A week passed and nothing interesting had happened since I came. Stella and Benjamin stopped flinching away from me, I could walk around the pack without the Beta - who I found out is named Jeremiah - and Emma and I even trained everyday.
I destroyed Emma when it came to hand to hand combat and I ended up teaching the best pack fighter a few things.
I barely even counted the days as they flew past, mainly because I knew that my new found happiness wouldn't last and I didn't want to put a number on the days it will.
Yet, when my eyes jolted open on the 25th of December, I still knew that today was Christmas. I almost squealed in delight, it was childish for something like Christmas to mean so much to me, but with everything that's been happening lately I thought that I could use some Christmas joy - maybe even a miracle.
There was a loud knock at the door and I scrambled to the door, flinging it open, expecting to see an annoyed Emma for taking so long but instead found an agitated Jeremiah.
"Alpha and Luna are waiting for you in the living room," he said coldly before walking away.
I was about to shrug off his cold demeanour when I remembered something.
"Wait!" I called before grabbing something from my drawer. "I got you a Christmas present!"
He froze half way down the hall as I ran after him, my bare feet pounding against the wooden floor.
I reached him and shoved his present into his hands. "You've had to deal with me all this time and I just thought that I might as well give you something in return for that. I'm not part of this pack and you have no loyalty to me and yet you didn't kill me in my sleep. So take it."
He sighed through his nose before opening the present to reveal a white box. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow but I nodded at the box. He opened the box and his eyes widened.
He pulled out a butterfly knife from the box. It had a silver handle with intricate designs carved into it as well as a honed blade and I knew that because I was practicing my slight of hand in the Weapons Training room.
"I though as Beta it would be useful to carry around incase... well, incase the pack's attacked; you know, like, how I was supposed to."
Jeremiah looked in awe for a moment before his cold demeanour and scowl returned. He shoved it into his pocket before throwing the box at me.
I caught it and smiled. Sorry but nothing can ruin Christmas for me. He walked away and I saw his fists clenching and unclenching.
I shrugged before walking back into my room. I threw the now empty box in the bin and grabbed everyone else's presents. I knew what Emma and Maya were like and I knew that if I put them downstairs under the tree - which we decorated a few days ago - then they would take more than a little peek.
I carried them downstairs, being careful not to drop any as I ran down the stairs. I placed them under the tree and turned to see Emma, Benjamin, Stella an Maya sitting around opening all the cards the pack members gave them.
That's another thing - pack members - I never realised before but the entire town I grew up in was essentially made up of Lycans.
I ran over and plopped myself on the couch between Emma and Maya.
"Merry Christmas!" I shouted.
Stella handed me a hot chocolate. "Merry Christmas."
I sipped the hot chocolate and picked one of the marshmallows out of the cup before plopping it in my mouth. "Cards?" I asked and Benjamin handed me a stack.
"Those are for you mostly from the children who want to learn to fight like you and to be able to run in human form while keeping up with us in wolf form."
I shook my head. "Trust me they don't want to get their arse handed to them everyday of the week to learn how to fight, better off being a Healer."
Emma clicked her tongue. "Don't say that, Chase, next thing you know there are fifty Healers and five Fighters."
I snorted. "Yeah like that's going to happen."
Maya shrugged. "You never know, kids are impressionable that way."
I rolled my eyes and started opening the cards. It was really boring but I got through my stack. I felt sorry for Benjamin and Stella to be honest, they got four times as many as I did and they get those for every holiday.
I sat back and drank my hot chocolate while everyone finished opening their cards.
"Awww, look Sienna wants to be a pack fighter," Emma said and showed everyone the card with messy writing and a stick figure.
"How old is she?" Maya asked as she popped open another card and dumped the envelope in the big plastic bag for recycling.
"Six!"
It took a while but we finally got through all the cards and, thankfully, Benjamin didn't make the Omegas work on Christmas so we hung up all the cards before heading to the Christmas tree.
"Breakfast firs-"
"No!" Emma, Maya and I shouted in unison before sharing a look, smiling.
Benjamin and Stella sighed before coming over to us as we dug through the presents.
"Mum!"
"Maya!"
"Emma!"
We sorted them all into piles depending on the person it was for until we had cleared out the mountain of presents under the tree.
Emma was a close friend of the family since we grew up together and that's why she's spending Christmas here but also because I'm here and Stella and Benjamin decided that my best friend should be allowed to spend Christmas with me.
I opened one of mine and everyone retched at the smell but I'd already been prepared for it and adjusted my sense of smell accordingly.
"Ugh, who gave you that?" Emma asked.
"Travis Cornell," Benjamin sighed.
"The Prankster?" Stella said in disbelief.
"Chase," Maya said slowly as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Please don't tell me you're friends with him."
I smiled. "Well..."
"Ugghh!" Everyone said.
My smile grew. "We were discussing pranks and it seems he's decided to help me with one."
"Since when did you prank people?" Emma asked with a playful punch to the shoulder.
"Since I befriended a boy who literally keeps a book full of pranks," I replied flatly.
"What is it?" Maya asked, referring to the thing emitting he stink coming from the box.
My smile turned into a smirk. "Reek Rod."
And lots of it too.
Stella took it from my hands with a plugged nose and placed it in a plastic bag before wrapping it tight. "Might want to wrap that up."
She handed it back to me and I put it in the opened presents pile.
We opened the presents, without any further Reek Rod levels of problem, until there were only a few presents left.
A present from Benjamin and Stella, a present from Maya and a present from Emma that they had kept hidden from me until the end.
"Open ours first," Benjamin said and handed me a box.
I opened it to find a phone but not my old one though - a brand new one.
I smiled. "Thanks."
"We thought you could use it at the academy as long as you could keep it hidden enough," Stella said.
"Mine next!" Emma shouted and shoved a box into my hand before grabbing her phone and taking multiple pictures.
I rolled my eyes before opening the present to find a polaroid camera.
"You never know when a single picture could save your life," she said.
I nodded and Maya wordlessly handed a box. I pulled off the lid of the box and pulled out a glass orb that sat in my palm.
"It's a Circulation," Maya explained as she pulled out an identical glass orb. "Look." She held the glass up to her face. "Show me Chase."
Smoke curled behind the glass and appeared out of thin air until it filled the entire orb. It glowed slightly before the smoke vanished leaving an image of....me!
"You can communicate through it or just check on people from time to time," Maya said and the glass in my hands vibrated slightly.
There was a slight echo to her voice as it resonated within the orb but I could still hear properly.
"Thank you, Maya," I said sincerely, I may not be able to truly see them again but I could still talk to them and see them.
"When will you be leaving?" Benjamin asked and I shrugged.
"Probably tomorrow," I answered as I placed all my presents in a bag and lifted it up to take them all upstairs. "I wasn't meant to be here long so I'll probably lie about being captured."
Benjamin nodded. "I'll try to get rid of the title of Omega and stop the unfair treatment in the pack, but change isn't always accepted and it will probably take awhile."
I smiled and nodded. "As long as it's gone."
Stella smiled and ruffled my hair. "That's our girl, thinking big and thinking kind."
Everyone held their breath. Nobody had acknowledged my adoption nor my Hunter heritage since I first got here and it felt like a punch to the face.
Stella seemed to notice her mistake as she grimaced for a second before quickly flashing a smile, but I saw it was fake.
"Go put your stuff upstairs and come back down for breakfast," Stella said and we all quickly scurried out the tense room before hurrying up the stairs.
I got into the room and placed the bag of gifts on the bed before backing away from it slowly.
My hand flew up and I grabbed onto the Infiltration Crystal, rolling it between my fingers. Could I leave here? Could I go back?
Of course I could, I would, I have too. I, of all people, know happiness is temporary - no matter how long it had lasted - and that even if I stayed here something would happen that would take away the feeling that made me want to stay.
Besides I had promises to keep, I promised the gang I would see them after Christmas and I'll be damned if I break that promise.
I sighed. I would be going back tomorrow, besides, a Hunter doesn't belong in a wolf pack.
I looked out the window to look over the pack, children playing, wolves chasing each other and people training - Lycan's training to kill my kind.
I could still see the carnage of burnt down houses and blood stained walls around the place from the pack attack two weeks before I arrived.
People died, families were broken, children left without parents, parents lost their children and people lost their mates.
I closed my eyes and looked away. I didn't belong here.
I quickly stood up and pulled the blinds of the window closed before running downstairs to join my family and my best friend for a meal for quite possibly the last time.
♧♧♧
Well, this was it.
I dressed in my assassins outfit and grabbed my weapons, my lock picks, my new gifts and everything else.
This was it, I was leaving.
I ran down the stairs and ran just as fast all the way to the front door - no point going slow just to delay the inevitable.
Everyone was already waiting for me and I grabbed the Infiltration Crystal before rolling it between my thumb and forefinger.
"I guess I'll see you guys again sometime," I said with a sad smile.
It was a blatant lie, of course, that was only meant for comfort because the truth was that, in the back of my mind, I didn't know if I would survive this school year, it's only Christmas and some terrible things have already happened, student safety doesn't seem to be much of a concern to the school.
I was about to leave when Maya cleared her throat. "Father, Emma and I request to speak with Chase alone," Maya said and Benjamin looked between the three of us before nodding his head.
Maya nodded back before leading the three of us to an office and closing the door behind us.
She stared at the door for a moment before turning around and looking me in the eye. "First of Chase, I would like to apologise for the way I behaved before you disappeared."
She sucked in a deep breath. "It was childish and to be honest I was scared of you, mum and dad loved you so much that I was scared that if they loved you more then they might introduce you to this world. I was afraid that people would like you more than me and I was afraid that you might challenge my position as Alpha in the future."
I nodded slowly, processing everything I just heard. "I don't even have Alpha blood Maya, I was part of the family, yes, but not through blood which would have made me ineligible to be an Alpha."
Maya smiled slightly. "Yes I do realise that now, but I was stupid and didn't even bother to be rational. The point of all this was hat I wanted to apologise for the way I acted and I thought that I had do it before you left incase I never saw you again."
"The truth is Maya," I started. "That I forgave you a long time ago, I realised that there were more important things in life then petty rivalries between siblings and that family was important, you shouldn't waste the few people around you who love you for you and not for your wealth, status or fame. I've matured and I've grown Maya and, from the sounds of it, you have too."
I smiled. "The past doesn't matter because if you hang onto the past all you will have to show for it is brewed anger and a thirst for revenge, you focus on the present."
Now it was Maya's time to smile. "As soon as I'm Alpha I'm going to make sure you're always welcome around here."
"That would be nice, yes," I answered.
"This is it," Maya said and stuck out her hand. "We part ways as friends not enemies and, just for the record, I still think of you as my sister."
She walked to the door and opened it. "She's all yours now Emma," she laughed and I made a face of mock horror.
The door closed with an audible click and I was left alone with my hysterical best friend.
I wasn't going to make it out alive.
Emma sighed and sat on the edge of the desk. "You really want to go back?" She asked as she looked down at her lap.
I released a deep breath. "I don't belong here Emma, I don't really belong anywhere except the academy, besides, I have promises I have to keep and you know how serious I am about keeping my promises."
Her shoulder shook and she brought her hand to her mouth making me realise with a start that she was crying. Emma was happy, angry, surprised, another and every other damn emotion out their but. She. Did. Not. Cry.
"Emma?" I said as I stepped closer to her.
Her head whipped up and I saw her eyes were puffy and red.
"Emma?" I repeated and she sniffled before looking away, brushing the tears out her eyes.
"I don't want you to go," she whispered.
She looked at the wall behind me, trying to avoid my gaze for as long as she could before her eyes snapped to meet mine.
I was surprised to see the anger blazing within them and I recoiled slightly.
"Why are you choosing them over us!" She screamed and threw an empty glass from the desk at the wall.
I ducked just in time and it sailed over my head, crashing into the wall and shattering.
She sobbed and her shoulders slumped. "Why are you leaving me?"
I stepped up to her and placed my hands on her shoulders.
"Emma," I whispered. "I'm not choosing them over Maya, Benjamin and Stella, I'm not choosing my new friends over you, I'm not choosing the academy over here."
I took in a deep breath as she looked at me. "I'm choosing who I really am over who I was - who you want me to be."
She looked away and I immediately knew - even without being an Empath like Zac - that she felt guilty because what I said was true, some part of her still wanted me to be that girl who didn't have any blood on her hands.
"Why are you leaving too?" She murmured and I closed my eyes.
The attack from two weeks ago, her parents were caught in it and let's just say they didn't make it out alive.
"Emma, I'm not leaving you. I will always be your best friend and you'll always be mine. You'll always have memories of me as I'll always have memories of you. Life is only what you make it and if you think I'm leaving you then you'll never think about what I left behind."
I placed a hand under her chin and lifted her head to look at me. "But if you think I'm not walking away then you'll always look back on what we had, not what we lost."
She stared at me for a moment before she stood up and walked around me like I was a piece of furniture, it seemed like she didn't even remember I was in the room until she reached the door and turned around to look at me - her tears gone.
"Come on, you need to get out of here," she spoke calmly and coldly, her demeanour making it seem as if we hadn't been friends out entire lives.
I flinched.
I knew she was only doing this to protect herself, to make sure she didn't get hurt anymore than she already was, to make sure she wasn't seen as weak.
But it still hurt.
I followed her out the room and from the tension in the air I would guess that everyone heard Emma screaming.
I cleared my throat. "I'm just gonna go now," I said as I walked over to the door. "I'll check in on you guys if I can."
I ran outside and looked up, squinting at the sun before grabbing the Infiltration Crystal. I held it up and it quickly caught one of the suns rays.
The Infiltration Crystal fractured the light and shot it in all directions. The entire spectrum was shown, colouring everything to look like a rainbow.
I looked over to see everyone staring at me. I quickly waved before angling the crystal. All the light went straight down until I was standing inside inside a circle of every colour of the spectrum.
Everything began moving so slowly for me as I watched the lights began turning white one by one starting from heather and making its way to red.
I closed my eyes just as orange turned to white.
I could feel my body becoming less in touch with the world around me. I couldn't hear the birds, the world was turning grey around me and everything was becoming a blur.
I was almost gone when I felt someone coming up behind me. I couldn't move though or else I wouldn't be able to use the crystal again for twenty four hours after breaking the process.
It could've been some kid running around, but it wasn't. I knew that as soon as I was tackled to the ground.
I came into contact with the floor and suddenly the spectrum of lights disappeared, everything suddenly regained its colour and sounds came rushing back into my ears.
I fought off the person on top of me, but the problem was that I was on my front and they had my arms pinned to my back. They were strong too - too strong to be a pack member.
They were tackled off me and I turned onto my front to see Benjamin holding down... Jeremiah?
I clenched my fists and brought them together, an energy bow staff appeared in my hands.
I ran over to where Benjamin and Jeremiah were fighting. To find Jeremiah's hand holding the butterfly knife I gave him yesterday.
I should've known.
I charged over just as Jeremiah wrestled Benjamin to the floor. I lunged forward and my bow staff went over Jeremiah's head to his throat before I pulled back.
I yanked him backwards and he was pulled off of Benjamin. I let go of one end of the staff allowing me to move it away from Jeremiah's throats before whacking the side of his head.
He stumbled back and he aimed the knife at me before charging.
I waited, waited, waited, until he was directly in front of me. I sidestepped and he went right past me before slamming my staff into his side.
He had expected me to fight, but he hadn't expected me to dodge so he wasn't able to stop himself and he fell to the floor.
He groaned, winded from my blow to his side. I whistled and casually strolled over to him as he tried to regain his breath.
The bow staff disappeared and I quickly plucked the butterfly knife from next to him after he dropped it when falling.
He hunched over and just for good measure I summoned a pair of energy handcuffs before snapping them around his wrists.
I hit him again in the stomach before grabbing his hair and tugging it back. For the first time I didn't see his cold and uncaring eyes but I saw madness sitting in its place.
Benjamin came running over with Emma and a two other people I've seen training - Fighters.
"Take him to the dungeons," Benjamin ordered as he rolled his shoulders.
The two people bowed their head. "Yes Alpha."
They grabbed Jeremiah and nodded at the handcuffs. They quickly dissipated but they were replaced by sliver handcuffs.
Jeremiah screamed as he was dragged along by the pack fighters to wherever the dungeon was.
"We can handle this now, Chase," Benjamin said and nodded at my Infiltration Crystal. "You can go."
I shook my head. "He interrupted when I was about to leave, it will only work again in twenty four hours."
He nodded and Emma piped up. "Stay here, I'm sure Jeremiah would be very happy to see you."
I understood what she was implying but I was shocked that Emma said I should be the one to 'visit' him in the dungeons.
"I don't think that will be necessary," I said before turning to Benjamin. "Did he lose anything during the attack a few weeks ago?" I asked.
His eyes darkened. "His mate died."
I nodded. "That's enough to have driven him insane: enough to attack me," I was finished until something hit me. "Maybe he went Rouge. He joined the Rogues that attacked the academy," I pointed at Benjamin. "You said that lots of people have left the pack lately so maybe he did too but his job was to stay here and try to kill me."
Benjamin shook his head. "He couldn't have surely, he wouldn't betray the pack."
"Losing your mate an do a lot to someone's sanity Alpha," Emma said.
Benjamin grimaced. "He didn't have any children though. Who's going to be Beta?"
Emma cleared her throat awkwardly. "Actually Alpha, Jeremiah wasn't exactly a model Beta when he was younger and... well I'm technically his daughter."
He stared at Emma on shock.
"That explains why your such a good fighter, you've got the skills and stuff but you've also got brute strength," I said and Emma nodded.
"Well that settles it then doesn't it, Emma, you're the new Beta," Benjamin said.
"Great problem solved now we need to-" I stopped abruptly as my Infiltration Crystal began to glow.
I grabbed it and held it in my palm.
"Chase?"
"Thad impossible," I said as I held up the crystal to the sun.
Light shot off in all directions in the colours of the spectrum again.
"But - it's only meant to work after twenty four hours," I said in exasperation.
I looked at Emma and Benjamin as they began to lose colour again. I waved goodbye just before I disappeared.
The world blurred and I closed my eyes as I felt something weighing down on me. The air itself seemed to hold me back as I struggled to feel my own body.
The weight disappeared and I sucked in a breath, opening my eyes again to see myself standing in front of a Cinderella-esque castle except you replace the blue with gold.
I don't know where I was but one thing was for certain.
I was not at the academy.