"Are you scared?" Sam asked, sliding up next to me in a rolling chair, his eyes searching my face for a sense of fear.
I nodded. "Terrified."
Sam tilted his head, raising one eyebrow. "Then why are you doing this?" He asked.
"Because of what you guys have told me. This will stop a war, so I'm all for it." I say, not meeting Sam's eyes.
Instead of answering me, Sam gulped. "You might want to cover your ears."
I gave him a curious look. "Why?"
But he didn't need to reply in order for me to understand why.
The sound of a hundred bones breaking and bending sounding outside the door. It made me cringe up, my body tensing as a sharp growl boomed through the room even though it came from outside the door.
"His wolf is going to be stronger, meaner, faster, hungrier than Arlis." Sam says, taking a step away from me and then looking me up and down. "More protective. And Arlis is... bigger than most wolves."
The door rumbled and groaned as something rammed into it, the hinges barely holding.
Sam shook his head, muttering. "I'm so dead."
"Seymour, TURN!" Chleo yelled and then something banged, glass shattering against the floor in a ear-piercing shriek.
More bones popped and crackled, making my stomach tie itself into a knot.
Sam placed his hand on my shoulder. "He won't hurt you. Me... he might. But not you."
He took a step back and stood as far away from me as possible, much to my dismay.
Two growls tore through the hallway, followed by whimpering.
Something pounded in my chest, making me scared. What if it was Arlis? Was he okay? I almost went to open the door but Chleo's voice cut me off.
"Dammit, how did you even take down Seymour!?" He asked, his voice laced with fear almost more than Sam's was. "I have thumbs! You can't open a door ya dumb wo— haha, yeah yeah, no my bad you can eat me. Look, I'm opening the door."
The door handle jiggled and as soon as I heard the familiar "click" of the bolt, the door burst open and a wolf almost the size of me tore into the room, headed straight for Sam.
"No!" I yelled on reflex and the wolf stopped, turning to face me with sad eyes.
I took a small step towards it, remembering Sam's words, and sat on my knees. Now it was taller than me, but I felt like this was the right thing. Make myself seem smaller.
The wolf stalked to me, and something its eyes seemed too... human. Nobody else would have noticed it, but I did. Especially since it was so close to me.
It pressed its muzzle against my cheek, smelling my hair.
"Arlis?" I whispered.
Sam moved to leave but the wolf growled out, vibrating my stomach.
"Sam, c'mon." Chleo ushered.
"I'm just... leaving." Sam announced and ran from the room, Arlis nipped at his heels and Sam squealed, slamming the door shut behind him.
The wolf looked back to me and laid its head on my legs.
I didn't know exactly what to do with my hands, so I just set them on the wolf's neck, running my hand through his soft fur.
"Can you hear me?" I asked, feeling immediately stupid after asking the question. Of course he could hear me. "Do you understand me."
The wolf grumbled lowly, looking up through its eyelashes. I took that as a yes.
"Do you remember what you're supposed to do?" I ask him.
The wolf nodded, and I took a calming breath. Arlis was in there under all that fur.
The wolf stood up and licked my neck. I chuckled, shaking my head. This is not a position I thought I'd be in. The wolf rubbed its side against me, walking a couple circles around me.
I stood up and shook my head at the wolf. "Let's just get this over with."
The wolf walked up to me, and pawed at my shirt, running its muzzle under it. I shied away, sticking my hand's out in front of me.
"Let's not rip off my shirt." I laughed half-heartedly. "I happen to like this one."
The wolf growled and I shut my mouth, standing up straighter.
It walked behind me and pushed the back of my knees, making me fall down, but it caught me on its back, slowly letting me lay until I was sitting on my knees again.
I got off but didn't attempt to stand. "Okay then, Arlis. On the ground it is."
It grabbed my shirt with its jaw and pulled, ripping it off, leaving me in a bra that was too revealing for my taste.
The wolf nudged my arm, and I shrugged at him. "I don't know what you—" it lightly took my hand in its mouth and nodded up. "Put it up?" I asked, feeling ridiculous for talking to a wolf. The wolf nodded back and I did what it said. It licked my side and made me twists to the other side, I was extremely ticklish.
He placed my side, just under my rib cage and above my hip, between his teeth and then let go, looking back to me. Was he asking permission?
"Do it." I said less convincingly than I wanted to.
He grabbed my side and bit down hard, making me scream out and bite my lower lip in pain.
I pushed the wolf away from me, backing against the wall, closing my eyes and letting tears stream down my face.
I lightly banged my head against the back wall, scrunching up my face as a liquid dropped down my waist.
I looked down at it and whimpered out. A large bite mark, bleeding, was etched into my skin. My entire side burned, a pain worse than even the wolf attack on my back pulsing through my skin.
The wolf whined and got down as low as it could, slowly crawling to me. I shook my head at it. "No, no don't." But it kept coming anyways, despite my requests, and it made me cry. "No, just stay back. Not another bite. I can't— please."
I looked up as the wolf placed its mouth where the hue was, slowly licking the open wounds that felt worse than a bullet shot.
The wound was cold, going numb and less painful as the wolf licked the bite. It looked back up to me and laid its head in my legs, which were outstretched in front of me.
***
I'm not sure how long we sat in Arlis's Office, silence consuming us. But it must have been long because when Constance came into the room, she said she had to leave real fast to go pick up her little cousin and she wanted me to go with her, I stood up and my legs were numb.
Arlis growled, baring his teeth at her and Constance gulped but didn't show any other sense of weakness.
"For her protection. Plus so she can see her family, you dimwit." Constance said, rolling her eyes. "You can come too." She seemed in a bad mood.
But was she ever really in a good mood?
Arlis was still in wolf form and he yawned widely. He stood up and shook out his fur, walking out the door.
I was alone with Constance. Alone with someone who seemed to scare everyone here with just her name.
But honestly I looked at her right now like she was my savior. Like she held the moon in her hands. "Thank you." And I wish I could've said more.
She winced, as if my thank you had some bad affect on her. "I'm only doing it because it could possibly be the last time you see them."
I took a step back, hand over my heart. "What do you mean?"
She gave me a dumbfounded look. "There's no guarantee that this will work. And if it doesn't and Alpha Rylee still wants to come after you, I'm leaving. I have a lot on my plate." She walked around the room, running her hands over the dusty books. Ever step she took was agonizing, and suddenly it was like she had take the moon, stripping the earth of its silvery light.
She was the enemy once again. "Do you have no honor? These people seem to trust you enough—"
Connie interrupted me with a loud laugh, leaning back and when she spun back to me I didn't have enough time to react. She slammed me against the wall, smiling wickedly at me. "You'll fit in just right around the wolves. You talk of honor, well you're right. I have no honor. My father stripped me of that title back in 1837. I'm a wild card now. And as for trust? I'm sure many people trust me. But there's only two people in this world that I trust, and both of them have royally pissed me off. You are an ant in the grand scheme of things, this world is bigger than you. Just remember that."
She let me go and I landed on my feet, breathing heavily. "Aren't you?" When she gave me a confused look I elaborated. "Just an ant in the scheme of things? Isn't this world bigger than all of us?"
She shook her head. "No. Not for me. I'm deeper in this than anyone thinks."
Arlis came into the room and walked to me, wearing grey sweats that hung loose on his hips and a white shirt. He frowned at me, and then looked to Constance.
"What did you tell her?" He asked forcefully.
Constance smirked. "Only that she's an ant in the scheme of things."
Arlis narrowed his eyes at her. "Actually no. She's a big part of this. She might start a war."
Constance rolled her emerald eyes. "Doubtful now. She'll just turn and live as the most important werewolf know to mankind. I guess that's a big part, but only to you dogs. Fae and Hunteds couldn't care less about her title."
Arlis started to argue back with her but I wasn't paying attention. I had my own question. "Most important?"
Constance looked at me like I had no brain. "You are so daft, a complete fool. Have you not realized anything yet? Arlis is the Alpha of Sovereign Pack. What does sovereign mean?"
I blinked my eyes. "All leader?"
Constance nodded. "And so if this is the Sovereign Pack?"
It hit me. "This Pack is in charge of all the werewolves."
"BINGO! Now, we need to go. Little cousin awaits and I need American money." Constance began walking out the door, leaving me and Arlis to follow her.
Why doesn't she have American Money?
"You're like... the Alpha Alpha." I said as we followed behind her.
Arlis nodded, chuckling. "Yeah, small detail I left out."
I furrowed my brows and just kept walking. If I ignored the fact that he was the Alpha Alpha, then it won't affect me. I'll just treat this like any other werewolf pack.
Problem— I've never been to any other werewolf pack.
When we got to the car, I slipped into the backseat and Arlis slid in next to me, glaring at Constance.
I tried to picture Constance taking Arlis down, beating him in a fight. Wolf or human, I just didn't think Connie could do it.
She was tall and muscular, I'm sure she'd kick my ass any day, but against Arlis? I don't know what could beat him.
"What's on your mind?" Arlis asked, throwing his arm casually over my shoulder and I'm not going to lie, I managed to scoot closer to him, enjoying the shocks of electricity that shot through me every time he touched me.
"How could Constance take you down?" I whispered quietly to him. "She just doesn't look like very much."
I didn't think she was able to hear me but Constance laughed. "I could kill Arlis quicker than a bullet going off."
Arlis rolled his eyes. "You could not."
Constance stopped at a red light and turned to face us. "I almost did it twice."
Arms leaned forward. "The couple times I almost killed you, Becker had to step in and save you. The only reason you couldn't ever kill me is because I was stronger than you."
She looked forward and continued driving. "That scar begs to differ. I'm older now too, I could kick your ass."
Arlis growled and leaned back, calming to my touch. "My ass begs to differ. I'm older now too." He looked to me, tilting his head slightly. "How's your Bite?" He looked to me and then back to his hand that had grabbed the hem of my shirt, asking to lift it up.
I nodded and he lifted it, showing the bite mark that made me want to puke out my guts.
It was red, green around the edges. It hasn't even began to heal over and was just a pure open wound that looked like it had gangrene.
I closed my eyes and looked back to him. "It feels fine but are we sure I'm not going to die from infection?" I asked, only lightly joking.
He nodded. "It is infected, but with werewolf venom. Any other bacteria that tries to enter just completely dies from my venom."
"Venom... like a snake?" I asked, skeptical.
He nodded. "Yup. Vampires have it too."
Constance made a disgusted noise. "Don't even get me started over Vampire venom. Everly got marked by some sick vampire."
Arlis widened his eyes. "Woah, wait. Is she gunna be a hybrid now?" He asked.
Constance shook her head. "No, I don't think he tried to turn her."
Everly... "Everly Dawn?" I asked, knowing that that name is familiar. I went to school with her.
Constance nods. "Yeah? Do you know her?"
I nodded. "Kind of. I went to school with her." Who knew? Everly Dawn, little miss popular, is related to a Hunter. She's been bit by a vampire. She probably has it rough.
I wonder if she knew about all of this. Or if Constance kept it a secret from Everly.
"We'll stop by and pick up my little cousin first. Then we'll drop by your house, Kate." Constance said, and it made my heart jump.
I'd finally get to see my family. Get some extra clothes. Explain to them that I'm not dead.
"I don't know if that's a good idea." Arlis says, frowning.
Constance scoffs. "Puh-lease. Zachariah is only twelve, he's not gunna say anyt—"
"No. I mean going to see your family." Arlis looked away from me, watching trees pass by out the window.
"What do you mean? How come I can—"
"Because how are you going to explain to them that you're leaving to go live with some guy you met out in the woods?" He turned to me. "And I sure as hell am not leaving you this far away from me. I doubt your parents are going to like the idea of me taking you. They'll honestly try to call police." He seemed angry but his voice never yelled.
He was right, and I hated admitting that he was right. "You said I could come see them." I argued back anyways.
He nodded. "Yes. Eventually. But right now isn't the best time."
I scooted away so I could face him. "And When is the right time!?"
He shrugged. "I don't know!" He finally yelled and I didn't even have the energy to respond, I just looked out the window, away from him. He huffed out. "I'm sorry it has to be like this."
"Sorry it has to be like what? Shouldn't she be thanking you?" Constance asked.
"What?" Arlis responded.
"We're here, and whether you like it or not pup, she's seeing her family. That's one thing I won't do again. Is keep people away from their family." Connie said, and some ghost flashes in her eyes. A small second of pain. "While you two were arguing I drove to her house."
The car idled to a stop and before anyone could stop me, I jumped out of the car and ran to the front door, opening it up and running around looking for them.
"Mom!" I yelled.
A door to the right opened and Chance burst out of the room, tackling me in a bone-crushing hug. He was crying in my shoulder and when he pulled back I'm sure I too had tears running down my face.
"You don't need to get so angry!" Someone yelled and Constance and Arlis came into the room.
Footsteps bounded down the stairs and I looked up to see my mom practically skipping steps to crash into me, kissing my forehead and pulling me back to get a good look at me.
My dad came down next, hesitant like he couldn't believe it.
When he saw me, his face got happy and sad all in the matter of seconds. He ran to me, crying and kissing my head. "Where were you?"
Constance cleared her throat and my family turned to face her like they just realized she and Arlis were there.
"And who are you?" My Dad asked, not exactly angry but more... less caring.
Chance hugged me again, wiping tears from his eyes, his arm stayed wrapped around me.
"Well after the attack I guess she got lost and she wound up at my friend, Arlis's house. And she's been past out since." Connie said, nodding to Arlis. "She's still got a bite on her side, but me and Arlis took care of her."
My mom ran to Constance, wrapping her arms around her. "Thank you for bringing my baby home."
Constance nodded. "Yeah, course. She's still healing but... I'm a doctor, thankfully, over at the hospital by where we live." Constance was a lying mastermind apparently. "I got some free supplies and well... I hate to say it but her wound is infected."
My mom gasped, putting her hand over her mouth. "What!?"
Constance nodded. "Yeah, gangrene. I can fix it but I'll have to take her back to where I work." She sighed heavily. "I technically wasn't even supposed to bring her out of the hospital, but she woke up and wouldn't stop arguing with me about wanting to come see her family."
My brother chuckled. "Sounds like her. So why are you here?" He asked Arlis, defensive.
Arlis stiffened and then shot him an award winning smile that seemed to put everyone to ease. "I guess I felt in some way in charge of her since I found her. I've just kind of made sure she got to the right place and well... Doctor Constance over here asked me to drive them here."
My mom nodded. "Well, Thank you both very much for your help. But I'm sure we can take her to the hospital around here."
Connie widened her eyes dramatically. "Oh no, there isn't enough time to change hospitals. We already have her data and such at the hospital I'm at. We can drive her back."
My mom narrowed her eyes, shaking her head. "It's fine. I'll just drive her to where you work."
Constance froze, and I guess that signifies it was my turn. "Mom, Please. I'm nineteen, I'm an adult now. I can take care of myself. I don't need you to drive me. I'll be back in a couple weeks when I'm not... dying." I gulped down and sighed. "It's not a big deal."
She always hated that. But I needed her to get in an argument with me so I could storm out, not giving her the name of my "hospital."
She narrowed her eyes. "Not a big deal!? Honey you just said you're dying. I don't want some strangers taking care of you."
I faced back to Constance and shrugged. "They saved my life, mom. And I so rudely interrupted her process of doing it fully. I'll come back in a week or two, I promise. I'll be fine. Doctor knows best."
That's when I heard it. The familiar "giving in" sigh. "Fine. But you better call me every night. And I'm visiting as often as I can."
"What's the hospital name?" Chance asked, looking to Connie.
We all froze, but Connie covered us. "Oh my god!" She yelled and everyone jumped, except for Arlis. "Oh my god!" She jumped in her place. "I forgot to give you your dose. I was so busy trying to sneak you out I forgot to give it, WE NEED TO LEAVE, NOW!"
I hugged my parents kissing their cheeks. When I got to Chance I looked down at his leg, now wrapped in gauze. I hugged him tight and whispered in his ear, "Just trust me. I know you're suspicious."
Chance knew me too well. Mom and dad could never tell when I was lying. But Chance? I saw the look in his eyes as soon as I started to lie.
He knew I was lying.
He looked to me. "Are you okay?" He asked, giving a nervous look to Arlis.
I nodded. "Fine. I just... I'll explain in a couple weeks.
He sighed, but looked ten times more relaxed. "I trust you."
I turned and weakly walked, almost falling to the ground. All acting of course, but I had to make it believable.
"Arlis, make good use of yourself and carry her to the car. She can't walk." Arlis came over and picked me up, wrapping me in his arms bridal style, and we bolted out the door.
If that was the last time I ever saw my family, it was a bad last encounter.
***
We pulled in to a large house. A house bigger than mine, and stepped out. Arlis swallowed, but didn't move. "You coming?" I asked.
Arlis shook his head. "I have a bad history with the Dawns."
"Nobody is home you pup, except for Everly and Zachariah." Connie insulted. I almost stayed in the car, stayed with Arlis. But Connie pulled me out.
She walked up to the door, not even bothering to knock. Laughter sounded from the other side when we stepped in.
Everly's eyes narrow at me, distrusting. "Who's that?" She asks, nodding her head to me. Wow. She didn't even recognize me by face, when I recognized her by name.
"You heard about the wolf attack, right?" Connie asks, bored, looking from me to Everly.
Everly shakes her head. "No. I was kind of busy killing Colin and helping to console my mom over Fiona."
Wow. Okay. So she is definitely a Hunter and not just related to one. And Colin, the kid in my first period? She just... killed him. I widened my eyes, not being able to keep my shock down.
Connie sighs. "Sovereign and Damarion are on rocky terms right now. Word got out that there was a teenage party and this girl happened to be saved by the Alpha of Sovereign. Great, right?"
Everly shrugs. "I guess. Hey, do I know you from somewhere?" She asks me.
I guess she did recognize me. I nod. "School." I reply.
"Ah. I hate that place. Luckily we only had to spend thirteen out of our hundreds of years in that place, am I right?" She winks at me. She thought... she thought I was already a werewolf? I guess she was expecting somebody to laugh, because she sighs "Whatever. Never mind. I just need you to watch Zach while I uh— I have a umm... a thing."
Connie narrows her eyes at Everly. "I'm two hundred years old. I know when you have a secret, Everly."
Everly groans. "Okay, I'm going on a date. Can I go now?" She says quickly.
Connie wrinkles her face. "TMI. Wish I wouldn't have asked. I'll take him for an hour, but that's it. And you owe me, big time!"
Everly beams at Constance. "Thank you thank you thank you. I'll see you in an hour."
She waves goodbye and runs past us, leaving a little blonde boy looking up at us.
The first thing the kid has to say is something I'm glad he kept in until his sister left. "You're not a werewolf."