"Willow, are you sure about this?" My heart was beating so fast.
"It'll be fine." She stepped out from behind a rock with clothes on and started to do her hair.
"This isn't allowed." I clutched the bag in my arms. I was the only one still in werewolf form.
"We're not in Haper's Creek," she stated.
Another girl opened a container of makeup.
"I thought we were only going for a run near the town."
She raised a brow. "Really, Archer? You thought we came all this way to look at it?"
Clenching my jaw, I looked away. "I guess not."
"Look"—she cocked her hip to the side—"I get Rupert is anti-human and is controlling as hell, but your father doesn't have to find out. So why don't you man-up for a change and get ready?" She held up the small mirror. "You can go home. No one is forcing you to be here."
I dug my claws into the bag. Leaving wasn't an option. Marching behind the boulder, I shifted and put on the clothes and shoes that were inside the backpack. I scrunched up my toes and took a moment to compose myself. I was not afraid of humans. Humans were a weaker species, so if anything happened, I could handle it. I was a dominant werewolf of Northern Ridge. One night among humans wouldn't kill me.
"Archer, are you ready?"
I cleared my throat. "Yeah."
My stomach was turning as I went to join the others. The girls talked back and forth as I walked with the other guys. Tonight would be fine. No one would find out. The humans wouldn't kill me and as long as my father didn't catch us, he wouldn't kill me, either. We left the trees and walked along a road. An old shed sat up ahead surrounded by weeds. Willow lifted a scrap piece of a steel beam off the ground. Under it was an old tin can pushed into the dirt. She popped off the top and took out a key.
"How'd you know that was there?" I asked.
Willow shrugged. "My dad let it slip that this shed belongs to the pack. It took forever to find these, though." She pulled out a keychain. "But I did."
"Does Darius know we're doing this?"
Rolling her eyes, she unlocked the shed. "No. Why? Are you going to tell him?"
The group turned to me.
"Hell, no. I just wanted to know if I wasn't supposed to say anything."
"Well, the answer is no." She pushed open the door and tossed the keys to one of the boys. "Go open the back."
Everyone filed inside. I stood still listening to the shed doors being pushed apart.
"You can go home, Archer."
I shook my head. "No, no, I'm fine." With a deep breath, I marched inside.
***
(Saigon)
For the third night in a row, I had done nothing more than sit on top of a mountain. There had to be a better way to secure the border. Rogues weren't stupid enough to enter our territory in the first place. I wandered down the hall to my room and catch a glimpse of someone slipping into Archer's cave. The fur on the back of my neck stood on end as I bared my teeth. I crept closer and ripped back the hid.
Archer jumped and nearly fell over. "My god, Saigon." He clasped his chest. "What are you doing?"
I stared at him, confused by why he was awake. "I thought I saw someone enter your room, but it looks like it was you." My eyes landed on the bag in his hand. "What's that for?"
"Nothing." He tossed it to the side. "I was looking for something. I thought it might be in there."
"In the middle of the night? You have the hunting party in the morning, you know."
Nodding, he swallowed hard. "It's important."
"Important enough for you to be wandering around the cave in the middle of the night?"
He nodded slowly. "Yes."
I eyed the man. "What is it?"
"Nothing important," he blurted out.
"You just said it was important. So which is it?"
He pushed back his head fur. "God, Saigon. It's nothing, okay. So leave." He waved his hand at me. "Why are you up this late?" he retorted.
"Patrol." I folded my arms. "I just got done."
He forced a smile. "Oh, how'd it go?"
I didn't respond and eyed him.
"Still as boring as ever, I bet," he laughed. "Well, I'm tired, so I better get to bed."
I didn't move. "My dad is a better liar than you."
"What?" He scowled at me. "I'm not— just get out. I want to go to bed."
I shrugged. "You still haven't told me what you were looking for. If it's that important, I can help you look for it." I marched toward the bag in the corner.
Archer hurried to get by me but I got to it first. I kept my back to him as I undid the zippers and dumped the contents onto the floor. Archer stood frozen behind me as the shoes and clothes spilled across the ground.
"I think I found what you were looking for." I shoved the bag into his chest. "Did Willow put you up to this?"
He clutched it in his hands as his ears splayed to the sides. "I wanted to go."
"To impress her?"
Archer gritted his teeth. "That's none of your business. If I want to do something, I can. I don't need your permission."
"No, you don't. But we might need to check with my uncle to see if you need his. I can go ask him for you. I'll be right back." I turned for the door.
Archer snatched my arm. "Please, don't. I'm sorry, alright. I know it's not allowed but I wanted to see what everyone was talking about. Please don't tell the alpha. He'll demote me and getting my rank back won't be as easy if it happened to anyone else. I'm a borderline dominant. Darius might keep me as a middle rank."
Letting out a deep breath, I nodded. "Fine. But this"—I grabbed the bag and held it up—"better be the last time. It's dangerous. Willow might not care about the rules, but I know you do. So end this now before Darius catches you."
"I will." Bowing his head, he picked at the fur on his arm.
Shaking my head, I tossed the bag in the corner. "I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow."
"Good night," he muttered.
"Yeah." I marched from the room and went to mine. How could he be so stupid? If it didn't get Archer in trouble, I would have gone straight to Darius. All it took was one fight and a human getting hurt for WIR to pay the pack a visit.
***
I marched through the cave on a mission to find one person: Willow. I was not going to let her bring Archer down to her level. She could break all the rules she wanted, but I wasn't going to let her manipulate Archer into doing the same.
Higher pitched voices came from outside. I wove through the boulders until I spotted the girl I was looking for. She perked up when I stepped into view, as did her friends.
"Hey, Saigon. Are you looking for Archer?" She smiled. "I think he's still on the hunt."
"Hmm..." I eyed the woman. "Why is it that you're never on the hunt?"
She laughed. "I'm high ranked, but the alpha is punishing me. Middle rank chores until I can prove I can be responsible."
That was a clear sign that Archer should have nothing to do with her.
"Can I talk to you?" I asked.
Her eyes grew wide before she gave me a smirk. "What about?"
"I'd rather talk to you alone." I glanced at her two friends.
One whispered something to Willow before slipping away. "We'll be down by the river. The hunting party should be back soon."
Willow waved as the pair hurried off. Put her hand on her hip, she took a deep breath. "What did you want to talk about?"
"I caught Archer sneaking into his room last night."
"So?" she laughed. "Is he forbidden to go in his own room?"
"I saw the human clothes. I know where you went last night."
The smile left her face. "I didn't force him if that's what you're suggesting. I told him to go home like ten times. He made the choice to stay."
Cursing under my breath, I shook my head.
"Why are you so uptight about this? Nothing happened."
"I care about Archer. I don't want to see him get demoted because of some stupid act of rebellion. You can do whatever the hell you want but leave him out of it."
She raised an eyebrow, looking rather unimpressed. "He wanted to go. So if you have a problem with that, big boy, take it up with Archer." She bumped me as she passed.
"Mind your place, Willow," I said in a low voice.
She stopped, her tail flicking back and forth. "What are you going to do if I don't?" Willow looked over her shoulder and I met her gaze. "Archer follows me around like a lost pup. I have enough self-awareness to know that he likes me. So are you going to run off to your uncle and tattle on me?" she mocked. "Go for it, and see if Archer wants to be friends with you after."
"Archer is the only reason I haven't."
She bristled at the comment before looking away. "I'll let Archer know he's not invited from now on."
I watched her leave, doing my best to calm down. My head felt weird. It might be from the lack of sleep. My anger toward that girl had kept me up all night. I rubbed my forehead. Willow could do whatever the hell she wanted as long as Archer stayed behind. Closing my eyes, I took in a deep breath. He was going to kill me for chewing Willow out. It would be nice if one thing would go my way for a change.