LONE

WOLF
A CAITLYN LUX BOOK
Copyright © 2018 by Hisoka.
Edited and Published by Caitlyn Lux, 2024.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be

reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without
written permission from the publisher or author.

This is a work of fiction. Any names or characters,

businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious.
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or
actual events is purely coincidental.
 Contents
INTRODUCTION

● CHAPTER ONE

● CHAPTER TWO

● CHAPTER THREE

● CHAPTER FOUR

● CHAPTER FIVE

● CHAPTER SIX
● CHAPTER SEVEN

● CHAPTER EIGHT

● CHAPTER NINE

● CHAPTER TEN

● CHAPTER ELEVEN

● CHAPTER TWELVE
 INTRODUCTION
As the full moon ascended slowly above the desolate forest, its ethereal
glow bathing the twisted tree branches in silver light, a sense of unease
crept over the young boy named Andrew as he made his way back from
his friend's house. The night enveloped him in its stillness, broken only
by the faint rustle of leaves stirred by a gentle breeze, setting a
haunting backdrop to his solitary journey. And then, amidst the eerie
tranquility, a low ominous growl pierced the air, causing Andrew's heart
to race with sudden dread. His steps faltered as a pair of menacing red
eyes flickered in the dark shadows, drawing closer with a malevolent
intent that sent shivers down his spine. Frozen in terror, Andrew braced
himself for the impending danger, but instead of succumbing to fear, a
surge of courage ignited within him. With quick reflexes, he countered
the beast's ferocious attack, facing it head- on with a determination
that defied the darkness encroaching upon him. In that moment of
fierce confrontation, the boundaries between fear and bravery blurred,
as Andrew found himself locked in a battle not just with the physical
threat before him, but with the deeper shadows of his own inner
turmoil. And as the world around him faded into obscurity, a newfound
strength emerged from within, guiding him through the darkness and
towards a glimmer of light that promised redemption and revelation.
"Oh goodness,” I smacked my forehead as I realized I was recounting
my own life narrative to a pile of bricks.

How well can you remember something that traumatizes you? or

something that tore you away from your family?.

Folklores and myths on Werewolves are numerous but not many

cultures contain stories on becoming one. I became a werewolf when I
was seven, I was bitten by a rogue werewolf, an alpha precisely.....that's
how you become a werewolf by being bitten by an alpha werewolf. My
name is Andrew Dorran, I was bitten by a rogue werewolf alpha,
therefore, I don't belong to a pack...... I'm a sigma, A LONE WOLF. Here
is my journey to the top of the hierarchy.
Will I make it or not?
 I CHAPTER I
placed one box on top of another one before running back
outside to the truck parked in front of the building. Damn,
I should've gotten someone to come help me move from my
old place. I thought I could handle it fine myself, but I
never realized just how much stuff I owned till now. The
books are probably the worst though, not only are they the
heaviest boxes but also the dustiest and scattered stuff.
Not a fun experience.

Not that the weight was the issue, the bookcases aren't all
that heavy to be honest, it was just awkward to maneuver
them around without help. I had enough muscles from
constantly swimming and doing kickboxing for five years,
the bookcases didn't feel all that heavy or anything, I'm not
ripped I'll admit, but you could definitely tell I had muscles.
I don't know how much of the muscle is due to sports and
how much of it is due to me being a werewolf though.
Before I was turned into a werewolf I was pretty chubby, to
say the least, but as to be expected of a little kid who
enjoyed his treats.

When I get back to the truck and grab another box out of
the back, I feel small little drops of water fall onto my arms.
I look up at the dark clouds as the sprinkling water hits my
face.

"Shit, of course it has to rain," I thought as I quickly put

the box in my arms onto the floor inside with the rest of the
boxes I had carried inside already. I quickly ran back
outside and tried to hurriedly get the majority of my things
inside before the rain started pouring down.
After about six more boxes it was now pouring rain. I
brushed my dark ash hair, which was wet and stuck to my
forehead, off my face and tucked some of it behind my ear.
My amber eyes flickering over the remaining boxes and
furniture that was dropped off the moving truck. All that
was left to move inside was a bookshelf, a bag of blankets,
a mirror, and two boxes of kitchen supplies. I picked up the
two boxes and quickly walked towards my small kitchen.
Thank goodness that werewolves had more strength than
normal humans, if not then moving on my own would be
impossible.

This isn't the first time I've moved, or even the third to be
honest. I've lost count of how many times I've moved.
Lucky for me most people don't give a damn about a
teenage boy moving around or constantly switching
schools.

You'd think I'd learn over time and stop collecting so much
stuff since I would have to keep moving it with me from
place to place. Well, I did keep that in mind and tried but
didn't work out, I get easily attached to the simplest things.
The last apartment I'd been in for about two years before I
was found out...and by found out, I mean I could tell the
local pack knew there was a lone werewolf in their territory,
they had narrowed the location to approximately where I
was living. Naturally in that situation, I left. I didn't want to
cause trouble for them in the first place and didn't want
them bothering me, plus it's probably safer for me to leave
on my own than wait for them to catch up to me.
I don't belong to a pack, and I never have officially been in
one. Since I've never officially been in a pack before I don't
consider myself a rogue, which are usually werewolves
kicked out or exiled from their packs for doing something,
because of this I've adapted the term lone werewolf, I
originally heard the term from a traveling werewolf and he
explained it as a singular werewolf who travels around yet
is still welcomed by packs. The title suits my situation
much better than a rogue's and it sounds nicer to say
you're a lone traveller than an exiled criminal.

My mind wanders to the thoughts of packs. A pack, It

sounds nice in theory. Everyone in a pack is like one
massive family with everyone looking out and taking care of
each other. Must make you feel warm and safe. Oh and
little cubs running around, awwwn....that'd be adorable.
Them with their little stubby legs working hard to run
around as fast as they can, or gnawing on everything with
their small yet sharp teeth.

There was a time in my life when I gave into my internal

need for a pack and decided to join one, worst decision
ever. I was instantly thrown in a cell for about a week after
not doing what they asked, practically starved, then
watched as a couple of twenty something -year-old men
beat a kid who couldn't have been older than eight. Their
reason for breaking the kid's ribs? His class in their
hierarchy, an omega. It makes me sick just thinking about
it. Apparently, omegas were the second worst thing in the
world to them, rogues being the first. The pack had tried
figuring out where I was in their sick, twisted, monster of a
hierarchy, and they seemed to think I was an omega for
whatever reason. However, in the end, they decided I
wasn't. According to one of the members I had a weird
scent and had to be a half breed. Of course, I'm not that
either, but I sure as hell wasn't telling them that. When
they asked what kind of werewolf I came from I just glared
at them and spit in one of their faces. The Alpha hated my
guts even more after that stunt and the enforcers did a
pretty good number on me, something about 'once a rogue,
always a rogue' but I did end up doing some pretty good
damage back during the fight, which was funny to watch
since they obviously thought I was just going to sit there
and take the punches they were throwing. Like hell I was.

After a couple of months stuck there, I managed to escape

when actual rogues attacked some of the cubs from the
pack. I ended up running out of there during all the chaos.
They chased me for a couple of weeks but I guess they got
tired and figured I wasn't worth it.

I sigh and get ready to move the last bookshelf "Goodness, I

really should've left one of these suckers behind, I don't
need this many books in the first place. I mean I love
reading and all but this is ridiculous."

After I got it inside I was soaking wet, my clothes were

clinging to my body and made it a bit hard to move. I flop
backwards onto the bed and stare up at the ceiling.

Yeah, being in a pack sounds flipping great. However, never

forget they're only a good thing in theory.

I force my tired limbs off the bed and start to scavenge

around for my duffel bag which I had packed full of
overnight supplies. I also added the immediate things I
would need once I moved in there, that way I wouldn't have
to worry about unpacking everything to find what I need. I
grabbed a towel, two-in-one shampoo and conditioner, and
a change of clothes, then got into the small crusty shower.

I was bitten by a rogue werewolf back when I was only

seven years old, still only a kid. The rogue was some alpha
who ended up going insane for whatever reason then was
exiled from his pack by fellow pack members. In the later
years after the attack, I overheard locals whispering about
the alpha and eventually got enough gossip into my brain
to connect and figure out most of his backstory. Even
though I was only a kid back then when he attacked me I
fought back for all it's worth, which was apparently enough
to allow me to survive. The only way I found out his story
in the first place was from more informed packs constantly
talking about it, hell everyone seemed to be talking about
his death.

My parents somehow knew about werewolves and as it

turned out, hated them with an immense passion that I
discovered after the first signs of my change appeared. The
people I loved so dearly hated werewolves to the depths of
their little plastic souls and saw me as a disgusting
monster over something I had no control over. After some
of the first signs of my change started, both of my
previously loving and gentle parents I cherished changed
into two completely different people than the ones I knew.
When my first shift started they hit me on the back of my
head hard enough that it knocked me out instead of
helping me through the torture I was experiencing. When I
eventually woke up I found myself deep in the middle of a
forest somewhere. I've been on my own ever since then.
I got out of the shower and dried off a bit before walking
over to my bed and laying down again. I was seriously
exhausted after moving all my things from my old
apartment. I guess if I was in a pack, I wouldn't have to
keep moving, and I could ask for help when I needed it. But
then again, from experience, it seems like being on my own
is much better than being in a pack. Besides, I didn't
exactly like the idea of people thinking they're above me or
ordering me around without a good reason for it.

I sigh and throw the damp towel over a stack of boxes as I

stand up and walk over to one of my bookcases. I spotted
the beige folder I was looking for standing on an empty
shelf. "Let's just hope there aren't many wolves at this
school, if they find out about me within the first week here
then I'll be so screwed."

Switching schools is such a pain, but I guess it's been

easier in high school than it was back when I tried to finish
elementary alone. Yeah elementary school was such a pain
in the ass to try and complete. This new school is supposed
to be a smaller one from what I've seen and from what I
could find online, that means the possibility of wolves is
lower. Most of the schools I've been in were bigger and in
the city since, for some reason, they're easier to transfer
into without lots of key information and I'm not able to give
them.

I sigh once again and throw myself backwards on my bed

which doesn't even have sheets on it yet. "I need to find
some clothes and bring the rest of these transfer
documents with me tomorrow morning."
Guess leaving early is a good idea if I want to have time for
breakfast or to fill out whatever else they might need," I
decide as I start to feel myself drifting off to sleep.

The next morning I walked into the school a little bit earlier
than I planned so I could be one of the only people there. I
had to pick up the transfer paper and didn't want to run
into any other students yet.

As I look around the halls I see someone walk into a room

with Guidance taped to the door. I rushed over and caught
the door before it fully closed. When I look up I see the
secretary who gave me the transfer documents as she goes
and sits at her desk. "Excuse me, hello again," I say and
chuckle as she jumps at my voice. She looks flustered but
quickly recovers.

"Hello! You're early today aren't you," She comments and I

smile.

"Sorry about that, I figured it'd be better to bring the rest of

my documents to you now in case I need more information
or something happens", I said, holding out my file for her to
take.

She smiles again and nods her head towards her desk
where a computer is "That's a smart idea, I'll finish putting
them in the system now then."

The woman instantly gets to work looking over my papers

and quickly typing information into her computer. I take a
minute to look out the window behind the office.
"Woods, shit. Schools near woods like this are never a good
sign. How the hell didn't I notice that when I picked the
school out? Dammit I was sure there wouldn't be any large
forests nearby but apparently, I was wrong. I have to check
it out later to see if there are any werewolf scents around
here."

The sudden voice of the secretary breaks the silence in the

room. "You can sit down dear, I just need to make a call
then we'll be done okay?" She says and I nod before sitting
down on a bench.

After a couple minutes of fiddling on my phone, I have a

feeling she's forgotten about me. There were now kids
walking through the halls and she was talking on the
phone while checking things on her computer. I put my
phone away and stare at her, hoping she'll notice that I'm
still here. After a couple more minutes she glances over
and her eyes widen, yep, she forgot about me.

She covers the bottom of the phone and says "Sorry, you're
good to go. Here's your timetable," with a piece of paper out
for me to take. I jump up and grab it before nodding and
walking out the door.

My locker number was also written on the paper so I

walked through the hallway looking for it. Just as I was a
few feet away from my locker I could smell the
unmistakable scent that I had been hoping wouldn't show
up.

"Oh joy, a dream come true." I huff sarcastically to myself.

I know I don't smell much like a werewolf since I had a
conversation with a friend of a past school who said my
scent is more of a rogue mixed with forest. We figured out
how to mask some of the smell with different oils and
things after experimenting for a while. I now use a variety
of different oils such as sage, peppermint, and lavender
which helps overpower the werewolf in my scent. I also own
a few scent charms that female werewolves apparently use
when they're getting close to are on their heat so other
wolves don't smell them as strongly. After trying them out
we figured that with the scent charms and my friend told
me you aren't even able to tell something's off with my
scent unless you look for it. Besides, I'm not a true
werewolf in the first place so the scent I give off is different
from most people

I now pray that the wolves around me don't notice the

slight issue in my scent which makes it so you can tell I'm
not fully human. My eyes search the hallways to try and
find the werewolves who are giving off the strong scent. I've
found out over the years that if I can figure out early on
who is a werewolf and who isn't then it is easier for me to
stay hidden, I then know who I should try my best to avoid
if at all possible.

My eyes latch onto three guys who look like they are in the
same grade as me, walking up the middle of the hallway.
The first one had to be about six foot three, the one on the
left was about three inches shorter, and the one on the
right was in between the two of them height wise.

"Great, the middle one is a freaking alpha. Literally

everything about him screams alpha. I'm going to guess the
left one is the beta maybe, he seems scarier than the one
on the right. Goodness there better not be a whole pack to
be in this school or else I'm so dead it isn't even funny," I
think as I turn into my locker in the hopes of hiding from
them. I held my breath as the three of them passed me by,
they were laughing about something and thankfully didn't
notice me in the slightest. When they left I let out a breath I
didn't know I was holding. "Yeah they're definitely in a
pack"

A small bit of envy ran through me before I reminded

myself packs are only good in theory, they don't even treat
people equally for Christ's sake. Ugh, must be a stupid
werewolf instinctive thing, the need to be in a pack. I mean
it makes sense but it's so utterly stupid and annoying.

I realize I'm still staring straight into my locker and I back

away before quickly shutting the loud metal door. With a
deep breath to calm my beating heart I start off to find my
first classroom.
 CHAPTER II
“Excuse me, is this History with Mrs Carlton?" I asked as I
opened the door to what I hoped was my classroom.

The woman who was writing something on the whiteboard

stopped and turned to smile at me. "Yes it is, how may I
help
You?"

I held out my transfer paper for her to take a look at it, "I
just transferred here, I think this is my class."

She smiles at me "Ah yes, Jen did mention you. Alright,

everyone, this is Andrew Dorran, as you heard he just
transferred here. Andrew, you can sit in the back with Jax,
Jax share your book with Andrew please." She gestures to
the back and to my dismay, she was pointing at one of the
boys I had seen earlier in the hallway. Thankfully it wasn't
the alpha, it was the one who had been on the right side of
the Alpha. I guess it could've been worse, I could've gotten
stuck with the beta.

I made sure not to show on my face the displeasure of

sitting beside him and walked to the back. He smiled at me
then scooted his desk and book over towards mine. His
hair was darker than mine and the brown in his eyes was
barely lighter than the brown of his hair. His hair was in an
almost faux-hawk type style which I thought suited him
well.

"Welcome to Redwood," He says as he extends his hand to

me. I smiled politely back and shook his hand. Yeah, he
obviously worked out. My friend from my older school told
me that packs had training sessions to keep everyone in
shape and to make sure everyone on patrols could handle
the rogues. My guess was that this guy trains often and he
trains hard. I could practically see his six pack and well-
toned muscles through his clothes.

"Thanks," I answered back at him before quickly looking

over the open book on our desks.

After class finished I thanked Jax for the use of his book
and got out my timetable so that I could find my next class.
Finding classrooms was always a pain but luckily this
school wasn't that big in the first place.

"Hey," Someone called. I turned around to see Jax in the

door with the guy who I thought was a Beta, both of them
were looking at me.

"Yes?" I ask, raising my eyebrows.

"What's your next class?" He said to me, I looked down at

my timetable for almost a minute before answering.

"Uh looks like World Cultures with uhm Mr Thornton," I

hesitated.
Jax smiles "Oh cool, that's mine and Nicholas's next class,
we'll walk you over."

I hesitate before picking up my stuff, it would seem weird if

I said no. He was only trying to be welcoming to the new
kid, nothing unusual about it I suppose.
As I got to the door Nicholas held out his hand. "I'm
Nicholas, Jax said your name was Andrew I think?" I nod
once and walk with them to our next class.

Nicholas was built pretty similar to Jax, you could tell he

worked out often, I could also see that he had a tattoo
hidden under his shirt. He had dirty blonde hair and blue
eyes with specks of brown in them. He smells like chlorine
so I'm guessing that he's on the swimming team. He
seemed a bit intense but I made sure not to show my
uneasiness.

When we got closer to the classroom I mentally groaned in

frustration. The alpha from earlier was waiting outside the
door for Nicholas and Jax.

"Reece! Look, we're lucky enough to get the newbie in our

class." Nicholas calls to the alpha.

The alpha looks up at Nicholas and starts walking towards

us. When he gets closer he stretches his hand towards me.
"Sweet! Nice to meet you, I'm Harrison."

He was definitely over six feet tall and had a mix of dark
red and brown hair. He had light brown eyes and a very
imposing air about him.
"Nice to meet you Harrison, I'm Andrew, I just transferred
today," I responded as I shook his hand, he had a very firm
handshake. I had to fight to look into his eyes as I spoke,
Nicholas wasn't intense at all compared to this guy. I
wanted to back down and tell them to keep their distance
but growled at myself instead, that's not the way I did
things.
When we got into class the three took the back row and I
had to share a book with the girl who was sitting in front of
Nicholas.

I looked around for an empty section in the cafeteria to

have a quiet lunch. The cafeteria was a bit big for the
number of students in the school, so there was more than
enough room for everyone. Over at a table in the middle of
the cafeteria, there was a large table where Nicholas and a
few girls were sitting. I had a feeling Harrison and Jax
would soon be joining them. After I found a secluded spot
to sit, I set my bag down and started unzipping my bag.

"Shit, from the smell of it a good chunk of them are

werewolves. How the heck are there this many werewolves
in one small school together?" I observe everyone enjoying
their lunches and talking loudly. "Damn, maybe there's a
pack nearby. That would make the most sense since they
would send most of their kids to the same school if that's
the case. But if that's true then the pack has to be super
close by, and there must not be another school nearby
either."

"Hey, Andrew!" I look up to see Jax sitting across from me.

Harrison and Nicholas were right behind him sitting down,
along with the couple of girls I saw earlier....."they had
come over." "Hey," I said and took another bite of my
sandwich.

A girl with long black hair reached out her hand to me,
"Hello, I'm Harrison's sister Andrea, he told me you
transferred here recently. I thought I'd welcome you to
Redwood. This is Bree, Nicholas's cousin, and Maya, who's
Jax's sister," I shook Andreas' hand then nodded at the
other two girls.

Now that the table I had picked was full of werewolves I

was starting to wonder how long I could possibly go before
being noticed. Either they suspect nothing and aren't
paying attention enough to know I smell like a werewolf, or
they're incredibly stupid and can't smell me at all. They
don't look like the stupid kind but then again, I just met
them. Maybe they do smell me but just aren't saying
anything? Nah, wolves and especially Alphas like to be
direct about this kind of thing.

"So," Andrea says while she opens up her lunch "Where are
you transferring from?"

Everyone at the table looks at me. I swallow my food before

answering "North-pass Secondary."

Nicholas looks at me in awe for a few seconds before

practically screaming "You went to North-pass!? Isn't that
like a massive school!? They have some of the biggest and
best sports teams I know of!" I nod and continue eating my
sandwich.
Bree giggles at Nicholas "I know about North-pass, they
have the team that Nick always talks about. He practically
drools over them at all his meets. Apparently they're super
good."

Jax looks at me slightly confused "Yeah I know about them

too, it's supposed to be an amazing school. Why did you
transfer? North-pass is about seven and a half hours away
from here."

I shrug my shoulders and answer, "I moved, this school

was the only one nearby."
Andrea looks excited and asks, "Awesome! When did you
move over here and where do you stay?"
"Just a couple days ago, I finished with the boxes last
night," I answered not really wanting them to know where I
live and hoping they'd drop it.

Harrison was the next to ask questions "Well Hayville is

pretty different from North-pass. How're you liking it so
far? Our sports teams aren't even close to as good as theirs
but we train pretty hard for the most part."

At this point, I had already finished lunch and just sat

there continuing talking with everyone since it would be
rude to just get up and leave. "It's pretty small compared to
what I'm used to, but I don't mind, I wasn't really into any
sports. The swim team let me use their pool sometimes
though which was nice but nothing
else."
Nicholas' face lit up at my comment about the swim team.
"I knew it! You swim! You should definitely come join our
team, we're always willing to take more people in."

I shake my head. "Sorry, I'm not really into racing. I just

like being in the water and cooling off in the summer. It's
more of a relaxing thing for me."

Nicholas hangs his head and pouts his bottom lip which
makes everyone at the table laugh.

Turns out Nicholas, Harrison, and Jax were in all my

classes. Other than History which only had Jax in it, all
three were in my classes. Them constantly being around
me is going to make avoiding them extremely hard,
especially considering the fact they seem to have taken a
liking to me. The only options here was to try and avoid
them without them noticing, or waiting until something
slips and they start a fight.

After I had grabbed what I needed from my locker I noticed

Jax, Nicholas, and Harrison walking towards me. "Good
goodness, what now? You guys have literally been stuck to
me all day. What else could you possibly want?"

As they got closer Harrison lifted his hand to wave a bit

and then asked "Hey Andrew do you want a ride home? I
have room in my truck plus I'm taking Jax into town
anyway."

"No no, don't worry I still have some papers to fill out before
I leave," I lied. "Plus, I don't really want you knowing where
I live," I added to myself.
"Don't worry about it, we can wait a few minutes. Here, you
go do those now and we'll wait for you," Jax says happily.
Gosh, these guys are such a pain in the ass, why are they
acting so chummy, we just met each other like five hours
ago.

Harrison leans against the locker beside mine and stares at

me waiting for an answer. He looks straight into my eyes
before frowning. That's when I realized. "Oh shit right, they
can tell when people lie. Goodness I forgot how annoying it
is to deal with werewolves. Now they're going to wonder
why I lied about being busy."

I shut my locker and pretend to think. "Sure then, I might

as well. I don't think the paperwork is urgent anyway, I'll
do it tomorrow," Jax's face lights up and he smiles. "Oh," I
added, suddenly remembering something. "You'll have to
take me to work actually. I forgot I start today," Harrison
nods, "it's not a problem." When we get into Harrisons'
truck it's just the three of us since Nicholas has to do
something with the swim team.

"Where do you work Andrew?" Harrison asks as he starts

the truck up. Jax looks over towards me waiting for an
answer too.

"A cafe downtown, I think it was called Yours & Mine," I

replied.

Jax looked at me excited, "Seriously, Kaylie accepted you?

My sister Maya has been trying to get a job there for
months. You'll love it I'm sure, a lot of us go there to hang
out or to study. Plus the scones are amazing, you'll have to
try one."
As we pulled up to the cafe I got out and just as I was
shutting the door Harrison spoke up "Jax and I'll be back
later so you better learn how to make espresso before
then!" Jax laughs at this and I smile at them both before
shutting the door and walking inside the cafe.

I had been working for a couple hours before Harrison and

Jax came back. The owner of the cafe, Kaylie, was super
bubbly and made sure to explain everything to me. They
were right about me loving working here, many of the
customers I'm assuming were regulars since they call
Kaylie by her first name along with a couple of the other
people who worked here. Kaylie, of course, goes up to each
of them asking how they were doing and how their day was
so far.

Kaylie is about five foot six and has almost curly firetruck
red dyed hair that was being kept up in a bandana. She
was wearing corduroy overalls and a dirty white shirt,
along with many metal bangles on her wrists. Kaylie's
about mid-twenties but still acts like a teenager with her
hyperness and style. I think she's one of the happiest and
most positive people I've ever been around.

She was talking with two elderly men when Harrison and
Jax came in, she looked at them and waved before finishing
up her conversation. Harrison and Jax went to one of the
smaller tables and I walked over to them.
They both smiled at me when I came over. "So are you
ready to make us our espressos?" Jax asks, his eyes filled
with laughter.

"As a matter-of-fact," I said pulling out a notepad "What do

you two want, and don't make it complicated since I'm new
to this," They both laugh. After I take their orders and start
working I can hear Kaylie go up to talk with the boys.

"How've you boys been? I've missed you!" She says hugging
Harrison and Jax at the same time.

"We've been good, how about you Kaylie? How's Andrew

been for you?" Harrison asks.

Kaylie throws her hands in the air "He's amazing! Not only
does he work quickly, but he learns quickly! Plus when Jen
was in here earlier and knocked her cup off the counter, he
caught it before it tipped or fell. If he keeps up like this I'll
get to retire early!" She said squealing.

I walked over to them with their order and set them on the
table. Kaylie grabs me by the shoulder and squishes me to
her cheek. "Plus he's handsome and adorable. Before he
came I didn't even know it was possible to be both! I swear
we're gonna get more business simply from him serving
tables by the windows," I struggled free of her grasp and
straightened my apron.

Jax laughs loudly "Is that why you hired him, for his looks?
Kaylie, you should know better. Plus I think he's a bit
young for you," Kaylie playfully punches him in the
shoulder, he yelps and pretends to be hurt while scowling
at her.

I got home from work at around ten in the night, I was

going to stay longer but Kaylie said I needed to get a good
sleep before school tomorrow. So far everyone seemed nice.
It was like everyone here was a part of their own little
world, and they didn't care about whatever craziness was
going on elsewhere outside this town. It was like they were
all family.

I lay there on my bed exhausted, I had fallen asleep last

night without any sheets or blankets and with the light on.
Good thing I don't get cold easily thanks to the whole
werewolf thing. "Goddammit, how am I going to stay here
with so many wolves around. I'm bound to be found out
within a week or two. Forget that, I'm surprised nobody
noticed today with the amount of werewolves I was
surrounded by."

I had my room on a two-week rent in case I needed to bolt

suddenly. I still saved a decent amount of money from my
previous jobs so I wasn't worried about income. Back at
North-pass I had two jobs, I organized the library, and I
worked at a local garden centre. Both jobs paid okay, but I
was a manager at the garden centre so I got paid much
more for that one.

"I wonder how long I'll be able to stay here this time," I
contemplated. "I won't complain even if I have to leave
within a week. A couple years ago I was living in a
woodshed beside a decrepit cabin. And before that, I just
wandered around in werewolf form wondering what to do."

I force myself to get up and make something for my supper.

After deciding on making potato and beef casserole I
started getting everything out to start cooking. Naturally, I
made sure to cook more than enough for myself so I can
have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

"On the bright side, even though it's mainly a werewolf

community it looks like there are a decent amount of
humans living here as well. I won't have to be on edge all
the time, but I'll definitely still need to be careful."

I ate my casserole in silence and then put the leftovers in a

container for my lunch. After cleaning up my dishes and
taking a shower I laid back down in bed. If I really wanted
to stay here I would have to work for it. With so many
people around to hide from I was going to be exhausted
from school and work alone.

CHAPTER III
I Was right about Harrison's crew not leaving me alone.
Everywhere I went, someone was there. It seemed like
they were pretty popular so I assumed they'd leave me
alone after a week or two but boy was I wrong. Three and a
half weeks in and they're all still stuck to me, I couldn't
even lie about needing to work, they invited me to places
since they all seemed close with Kaylie and had her
number.

They were constantly trying to drag me around places or

making me watch practices. They even tried to get me to go
to their study group twice a week, thankfully they gave up
after I declined a couple times. But I couldn't even really
get away from them either since they seemed to go to Yours
& Mine for their study group more often than not.

On the bright side, it didn't seem like they knew about me

yet. Their attitude hasn't changed since I met them. If
anything, they got more friendly and open. The full moon
didn't seem to have much of an effect either. A couple of
the kids were missing from school for a bit but that's
normal, and all of the teachers seemed to be used to it.

I didn't know much about the full moons but I was told
they affect people differently depending on a couple things.
I didn't want to take any chances in case someone's sense
of smell got better, so I used a scent charm for females in
heat during those couple days.
As much as I hated to admit, I was enjoying being here.
Besides the constant anxiety of being found out or having
to be alert when a werewolf was around of course. Work
was going great and I had practically memorized all the
baking recipes by now. Kaylie and I loved each other and
had become good friends. I was starting to learn about the
regulars and they seemed to like me too. My coworkers
were nice and they didn't seem to mind that I was younger
than them.

My 'apartment' was an unused room in a local Motel. It was

in the older and smaller of the two buildings and the owner
had decided to rent them out privately instead of through
the Motel business. The smaller building only had six
rooms since the rest of it seemed to have been cut off, it
was also across the road from a newer and current Motel.
The smaller one wasn't that fancy but it was pretty well
kept. The utilities in my room had been updated and it was
slightly nicer than the rooms in the Motel. The owner was
an older man, but he seemed pretty okay. I liked him since
he didn't stick his nose into other people's business and
didn't ask questions. I was extremely thankful for it.
And even better for me, my room was walking distance
from the local grocery store. I'd only gone once since I got
here because I still had a lot of food from my old place. But
now my supply was running out so I had to go get more.

School had been cancelled for a couple days due to

maintenance or something. I had called Kaylie to let her
know I could work for a bit. I decided to go shopping before
I went to work in a few hours.

I walked out of my room and locked the door behind me. I

glanced over and saw one of the other tenants down the
string of doors going into his room. I had seen him a couple
times, usually drunk or with women. He was a big guy and
everything about him seemed to say 'alcoholic'. Thankfully
he didn't seem to get out much so I never had the
misfortune of running into him.

I shoved my keys into my pocket and took out my phone

and headphones. I had figured out if you were listening to
music people seemed less inclined to speak to you even if
they knew you. Plus this way, I wouldn't flinch at sudden
noises, another stupid thing about being a werewolf.

When I got to the grocery store I grabbed a cart and pulled

out my phone which had a list I had made throughout the
week on it. After going around figuring where things were, I
felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked over and took an earbud
out.

Andrea was standing there smiling. She laughs a bit then

says "Hey sorry didn't mean to scare you." I took out my
other earbud and moved my cart over to the side a bit since
she didn't seem to be in a hurry and I had a feeling she
wanted to talk with me. "No worries, I just didn't hear you
come up. How are you enjoying the break from school?"

She nods her head and says cheerfully "Yep, the free time
is nice. Harrison and I are out getting a couple things for
Dad, Harrison was hanging out with Jax and Nicholas so
they're here too." She moved a bit closer to me and leaned
on a shelf beside us. "So what're you doing?" , 'Well I'm in a
grocery store so, you know, I'm probably not going to get
groceries or anything I thought to myself sarcastically'."
Stocking up on things before work." I answered her.

She had a slightly confused look on her still smiling face

"Couldn't you ask your parents to do that for you?" she
asked.
Ah, the questions about my parents. Something that,
surprisingly, had not come up in conversation at all since I
got here.

I rest my arms on my cart. "Nope, I live alone." Andreas'

confusion turns to surprise. "Aren't you too young to do
that?" I shook my head at her and said "Not really, I know a
lot of people who live alone."

"Andrea, where'd you go?" I hear someone shout. I stand

up straight and smile at her, "Well I should get back to
shopping, hope you enjoy your school break." As I was
turning to leave she grabbed my arm. I look at her trying
my best not to look annoyed.

"I'm right here Reece." She yells leaning back a bit before
turning towards me again smiling. "No, no, we'll walk
around with you. You probably don't know where anything
is anyway."

Goodness, are all females our age this annoying? How did
she not get the hint I didn't want to talk anymore. 'Okay
you need to calm down or they'll know somethings up, slow
down your heart rate Andrew.' I think while quietly trying
to take deep breaths.

I stood there waiting a few seconds before Harrison, Jax,

and Nicholas all walked around the corner. They wave at
me before hurrying over. Harrison hits his sister over the
back of her head and says "You dummy, tell us where
you're going before you suddenly bolt like that." She
rubbed the back of her head while scowling at him.

"I thought I saw Andrew so I wanted to come say hi." She

says glaring at him. "What're you doing here Andrew?" Jax
questioned me tilting his head a bit. "Just grabbing a few
things before I head to work." I say while taking my arm
back from Andrea.

Nicholas looks at me confused "Shouldn't your parents be

doing that?" he asks. Andrea pips up "Oh he said he lives
alone." All three of them look a bit shocked and I roll my
eyes before turning to walk away. Andrea speaks up again
"And I said we'd help show him where everything was so he
can get stuff faster instead of wandering around forever.".

As we were going around grabbing things I noticed the

occasional looks they would send each other. It seemed
kinda weird but I pretended I didn't notice it. Sometimes
one of the boys would frown or glare at each other, and
other times they would look at one another confused. It got
really weird when Andrea and I were walking through the
meat sections. As we were both looking at the different
choices she shot a glare at them and at the same time they
all cringed, Nicholas even flinched a bit.

"Ah," I thought suddenly cluing in to what was going on

'they're all part of the same pack. Packs have pack links.
They're talking to each other. Goodness, they're terrible at
hiding it, good thing I'm not human or they'd be toast.' I
snicker to myself while picking up two packages of beef and
putting them in the cart. I try my hardest not to laugh but
was failing miserably. They must've been talking about
something before Andrea got sick of it and snapped at
them. What I wouldn't do to have heard that.

The image of Andrea glaring at them and them cringing ran

back through my mind. I couldn't help but start snickering
again. That's when I notice Nicholas and Andrea looking at
me confused. 'Right, better than average hearing. They
think I'm crazy cause I'm laughing at myself. Well maybe
they'll leave me alone if they think I'm crazy'.

"What's so funny?" Andrea asks me while putting a

package of sausages in my cart. I smile at her thinking of
what I could say. "Well you glared at them and they all
cringed so I was thinking of what you may have done in the
past to scare them so much." I replied. It wasn't exactly a
lie anyway.

Harrison and Jax were back by now and had heard what
Andrea asked me. At my answer all four of them blushed,
Andrea even laughed a bit. Harrison just shook his head
"You have no idea."
"So anyway," Jax says "What time do you go to work?" I
check my phone before answering "In about an hour, why?"

He shrugs then asks "Want a ride? We have an extra seat

and have to go through the main road to get home
anyway." He must've seen my hesitation and then says "We
can buy you lunch if you checkout now". I shake my head
then answer "Thanks but I'm fine, I have to put these away
anyway."

Andrea frowns "That's fine we'll drive you home first." I

shake my head again and smile politely "No thanks, I'm
good.". She crosses her arms "C'mon, I really want to know
where you live. I have not heard of anyone moving out of
town so I have no clue where you're staying. And in case
you thought I hadn't noticed, you avoid the topic everytime
we bring it up."

Harrison stood beside his sister before agreeing, "I suggest

you let her do what she wants, if not she'll come barging in
one night through a broken window to tell you she found
out where you live. She's crazy like that." Nicholas and Jax
started laughing as he spoke and pushed my cart over
towards the checkout.

'Oh joy, now they'll know where I'm staying.' I groan and
quickly follow my shopping cart which they've pirated. I
pull out my card, pay, then start piling bags in my arms.

"Here we'll help." Jax says quickly and grabs three of the
heavier bags. He then nods at Nicholas to grab the jugs of
water I had bought.
We walked out to the parking lot after Harrison paid for his
and Andreas' things. Harrison had driven his truck so we
put most of the bags in a box in the back before all
squishing in the truck. Andrea and Harrison got shotgun
while Nicholas, Jax, and I got in the back.

Andrea turned around the second Harrison put the keys in

and started the truck up. Her face practically glowing with
excitement she says "So, now's the part where you tell me
where you live."

I roll my eyes. "Just go to the Motels please." Her brows

furrowed in confusion and Jax turned to me questioningly.
"I thought you said you were living somewhere?" Jax says,
his voice filled with confusion. "I am. By the Motel." I
answered shortly.

Harrison looks back at me through the rearview mirror and

raises his eyebrow. "There's nothing by the Motel though." I
sigh, "Just go to the parking lot in front of the old
building." "You're a squatter?" Nicholas asks in disbelief. I
scowl at him as we pull up. "No." I replied, opening the door
and walking towards the back of the truck to grab my bags.

They all got out and looked at me confused. Jax and

Nicholas helped me grab a few things before I walked up to
my door. As I put the key in and unlocked it, I turned
around to look at them, "You guys can wait here while I put
a couple things away and get changed. I'll be back out in a
minute."

Andrea crosses her arms again and glares at me. "Look," I

say before opening the door. "I haven't finished unpacking
yet so the place is a bit messy." 'Thankfully that' was not a
lie. I was sure my place reeks of werewolf scent, they'll
know immediately if they go
inside.'

When I got the door about halfway open Andrea pushed

passed me and skilfully grabbed the plastic bags out of my
arms. I groan and walk to the table where she had set them
down. The others naturally came in as well and walked
over to my small kitchen area.

Jax looks around the room a moment "Damn Andrew, do

you like to read or something?" he says sarcastically. I
rolled my eyes at him and went to find some better clothes.
"Yes, did you get that from the three bookcases or the
stacks of books lying around the room?" I ask humorously.

As I was picking out some work worthy clothes I suddenly

smelled something weird. It wasn't a smell I was used to so
I looked around the room curiously wondering what it was.
'It's not any of them so.... From the window?' I wondered as
I walked over to the back window.

Sure enough, the strong smell was seeping in through the

window. I tried to place where I knew the smell from for a
few minutes before it hit me. 'Ah, a type of badly made
homemade blunts. A bit different from the type in the city,
but definitely something mixed with marijuana.'
I frowned and shut the window before grabbing my clothes
and going to the bathroom to change since the others were
in my living area. 'Whatever, maybe the smell covered the
smell of my werewolf that was lingering in the room. They
didn't seem to notice so I'm fine, I think?'
I pull the shirt over my head and quickly run a brush
through shoulder length my hair. I reach for one of my hair
clips but then realize I haven't unpacked them yet.

"Hey Andrea," I called as I came out of the bathroom. "Do

you have a hair clip by any chance?" Nicholas and Harrison
jumped when I spoke. I look at them for a second before
looking towards Andrea, waiting for a response. She felt in
her pockets before walking towards the door "Wait a sec, I
think I have a couple in the truck." She came back with
two small metal hair clips and a bobby pin. She handed
them both to me.

I thanked her and went back into the bathroom. I twist

back the hair near the front on the left side and move it to
the back, holding it with a clip. I then did the same to the
other side. I swiftly move both sections of hair under one
hair clip then use the dark bobby pin to keep a few strands
of hair in place.

I took a look at myself in the mirror then went out to

rummage through a smaller box. I quickly found what I
was looking for. Two leather multi bracelets, they went well
with my outfit and reminded me a bit of what Kaylie was
wearing when I first met her.

"What are those?" I hear Andrea ask from behind me. I

stood up as I put them on and showed her "Some bracelets
I got a while back." She looks at them and inspects them
carefully. "Wow, those look really good. They suit you well,
why haven't I seen you wearing these before?" She asks.
I chuckle as I walk over to the kitchen to put the last of the
stuff away. "Maybe because I just unpacked them now", I
said.

As we all got out I turned and locked the door behind me.
Mr Alcoholic was staring out his window, watching me with
wild eyes like a creep. I watched him cautiously as I walked
back to the truck.

When I get in the back Jax looks at my wrist, "Andrea's

telling the truth, those suit you well. Not many guys like
wearing jewellery, which is a shame actually." I smile at
him "Thanks."

As Harrison pulls out of the driveway I watch Mr Alcoholic

as he wildly glares at the truck. 'What is his deal today?
He's never paid attention to me before, so why start now?'

Something about Mr. Alcoholic was making me super

anxious. I tried to brush it off but his glare was stuck in my
mind. 'Geez Andrew, he's high as a kite. He probably has
no control over what he's doing. If anything he's pissed we
were being so noisy.'

"Hey, you okay?" I jumped a bit at Jax's voice as it broke

through my thoughts. I quickly smile at him. "Sorry yeah,
I'm good."

Jax looks at me confused. I could tell Harrison and

Nicholas were staring at me too. I smiled again before
looking out the window as we got closer to the cafe.
 Chapter iv
I Sighed in exhaustion as I sat down on the stool behind
the counter. The second I had gotten into work I could
tell it was going to be a long day. The place was packed and
Kaylie had waved me over. Apparently two of our servers
were sick and the place up the road was suddenly closed
due to unforeseen circumstances. Not only that but there
was a seniors discount special going on, which would have
made it busy enough on a regular day.

The lunch rush was finally over and I seriously needed to

sit down for a bit.
"How are you doing Kiddo?" I turn to see Kaylie leaning
against the counter. I look at her wearily "Pretty good I
think." She smiles knowingly at me "Don't worry you'll get
used to it. Plus tonight you'll get a good sleep!" I smile and
say "Very true, and luckily for me I don't have school
tomorrow either."

Kaylie thought for a moment before saying "Well since

you're working overtime and taking over someone else's
shift why don't you stay home tomorrow. It shouldn't be
even close to this crazy plus I'll actually have enough staff.
That way you can rest up for school." I nod in agreement
with her. "Sounds good since I still have more than double
my normal shift to do and I'm already
getting sore."

I hear the bell ring and see Bree and Andrea walk in.
Andrea waves at me before sitting down at a table with
Bree. Kaylie nodded at them "Anyway Andrew, go take a
break for a bit. Call it lunch break then you can go hang
out with them during break instead of being all alone."

I nod then walk over towards the two girls. "Long time no
see Andrea." I say jokingly. She smiles at me "Yes, such a
long time my dear. Practically forever if you ask me." Bree
giggles at Andreas' sarcastic tone. "Now what can I get you
ladies?" Andrea decided on Blueberry tea with a biscuit
while Bree wanted an Orange Carrot Tea with a ginger
cookie. I went over and got them their orders then walked
back behind the counter and got a cappuccino and ginger
cookie for myself.

"Hope you don't mind me sitting with you guys, Kaylie was
through a fit if I didn't." I say as I sit down. Bree took a sip
of her tea and replied "Nope not at all, Andrea was just
telling me about how you guys bumped into each other
while shopping. Then how she forced you to show her
where you're staying, though I'm still in suspense since she
didn't get that far yet."

I pretend to be annoyed and say "Wow you people are so

nosy here, it's like you all expect me to host a party or
something. Or maybe you all think I've moved in with a
local drug dealer or something." Andrea gasps "Oh no Bree,
he's figured us out! Our cover is blown!" Both Bree and I
laugh at this and then start eating.

"So as I was saying," Andrea continued, "he's actually not

staying in any of the places we guessed. I personally was
sure he'd moved in with family here or a girlfriend maybe.
But you know Floyds old Motel, the one that caught fire?
He's staying at that old building. His room didn't look
horrible but it definitely wasn't meant to be stayed in for
long periods of time."

Bree looks puzzled and then questions "Wait what? How is

he staying there? That place was supposed to be torn down
soon?" Andrea was about to answer but then stopped to
look at me. "Oh yeah, I was going to ask you about that but
forgot. How are you staying there? Do you know Floyd
personally?"

I shake my head "Nope, I was on a website looking for

places to rent and his was a new article. It's pretty cheap
compared to what I was in before so I wasn't really picky.
I'm not the only person he's renting to either. I'm sure
Andrea could smell the other tenant smoking today when
she came over.". Andrea frowned "Is that what that was? I
could tell it wasn't coming from your room but didn't know
where else it could come from since I didn't see anyone
around." I nodded "Yeah, I've never talked to him before
but he's never caused me any trouble. The most he does is
drink a lot and bring people back with him. Luckily for me
I'm enough rooms down the hall so I can't hear them
throughout the night but that's the first time I've smelled
him smoking."

Bree scrunches up her eyebrows thinking then says "That's

really strange. I don't remember anything about Floyd
renting that out to anyone. You'd think he advertised
locally but you were in Northpass which is quite far away.
It's just kinda odd don't you think Andrea?" Andrea agreed
with her.

"Anyway", I say hoping to distract them "did you guys see

those monster cinnamon rolls at the grocery store?"

I look up as I hear the little bell on the door jingle. I've been
talking with Bree and Andrea for over half an hour and it
was time to get back to work.

"Alright, that's my queue to get back to work. I'll see you

guys at school on Monday." I say excusing myself from the
conversation. They both said goodbye and I got back
behind the counter.

"Andrew I'm going to run out and grab some things, I'll be
back in half an hour okay?" I hear Kaylie call from the
back. "Sure thing." I yell back

I was exhausted. The evening rush was even worse than

the lunch rush, and it didn't help that both Kaylie and I
were super tired. Before it was over I was already sore and
my fingers hurt from writing so much and working cash. I
just want to go home and sleep until Monday morning.

"Hey Kaylie, I'm going to head out okay?" I called. "Sure

thing squirt, make sure to sleep in tomorrow!" She calls
back. "I will." I yell as I walk out the door.

I shiver a bit when I step into the cold air. It was now
almost eleven and it was pretty cold for a night in the
summer. 'Damn, I should've brought a sweater. Seriously,
you knew you were going to be working late so why didn't
you just grab a sweater. How stupid are you Andrew?
You're lucky the cold weather doesn't affect you as much.'

I start walking down the trail that leads close to the Motel.
Luckily for me there aren't tons of bugs out tonight, that
would make my night ten times worse. I start thinking over
everything that happened today. 'So I'm going to go with
the fact that Harrison, Nicholas, Jax and Andrea didn't
smell anything when they were in my room earlier. They
didn't seem to treat me any differently and didn't call me
out on it, so let's assume I'm safe for now.' I then remember
my weird neighbours’ actions from this morning. 'That was
the first time he's smoked since he moved in, if he'd done it
before I would've smelled it everywhere. But why the heck
was he glaring at me earlier? Maybe he was just surprised
to see a truck of kids pull up. Honestly I'm overthinking
this, he was stoned. There was no meaning behind him
looking at us'.

Suddenly I feel someone's staring burning a hole in my

back. I stop and whip around. There's nobody there.
'Goodness Andrew, relax. You're freaking yourself out for
no reason.' I start walking again. Then stop when I think I
hear something moving in the bushes, again I turn around
and there's nothing there.

I keep walking and take in everything around me. I can see

a couple lamp posts from here so I should calm down in a
minute. It's most likely just a stray dog or a raccoon.

Then I heard something which made my body temperature

drop lower than it already was. "Holy shit, that was
someone coughing." I walk a little bit faster and smell my
surroundings to make sure I'm not just freaking myself
out. I take apart everything I smell, there's nobody around
me so I'm just......"Oh shit". That was not a person's scent,
it was a werewolf’s scent.

Chapter v
‘Shit shit shit shit Andrew why'd you let your guard down.
Wait, why is there only one? It doesn't feel like an enforcer,
but then again It's not like I'm used to being around
enforcers so I wouldn't know. Packs always hunt rogues in
groups though, they never go solo. That's just how they do
shit. So why the fuck is there only one person following me,
but I don't smell anyone else. There's only one. Why is
there only one? Not even Alphas go alone to confront
rogues.' I'm panicking and practically yelling in my head by
now. I'm extremely tired from my long day so if someone
was to attack me I'd be dead in a matter of seconds. I pick
up my pace a bit and strain my ears listening for anything.
Any sign my follower is getting closer, who they might be, if
I know them, if they want anything, I need something.

I hear that sound that was now like a chilled whisper in my

ears as it goes to the core of my being, I feel my eyes widen
with fear. A single raspy cough comes from behind me. I
took a look over my shoulder and cringed when I again saw
nothing. Beads of sweat have long since formed on my
forehead and I'm trying my best not to freak out any more
than I already am.

There's a werewolf following me. A single werewolf, away

from a pack. It's by itself, and it's following me back from
work in the dead of night.

I reach into my back pocket for my phone to call for help

then feel an agonizing and petrifying fear wash over my
whole body.
Everything shutters and it feels like there are razors in my
shoes while I force myself to keep walking, fighting the
paralyzing feeling that's quickly trying to take over. I don't
have my phone.

I rack my brain trying to remember where I put it. "Oh

goodness." I groan in my head and the metallic taste of
blood fills my mouth as I've now bitten clear through my
bottom lip "It's in my locker. It's in the cafe in my locker
beside my notebook that I was going to bring back with
me."

In a sudden moment away from my mind ripping panic I

noticed it. I've been staring at it not acknowledging what it
was. Behind me, just barely in my line of vision, is the head
of someone else's shadow.

I pick up my pace a little again and am desperately

scanning around for anything that could help me. I can
almost see the Motel by now but that doesn't matter, it's
too far away to sprint to. I try to profile whoever might be
behind me currently burning my back with their gaze. I
guess a man from the gravelly coughs, and he's most likely
taller than me since I doubt anyone the same height would
go after me.

I think for a second about taking my chances and running

for the Motel. But then I notice the shadow is getting
closer. The shadow is getting much closer to me. My heart
clenches as I hear that chilling whisper again only this time
much closer than before. I want to look over my shoulder
again but at the same time I can't, my body won't let me. I
can't breathe.

The metallic taste in my mouth is stronger now and

accompanied by an acidic sour taste. I force myself to take
a quivering breath as my lungs scream for air. I can tell
something’s running down the side of my mouth but I don't
pay any attention. My hands are aching as I've had them
clenched this whole time. My mind isn't letting me focus on
anything or figure out a plan so I just keep walking.

"Almost there, almost there, almost there." I repeat to

myself almost chanting it over and over again in my mind.

An unintelligible sound comes from what seems like right

behind my neck. Then it hits me. The man following me is
a werewolf. He knows I know he's following me. He has
known since the second I heard him. He can sense my fear,
he could hear my breathing, he can smell the blood in my
mouth, he can hear my heart pick up its pace. He's known
this whole time and has kept following me. He's enjoying
watching me drive myself into a panic.

This realization cuts through to my soul and my body is no

longer mine as I run full tilt towards the Motel. I didn't
think of what would happen once I got there, I guess it
seemed like a safe zone but I knew then it didn't matter. If
this person was getting off on my panicked state there was
no reason for him to give up if I made it to my room.

Everything's a blur, I can't tell what's going on. I know I'm

running but I don't feel my feet as they hit the ground. I
don't feel the usual pain in my lungs and run faster. I can
hear him running loudly behind me. It feels like there's a
million bugs crawling just underneath the skin on my
back, their legs like needles as they tear up my skin and
work towards my bones. I now notice the black splotches
that are thumping along angrily with my massive
headache.

I can hear him. His ragged breath and his loud shoes seem
like thunder in my ears. I can feel him getting closer and
my mouth opens. I can't tell if I'm screaming or not. I don't
hear anything besides the man behind me getting closer.
I run down the road and practically throw myself at my
door. It opens easily and I run in slamming the door behind
me. My hands are shaking uncontrollably as I lock the door
and turn to the kitchen. I don't even get three feet from the
door when it suddenly bursts open with a horrid ripping
sound before a large bang runs through my ears. The
sudden noise along with my already panicked state makes
me jump. I try to run again but trip over seemingly
nothing.

I can see the outline of the man in my doorway as he

watches me try to get to the kitchen again. My legs aren't
doing what I tell them to, my whole body is aching and
screaming in pain. He watches me and I see his bright fire
coloured eyes even in the darkness that surrounds us.

Something flashes and catches my attention which then

makes all the hope I had left disappear. He's carrying a
large machete and rope in his one hand. He's breathing
heavily and the way he watches me makes me need to
vomit. I shutter and notice something else, there's
something wrong with his pants. The zipper is undone and
I see a wet stain which is emitting a repulsive smell. He's
getting off on this. That sheer thought makes me double
over and the bile that was in my throat launches to the
floor in front of me.

He takes a step inside. And then another. And then

another. He's watching me, hungrily waiting to see what I
do next.

Finally my legs obey me as I jump up and run to grab

anything around my kitchen that might help me. I reach
out for my knife block when I feel him yank on my hair. As
I'm being thrown backwards my hand grabs something on
the counter so I take it with me.
I'm thrown to the floor back towards the door and I hear
him growling loudly. I try to get up but yell in pain as I put
pressure on my wrist. My head hurts and my vision is
fading in and out making it harder to process anything. I
try to get up again but am thrown against a bookcase,
breaking two of the shelves. The man is right in front of me
now and is looking straight into my eyes. He smells putrid
and I gag from the mix of body odour, alcohol, weed, and
gasoline.

I blindly kick at him, getting only one good hit in his gut. I
remember whatever it is in my hand that I got off the
counter and plunged it into his neck as he reached out to
me. He screams as I twist whatever it is I just stabbed him
with. I yank the object towards me, making a terrible
sound as it rips through the side of his neck.

I try to get up and stab him again but he holds my one arm
tightly and then slaps me hard across my face before
throwing me like a rag doll towards the door.

He's clutching his neck and the smell of blood mixes with
the already vomit worthy smell coming from his body. I get
on my feet and lean on the broken door that's been mostly
torn from its hinges. I feel blood running down my arm and
I can hardly see anything.

A sudden pain takes over my whole body. My mouth is

open but I don't hear screaming. I feel the bones in my
body breaking and hear every agonizing crack. I fall to the
ground and the vaguely familiar pain sweeps over my whole
being. My bones are breaking, I feel my face contorting in
pain. My vision turns black even though my eyes are open.
I can no longer tell where the man is but I feel tears
streaming down my face.

I notice my vision has returned, and it's better than before.

I am overcome with the man's smell but also other smells
I'd never noticed. Everything around me looks massive and
I feel strange. I'm on all fours and have short stubby paws.

"RUN!" I hear someone scream in my head and all the

previous panic returns. The man is on his feet and
staggering towards me, his fire eyes seemingly burning me.
I dash out the door and bolt towards the woods a little
down the road.

Something wizzes past my head and explodes. I skid

around it and keep running. I heard the man running and
yelling behind me. Another object flies past me and I see
shards of glass explode in all directions. A sharp pain runs
through my back left leg after another crash and bottle
explosion. I go bouncing and skidding a couple feet before
getting back up. I don't need to look to know what the pain
is, I need to keep going. I keep running towards the woods
through the sharp throbbing pain in my leg.

I get into the woods but don't stop. I can still faintly hear
him behind me so I keep going. Everything seems a lot
bigger and I know I'm smaller so I have to work twice as
hard to get just as far. I'm blindly running in a panic
around rocks, under half fallen trees, and through thin
bushes.

I trip over a line of discarded barbed wire and go tumbling

into a tree. I yelp as I smash into the large oak and
whimper from pain. I don't hear the man anymore, but the
rushing in my ears would probably make it impossible to
hear him. I try to get up to keep running but scream when
the pain in my leg hits me through to the back of my head.
My legs give way under me and I curl up into a ball. The
throbbing in my head gets louder and louder before my
vision fades again.

"It'll be okay." The voice from before says as I give up on

running and feel everything fades to black.
 Chapter VI
I wake up to the sound of something moving nearby. I
notice it's extremely bright when I try to open my eyes. I
was about to go back to sleep when I heard the movement
again and then a clicking sound. "What the hell? Is it a
light shorting?" I was trying to remember if I had left a light
on when all the previous night events came flooding back
to me. I opened my eyes wide and jerked my head up.

To my surprise I was staring right back at a rabbit. I looked

at it for a minute, and it just looked back at me. After a
couple seconds in a staring contest it decided I wasn't
going to do anything and ran off. The wheels in my head
started turning. "So someone was following me home, they
busted my door after I locked it, beat the crap out of me, I
stabbed him with something, I was leaning on the door
then I...shifted? Okay, so, I shifted for the second time
since I was bitten and even though I hurt like hell I
managed to get away from the lunatic somehow."

I tested to see if I could stand up. I winced at the pain

shooting through my leg and decided to sit down and check
the damage. There are a couple shards of dark glass still in
my leg, and it's twisted a bit unnaturally. There's blood
covering my fur on the leg, along with blood down my back
and shoulder. Seeing myself in werewolf form is going to
take some getting used to. "Anyway, I'm a....cub? Well this
is what I looked like last time I shifted too, but at that point
I figured I was a cub since I was only a kid. Other people
my age are full grown wolves but they've all been full
bloods, I think. Maybe it's something to do with the fact I
wasn't born like this."

I take in the feeling of being a small dog. Everything looks

much bigger, but also much brighter and happier. The
colours around me are brighter and I can hear squirrels in
the trees nearby. I look around in amazement at this new
world around me, it's so much different from when I'm in
human form. If I wasn't hurt this would be so much cooler.
"Ah, right, I'm still really hurt."

I notice that the pain isn't nearly as bad as it was last

night. I tested all my paws and to my surprise my wrist
from the night before was completely fine. "I was sure I at
least twisted my wrist when I landed on it last night. I
couldn't even put pressure on it and when I was running in
this form the only thing that kept me going was adrenaline
and the fear of being raped then murdered. How am I not
screaming in pain?"

I sit there amazed while testing the pain in my legs. "Conall

told me werewolves heal faster than people do, but I've
never gotten to taste that luxury before now. Though I
won't complain, it's not like I want to still have a broken
wrist or anything."

I think back to the conversations I had with my only friend

at North-pass. He's also one of the only werewolves that
hasn't tried to kill me or throw me in werewolf prison or
whatever they call it. Conall and I are the same age, our
birthdays are only a couple weeks apart and we celebrated
them both together when I was living in North-pass. His
parents were both members of the local pack and he was
born into the pack himself. Not to my surprise he hated it
there. His pack was a lot like the one I was held captive in,
just not as bad. He hated the way omegas were treated like
maids instead of pack members. He had told me that the
Alpha and Betas sons were constantly sleeping with
everyone in the area, human and otherwise. We had both
been waiting for them to get some poor soul pregnant and
watch the aftermath of it all. Conall and I bonded over how
much we disliked packs and how they treated people. I
guess I only had a normal dislike for them, but even
though I don't want to admit it, the last pack I was forced
to stay with scared me. Conall says that my 'hate' is a bit
different and that I actually have a fear of them so to
speak. I didn't want to agree with him but we both knew it
was true.

The first time I met Conall he was on the ground in one of

the school bathroom stalls bleeding profusely. The whole
stall was covered in blood, which I actually never cleaned
up since I forgot. Conall seemed to have been being bullied
by both the jerks at school and fellow pack members. I
could smell the other wolves on him and made my own
assumptions as to what happened.

Since I'm not a heartless bastard I had picked him up and

carried him to my place. The apartment I was staying at in
North-pass was fairly close to the school so I walked over
with him in my arms. I would've just taken him to the
nurse but I didn't want any of his pack members to find
him. When we were at my apartment I had tried to clean
him up a bit but he had regained consciousness at that
point and wasn't having any of it. I lost my patience and
told him that even though he's a werewolf that doesn't
mean he could just be all macho and go untreated, even
werewolves injuries can get infected. He had been so
surprised I knew he was a werewolf and instantly accused
me of being a rogue after his pack.

"Look if I wanted to kill you I would've done it when you

were unconscious in the literal bloody bathroom stall." I
told him. "Well then why don't you explain what I'm doing
here, what're your motives for bringing me here?" He had
said glaring at me. "YOU WERE UNCONSCIOUS IN A
BLOODY BATHROOM STALL FOR GOODNESS SAKE, DO
YOU WANT EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOUR OPEN INJURIES
TO GET INFECTED?!" I yelled at him. He had thought about
that for a second before agreeing with me, but he still
wouldn't let me touch his wounds. I had to pretty much tell
him my life story before he would let me help him. After
that we had become instant friends and were joined at the
hip. We spent every second we could together since we
were practically each other's only friends.

He had also confirmed my suspicions that his pack was on

to where I was right before I left, and that they were pissed
there was a rogue in the area for so long. We hadn't really
talked since I moved because the betas son had smashed
his phone a couple days before I bolted so we had no way
to communicate. He had promised me he would get another
one as soon as possible.

Just then my ears twitched as I heard a bunch of noise

which brought me out of my thoughts. I sit up straighter,
instantly alert. I'm still extremely exhausted from
overworking myself last night, so if that lunatic comes back
there's not much I can do. I smell the air while backing
myself further into the side of the tree to try and hide.
A sudden peachy smell comes to my nose which is quickly
followed by a familiar rose scent.

"Andrea? What in the goodness' name is she doing here?" I

was confused.
Wait, if Andrea picks up my scent then I'm instantly found
out. Since I'm in werewolf form I most likely smell a lot
more like a werewolf than I did before. Not only that but
Andrea has literally been in my room which is full of my
scent, and knows exactly what I smell like.

Before I can think of a way out of this situation I see Maya

about forty feet away. Her eyes are scanning around the
trees as though she's looking for something. I slowly crouch
down even further and make myself as small as I can to
avoid being seen. Unfortunately, she looks seemingly right
through me before her eyes light up and she yells "FOUND
IT!" then dashes towards me.

Before I know it she's only a couple feet away from me. I

curl up even tighter and let out a low warning growl. I want
them to leave as soon as possible.

With her a couple feet from me I can now smell the strong
peachy smell coming from her. She looks massive
compared to me and I unintentionally shudder a bit.

"Hey hey hey, I'm not gonna hurt you little guy." She says
softly after noticing me shaking. She starts to squat down
before she's joined by Andrea and Bree.

"Awe, I wanted to find him first!" Andrea pouts then

squeals when she looks at me "Oh my god he's adorable!!!"
I wince at Andreas' loud squeal that hurts my ears and
tries to move further back before I'm reminded of the pain
in my leg caused by the broken bottle pieces from last
night.

"Andrea, you scared him." Bree says as she crouches down

with Maya. Andrea huffs and joins them near the ground.

I stare at the three of them wondering what they're going to

do. Maya looks me over a bit before her brows suddenly
furrow and she curses sharply under her breath. The rest
of us look at her shocked, I've never heard Maya swear
before. From the other girls' reactions, I'm guessing they
don't hear it often either.

"We're right though, the blood smell was from him. Look,
his leg is twisted weirdly and is covered in blood. There also
seems to be a train of blood in the area that's recent which
means he's probably lost a lot of it. I don't think he can
walk since I doubt he'd want to sleep here so close to the
road." Bree and Andrea both look upset as they listen to
her.

"Looks like glass in his fur, and he smells like alcohol.

Probably drunk." Bree says sympathetically.

Maya comes a bit closer before stopping when I let out

another warning growl. "We're just going to help you cutie.
We could smell your blood all the way from our normal
path and came looking for you." She inches a bit closer and
holds out her hand.

I sit tensely against the tree and watch them carefully.

There's not much I can do in this situation. However they
haven't called me by name so I'm going to assume they
don't know it's me for now.

Maya looks at me sadly and moves her hand a bit closer. "I
know, we're big and scary. But I promise we won't bite.
Well, maybe Andrea would watch out for her."

"Don't tell him that!" Andrea cries out "Please don't listen to
her, I just think you're seriously adorable and fluffy. I
swear I won't hurt you."

I growl and glare at Maya's hand as it comes closer, unsure

of what I should do since they're not leaving. Maya took my
moment of hesitation and gently picked me up. I winced at
the sudden change of elevation and the feeling of someone
carrying me. She carefully stood up and the other two girls
came around then put their hands out to me.

"He's gorgeous." Bree says quietly. "And extremely fluffy!"

Andrea adds while petting my head.

"So now what?" Bree asks "Are we taking him home to

clean him up?" They all seemed to think for a minute and
Maya was the first to speak up. "We're not allowed to bring
animals to the pack house, but both Alpha and Reece are
gone until tomorrow morning right? Luna is taking care of
the place and she loves cubs anyway so I think she'd go
soft on us. What do you think Andrea?"

Andrea stared at the ground for a bit before looking up and

smiling. "Well, I don't think anyone would really care.
Davan will understand when we explain. I've taken a fox
that got caught in a trap to her before and she never said a
word to Dad."
Maya nods "To the pack house it is then." and starts
walking. She held me carefully against her chest and I
could hear her heartbeat. I didn't notice I was cold until I
felt her soft and warm clothes. I couldn't help but try and
snuggle closer even though I was scared of what was going
to happen next.

"Awe he's totally adorable." I hear Bree say as Maya holds

me closer. I feel my previous exhaustion come back and my
eyes close against my will.

Chapter vii
I woke up to the sound of car doors closing and then I felt
myself being moved. I open my eyes to see Maya holding
me except now I'm wrapped up in a polar fleece sweater.
She notices me looking around and smiles, "Hey cutie, you
were shivering really bad, so we used Bree's sweater to
keep you warm."

I look around and see a massive building in front of me. It

was much bigger than the pack houses I've seen before. I
can't even imagine how many people must live here. The
sheer amount of different wolves that filled the air made me
anxious. I could tell there were a couple humans in the
mix, but wolves were definitely the more predominant of
the two.

"Shit, of course they're taking me to the pack house." I

panicked slightly. I'm too exhausted to be fully aware of my
current situation. I look up at the building and memories
from my last experience in a pack house come flooding
through my mind. I shake my head and try to push the
memories back as I feel the panic rising. "Shut up, shut up
Andrew! You don't have lasting fear from what they did to
you. Don't give them the fucking satisfaction of scarring
your mind for life. Nothing that they did can still affect you,
focus on what's going on right now. Focus on your
breathing. Focus on what's around you right now."

I shake my head again and close my eyes, taking in the

surrounding smells. I identify each one of them silently and
take deep breaths. After I've calmed myself down I look at
my surroundings and watch as the three girls take me
through a small door at the side of the house. We go down
a couple different halls in the massive building, then go
into a room with a white door. It was a white and gray room
with a couple beds lined up along the walls. There were
medical supplies all around the room, so I'm assuming it's
a care unit or something.

To the left of the door we just walked through there was a

taller woman with long chestnut hair wrapped in a bun.
She had a long white coat on and was checking some
things off on a paper by the desk. She looks up from her
work as we walk in and smiles at us.

"Good afternoon girls, what can I do for you?" She says

cheerfully. Bree casts her eyes down and Maya snuggles
her nose into the fur on my head.

Andrea clears her throat, "Well, we were going through our

normal trail and could smell a werewolf we couldn't
identify, along with blood. The smell was faint but strong in
a way if that makes sense, so we decided it was a cub or
omega and went looking for it. We found this little guy who
looks like he got in a fight with a drunk, we were hoping
you could help him out?

The woman looks at us all disapprovingly "You smelled an

unknown werewolf, and your first reaction was to look for
it..." She shakes her head as she speaks.

Andrea kicked her shoes lightly then looked up, "Well it

was faint and well in our territory, besides it smelled like it
was hurt!" The woman sighs then gets up and holds out
her hands. Maya hesitates before grudgingly and carefully
handing me to her. The woman brought me over to her
desk and uncovered me from the sweater. She inspects my
leg and feels around my ribs for a bit. As she gets close to
my leg I reflexively snap at her, she just smiles and keeps
feeling around unbothered.

"Andrea can you get me the tweezers from over there and
Bree can you get the white medical kit from the wall over
there."

Both the girls did as they were asked and the woman
started pulling pieces of glass out of my fur and leg. Maya
walks over to my face and massages my cheeks gently, "It's
okay buddy, Davan has lots of practice with this kind of
thing. It'll be over in a minute and I promise you'll feel a lot
better after. A couple months ago, after one of the windows
broke, I got glass all over my fur and back, so I know what
you're feeling. I know it hurts a bit but trust me it'll feel a
lot better after we're all done."

After a couple minutes Davan wraps up my leg then takes a

flashlight and scans it around my fur. "Well girls," She
says, "that takes care of most of it in his leg. However, he's
still got a lot of glass in his fur, I'm going to give you guys a
couple brushes and I expect you to be gentle with him
when you try to get them out okay?"

All three of the girls looked excited and took the brushes
eagerly. Just as they were carrying me out Davan turned
around, "Oh, and I'll shoot one of you a text when the boys
get back. They called earlier and said they'd be home before
dinner."

Maya turned around and called back to her, "Thank you

Davan!"
The girls hurried through a couple halls then up a
staircase. I had thought a pack house of this size would be
constantly busy and full of people, however, there was
barely anyone around.

We go down a hall and stop in front of a door near the end

of the hall. I now smelled Andreas rose perfume much
stronger now and had a feeling we were heading to her
bedroom. Sure enough, we went into a smallish room with
a rose quilt on the bed and a large dresser against the wall.
There was a string of pictures on the wall that had Andrea
with a bunch of people I don't know at different ages in life.
There were a couple dresses and things in the closet, but
the thing I noticed immediately was the strong scent of
roses. It wasn't a bad smell, in fact, I did like it quite a bit.
On the dresser were a row of different rose scented
perfumes that I assumed she often used.

I did feel pretty anxious being in here. I didn't exactly like

the fact I was in her room without her really knowing I was
in her room. It felt like I wasn't supposed to be in here.
Plus I was already on edge from being in another pack
house after so long, so being in her room did nothing for
my nerves. At this point however, I had decided they had
no freaking clue who I was or they would all be acting a lot
differently than they are.

Maya set me gently on the bed and took a fluffy looking

brush. Bree scurried beside me and sat down too, she had
a white rag that she sat beside her on the bed. Andrea
closed the door then walked over and picked up the comb
before gently running it through my fur.
They talked to each other while carefully brushing all my
fur, they took the hair and glass from the brushes and
combs and left it on the white rag that Bree had put beside
us. I expected the brushes to hurt, and they did every once
in a while, but for the most part, it was almost therapeutic.
After they finished Andrea brought over an orange ball then
set it down in front of me. My instincts washed over me
and I crawled over towards it cautiously before nudging it
with my nose. Something about it made me really happy,
so I hit it a little with my paw and moved back startled
when it rolled around. The ball itself wasn't that big but I
was pretty small in my werewolf form recently. "Oh my
gosh why am I acting like a cub, this is seriously
embarrassing." I tried to ignore the ball, but the bright
orange was calling me so I dove towards it and gnawed on
it.

The girls all sat around me watching me and talking to

each other. I played with the ball a bit longer before getting
tired again and settling on laying down while chewing on it.
They would occasionally 'awe' or coo at me which was
slightly annoying and added to my embarrassment.

I listened to them talk to each other about their pack and

surprisingly it didn't sound anything like what I've seen or
heard of before. Their Alpha was currently gone to be with
his friend, who was the alpha of a nearby pack, as the
friend's Luna was about to give birth. Harrison, Nicholas,
and Jax had gone out on patrols then went out to grab
some things the omegas in the pack asked for. I listened
carefully when they started talking about the omegas, they
didn't seem to treat them any different from everyone else. I
could tell from the sounds of it that the omegas did a lot of
housekeeping and cooking, however, the rest of the pack
members were grateful for it and praised them. But then
again this is just from what I understand and pick out from
the girl's conversations. In the pack I had been held captive
in there were also a couple people who weren't as bad as
the rest so hearing what the girls were saying didn't make
me let my guard down.

I found out I was right about Harrison being an Alpha, I

also learned his eighteenth birthday was soon which meant
something but I didn't catch what. I heard Andrea describe
herself as a beta with strong alpha blood, which made
sense because of how she acted. Along with this, I gathered
that not everyone has a rank on a scale like I previously
thought. Bree was a normal werewolf in the pack while the
other girls agreed Maya was delta worthy. The thing that
shocked me a bit was learning that Nicholas wasn't a beta
like I thought. Turns out that Jax is a beta while Nicholas
is actually a delta. I had thought Nicholas was the beta of
the three since he seems to scare me more than Jax, he's a
little more intimidating. Jax on the other hand is friendlier,
and seems easier to approach. Usually, the higher up the
wolves were the more they scare me or the more they seem
threatening. I didn't get any threatening or dominance
vibes from Jax whatsoever.

The current Alpha and Luna of this pack seemed to be

Andrea and Harrison's parents. It sounded like they were
all pretty close since Andrea joked about her Dad putting
on a few pounds recently which made the other girls laugh.

I raised my head as I heard someone walking towards the

door. Maya started scratching my head after I sat up. There
was a quiet knock at the door and Andrea told the person
to come on in.

A girl who looked about our age walked in and softly shut
the door behind her. She had a plate of fruit and a blanket.
Her hair was long and was in a braid to the side. She was
shorter than I am in human form and was shorter than I
am in human form and had a small scar on her neck.

Bree scooted over, so she could sit down, and then grabbed
a couple slices of orange from the plate. "So who's this little
guy? Did you kidnap a local pack cub or are you
babysitting?" the girl asked jokingly before tossing an apple
at Andrea.

Andrea shook her head at the girl, "Neither, we were out on

our normal path and could smell him. He looked like he got
the wrath of a drunk so we had Davan fix him up." The girl
reached out her hand and petted my head and stomach. I
was still pretty tired, so I didn't growl at her or move away
from her hand.

"He's adorable!" She whispered. The other girls laughed.

"I know right, I kinda want to keep him. My birthday's

coming up so maybe Dad will let me keep him if I beg,"
Andrea says.

"Oh yeah," Bree says looking up at her, "I forgot your

birthday is next week. Harrisons is two weeks after right?"

Andrea nodded, "Yeah, who cares if I'm younger, I get to

have my birthday party first, and he gets stuck with the
leftovers." All the girls laughed at this.
"So how's it going with your mate Erin?" Maya asks,
turning towards the girl.

She blushes, "Good, he's out on patrol right now but I'm
giving him a reward when he gets back."

Andrea smirks, "Naughty naughty Erin, how kinky is this

'reward' you're giving him?" I suddenly feel very
uncomfortable, I'm so not supposed to be hearing any of
this. If they start talking about having sex or who they've
slept with in school I'm so out.

Erin looks appalled and stares at Andrea, "Oh my gosh. No!

Nothing like that, I swear! I sectioned off a couple of the
cookies we made today so that I could give them to him
later."

Bree smacks Andreas leg and giggles, "Just because you

find your mate doesn't mean everything is suddenly about
sex Andrea. I feel bad for the poor guy that gets stuck with
you for life, you're going to wear him out."

Andrea smirks, "Oh shush he'll love me. Seriously, who

wouldn't want this," she gestured to herself, "all day long." I
wrinkled my nose and laid back down beside the ball. I am
totally not close enough to these people to hear them
talking like this.

Maya looks at Erin as she grabs some orange slices.

"Annyywwayyy dear food maker, what type of feast will we
all be having this night?" I hold back a grin at her as she
lunges and drapes herself over Erin's shoulder.
Erin rolls her eyes before answering, "How you have friends
at school I'll never know. We're making chili and cornbread
for everyone. You guys already missed lunch, so I came
looking for you when I smelled the cub. Figured you'd
rather me bring you something instead of forcing you out to
it. By the way, have you guys fed him yet? He looks pretty
hungry."

They look at me and Andrea shakes her head no. Maya

holds out a blueberry to me and I suddenly realize how
hungry I am. I crawl over and chomp on it. All the girls
start giggling again. Erin picks up then holds out a
strawberry for me. I moved over to her and took a bite of
the strawberry. I went to take another bite, but she moved
it just as my teeth were about to touch it. I moved towards
it again and quickly bit into it. I hear a noise and turn as
Bree clicks her tongue, her hand is reached out to me, and
she's holding out a piece of melon. When I scoot over to
take a bite she also moves the fruit at the last second,
teasing me.

"Fine, play with me as long as you freaks want, as long as I

get food I don't care right now." I huff. I don't like the fact
they're treating me like a baby, but I guess I look like one
right now anyway.

Erin holds out another piece of melon and I crawl over to it.
She was nice enough not to move it when I got there. I laid
down while chewing the sticky melon. I feel some juices run
down my chin, Bree leans in and wipes the juice with a
corner of her shirt. We went on playing with the fruit for
who knows how long before I finally got full.
After we finished I felt someone pick me up. Maya had
gently grabbed me by my sides, and lifted me into her lap.
It was warm and felt comfortable. My eyes were slowly
closing and I felt someone put a blanket on top of me as I
drifted to sleep.

CHAPTER VIII
I listen to Harrison and Nicholas bicker over the radio
station. We've just finished our patrols for the day, which
thankfully were uneventful. Alpha was gone to see Alpha
Caleb's Luna give birth so we're looking over the place
while he was gone.

Ryan, Alpha's brother, had needed to shut down the school

anyway after a chaotic event broke out after school the
night before Alpha left. A fight had broken out between two
pairs of mates and they had practically destroyed one of
the classrooms along with a couple tables and lights in the
cafeteria.

There was blood, fur, hair, and glass everywhere. While

they did take proper action after the fight by apologizing to
both of the Alphas from the packs involved, there was no
way we could open the school until everything was cleaned
and repaired. I know one of the boys involved since he is
staying with us because his mate is in our territory. The
fight was trivial and purely instinctive plus all of the people
involved apologized therefore there were no hard feelings
between the two packs.
I watch the trees as we drive to the only grocery store in
Redwood. I was sitting in the back of Harrison's truck since
I lost rock- paper -scissors to Nicholas. I notice the
argument is starting to get a bit out of hand and decide it's
time for them to talk about something else before it gets too
heated.
"Hey Harrison, did your Dad get anything new on Andrew?"
I ask.

Harrison sighs and looks at me in the rear view mirror

before answering, "Nothing major. We finally think we've
got a list of school's he's been in but it's missing a couple
semesters so we don't think it's complete. His medical
records don't come up either and all we know is that he's
up to date with his shots. Dad thinks he may have gotten
the address to the last place Andrew lived, but again, he's
not sure."

"Personally I'm still in shock that someone new moved

here, much less someone our age," Nicholas says.

"Me too," I agree. This was the first time in years that
someone our age has moved here. Our pack runs Hayville
and keeps tabs on who comes and goes. Almost everyone
living here knows about us being werewolves. Nicholas's
Mom runs all the real estate in the area and everyone runs
orders through the pack before any final decisions are
made. It's almost always been like this and it works in
everyone's favor. So imagine our surprise when Jennifer,
the secretary at our only high school, tells us someone we
don't know was registering at our school out of the blue.

It was so incredibly sudden that we didn't even have a

chance to do a background check on him. One day he just
walks into school asking for transfer papers, then he fills
them out right there at the desk. He came in the next day
to school and brought the rest of the information Jen
needed for him to transfer. Then just like that he's in our
classes that morning, only a little more than twenty four
hours after we learn of his existence. We go to school
normally one day and the next we suddenly have a new
student.
Everyone wanted to know who the heck this kid was to
suddenly appear in our lives without warning.

One of the pack's close friends Kaylie owns a cafe

downtown, she had told us all about this phone interview
with someone out of town who was interested in a job.
Apparently she liked the young man since he was
extremely polite and had previous job experience with high
ratings. She liked him so much in fact she had actually
invited him to come for a trial run, but most of us didn't
expect him to show since many people from out of town
had done the same thing then never showed.

When Andrew had first come to school everyone was in a

frenzy trying to figure out anything they could about him.
Alpha had asked us to make him feel welcomed and to see
if we could get anything from him. He was placed in all our
classes so we could keep an eye on him throughout the
day.

He instantly became the centre of attention and everyone

wanted to get close to him. When we first walked into the
school we couldn't even smell him to go say hi. We had
walked around for a bit not noticing the smell of anyone
new so we had to give up and go to class. I got lucky
though, after being in my first class for a couple minutes
he showed up. I instantly liked him, he was gorgeous. He
walked into my class and everyone in the room couldn't
help but stare. His clothes were simple but that let
everything else about him stand out. His eyes were a
natural amber colour which was breathe taking. Many
werewolves get bright amber eyes when their werewolf
takes over but that colour was totally different from
Andrews' eyes. His hair was just barely at his shoulders
and wasn't slick or greasy looking like most boys around
here, instead it was extremely healthy and decently thick. I
could tell many of the girls were instantly jealous of his
hair which made me hold back a chuckle. Not to mention
his hair colour was something that went perfectly with his
eyes, a dark ash colour that I have never seen on anyone
before. He was so breathe taking that I had to remind
myself to blink since I was staring. After carefully scanning
every inch of his body I could tell he was muscular, though
not even close to anything like us who were in the pack.

Despite his muscles he was a little underweight which

made me frown a bit.

After breaking out of my haze I rushed to brag to the others

about him being in my class. Being the first one in our
friend group to see him I just had to rub it in their faces.
Andrea demanded details about what he was like and
Harrison asked if I could tell what Andrew was by his
smell. His scent was faint and he must've been wearing
female perfume since he smelled like lavender. The
lavender smell just added to how beautiful and breathe
taking he was. And if I wasn't already lucky enough, the
teacher told him to sit down right beside me. But as he sat
down, I could have sworn I smelled werewolf under the
strong lavender emitting from him.

At lunch we all crowded around him and pestered him with

our questions. He told us he had moved from North-pass,
which is actually pretty far away. We were surprised when
we learned he had just moved the night before. Other than
that we didn't get much besides the fact he doesn't do
sports. After lunch Harrison agreed with me that he
smelled a werewolf underneath the lavender scent, but it
wasn't enough to say that Andrew was a werewolf like us.
Since Andrew had just moved, and had been living in a
large city, we figured maybe another werewolf scent had
gotten into his clothes before he left.

And now, a couple weeks after he suddenly showed up, we

still didn't know much about him. His school records were
missing patches of information, his medical records were
pretty outdated along with missing years of information,
and when we had tried to contact the people he had down
as guardians and emergency contacts we had come up
empty. At this point we were starting to think he faked both
the legal guardian and the emergency contact. Not only
that but he hadn't bought a place through our real estate
or we would've known, so many of us thought maybe he
was homeless or a runaway.

However, we ran into him while picking up some things

and Andrea managed to nag him into showing us where he
lived. We were all shocked that he was living in the old
motel Floyd owns. Floyd hadn't asked our alpha about
renting to anyone so he was now under pack investigation.
When we went into Andrew's room the smell of different
wolves was present but it seemed to be coming from the
things he owned and the boxes that had yet to be
unpacked. Since he lived in a city before he moved here we
decided he must've had friends who were wolves hence the
smell. We also found out that Andrew wasn't the only one
that Floyd was renting the old motel too. A man who I
could tell was in our pack lived a couple doors down, we
spotted him watching us as we pulled in. If it had been
anyone else besides us I doubt they would know him,
however with Harrison being the next alpha, me being the
next beta, and Nickolas being the next delta, we had met
everyone in the pack many times and could easily smell
that he was part of our pack.

The view out the window stopped as Harrison parked the

truck and we all went inside. "Floyd's been out of town for
a couple days so we haven't gotten anything from him yet,"
Harrison says as he grabs a cart. Nicholas snorts, "I almost
feel bad for him, Alpha is already pissed about this whole
ordeal and if Floyd tries lying about anything he's dead
meat. Not to mention the fact he was already on bad terms
with members of the pack."

"Did we find anything out from his other school?" I ask as

we walk to the produce section.

Harrison shakes his head, "Not really, he wasn't in any

teams or special programs. Oh, but we did figure out he's
not from the pack closest to the major school in Northpass.
The only close pack to where Andrew was going at the time
had been dealing with a rogue hunt so they didn't let
anyone out of their sights much less let someone leave
from the pack."
"What about where he was living before, did we find that
out?" Nicholas asks.

"Nope couldn't find anything, his school didn't have his

current address on file." Harrison replies.

I roll my eyes, "Isn't it mandatory for them to know that?"

After walking around and shopping for a bit we notice some
humans around so we decide to continue our conversation
through our link.

"I'm actually more concerned with why he suddenly moved

here," I tell them.

"What? Why?" Nicholas asks.

I grab a couple bags of dried beans before replying, "Well

think about it. He told us the reason he's going to our
school is because he moved right?" They both turn to me
and nod. "Now what's wrong with that reason?" They both
looked at me confused so I continued, "Why do people our
age usually move and have to switch schools?"

Understanding washes over Harrison's face as he clues in,

"It usually has something to do with their family. People
usually move with their parents or relatives." I nod and
Nicholas's eyes widen as he understands what we're going
at.

"Andrew lives alone, and he doesn't know anyone here

much less is he related to anyone." he says.

I nod again and keep going, "Not only that but Andrew told
Kaylie that he worked two jobs before he moved here. So
why would someone our age suddenly get up and move,
without much notice, by themselves? He wasn't in a bad
financial situation and to our knowledge there's no
evidence he had gotten into trouble with anyone." We all
look at each other worried. He lived in a fairly big city
previously so there could be a number of different reasons
he would suddenly have to move and none of them are
ideal.

Harrison is the first one of us to speak again, "Well, we can

ask him when school starts again. Either way I'm sure we'd
all be willing to help him if he needs it. I think we've all
grown quite fond of him. In fact I have a feeling a couple of
the girls in the pack like him a little too much if you get
me." We all laugh. It's true that some of the female
members that go to our school have been crushing on him,
heck even a handful of the guys have been eyeing him up.

"Not just them though, a lot of the older members in our

pack have taken a liking to him as well. Since he works
with Kaylie he sees a lot of them and they get to talk with
him." I say chuckling.

Nicholas snorts, "Pfft, you haven't seen anything compared

to Harrison's Grandparents. The retired Luna has fallen in
love after Andrew talked to her about ways to make her old
rosebush grow. Apparently she's been trying for years to
get it to bloom and it's barely still alive, yet she did what
Andrew said and suddenly it's doing much better. I swear if
anyone scratches him she'll start a full out war."

We all laugh again and Harrison throws a couple more

things in the cart, "Tell me about it, they try to invite him
to dinner all the time. Plus she never shuts up about him,
you'd think he was her own child or something the way she
speaks of him."

We finish getting what's on our list then head to check out.

After we take all the things back to the truck I get out my
phone. As I sit down and buckle up I send a text to one of
our pack doctors, Davan, since she asked us to let her
know when we're on our way back. I look through all my
messages before frowning confused. I look up at Harrison
as he starts the truck back up.

"Hey Reece," I ask, "did you get a text from Andrea while
we've been out?"

Harrison shakes his head, "No, why?"

I look back at my phone confused before looking at

Nicholas, "Nick did you get one?" He also shakes his head.

"Why? What's wrong?" Harrison asks.

"Since her birthday is coming up she's been texting us all
non-stop every time we go out without fail. We have been
gone all day and haven't heard from any of the girls. Plus
she was supposed to check in when they got back from
their walk this morning. They probably just forgot but it's a
bit weird. Also why don't you let me pick the station this
time?" I say hopefully while turning my phone off. They
both look back at me and smirk before Nickolas picks a
station only for it to be changed by Harrison. In a matter of
minutes the bickering over the radio station starts up once
again.

*********
A couple of the pack omegas come out when we pull up to
the pack house. They open the pack of the truck and start
grabbing bags before each of us also grab a couple to bring
in. "Hey Andrea, where are you guys?" Harrison

asks her through the mind link. We don't hear a reply right
away so we look at each other confused.

"We are just chilling in my room," she answers after a

couple seconds.

"You do realize you never checked back in after your walk

this morning right?" Harrison asks her.

"Oops, sorry. We got busy and forgot," she answers

unapologetically and we all roll our eyes.
 CHAPTER IX
A s we all sit down for dinner I watch the girls walk in
accompanied with Erin, a pack omega who recently
found her mate. They're all a bit late which is seriously
unusual for them, especially Andrea who is always hungry
and eager to eat. As they come over to sit down I notice
that all of them have wet hair meaning they all just
showered.

I raise an eyebrow at them before asking "What, did you

guys throw each other in a mud hole or something?" They
look at me like I'm crazy as they take a seat and I gesture
to their hair before saying, "You've all just taken showers."
They all look at Andrea to answer for them which is highly
suspicious.

She looks at me and smirks, "Something like that yeah." I

roll my eyes and keep eating.

"So what did you girls do today?" Harrison asks them. I

catch Bree and Maya exchange nervous glances which
raises my suspicion even more.
"Nothing much," Andrea answers without looking up. I look
at Harrison with my eyebrow still raised, he looks back at
me with a puzzled expression on his face.
"How was your walk this morning?" Nickolas asks them
and again Andrea is the only one to answer.

"It was fine."

Nickolas looks at Harrison then at me confused. We all

know something up now, Andrea is a chatter box and she
would never drop a conversation like that.

"Okay so who's going to be the one explaining to us what's

going on?" Harrison asked, leaning back while looking at
them all. Bree squirms in her seat and Erin casts her eyes
down while Andrea and Maya just keep their eyes on their
bowls.

"Whatever are you talking about?" Andrea questions, still

not making eye contact. All three of us burst out laughing.

"Seriously Andrea? Could you guys be any more obvious?"

Nickolas says while still laughing.

Harrison speaks next, "None of you are making eye contact,

Andrea's not talking our ears off plus she forgot to check in
after your walk this morning, Erin looks uncomfortable and
Bree looks like she's about to burst. I hate to break it to
you, but you guys suck at keeping secrets."

Andrea scoffs and says, "Who cares, we had fun today and
don't feel like sharing. Get over it." She winks at Harrison
as she finishes and he rolls his eyes while taking a deep
breath.

"Anyway," Erin suddenly says looking up from her meal,

"you guys go to school with the new town addition right? I
think Maya said he was placed in all your guy's classes or
something. What's he like? I've only heard the gossip about
him and I'm seriously curious."

Nickolas takes a drink of his water before replying, "Yeah,

he's in all our classes. Plus he now works at Kaylie's place.
You should convince your mate to take you out there, then
maybe you'll get to meet him." Erin shrugs.

"I might. What's he look like, he's human right?" she asks
curiously.

"At this point we've decided he's probably human, yes."

Harrison replies.

Ouu!" She squeals "What does he look like? Is he cute? Is

he hot? Come on, what's he like?"

"He's absolutely gorgeous Erin, like you wouldn't even

believe how beautiful he is even if we tried to explain it," I
tell her before taking a spoon full of food and stuffing it
into my mouth.

Erin looks at me in surprise, "Oh my goodness, Jax, do you

have a crush on this kid?" I smile and take a long drink of
my water while staring at her. Harrison chuckles beside
me. "You totally do!" Erin exclaims, clapping her hands.

All of them know I'm gay since we tell each other almost
everything, you kind of have to when you grow up together
and know you're most likely stuck spending your life in the
pack with them. Only a handful of adults in the club know
I'm gay, and not many of the people our age know either.
Our pack leaders don't have an issue with gays, however
other members aren't so accepting. Harrison hasn't come
out yet either and we made a pact that if one of us comes
out, intentionally or otherwise, that the other will come out
as well. So far it hasn't happened and I don't know how my
parents would react if they found out.

My Dad is the pack beta and has expressed many times in

pack meetings that he has nothing against homosexuals,
but saying you don't have anything wrong with them and
accepting your son as one are two different things. Plus
both of my parents refer to my mate as a she when they
talk about them. Since my eighteenth birthday is soon
they're constantly talking about me finding my mate, and
I'm sure it'll get even worse after my birthday.

Another reason I'm not looking forward to my birthday is

the fact that, currently, the thought of being mated to any
of the guys around here makes me sick. Most of them are
members of the pack and we've all grown up together so
they're like my brothers or extended family. Not to mention
the fact that virtually none of them are attractive. But I
would rather get mated to one of them than to one of the
girls I guess, not that the girls around here aren't pretty,
it's just that I'm so not into girls.

Harrison, Nicholas, and I are all approximately the same

age and we all constantly talk about mates with each other.
We have a feeling Harrison will find his mate first since he's
our soon to be alpha, and I envy him a bit. He's also bi
therefore he doesn't really have to worry about if his mate
is male or female.

However, no matter who my mate is, I'm going to accept

them. A mate is a mate no matter what gender or status.
Even if I don't like my mate right now I have faith that the
moon goodness has paired me up with someone who is
perfect to me. That being said, that doesn't mean I'm not
going to be anxious about it. I think I have the right to
worry about who my forever partner and other half is going
to be.
"Hey, you okay?" I hear Harrison ask me through our link
without looking at me. I quickly go back to the
conversation that's going on, which seems to still be about
Andrew.

"Yeah sorry, I was just thinking about my mate. Didn't

mean to space out," I apologize to him.

"Believe me, I get it. I'm nervous to find out who mine is as
well." He sighs.

"I can imagine. You're not just finding your mate, you're
finding the future Luna." I say grimly.

"Ugh! don't remind me. My parents constantly talk about it

and to be honest it's getting tiring." He all but growls.

"Do you think you'll tell your parents before you find your
mate in case it's male?" I see his eyebrows furrow a bit
before he answers me.

"I don't know. If my mate's a girl then there's no point in

telling them anyways right? But I don't want to surprise
them suddenly if it's a boy you know?" He reasons.

"Yeah. I didn't think I would care this much but as the time
gets closer I'm getting more and more stressed about
everything."
"Tell me about it."

"Harrison! Jax!" Andrea calls out to us and we both jump a

bit. "Seriously? What's so important that you guys can't
share with the group?" she asks, upset.

Harrison smirks, "What does it matter, you're the one

who's withholding information from us remember?"

Andrea huffs and crosses her arms while slouching down

in her seat. "You guys aren't playing fair," she wines.

"We aren't playing fair? You girls are the ones who went
and did something secretive all day long and now refuse to
give us any hints as to what!" Nickolas laughs.

Erin stacks our plates and bowls before bringing back up

the conversation about Andrew, "But seriously, how did
Floyd end up renting to two different people without
anyone else knowing? That seems a bit odd doesn't it? And
who on earth in our pack has the guts to rent a place from
Floyd without asking the Alpha first?"

Harrison shakes his head, "No idea, Dad was looking into it
right before he left. I'm guessing he'll want to go check who
it is in person so that he can know for sure who it is."

I notice Maya starting to doze off in her seat. "What on

earth did you do today that has even Maya tired out?" I ask
while watching my sister struggle to stay awake. Maya
usually stays up late so it's odd seeing her so tired this
early. She looks up at me and smiles before excusing
herself and heading to her room. I share a wide eyed look
with Harrison and Nickolas, if we weren't already curious
before then we were now.

"Actually we're all having a sleepover in Andrea's room

tonight so we're going to head up now. Night guys!" Bree
says hurriedly before Andrea and Erin also both say their
good nights.
Nicholas laughed in amazement, "Holy cow are they being
suspicious." Harrison and I both agree.

"What could they possibly have been doing for them all to
act like this?" I asked them both.

They shook their heads confused and Harrison says, "No

clue, but we can ask again in the morning. Dad's coming
back so we'll have better luck figuring it out."
 CHAPTER X
I wake up in a daze while trying to figure out what's going
on. The room is filled with the smell of werewolves which
is closely followed by the strong smell of roses. My ears
twitch at the sound of female voices and people moving
around me. I struggle to open my eyes and blink a couple
times to let my eyes adjust to the bright room. From the
smells in the room I'm guessing all the girls slept here in
Andrea's room last night. They all seem to be getting ready
to go somewhere now.

Maya notices me first and comes closer to scratch my head.

"Hey buddy, we're just going on a quick walk. We'll be back
in about an hour okay, so you need to stay here quietly for
us until we come back. Erin saved some cornbread for you
so we put it beside the water bowl in the corner."

I watched as Bree came out of the bathroom and smiled at

me. "Look who's awake! We'll be back in a bit to play with
you again okay? Try not to make too much noise."

Andrea sticks her head through the bedroom door and yells
"Come on guys, you're taking forever."

Both Maya and Bree kiss me on the top of my head before

rushing out the door, closing it as they leave. I sit on
Andrea's bed and take in everything that's happened to me
in the past 24 hours.
After a couple minutes I scrunch up my nose "Wow, they
love me so much yet they ditch me at- I take a look at
Andrea's clock beside her bed and stare in shock "at six
am! It's the weekend! In what universe do teenagers
happily get up and out of bed at six am on a weekend?!
That's it, they're all insane".

I yawn and stretch my legs, testing my injured leg carefully.

"Looks like I healed decently well, the pain is pretty much
gone now." I get up and shake my fur before jumping off
the bed into a pile of pillows on the floor. I walk over to the
bowls Maya pointed out to me before she leaves and
happily inhale the cornbread. After finishing a decent
amount of the water I'm pretty much fully awake now.

I really need to get home somehow, the Alpha comes back

today and it sounds like the pack house is more lively then
it was yesterday. Just as I'm trying to figure out a way to
leave the room I hear footsteps approaching the door. I hide
under a chair as whoever it is knocks, then opens the door.
A woman with a laundry basket walks calmly into the room
and unpacks some clothes from the basket and puts them
on Andrea's bed. As soon as her back was fully turned to
me I run out of the room as quietly as possible. I fully
expected her to turn since the sound of my nails scratching
the wooden floor was loud enough that any werewolf would
be able to hear it. However she didn't seem to come after
me and I ran full speed down the stairs the girls carried me
up yesterday. The house is definitely more active today but
thankfully they're all making enough clatter that nobody
pays attention to me.

"This is going almost too well..." I think to myself as I hide

under a couch for someone to pass me. After a couple
minutes of playing mission impossible I spot a door that
looks like it leads outside. I hide beside a bookshelf and
watch people pass me while talking to each other. I spot a
younger boy hauling a black garbage back who's heading
for the door I need to go through. As he goes through I slip
out after him before the door can close.

I quickly dash to the forest, hoping nobody spots me while

I'm running. After I feel like I'm a safe distance away from
the pack house I stop to catch my breath.

"I cannot believe I slipped out of a pack house that easily

without being caught." I huff to myself, almost laughing. I
start heading deeper into the forest before I realize
something and let out a wine. "The girls drove me here
after they found me in a forest. I was asleep the entire time
which means I have absolutely no idea where I am now...

I start walking deeper into the trees and try to think of

where I could possibly be right now. The last thing I want
is to run into rogues while in the form of a cub.

It took me about six hours to figure out a way home. I

ended up finding a main road and following it until I
started seeing things I recognized. Now that the motel is in
sight I'm in desperate need of a shower, plus I'm hungry.

I make my way to the motel and stop as I start getting

closer. Memories of that night come flooding through my
mind and I'm instantly on alert. I sniff the air to make sure
there's no sign of anyone nearby as I get closer to my room.
I mentally groan when I get about ten feet away and see my
door slightly ajar.

"Well, what did you expect? For the room to magically be

fixed and clean when you came back? It's not like our
attacker was going to be nice enough to clean up the wreck
he made."

I wince as a putrid smell drifts out of my room. The gross

mixture of smells are slightly faded, but the rancid smell of
vomit is gross enough on its own. I see the door hanging off
the frame with blood smears on both of them. I close my
eyes and take a deep breath of clean(ish) air before getting
a good look at the aftermath of my nightmare. I look
around sadly and force myself to take a small step inside.
As I look around all I can think of is how much it looks like
a murder crime scene minus the dead bodies, it's
horrifying.

Everything around me seems a lot bigger since I'm in cub

form, but that only makes the scene in front of me even
worse. There are bloody handprints on the walls, table, and
floor along with smears of blood on my bed. My one
bookcase has two broken shelves and the wall beside it has
blood splatters on it. I try not to look at the kitchen since I
know I puked on the floor which means it's obviously still
there. The amount of blood everywhere is shocking since I
didn't think either of us were bleeding that badly during
the fight.

I take another couple steps inside and smell for any sign
the man's come back since the accident. I can tell he was
here recently but it's old enough that I'm not too worried,
he probably just thought I'd come back in the morning.

I'm now sitting in the middle of my room taking in how

much damage is everywhere. "I'm surprised nobody called
the police after seeing my door open. You'd think someone
would call, heck the people occupying the motel across the
street should've called it in as soon as the sun rose since
they obviously saw it." There aren't any other scents so I
can tell nobody else has been here, such as a police officer
or a curious tenant from across the road.

I stand in the middle of my room and hold back the

emotions that are struggling to stay contained. After taking
in the room around me for a couple more minutes I realize
I have no idea how to change back into my human form.
"Heck I don't even know how I changed into a dog in the
first place."

I try to change back, remembering how I've seen Conall do

it. I think he explained it to me once or twice. I take a deep
breath and relax my muscles before stretching my front
legs. "Con said something about being relaxed and focused
then picturing yourself." I think back to the conversations
that I was only half paying attention to since I didn't think
I'd ever shift in my life. "goodness I need a shower, I can
smell myself way too strongly right now and it's
disgusting."

After a couple minutes of failed focusing I'm about to give

up when I hear a popping sound. I cry out as I feel my
bones moving and breaking. It's over in almost an instant
and I suck in a deep breath as the lasting pain spreads all
over my body. After realizing that I'm now naked in a
bloody room with the door wide open for all to see I rush
up and close the door the best I can.

"Ugh this is going to be a pain to clean up. There's stuff

everywhere and I might need to pull up the carpet
considering that I see bugs in it that are enjoying the blood
soaked floor. I don't have nearly enough supplies to clean
this all up. Shower first, then go to get some bleach and
carpet cleaner." I think to myself as I walk over to the
bathroom.

"Andrew!" I hear as I pick up two large bottles of bleach

from the shelf. I was currently hunting for every cleaning
product known to man, hoping something will help me with
the crime scene in my room.

I turn and see Kaylie quickly walking over towards me with

a worried expression on her face. I give her the best smile I
can do right now and pick up a container of antibacterial
wipes. "Good afternoon Kaylie."

"Are you okay? You were supposed to come into work this
morning and you didn't answer your phone when I called."
She says looking me over trying to see if I'm sick or injured.

"Shoot, I'm so sorry, I totally forgot I was supposed to work

today! Oh and I accidentally left my phone in my locker
before I left work so it's still there." I say groaning at the
start, with everything that was going on it slipped my mind
that I had a shift this morning. Not that it would've done
anything since I was a dog until twenty minutes ago.

Kaylie puts the back of her hand on my forehead "Are you

sick? Even though you haven't been here long I can tell
you're not the type to forget a shift. And why didn't you
come get your phone yesterday if you left it?"

I wince and try to think of something to say, thankfully

Kaylie isn't a werewolf or I'd be screwed since she'd know if
I was lying or not.
"Oh um I was planning to come get it but I got carried away
cleaning up at home. I would've gotten it this morning but
as I was cleaning out the fridge a bunch of old food spilled
on my carpet." I say as I gesture to the cleaning products in
my shopping cart.
Kaylie looks in the cart before looking back at me "How is
your fridge so full already that you have the need to empty
and clean it? You haven't been here long enough for it to be
bad."

I shrug "When I moved I brought some of the food from my

old place. Some of it was already going bad but I brought it
over anyway to try and save money."

She nods with understanding "Well anyways you can come

to pick your phone up later today if you want. Oh and you
might want to get some extra baking soda for cleaning up."

I smiled at her before saying I would make sure to come

pick it up tonight. After grabbing a few more things I head
to checkout then head home.

"Time to go clean up a murder scene." I groan not looking

forward to seeing the horrors in my room right now,

Back at my room the first thing I do is clean and fix my

door. I bought some new hinges while I was out, along with
a screwdriver since I personally didn't have many tools. I
had to wipe the blood off the door and I found that there
were also his greasy handprints on the door.

After the door I decided I should work on the kitchen first,

seeing as there was puke and maggots in that area which
grossed me out just thinking of it. I gagged so many times
while cleaning it up and I kept getting flashes of memories
from being attacked. I would have to stop and take a few
minutes to calm down before I could continue.

After the kitchen I started on the rest of the room, the

bathroom was the only untouched area from the fight so I
had a lot of work to do. I didn't find anything to help fix my
bookshelf so I ended up just taking the shelves off and
reorganized everything so it looked like the larger space
belonged. I don't remember getting blood on my bed but it
was obviously there and the comforter smelled bad enough
that I just trashed it.

The one thing I wasn't looking forward to was the carpet.

Most of the floor was carpet and there were obvious blood
stains and pools on it. In some of the spots I checked the
stains were still damp. There were two main spots where I
just knew the blood had soaked through the wood
underneath the carpet. I would have to change part of the
floor. I decided on covering the spots with cleaning supplies
and waiting until I had a better time to fix it up.

"Such a pain, I get attacked then have to clean the bloody

mess up myself." I think as I flop onto my bed. Everything
smells strongly of cleaning products even though I had
opened the windows. The smell is nauseating and makes
my head hurt, but it's not like there's really anything I can
do about it.

After laying there while resting my tired and sore body I

decide I might as well head over to Yours & Mine to go get
my phone. "I swear if Conall called and I missed it because
of this I'm going to scream."
CHAPTER XI
“Can you girls hurry up please, we wanted to be gone
already," Nicholas huffs leaning against Maya's door frame.
Bree, Maya, and Andrea have been fussing around with
their outfits and making sure everyone matches each other
perfectly. Which in return has made Harrison, Nicholas,
and I, late heading to school.
"Okay we're leaving, grab whatever else you need and you
can finish spiffing up at school," Harrison says, rolling his
eyes and walking away. We have all already been waiting
on them for almost twenty minutes.

"Sorry, but we just want to look perfect when we meet Erin

at the cafe later, Andrea says, pouting as she ties her shoes
and grabs her bag.

Maya and Bree once again change their plaid shirts to

match their tank tops underneath. I roll my eyes and drag
Nicholas with me as I head to the stairs. I will never
understand these girls, they have been acting weird for a
couple days and we are not the only ones who've noticed.

The girls never ended up telling us about what they were

doing a couple days ago but they were jumpy and on edge
all the next day. We couldn't figure out what could have
happened but they all seemed paranoid. They had gone out
on their morning walk like usual then when they came
home they got so worried and frantic that they went
looking around in almost every room in the pack house.
Not even our Alpha could figure out what was wrong when
he came back, Luna told him it wasn't a big deal so I'm
guessing the girls told her about whatever it was.

Today they are still a bit on edge and they even got up like
two hours early to go on a walk somewhere. When they got
back they talked to Erin, another member of the pack, and
arranged to meet her after school at Kaylie's cafe
downtown. What's strange about that? Since Erin found
her mate they have spent almost every spare minute
together and they never go anywhere without the other, yet
today Erin is going to meet the girls alone.

I hear the girls running down the stairs as I jump into the
passenger seat of Harrison's truck. Harrison is driving and
Nicholas is in the jump seat between the driver's side and
the passenger's seat. The girls were all climbing in the back
seats and they started talking about something quietly.

"Why am I in the middle?" Nicholas wines and Harrison

chuckles as he starts backing up.

"Well, I'm driving and Jax is bigger than you are." he

chuckles and my jaw drops.

"Excuse me!?" I say laughing and Harrison reaches across

Nicholas to smack me. The girls in the back burst out
laughing and Nicholas joins them.

"Oh shut up, you know what I mean. I meant you're more
muscular and fit then Nicholas is," Harrison says as he
starts down the road to school.
"Hey!" Nicholas yells in mock anger and Harrison shrugs.

"It's true, honestly if Jax keeps training like he does he is

going to be stronger than me," he says.

I shake my head, "I doubt it, you train just as much as I

do. Not Nicholas though, he could use the extra practice."
Nicholas slouches down in his seat and grumbles, "It's not
my fault I don't train as much as you guys do, I have swim
practice every day. I bet I can outrun you all though!"

I shake my head and am about to respond when I hear

Andrew being brought up in the girls conversation behind
me. "Hey what're you guys talking about?" I say turning
around to look at them.

"We're going to introduce Erin to Andrew today, she hasn't

met him yet," Maya says.

Andrea sticks her tongue out at me, "She demanded to

know what he was like since you so obviously have a major
crush on him."

I smirk at them, "Well, of course, he's just the most drop

dead gorgeous looking guy I've ever seen."

"I know, you won't stop staring at him in school, I cannot

believe he hasn't noticed yet, " Andrea says while rolling
her eyes.

"Is it so wrong to want to bless my eyes with such beauty?"

I ask mockingly.

"No, but you practically eye raped him on Wednesday when

he
wiped his face on his shirt. You and like everyone else who
was around, you are the strongest though." She shakes her
head.

"I couldn't help it, did you see his stomach?! I mean I knew
he was muscular but his skin was so perfect and soft
looking."

"Ew! Okay, stop talking now. I don't want to know about

your sexual thoughts you have for him!"

I turn back around still smirking and Nicholas shakes his

head at me. I was actually looking forward to school today
since I hadn't seen Andrew since Thursday since school
was cancelled and there was the weekend. I did go to try
and see him at Yours & Mine on Saturday with Nicholas
but Kaylie had told us he didn't show up for his shift. She
seemed worried about it and honestly I'm still worried
about him. I can tell from what I've seen of Andrew that he
wouldn't just forget or skip a Andrew that he wouldn't just
forget or skip a shift for no reason.

Harrison pulls up to his normal spot in the school parking

lot and we all get out. We make our way towards our
lockers and the strong smell of lavender and peppermint
reaches my nose, I turn my head to see Andrew getting
some things out of his locker. He has dark bags under his
eyes and he looks exhausted.

"Hey," I say, concerned as I walk over towards him. He

stiffens at my voice and stares into his locker, I sense the
fear from him which has me confused. "Are you okay? You
look super tired and you didn't show up for your shift on
Saturday."
He turns around and shuts his locker before looking at me
with his amazing amber eyes, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit
tired. I had some cleaning to do and forgot about my shift,
so I already apologized to Kaylie."

As soon as the words leave his mouth I can tell he's lying.
About what I don't know but he was lying about something
just then. I stop right in front of him and sniff, there's
something different about his scent today but I can't tell
just what it is.

Andrew always wears different strongly scented perfumes

which, for some reason, none of the werewolves at school
mind, usually strong female perfumes irritate us due to our
heightened senses. I see a hint of fear cross Andrew's face
but just as soon as it was there it was gone.

"I'll uh see you at class," he says before quickly walking

away, brushing some of his hair back with his hand.

"What was that?" I ask myself confused, Andrew was acting

more anxious than usual today and that's saying
something. Another thing we all noticed about Andrew was
that he's always constantly on edge, we thought it would
die down after getting used to the place but if anything it
seemed to get higher as we got to know him more.

Just then the bell rings signalling everyone to head to class

so I shake my head and start walking down the hall.
I half listened to Mr. Thornton as he talked to us about
some war that took place eons ago somewhere overseas.
Andrew was sitting right in front of me, his dark ash hair
was so silky and soft looking that I was fighting not to
reach out and feel it.

"You're drooling." I hear a familiar voice say and my eyes

widen in surprise, I sit up straighter in my chair.

"Nice to hear from you again," I retorted in amazement then

a snort.

"You act like I never talk to you," he says and I feel him roll
his eyes.

"You don't really," I responded truthfully.

My wolf Marek and I don't usually talk to each other like

this, he's a decently quiet wolf for the most part. and I used
to get worried something was wrong since he never talked
or responded to me. My parents assured me that there's
nothing wrong with me, saying that some people's wolves
don't really connect fully with them until they're either
eighteen or mated. Marek hasn't said anything to me in
months and the last time he spoke it was only a couple
short words.

"I honestly didn't think you'd speak to me again until after

my birthday," I say.
"Well, you thought wrong," Marek answers and I smile,
"Though I am excited to start looking for our mate."

"How do you feel about that by the way? You've never said
anything about the subject before," I ask him.

"I don't care who my mate is, male or female. The moon
goodness picked them out for us and I'm sure they're our
perfect match," Marek replies and I mentally nod my head
in support.

"By the way, I wasn't drooling," I say.

"You might as well have been with the way you were
watching him," Marek taunts.

"I was just looking at his hair," I defended myself.

"Sure you were, you were about to start drooling though,"

he states and I feel my cheeks get stiff from smiling.

"But doesn't it look soft!? Come on, don't lie, I know you
like him too," I stress and he lets out a snort.

"Yes. I do and I'm sure his hair is very soft, but there's
something else you should be paying attention to," he
counters.

"And what might that be? It's not like this class is
important enough that you want me to pay attention to it."

"No, I'm talking about the blood on Andrew's shoes," Marek

reveals and I immediately shoot my gaze towards Andrew's
shoes.
I analyze his smell once again and this time pick up the
slight smell of someone else's blood just as I see a few
small red smears on Andrew's running shoes. I hold back a
growl and bite my tongue so I don't do anything stupid.

"Why the hell would he have blood on his shoes?" I roar in

my mind.

"I know as much as you do, but there's something off about
him. I know you, Harrison, and Terran all feel it too,"
Marek remarks. Terran is Harrisons wolf, Harrison told me
that they both talk all the time and that they're both super
close. Harrison started talking to his wolf when he was ten
and we think that they've got a strong bond due to the fact
they're alphas.

"He showed up in town without warning and we can't find

out any key information on him, of course we think
something is off," I retorted.

"There is that but I think there's something else, I don't

know what so don't ask but there's definitely something
else off. Some of the things he does and the ways he acts
show that he's hiding things from everyone," he advised.

"Jax, you good?" I hear someone ask and I snap my head

up to the speaker. Nicholas is standing in front of me
holding his school bag and Harrison is standing by the
door watching me confused. That's when I notice we're
practically the last ones to leave the classroom.

I quickly collect my things and stand up, "Yeah. I'm fine,

sorry."
Harrison looks at me with an unbelieving look, "You've
been staring at the same spot and didn't hear us when we
called you."

We start walking through the hallways towards our

lockers. Harrison leans on the locker beside mine with his
arms crossed and stares at me, his eyes demand an
explanation.

"It's nothing!" I say smiling again. For some reason after

talking with my wolf I'm in a much happier mood than
before. Sure I'm still extremely worried about Andrew and
the reason behind the substance on his shoes, but I'm
more relaxed and laid back. "I was just talking with
Marek."

Harrison's eyes widen and Nicholas quickly moves beside

him with his mouth open. "Oh? And what were you guys
talking about?" Harrison asks.

"A few different things," I answer happily and Harrison

whistles.

"Wow, did you get to talk with him?" he asks and I nod.
Harrison and Nicholas know that my wolf doesn't talk
much and I've talked to Harrison before about my feelings
on it.

"That's great Jax! Maybe your parents are right and he'll
start being more vocal once you turn eighteen," Nicholas
says excitedly. Harrison agrees and I suddenly remember
why I was upset in the classroom.
"He also pointed out something that I missed this
morning," I tell them through our mind link and they look
at my interest.

"Does it have something to do with why he wasn't at work

on Saturday or why he lied to you this morning when you
asked him about it?" Harrison asks me.

"It might," I responded, "While we were in class Marek

noticed that Andrew had someone's blood on his shoes. It's
not a lot and the smell was faint but it was there and
noticeable if you look for it." Both Harrison and Nicholas
look noticeably shocked.

Harrison's shock swiftly changes to concern, "Could you

tell who's blood it was?"

I shake my head, "Not at all, his perfume was too

overpowering for me to get much."

Harrison dips his head and thinks for a brief moment

before looking at Nicholas and 1. "We'll have to ask him
about it then. I think we should try to be semi indirect
about it all but if he starts lying be upfront. If it's nothing
then we can laugh it off but if there's a chance it's related
to something important I'll have to let my Dad know as
soon as possible."

Nicholas and I nod our heads grimly before I shut my

locker. We start walking down the hall again and there's a
slight tension in the air.

"Goodness I hope it's nothing."

 Chapter xii
I survey the people heading towards the cafeteria before
deciding to go eat somewhere else. Jax and his group,
who are currently at the table they usually drag me to, are
all heavily brooding. Everyone has a very solemn look on
their faces and even Andrea looks serious which is rare
enough for me to think it might not be the best idea to sit
together today.

"Yeahhh, let's go somewhere else, I decide, "Let's hope

whatever has them all gloomy doesn't include me in any
shape or form."

As I start heading towards the library I decide to switch

routes, honestly they've all stalked me enough that if they
went looking for me they would check the library first. In
the end my feet lead me all the way to the back of the
school and out the heavy metal double doors to the back of
the building, looking out towards the forest.

I still don't know how I managed to miss the part about

this school being right in front of a thick forest. Forests are
one of the things I make sure to avoid when I move
locations since forests like these usually mean there are
werewolves nearby or in the forest itself. Thankfully it
doesn't seem like a lot of the werewolves in the school have
an interest in shifting or hiding there during the day. I
guess that makes sense though, considering the fact most
of the students and teachers here seem to be werewolves.
Why would someone need to hide if the teachers and
students are mostly werewolves in the first place.

I sit down with my back against the brick wall of the school
and get some snacks out of my school bag. I didn't really
have time to make anything after I finished cleaning up the
mess in my kitchen, after it was clean I didn't feel like
going in and using it. Every time I looked towards the
kitchen I could see and smell the rancid vomit mixed with
maggots.

I also had to pitch a lot of the food I was storing in my

cupboards since I found bugs in them. When I went to get
my phone from Kaylie I bought a couple muffins and small
pastries so I wouldn't have to make anything for lunch
today.

I pull off a piece of my muffin as I watch some birds jump

around in the trees. I have a late shift right after school
today since I need to make it up to Kaylie about missing
like two shifts. I assured her I was fine and could definitely
work today.

I finish my cranberry muffin and take note to memorize the

recipe as they are one of my favorites. I pull out my phone
and check the time to see I still have about half an hour
before lunch is finished. I personally rather not go back
into the wolf infested school so instead I take out some of
my homework and start working on it.

"Andrew!" I hear someone yell as I close my locker and grab

my work bag along with my school bag. I turn my head to
see Andrea quickly making her way over towards me. I
might possibly have been avoiding everyone all day since
they seem to be in a serious mood. They tried talking to me
a couple times but I am a master of slipping out of
conversations so I just leave before anything can happen.

I start walking away towards the main doors of the school,

pretending like I didn't hear Andrea call me. I push open
the front door and get into the parking lot before I feel her
yank on my shoulder.

"Here we go," I think as I take a deep breath and turn to

look at Andrea with fake surprise. "Oh hey Andrea."

Andrea smiles and huffs catching her breath, "Hi! Gosh

you're hard to keep track of."

"You have no idea," I muse as I do a mental eye roll. "Sorry,

I have a shift right after school today."

Her face brightens, "I know! The girls and I are bringing a
friend over later since she hasn't met you yet. We're
meeting her there in a couple minutes, we just need you
guys to give us a lift."

I nod my head, "I guess I'll see you soon then, bye!" I
quickly walk away and hear Andrea let out a frustrated
sigh. I'm sure she didn't chase me down so she could tell
me that her and her friends are showing up at my work
later, but I don't really want to know whatever it is she
wanted to talk to me about.

I start walking quicker and turn my head around to see the

rest of Jax's group standing by Harrisons truck. I'm much
too far away to really see their expressions or to hear what
they're saying but I practically see the cloud of seriousness
and gloom over their heads.

"goodness, I wonder what happened for them all to be

acting like that. Maybe there was a rogue attack or
something, if that's the case I should be careful and keep
an eye out," I pause and think then short, "Pfft who am I
kidding, I was literally attacked a couple days ago it's not
like I already wasn't being extra careful. Wait, maybe that's
what happened, they found out about the attack."

Just then my phone buzzed in my pocket so I took it out to

see I had new messages. I plug my headphones in and put
music on before going to the texting app and seeing who's
messaging me. I don't recognize the number but then get
super excited when I see what they say. I quickly add the
number to my contacts and smile.

Conall: GUESS WHO FINALLY GOT A PHONE!!

I DID!!

U need to tell me EVERYTHING about your new place, and

I mean everything

He texts almost the same way he talks so I can picture him

saying all that right in front of me.

Finally! I was starting to think you weren't going to get a

new phone

I responded. The reply comes almost instantly.

Conall: Well sorry, it's a bit hard when you don't really have
a job

I had to get a used one with a terrible screen, the things I

put up with just to talk to you

I snort and let out a laugh as I picture him pouting. Since

Conall doesn't like his pack at all whatsoever, and since
the pack hates him, we were each other's only friends and
source of fun.

Me: How's school?

Conall: What do you think?

It's crap now that ur gone. Hbu?

Me: How about we call later and I'll tell you.

You won't believe half of what I go through

Conall: ?

Okay? I mean I'm all for calling later

I look up from my phone to cross a road and to look

around at my surroundings. "There was something I
wanted to talk to him about, shit what was it?" I try hard to
remember then it clicks.

Me: ALSO I NEED YOUR HELP

Conall: Okaaayy? Do you have a crush on someone or did
you get found out already?

Me: No idiot, it's weirder than that

Conall: Weirder?

Me: I changed into a cub the other day

Conall: YOU SHIFTED!?!?!?!?!?!?

Me: I THINK SO????

But I was like a cub. A really small one

Conall: AYYY, you should've taken a picture for me I'm

sure you're adorable

Me: How would I take a picture if I was a dog

Conall: Whatever, so what's the problem?

Me: UHH I SUDDENLY TURNED INTO A cub?!?!?!

Also, you didn't tell me it hurt like a bitch to shift

A warning would've been nice

Conall: Well I did tell you it hurt the first time, and I
explained how to shift back so you're welcome for that.

How did you like being in wolf form btw?

Me: I mean, it was kinda terrifying since everything was ten

times bigger than normal. And I could barely walk Conall:

why?

Me: And I thought I might've been dying

And I was kinda more focused on my broken leg and

running from someone who was trying to attack me Conall:
OMFG WHAAAATTT!?!?!?!??!

Me: But other then that it was kinda cool I guess, the colors
were brighter and stuff

Conall: ARE YOU OKAY?!?!?!?!?

Me: Being small was kinda nice too in a

way Conall: WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED

Andrew ARE YOU SAFE!!?!?!?!?!

YOU HAVE SOME EXPLAINING TO DO

I burst out in laughter at his panicked replies, I couldn't

help it. I assure Conall that I'll call him later tonight and
tell him I have to go to work now since I'm almost to Yours
& Mine already. He screams at me over text the whole time
and even tries calling me. I let him know I'm fine and say
that I'll call him after my shift is done with all the details.
"Here you go, enjoy your day!" I say as I hand a customer
her change. I have been working for almost an hour
already. We weren't super busy today so Kaylie and I were
mainly talking and socializing with the people who came in
instead of doing actual work.
"Andrew, can you take the cardboard around to the back
for me pretty please?" Kaylie asks, batting her eyelashes at
me as she refills some muffins under the glass display.

I smile at her as I respond, "Yeah of course."

She brings me into a quick hug, "Thanks so much."

I hum along with the song going on in the cafe as I pick up

a couple boxes and prop open the back door. The cafe has
two entrances into it, one in the front and one small door
at the back so people coming from the road behind us can
come in easily. The back door also leads out to where our
dumpster and recycling are. We share a dumpster with the
one store beside us, though they don't use it often.

After a couple trips a seriously strong scent seems to hit

me right in the face. It's extremely potent and makes me
feel like I have a fever. My eyes start watering for some
reason and I quickly exit out the back door to try and get
some fresh air.

The smell is much stronger outside and I notice a familiar

face. I see the girl, Erin, from the pack house doubled over
and heavily breathing. She seems to be the cause of the
smell and I can tell she's in much worse condition then I
am.

My eyes widen as I realize what the smell is and why it's

affecting me, "Oh goodness, she's in heat. Conall said that
newly mated wolves go through heat and from what I've
heard other people describe, she is definitely in heat. Shit,
there are other male wolves inside, plus most of the town
are werewolves so it's not like anywhere else is going to be
better." I stand there for a minute, mind racing as I
contemplate the situation.

Newly mated wolves go through an intense heat as a way to

strengthen their bonds, then they get heat again
occasionally later but it's never nearly as bad as when you
first mate. Their bodies get all hot with an immense
feverish state and the only thing that dampens it is their
mates or heat charms. To my knowledge only female mated
wolves go through heat and the males are stuck with an
extremely horny partner. During heat is also when a good
percentage of wolves get pregnant since they are constantly
having sex for the few days it continues.

I'm going to go ahead and guess that Erin is extremely

embarrassed right now since she seemed to be really sweet
and innocent when I met her last, I don't think she talks or
thinks about sex often so this must be a bit much for her. I
mean, the heat does tell everyone around you that you're
super horny and want sex immediately. There's not much
anyone can do about it.

I think back to everything I know about werewolves and

heat before snapping my fingers and quickly running back
inside. I rush to the hall with our small employee lockers. I
slam the door to my locker open and hurry through my bag
hoping to find what I'm looking for.

"goodness please let it be in here. I swear it bet-FOUND IT!"

I grab what I was looking for and run back out to where
Erin is now leaning against the side of the building,
panting heavily and letting out low wines.

I quickly set the charm in my hands so it'll start working

and set the chain around Erins neck. The charms that I
use to hide my scent from other werewolves were originally
made for wolves in heat to hide the effects and contain the
symptoms for short periods of time. It can hide the smell
the wolves in heat give off so many women use them in the
workplace, it lets them keep doing their job even if their
heat has just started or is just ending.

The charm I gave Erin starts working immediately and both

of us let out a sigh of relief. I rub her back and help hold
her up as she recovers. "Don't take that off okay, it'll help
hold off the heat and its effects until you are with your
mate."

Erin shakily nods her head and takes a deep breath. Her
breathing is more stable now but her face is still flushed.

"I suggest you quickly go over towards your mate and drop
whatever plans you had for today, I say concerned and her
face gets redder than before. I see tears brimming in her
eyes and I can feel her embarrassment. "Hey, don't feel like
that. It happens to everyone Erin, literally everyone. I'm
sure everyone will understand okay, go home and find your
mate."
She stands up a bit straighter and takes another deep
breath, slightly steadier now. "Thank you," her voice croaks
and I nod my head.

"Don't mention it, now go!" I give her a little push and she
nods before running over to a parked cab. She talks to the
driver before getting into the backseat and the cab leaves. I
stay and watch until she's out of sight.

I go back to working and finish with the cardboard I was

working on before. After I finish I go back inside to see
Andrea, Bree, and Maya come in. They wave to me before
sitting down at a table.

I go over and take their orders before going back to work, I

keep thinking and hoping that Erin got back alright
without any issues. I couldn't tell if the taxi driver was a
werewolf or not, I mean it wouldn't do much since either
way it was a bad situation.

After a couple minutes of working I notice the girls getting

worried and I remember that they're waiting for Erin. "She
could just link them but I'm going to guess she didn't,
hence the antsy group of friends waiting for her in the cafe.
I deduce and think of what to do.

"Why isn't Erin here yet?" I hear Bree whisper and the
other girls shake their heads.

"I don't know, she said she was almost here," Andrea
answers worriedly.

I set down their teas and decide to make up an excuse for

poor Erin, I mean the girl isn't having the best day already.
"Oh by the way, Erin had something unexpected come up
so she won't be coming," I tell them. "That's not a lie right,
I'm sure her heat was unexpected."

They look at me shocked before Andrea speaks, "O-oh

okay. Did she come in already? Was she okay?"

I set down a plate which had Maya's blueberry muffin on it

in front of her. "I met her out back just as she was about to
come in, she'll be fine don't worry," I assure them when
they look even more concerned.
"Thanks for letting us know, we were starting to get
worried," Maya remarks and I smile.

"No problem, I'm sure she just forgot to tell you guys in the
midst of everything," I suggest and she nods.

It's not until my break a couple hours later that what

happened hits me.

"Oh shit. I completely outed myself to a member of the

pack.”
SIGMA