*Selena POV*
I thought being covered in mud from head- to -toe was bad enough. But of course, it just had to be raining.
My father is going to kill me.
With my best friend behind me, I ran as fast as I could. Every step squished into the soft, oozing mud. Seeing the door to the building looming in the distance only increased my rising fear. As we reached the door, I mentally prepared myself for what I would be facing. My open palm hovered over the handle before I painstakingly opened the door. I cringed as I was greeted by the most horrendous, high-pitched creak I ever heard. I could feel my face turning redder as all eyes turned our way.
I, Selena Cooper, have just made a fool of myself again.
***
Heading to Pleasant Ridge High School on my first day of senior year, the breeze swept through my hair; it seemed like a fairly nice day.
Holding the books that wouldn't fit in my book bag, I stopped in front of the crosswalk. After looking both ways, I was about to cross the road when two guys ran into me, knocking a few books out of my hands.
You would think, as a werewolf, I would have more coordination, but I criticized myself for being unable to dodge them in time.
I scrambled to pick up my stray books when, out of my peripheral, I saw someone bend down. I looked up to see Jake who had just grabbed my science book. Jake Evans had been my friend practically since birth because our parents are such good friends. His father, Richard Evans, is the Gamma, third in command.
"Lee, what are you doing?" He asked me.
Confused, I said, "Umm, going to school? You do know that we have school today, right?"
"Haven't you heard?" he said, handing me my book.
"Heard what?"
"We have a last minute pack meeting."
I groaned. I've always hated going to those. I often wished I could skip them, but knew I couldn't. My dad was the Beta, the second in command. As much as I hated the meetings, I knew I had to go.
As a pack, certain ranks went to different wolves. For example, my dad was the alpha, but because he passed up the position, Alpha Jordan Miller took his place. Being a ranked werewolf comes with certain responsibilities, like protecting the unranked wolves. Rather than holding a position of authority, the unranked were basically just civilians. Often, ranked wolves are held to a higher standard, thus setting an example for the rest. Those in the ranking system basically act like a counsel. We make major decisions, but we often include the unranked pack members by putting things to a vote.
"Do we have to?"
"Yes, but hopefully, it won't take that long, "he said, "I'll let you put your book bag in my truck."
Sighing, I threw my book bag into the trunk bed and looked toward the woods.
'Maybe I could run away...' I thought.
"I heard that," Jake said.
"Dang it," I muttered.
One of the "perks" of being a werewolf. It's hard to have privacy even in your own mind when werewolves communicate through MindLink. It's a piece of technology implanted at the base of our brain that allows us to telepathically communicate with each other. Because this piece of technology has been kept a secret from the humans, it helps the MindLink stay virtually undetectable.
"Maybe we could go for a little run," he said with a wink.
"Won't we get in trouble if we're late?"
"Nah, it's not an emergency meeting or anything."
I smiled and punched his arm.
"Fine... I'll race ya!"
"You're on!" he said.
"One-" I started, but stopped as soon as I saw Jake shift into his wolf form and run far ahead of me.
"Cheater!" I shouted as I shifted and ran after him.
He was way ahead of me, but it didn't take me long to catch up to him. He looked back for a split second and I quickly took the advantage. I tackled him and we rolled down the hill, laughing, or at least as much as you can in wolf form. When we finally stopped rolling, I said through the link,
'That's what you get for cheating, you loser.'
'Whatever, you do it all the time!' he said.
'Yeah but I can; you can't!' I retaliated.
'That makes no sense!'
We soon shifted back to our human forms and put on a change of clothes. I was distracted for the moment so I didn't notice that Jake was sneaking up behind me. I yelped as I was quickly shoved to the ground. Jake, of course, burst into laughter.
Oh, I am so going to get him back.
Recovering, I jumped up and pulled him down with me. We laughed and tried to stand up, but we slipped and fell back down again. I forgot that it had recently rained the night before, making the ground super soft. By the time we got back up again, we were covered in mud.
"Oh no!" I exclaimed.
"What?" Jake said.
"Look how muddy we are!"
He simply laughed to which I responded, "It's not funny!"
"Well, it was your fault anyway," he said.
"Ugh, I can't go to the meeting like this!"
"Speaking of the meeting," he said, walking closer, "I wonder what could be so important that we would have to be taken out of school. Not that I mind anyway." He smiled playfully.
"Not sure. Maybe I could find something out..."
What's interesting about MindLink is that some people are able to transmit what is going on to other members of the pack who either can't be there, or are being cared for at the moment and want to know what's taking place. Usually, my mother is the one who transmits what is being said to others who aren't present at the time.
In a way, It's almost like listening to a radio transmission of another station. It comes in handy when we send out ambassadors to other packs on diplomatic missions because they can be informed about what's going on without having to be there in person. After a moment of concentration, I finally found my mother's Link and listened in.
'Ok, quiet down,' I heard Alpha Jordan Miller say,' I am going to go ahead and start the meeting because I understand that it is the children's first day of school today. I will try to be as quick as possible'.
"The meeting just started," I said.
Just then, I heard my mother cut in, 'Hey, where are you? Your father has already been asking about you. You don't have an excuse for skipping this meeting so you need to be here!'
'I'm on my way, mom. Don't worry,' I replied.
And with that, she cut me out of the transmission signal. That's the other thing about transmissions. If you don't have a specific excuse from the Alpha, then you have to be present during the meetings.
"She just cut me out of the transmission," I said.
"Uh oh. We better hurry then."
I sighed.
"What's wrong?"
"Not only are we all muddy, but we can't run home to change now because we're already late to the meeting," I said. "This is so bad."
Just then, I felt a small drop of water fall from the sky. Jake looked up to see that the weather had changed from sunny to cloudy in an instant.
"Well, it's about to get worse," he commented.
I looked up just as the rain began to pick up.
"Great... Just great," I said over the rain as we quickly ran to where the meeting was to take place.
***
Finally, after a long, soggy trek, we made it to the door.
"Ready to make an entrance?" Jake smirked.
"Ready as I'll ever be," I said, silently bracing myself.
The door squeaked open and echoed through the entire building. Every eye turned towards us, the two soaking wet teenagers with their feet covered in mud.
I felt my face growing redder as we shuffled to some seats in the back. As we sat down, I cowered slightly as I mouthed the word "sorry" to my dad. He seemed to acknowledge me as he slightly nodded.
Alpha Jordan cleared his throat and continued, "When I call your name, please stand up and walk to the stage to my left."
"What's going on?" I whispered to Jake.
"You really expect me to know? I got here the same time you did."
I rolled my eyes and tapped the person in front of me.
"What's going on?" I said.
She replied, "Alpha Jordan is recognizing the new transfers to our pack. They will be initiated Friday of this week."
I nodded and listened as he read off the following names:
"Nick Johnson and his mate Erica, Tyler Davis, and Josh Williams who is not present today."
As soon as the last name was spoken, I heard many whispers throughout the room. I caught bits and pieces from those around me.
I heard one say, "I wouldn't blame him for not coming..."
Another said, "Whose idea was it to allow a 'Williams' to join our pack?"
I leaned over to Jake, "Who is he?"
"I don't know him personally, but I know the last name well. The Williams are a huge family of violent Alphas. They are constantly at each other's throats, fighting for power, rejecting each other, and picking sides. I almost don't blame him for transferring. Nothing good ever comes from a 'Williams'. They can't be trusted..."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Well, knowing how his family is, I wouldn't be surprised if he had a secret plan to try to overthrow our alpha because of his bloodline."
I nodded slowly. While the title of Alpha is usually just a formality, it also refers to the blood and genetics associated with alphas. As an alpha, you are typically born stronger both mentally and physically in order to protect the pack. As a result, many alphas tend to be very possessive and aggressive in general. When an alpha feels like they deserve to be the rightful leader, nothing can really stop them from trying to overtake the pack.
I could understand since my family has Alpha blood in us as well. It's even more concerning because Alpha Jordan doesn't have any children currently. The next in line naturally falls to my brother, unless Alpha Jordan has a child before then. The fact I know nothing about this new guy only makes me more nervous.
***
Soon, the meeting was over and everyone stood. I hurriedly tried to sneak out when I heard my father's voice.
"Selena, where do you think you're going?"
Oh, I'm in trouble.
"Nowhere. Just going to school."
"Not like that, you're not," he said.
Yep, definitely in trouble... I thought with dread.
"Remember, I am the Beta. And because of that, our family needs to be presentable."
"Yes, sir." I looked down, ready for my punishment.
"Don't let it happen again," he said after a pause.
I looked up, relieved.
"Ok, I won't. Don't worry!" I quickly hurried off, happy to have narrowly escaped the wrath of my father.
As I was walking out, Jake caught up to me.
"See, that wasn't so bad."
I punched him in the arm as I exclaimed, "It's your fault!"
He rubbed his arm, "It was worth it though!"
I pulled my arm back to hit him again.
"Okay, okay," he said, putting his hands up in surrender and taking off before I could punch him again.
I chuckled as I headed back to my house to take a quick shower and change.