Katie's POV
I threw myself onto the bed, visibly cringing at the springy creaks it makes.
"Don't break the bed now!" Rose jumps onto the other bed in the room laughing heartily.
It's been almost a month since we've been on bus after bus, sleeping until it comes to the farthest it can go before jumping into another.
Rose sighs in content, flipping on her side propping an arm up to hold her head to stare at me. "We're officially in the middle of nowhere in some run down motel. We still have a lot of cash to burn, but what is it? Why did we suddenly stop?"
I prolong answering by mimicing her position. Sighing in defeat when she continues to curiously stare at me with her hypnotizing eyes I ask, "Don't you feel it?"
"Feel what?" Rose looks at a loss.
"We're in another pack's territory."
I smile at how my friend comically jumps up from the bed and shrieks, "What?! Why didn't you tell me before we entered?"
I groan, lying back down to face the ceiling.
I'm really tempted to hit her on the back of the head for being an oblivious red head. It's a good thing she has other friend worthy traits to make up for it.
"Even if you haven't shifted yet, I thought you would have felt it, you airhead."
"I'm not an airhead!"
"Besides there's nothing we can do, the last bus took us all the way into the territory and there were no stops from there to here in between. It's not our fault, alright?"
"Not our fault!" Rose roars. "That doesn't matter! Not all Alphas and their packs are understanding and will let us cross Katie! Father wasn't!"
I snap my head towards her and she automatically clamps her mouth shut. "That man is not my father," I say through gritted teeth, Rose remains silent. "And if this bastard has a problem with us crossing his territory, then we'll back track and turn a different direction. So. Calm. Down."
"But Katie," Rose finally finds her voice; found a reason to her freaking out, "aren't we rogues now?"
My eyes soften at the fear bubbling up inside the dark blue pools of my only friend. Indeed we are rogues, and I know more of what's in store for us; know what all territorial werewolves will do to rogues whom trepass their land.
It's a known fact in the werewolf world that no rogues are ever welcomed to the land unless they're welcomed to the pack by none other than the Alpha.
I know what happens to female rogues, seen it, and never want to end up like that; don't want Rose to end up like that.
"Don't worry," I reassure her, "I won't let anyone hurt you."
And I mean it. Rose knows I mean it. We've been together since we were little and I would do everything for this girl because we're more than just friends.
Rose bites her bottom lip and nods.
I know she feels bad for what she's done to me, keeps doing to me. She'll just have to live with that feeling for the rest of her life because I can't live without her.
I smile at the thought and pat the empty space beside me. "Come here, let's go sleep."
Rose nods her head again and rushes to my arms cuddling with me for the night. And if she was crying, I only whispered sweet nothings into her ears.
***
The next morning we packed our belongings. Not much. Just a regular school shoulder bag filled with four pairs of clothes (not including the ones we're wearing), and the necessities needed for teenage girls and other things to get by.
"The desk clerk said that there's a town up ahead. Want to check it out?" I say loud enough for her to hear as I sort out the clothes that were washed the day before. "We can find some place cheaper to stay at and surrounded by edible food."
Rose sticks her head out of the bathroom door while brushing her teeth. "You mean healthy food?" She goes back inside to finish up but continues, "I may be an idiot some--"
"Most," I mumble lowly.
"Heard that! --times, but I know you just want to go there for my sake. Don't worry about me! We should be worrying about the werewolves here."
Once I'm done I sit down and wait patiently for Rose.
Rose has always been a heavy sleeper because of her weak condition and is usually slow, but I don't mind and is always patient.
"I don't think we need to worry about them," I speak up, "They already know we're in their land. I'm surprised they haven't attacked us yet. Maybe it's a norm for other wolves and rogues to cross here like how the situation we're in."
Rose walks out the bathroom in all her natural glory and starts dressing. "Oh. I guess I didn't think about that."
"You don't need to think about that. Now let's go. I want to get out of this dump and go eat some real shit." I whine.
Rose laughs at the immaturity of it. "And who is supposed to be the older one here?"
"Me," I don't miss a beat to reply.
Rose shakes her head, finished donning on her clothes. "Well, let's go. Don't want to miss that bus that takes us there."
***
We step off of the bus and stretch our sore muscles.
Last night was the only night we slept on beds in the last couple weeks, so sitting down for almost thirty minutes straight reminds our body of what we went through those weeks.
I startle when Rose suddenly hides behind me.
I look around in alarm, realizing many of the townspeople are staring judgmentally at us. I do my best to glare at them for being disrespectful before I stop paying them any mind, and search for a place to chow at.
"Come on," I grab Rose's hand and lead her to a small Diner not far from the bus stop.
We take some seats at an available table in the corner, ignoring the few wondering gazes of the customers already inside.
Looking over the healthiest food there is on the menu I shuffle my bag near the wall while Rose does the same from across me.
"Are you ready to order?"
I look up to see a waiter staring down at us with her arms crossed.
Rose shrinks in her chair.
I don't blame her because this waitress isn't just some stranger girl, but a werewolf, a warrior at that too.
I swallow my fears and like the way my voice sounds when I order our breakfast. It's not that I'm scared of the chick, but if other werewolves are near and a fight were to break out here, I don't know if I'll be able to completely protect Rose.
The waitress studies me for a bit before she glances at a cowering Rose then back at me. I bite back the snide comment at the tip of my tongue when the waitress smirks and leaves to fulfill our order.
'Oi' I mind link Rose who flinches from it but doesn't look up as I'm eyeing the other people in the building. 'Don't worry. I'm here.'
'Okay.' Rose's voice in the mind link is soft and scared.
The waitress comes back with our food and we begin to eat.
I usually got the food when we were still traveling, never taking longer than five minutes to get food and drinks for the long bus ride ahead of us.
I look up when a stool is placed at the edge of our table and the same waitress sits down when we’re down eating.
“Wow,” she whistles, “you guys actually finished all of that.”
Rose has the decency to look ashamed, while I nonchalantly shrug.
“Look, I’m not here to chase you guys out or anything,” the waitress sighs at the guarded look on my face. “I’m Trish.”
I stare at the hand held out to me than back to the waiter. Eh, what the heck right? I shake the hand once and introduce ourselves, “The names Katie, and my friend over there is Rose. Is there something you need?”
Trish chuckles, shaking her head, “Naw. Just curious is all. The folks around here know about us werewolves, of course they’ll never say anything since they know better. So don’t mind the stares they be sending you. Most residents know to distinguish werewolves and regular people.”
“Oh, thanks.” I smile slightly.
“No problem,” Trish grins, “Many rogues and traveling wolves accidently cross our borders because of that bus, so there’s really nothing we can do.”
“Yeah, it happened to us.” Rose finally says.
Trish’s eyes light up as they land on her. “Oh? Haha! I guess I won the bet this time! Anyways, just wanted to give you guys a warning is all.”
“Warning?” My eyebrows nit together with worry, surely we haven’t done anything to be warned about. “What warning?”
“You’re free to cross over my Alpha’s territory as long as you don’t start trouble.” Rose visibly cowers at how lightly Trish speaks but her eyes are like daggers hanging at the ring of our necks. “And you’re not allowed to shift either. Remain in your human form or the pack won’t hesitate to kill you since you’re, you know, rogues.”
“Is that all?” I ask.
Trish studies my expression. “Yeah, it’s all.”
I sigh in relief, “Good. Then that’s easy.” I look at an amused Trish and smile. “Tell your Alpha that Rose and I are thankful for his understanding.”
Trish raises an eyebrow as she smirks. “Don’t get me wrong sweetheart, my Alpha just doesn’t like to fight if it can be avoided.”
“Still,” Trish’s smile falters at the sincerity in my voice, “thank you.”
Trish awkwardly rubs the back of her neck and stands up. “Uh, if you guys are planning on staying longer, I can uh help you for a place to stay at.”
Rose smiles, and Trish steps back for some reason. “That’d be nice!”
Once we’ve collected our stuff we set out to find a place to stay.
“Hey, you sure your boss is okay with you leaving while you’re working?” I ask Trish who has her arms folded behind her head looking too relaxed for someone who just ditched work.
“Yeah, yeah,” Trish waves dismissively, “I work when I want or when I need extra cash.”
Rose giggles at her antics while walking on my other side. “I’ve never heard of a job that works like that!”
I nod in agreement. Not that I knew much other job occupations in a pack anyways.
Trish grins as she suddenly stops in front of a motel. “Well, everything in this town is made convenient for both werewolves and humans.
“I see, so this is one of those neutral territories I’ve heard about between humans and werewolves.”
“Mhm,” Trish hums leading us inside. “This is the only spot in the territory that is neutral in that way, even though our territory is rather big.”
“It’s big? How big?” Rose asks thoughtfully
Trish whirls around to us, surprising us with the bewildered look on her face. “What do you mean ‘how big’?! Do you guys even know whose territory you’re on?!”
‘Do you know? I don’t.’ Rose mind links me.
I furrow my eyebrows in thought before shaking my head. “No. We just took some random bus and kept heading east.”
My insides squirm in cold dread when I force myself to ask, “Who?”
Trish looks like she’s about to slam her face on something and her gapping mouth isn’t helping with the thought either.
Rose looks from Trish to me, not sure if she should say anything.
We were heading east, for almost a month. I know in the center right before the beginning of the east, there are many Alphas who own a large portion of lands. Some of them are known to be ruthless and others neutral, but all very powerful.
I know nothing of any other Alpha than the one I used to have and his enemy who is also an Alpha, just those two Alphas. Surely I’m not in his enemy’s territory right? I couldn’t have taken us that far, into the East, right?
“You’re shitting me right?” Trish snaps me out of my thoughts.
“We’re not shitting you. We really don’t know.” I shrug.
At that, Trish laughs hysterically and the guy at the counter looks just as lost as us. “How did you guys even survive on your way here? I can’t believe you entered his land without even knowing who he is!”
I cross my arms over my chest and tap my foot impatiently, because other than Rose, I’m never patient with anyone else.
“Sorry, sorry,” Trish finally calms done from her high, “It’s just unbelievable. If you don’t know who owns this territory than you must have traveled or ran from some secluded place far away from here.”
Rose shifts uncomfortably on my side. Well we did travel far: rode a bus for four full days without it stopping once.
“Have you ever heard of the ~Alpha of the East~?” Trish sings.
She laughs when our jaws drop. “Yup, that’s the great Alpha of this land. His territory you’re in.”
Trish goes back to getting our rooms set and our room key while snickering at our frozen stature.
“Wait, are you serious?” I hastily ask when I realize she's heading to our room.
“Serious,” Trish repeats as she opens the door and closes it behind us.
I spin around to face a smug Trish. “He won’t cause any trouble right?”
Trish raises an eyebrow at that and crosses her arms.
“Why would he?” She asks looking genuinely curious.
“Because,” Rose says softly, while clenching her fist. “We’ve heard rumors of how notorious he is and…”
She doesn’t get to finish because Trish is in her face and she’s not grinning anymore. “And what?”
I step between the two and shield Rose behind me, “And we’re from the west,” is all I say.
I immediately regret saying it when Trish’s eyes widen taking a step back.
“You two,” she points between us a couple of times before dropping her hand and looking absolutely stunned, “are from the west?”
“Yeah,” I force myself to say and gulp at the fear clawing its way out of my throat as I speak. “We’ve heard that he doesn’t do well with the West Clan.”
“You guys are from the West Clan?” Trish asks with her eyebrows furrowed together in thought.
“But we left it. We ran away.” Rose immediately adds.
“But you’re from the West Clan, and now you’re rogues.” Trish doesn’t miss a beat to summarize our situation. “And you’re in the East Clan’s territory who are archenemies with those of the West.”
“We’re not here to cause any trouble. We just wish to take a ship and sail east to the Old World.” I say decisively. I need to let them know we’re just passing through. “We’re being honest here, and telling you our past so please understand that we just want to leave to build a new future.”
“Being honest is a way to also hide lies in your words. But I understand, just know I’m going to have to inform this to the pack and to my Alpha.” Trish sighs in exasperation. “I can tell you don’t mean harm.”
I grit my teeth and slowly exhale from my nose to calm myself down because one of us needs to be calm, and by the way Rose is trembling it’s not going to be her.
“I understand,” I glare at Trish, “thanks for your help.”
Trish doesn’t bite at the clear dismissal sent her way but instead waves before she leaves, “No problem. It was nice meeting you guys.”
I then focus my attention on Rose and lead her to the single bed and hold her trembling body.
“Don’t worry. We left the Clan, so they can’t do anything about us, and if they want information I’ll give them it. I’ll protect you okay?”
I kiss the top of Rose’s head for comfort. “Shhh~ It’s my fault. I should have paid attention to know when to go north in order to avoid his land. It’s okay…everything is going to be okay, Rose.”
Rose opens her mouth to speak but decides better of it.
I know she wants to know why I told them we’re from the West. I don’t blame her but a part of me actually just wanted to see if the Alpha of the East is like how I think he is.
Hopefully he is and everything stays okay.
And everything was okay, until three days later.