It was stained wet from previous tears. Kneeling down, my eyes bore into her azure blue ones that the family seemed to have a knack for. A soft smile graced my lips as I whispered to her. "It'll be alright. I'll make sure these mongrels can't lay a finger on you. There's nothing to fear." Except for me of course.
With a nod of my head, Maurizio and Adriana Gracchus had their mouths gagged. I wasn't going to let them ruin my fun.
"Ma'am!" A little lad skittered toward me from the trees where Kailyn ran off to. Of course someone else had to ruin my fun. "We lost her somewhere in the woods. Her scent began to mingle with a rogue's then vanished." I flicked my wrist to see that twelve minutes had passed from my silver watch; she's already shifted or in the process. Great.
I gave the young boy a gentle smile; he had lost his mother not too long ago from humans. Evil, antipathetic creatures of destruction. "Well, why are you here? Maybe if you keep searching you might find her. She's got to be out there somewhere." The boy hesitated stepping from foot to foot. I could feel the others who didn't go into the forest tense. "What's gotten you so hesitant?"
"Uh," his voice squeaked from his pubescent vocal chords, "I've gone all the way to the Alpha's territory. His patrol wolves are everywhere right behind the boundary line. The others are scouring the rest of the territory."
"What? So, you think you're done with your work out there? Come over here so I can give you another task." The lad rushed over to me looking hopeful. Right when he got to me, I landed a nice punch to his stomach. "Now, go back out there and do your job. Stop being a whiny baby; your mother is cursing you in her grave about how much of a coward you are."
He fell to the ground from the force of the punch. Then, he began to crawl back to the woods. He'll either learn to grow some backbone or his backbone will be taken out. Suddenly three more came from the woods empty handed. Why were these mongrels so inept?
"We can't find her and now Alpha Gindin's wolves are coming through the rogue country," one of the men reported.
"Why did that have to take all of you? Only one needed to send me that report. Go"
Again. Hesitation.
"We..."
Before they could say anymore, I went to the lad that had stopped his progression to the woods. He was hesitating to go back again--worthless. My nails elongated, plunging into his back so I could rip out his spine. He won't be needing it anymore. "Either you grow some backbone and fight the oncoming wolves, or, you lose your backbone. Choose," I gave them their choice in a soft, firm voice. Never did I raise my voice in any circumstance. All three wolves raced back into the safety of the trees. Away from me.
"Get some undercover wolves into the surrounding packs. I need others to act as rogues as well. Also, have some of our humans move into the town near the Alpha's territory. We'll need a surveillance for this pack now that he has little Kailyn." I ordered my first in command finally remembering his name was Stephan.
Stepping back over to Rachel, I reached out my hand only for her to flinch away. I glanced down seeing my hand covered in blood; good thing I've gained a practice of painting my fingernails red. My apologetic smile slipped on before I slapped her. "Never flinch or run from me," I whispered to her lowly.
To the guards, I stared each one in the eye. "Kill the parents however you want; I don't need them getting in our way ever again. Afterwards, put the children in the back of the truck."
I slipped away from the scene back into the car observing my work get done. Tortured and agonized screams ripped into the air. Although there was a minor setback, today really had been a fare day. I was able to vanquish my prime enemy and now have their children in my hands. Only if everyday could be this productive.
Yet, we weren't in the clear until we cleaned up and were miles away when Gindin's crew got here. That would most definitely put a damper on things.
The parents' corpses now laid in the road while their offspring were put in a truck. Others of my group gathered in six other trucks leaving the car we used as a battering ram. Everything was in order to leave besides those dead, the vehicles, and blood splatters as well as tire marks.
Stephan jumped in so we could turn around. Afterwards, we started the procession back to the base so I could get a plan in order. The other captain can get more men, hopefully they weren't as inept as the ones we left behind to die.
It was finally time to get another attack in motion.
Kailyn's POV
"We can't just wake her up. Let's tell her during breakfast alright?" Nathan snapped at someone.
Was he in the room? I removed the blankets quickly seeing that I was alone. Alyssa had left somewhere. Maybe she was with Nathan behind the door to the hallway. They had to be there because that's the only place I would be able to hear them from. I marched over to the door, ripping it open. Where was my family? Were they alright?
Nobody was there in the gloomy hallway. They couldn't have moved that quickly. Where were they?
In their bedroom. You have werewolf hearing now. In a couple years, you'll get your immortal abilities as well.
No way.... I hadn't heard of this before. Why hadn't Rachel told me this? Or mom? Or dad and Antonio?
I tiptoed over to Alyssa's door listening in on them. Where was everyone? Would they tell me? Without thinking, I opened the door blurting out, "Are they here? Where's mom, dad, Rachel and Antonio? Are they okay?"
Right in front of me stood the Alpha and Luna hugging each other. Tears fell down unceremoniously on both of their faces. A bed in golds and reds was placed behind them. My eyes wouldn't leave their figures as I was sucked into a trance. They loved each other. All they needed was their family and they would stay strong no matter what force tried to tear them apart. Yet, here I was breaking one of their precious moments. Was I really that selfish to settle my own anxiety?
"Ah!" I whispered about to close the door before they stopped me.
"Please go to the kitchen; I'll make us breakfast." Alyssa gave me a dazzling smile but it didn't hide the agony she was feeling.
They didn't make it; otherwise, those two wouldn't be crying. Quietly, I shut the door then made my way to the small staircase. Mom and dad would have come to check on me if they were here. They're probably in really bad condition so they're in the hospital. Yeah, that's what they wanted to tell me. There was no way my parents or Rachel and Antonio would've died. That's just impossible.
I sat down on a silver chair waiting for the couple to come in to explain. It took them only a little while as they came in with their day clothes. Alyssa immediately went to the cabinets fishing out items. Nathan went to a seat opposite of mine.
"I brought twenty-three of my men with me so I could help out your parents," started Nathan. "When I got there, I saw your vehicle along with another car. I'm not going to go into details until I know you're ready." He paused while moving his eyes to the table. "There were people that fought with my men. None survived because if we tried to keep prisoners, they killed themselves. You see, they told us that they couldn't be captured. She would torture them if she found out they still lived. And well, that's when we found your parents."
Alyssa had put three pans on the stove. Hash browns were being smashed together in this potato cake thing. Eggs and bacon pieces were cooking in the other pans. She sure was fast in getting everything in order.
"They were injected with wolfsbane and chained with metal chains. All different kinds of metal really. I imagine that your siblings were hostages so they couldn't do anything besides what the people mandated." He paused to take a deep shaky breath then went on. "They're no longer in this world Kailyn."
The door creaked; the ground groaned; the wind blew my hair; and then, there was nothing. No longer could I feel that comfortable presence that's been sitting inside me since last night. My breathing sped up as I searched for the truth I feared in his eyes. Each muscle group began to twitch ever so slightly. I could hear a howl in the distance of my mind.
"I'm home!" Exclaimed a male voice enthusiastically. "Hey mom, dad, I didn't expect you to be in the kitchen." There was a pause as the man in front of me glanced to his son. "Who's this?" The cautious, confused tone couldn't be missed.
Slowly, I turned my head toward their son. His hair was dark with blue eyes like his mother. The curve of his face was very prominent; he was built up almost like his father but more lean than bulk. He wore a mint green button up along with jeans.
I suddenly felt exposed without having leggings under my shorts. Why hadn't I gotten them earlier?
Cautiously, I got up from the table to walk around the opposite side the teen boy was at. Alyssa stood on the other side watching my every move. Whispering to her about wanting leggings, taking my hand, she lead me into the hall. There was a closet she went to that turned out to be more of a clothing store.
"This is where we store clothes in case one of us shifts and needs clothing quickly. When the pack is done with some items, they donate it here. Some members even make clothing to put in here since most of the clothing is kind of outdated with use," Alyssa explained to me.
She reached up into a rack to give me black leggings.
"I guess you're not used to guys?" The question shocked me. Was I used to guys? I haven't been in contact with many males besides Alphas and my male family members. Dad, I needed dad here. He was always with me when around other males.
I could feel a blush coming on as I shook my head.
She chuckled, "Well, don't worry about him; he can be a teddy bear if he wants." If he wants....
"Are," I stopped because I felt like someone was squeezing my throat. "Are they really?"
"We'll get through this together," she answered with a giant hug.
Feeling like I was falling in a deep dark hole, I grabbed onto her arm. Not letting go, she had to walk with me stuck to her arm like a leech. My wolf--who seconds ago was gone--felt content with her next to me; I, at least, felt a little safe knowing that she's here for me.
We steadily marched back to the kitchen in silence. Once we got close, I could hear the two male wolves speaking in hushed tones. "Please, son, I need you to be on board with this. She's alone now and just turned into a new wolf. As an Alpha, you need to protect all young unless they can hurt the pack. This is the Gracchus' youngest daughter. Remember them asking you about being her protective cousin. We knew they were going to get attacked but not when. Honestly-"
He stopped abruptly seeing us walk in. They knew they were going to be attacked sometime? Is that why mom said we would be staying here for a while?
"Kailyn, your parents had decided long before you were born that if something happened, we would take you in" started Nathan. He probably knew I heard what they were saying early. "Your mom and dad have been threatened by many people. They knew that something was going to befall them soon, but we didn't expect it to be this soon. That's why we had a whole plan about your family going into hiding. Now, your parents aren't coming back and siblings have been kidnapped. As their legal guardians, it is not only my duty, but also my choice, to search for them. Sadly, I don't have much resources, yet I'll do everything in my power to save them."
The determination deep within his eyes shook me with hope. Things weren't over yet. We'll find them, no matter what.