We were finally back. There wasn't really any snow here and it was mostly ice that set a deadly trap so that everyone would trip.
I came in through the front door, catching the attention of my mom and Matt who were sat by the fire.
"Sweetie you're back!" My mom pulled me into a tight hug after she stood up.
"Hey, how have things been around here without me?" I asked as I saw Matt stand up smiling behind my mom.
"We all missed you. It was a mess obviously." He gave me a nod- his way of saying hello.
I knew he was just saying that to please me so that I thought that I was important to the family, which I was, but like I was holding it all together. The thought brought joy to my heart as I pulled away from my mom's embrace.
"I missed everyone too." I smiled.
"Where's Lily?" I asked as I looked around.
"She's sleeping. She has been napping the entire week, I honestly don't know how she manages to get a night's sleep after that." Matt shook his head.
I laughed, enjoying being back home.
~~~~~
Max's PoV
We returned inside the pack house and put our stuff back into our rooms. I was glad to be back, but I would never forget what happened in France.
I smiled remembering it until I felt the pack's alarm.
My mood instantly dropped, unhappy to have thoughts of my mate interrupted but I rushed down the stairs in fear of what was going on.
The house was awkwardly silent. Too silent.
My feet made it's way outside onto the patio, where I found everyone aligned and staring into the forest's edge.
I didn't dare to ask what was going on as I followed their line of sight.
A black shadow formed as it seemed to be getting closer to us.
The form grew bigger and taller as it crept towards us. A lump formed in my throat that I couldn't swallow as it stayed there reminding me that I was anxious in anticipation.
I smelt blood and I was pretty sure everyone did as they shifted their position into a defensive one.
The wolf had made its way onto our territory and we could see it limping as its right, front paw was injured.
It had come significantly closer when we could finally make out who it was.
Ace gasped, "What's the Red Moon Pack's Alpha doing here?"
Even though Isaac had been the whole reason I was worried about being with Lex, I couldn't deny that he was a great Alpha and we could count on him in situations like these.
Isaac took a pair of shorts and threw it out at the wolf. Since we couldn't really feel too cold the wolf would survive the cold winter air.
He shifted and put the shorts on.
I had never seen the alpha before, so this was my first time seing him. His black, short hair was flowing loosely in the wind, he was tanned and quite tall, about Isaac's height since they were both alphas.
I watched him approach us and just when he was about two meters away, I stepped in front of the others defensively.
"Ha, your beta is doing a good job." Alpha Adam (his name), unpleasantly chuckled as I did my job. As a beta, it was my responsibility to make sure the alpha was safe and could continue his duties no matter what.
Because the alpha was the most important thing to ensure the pack's survival, it was normal for him to need protection and I was grateful and honoured to be given that task.
Isaac stepped forwards, "Alpha Adam, speak, what are you doing on our territory?" He asked, emphasising the 'our' part as it excluded him.
Alpha Adam straightened his posture as he was bent over, most probably from the pain of his injury, and sighed. "I'm going to be honest, I don't want to be here as much as you don't want me here but I bring important news and.." He trailed off as he approached us, making me stand in front of him and block his way.
"This is news you're going to want to hear." He looked straight at us, making us understand the importance of his unwelcomed presence.
~~~~~
Alexa's PoV
I put my stuff away into my room, and happily skipped down the stairs.
"Alexa, do you want to eat with us?" My mom asked.
"Of course!" I gladly agreed, enjoying the feeling of being at home.
Lily came in after me and jumped up, settling down on her chair.
We all sat down around the table looking at the chicken and vegetables my mom had prepared with Matt.
Half way through the meal, my mom spoke up.
"Alexa, there's something we need to tell you."
"Yeah?"
"For the next two weeks, we're going to see Matt's family as we didn't really see them after the marriage. We're taking Lily with us but we don't want to take you out of school since it's such an important school year. Do you have any friends that you can stay with?" My mom spoke barely taking a break to breathe as she judged my reaction.
"Oh, yeah that's fine. Enjoy your time there." I smiled.
She finally breathed out and relaxed.
"See? I told you she'd be fine." Matt took her hand as she nodded back at him.
"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" I questioned even though they weren't expecting me to hear that part.
"Well, we just knew you don't make friends easily so we were worried..." Matt didn't finish his sentence as he got quieter towards the end.
"Oh... No it's fine." I said as I finished my plate.
"I'm done, I'm going to go ask my friends." I put my plate in the sink and left to go to my room as I heard an "okay." from behind me.
I took my phone out of my bag as I sat on the side of my bed, looking out of the window as I pressed 'call'.
"Helloooo." A cheery yet low voice answered.
That's not Cathy's voice... "Will?"
"Uhuhhh. You guessed." I could hear his smirk through the phone.
"Why are you answering Cathy's phone?"
"She's my sister! And well.. She went to take a shower. So... What's up?" He asked seriously.
"Um, well my parents are going away so I was going to ask her if I can stay at your house for two weeks." My voice got less and less confident as the sentence came out of my mouth.
"Oh, let me see something first I'll call you back later okay byee!" He spoke faster than I had ever heard him speak and he hung up before I could even say anything.
"O-kay?" I muttered as I looked at my phone, putting it down on my bed.
Sighing, I decided to ignore it and close my eyes as I layed across my bed..
~~~~~
Max's PoV
"Follow me." Isaac motioned for Adam to go after him as they made their way to Isaac's office.
Making sure not to leave them alone, I followed after them.
Everyone else was waiting outside as he closed the door behind him.
"If you don't mind it, Max is going to be here too." Isaac said whilst sitting down.
Adam sat down whilst I stayed standing, leaning against the wall.
"So, let's get straight to the point shall we? What are you doing here?" Isaac asked what was on everyone's minds.
Adam sighed, "You're going to want to know the full story first."
We didn't say anything, waiting for him to continue.
"After you, eliminated my beta," He said unhappily. "We were attacked."
"By which pack?" Isaac asked. We were rivals because we were the only packs in this part of the city. There wasn't another one for miles.
"No, not a pack. Hunters."
"Why would there be hunters here?" I asked, crossing my arms as I didn't believe a word he said.
Hunters had been alive as long as us, they had always hunted us down and were the main cause there were less werewolves now. If hunters were back and powerful enough to attack one of the strongest packs, then we were in serious trouble.
"I wouldn't lie about this, I'm risking a lot for my pack by coming here and telling you about this."
"If the hunters are back, we all need to be careful. Thank you for warning us." Isaac spoke whilst deep in thought.
"That, wasn't the only reason I came here." Adam said, gaining back our attention.
"Oh?"
"They took out most of our pack since we didn't have a beta protecting us, and half of us are injured. We, wanted to ask if we could take refuge here? We can't have any more of our pack dead." Adam asked earnestly.
"Our packs are sworn enemies, you know this." Isaac lifted an eyebrow.
"I wouldn't be asking this if I had other options. We're all werewolves here, those hunters are powerful and we need to join forces to fight them."
"You're suggesting becoming a team?" Isaac repeated.
"Yes, for the sake of our kind." Adam looked up at us.
We didn't say anything, speechless due to this strange proposition.
"Tell your pack to come here, we have enough spare rooms if you put mattresses on the floors. Ask the pack nurse to heal your wounds, they look nasty." Isaac said, his voice completely flat.
"Thank you." Adam looked down, as a sign of respect as he acknowledged the favour Isaac was giving him.
Although I wasn't sure this was a great idea, I trusted Isaac.
My phone started ringing which brought the attention on me. I muttered an apology as I excused myself and exited the room.
"What do you want Will?" I groaned as I heard his cheery voice.
"Well, I thought you would want to know."
"Not you as well, maybe we don't want to know!" I thought back to how Adam had told us we would want to know about this earlier. If we didn't know... I sighed, it wouldn't change anything.
"Are you okay? It's about your girl."
I instantly became interested after hearing about Lex.
"You're going to want to come here, Adam showed up telling us he was attacked by hunters, anyways, what is it?" I summarized and focused on the one thing I wanted to know.
"What!?" Will's shocked scream nearly burst my eardrum.
"Stop being such a drama queen and tell me about Lex." I complained.
"Okay okay," Will disregarded my annoyance as he continued. "She asked me if she could stay at our house for two weeks as her parents were away. I thought you might want to know." His voice became muffled as he started chewing on something.
"Are you seriously eating right now?" I sighed again, "you're incredible."
"Thanks."
"That wasn't a.. You know what, nevermind. Why did she come to you about this anyway?"
Will chuckled. "Actually, she was going to ask Cathy but I answered the phone."
That made me feel better.
"And I thought you might want to know in case she could stay with you?" Will questioned.
"Thanks for telling me, but with the Red Moon pack here.." I trailed off.
"Why are they staying there anyways?"
"We need to join forces against the hunters apparantly." I shook my head.
"If there's hunters involved, I think they are the least of your worries. I would keep her by your side, safe."
For once Will actually made sense. "You're right."
"I'll tell her." Will cheered up.
"Bye." I hung up.
"Wait what-"
I ran a hand through my hair with frustration.
If she was going to stay here, I don't know how I'm meant to hold back much longer.
~~~~~
Thanks for reading!
-Bella