by Tamara White
However, if you start a small fight, even just an argument, it could escalate to you starting a full out brawl. The catch though, is you mustn’t display yourself as meek. If you do, then it gets to the Elders you are weak. They will try to petition you out before the second trial. That will do for now. Your mates will be with you the entire time, so if you need help just ask them. If things get heated, they all have strict instructions to steer you away from conflict.
We will call you out in a moment,” Monique says with a soft smile.
I watch her and Walter walk out on the back patio. I step over to listen to what they say and hope they don’t expect me to talk.
“I will hand things over to our former Alpha Pair for a little more understanding on the situation. Please wait until they have finished speaking before asking any questions,” Tim says, stepping back as Monique stands at the edge of the patio, Walter by her side.
“As some of you have probably heard, we came here at great haste due to the news of a surviving heir,” she starts then stops to let everyone absorb the news. The whispers and gasps are pretty profound in the pack. Sure, I expected a few, but the whole pack looks shocked.
“As my mate was saying, we got here this morning to meet our granddaughter. When I met her, however, she triggered the first trial. She is of age and eligible to participate in the trials, and, on my authority, they will continue. Today, the males here that are unmated will have the chance to see if they are a possible mate, then we’ll let you all meet her.
She is new to this life, so I ask that you be patient and kind. Dani is here on personal invitation by Alpha Tim and his mate Laura. Those who disrespect Dani will have to deal with Tim.
Now, I think it’s time everyone meets our granddaughter. Dani, could you come out here please?”
I look to the guys before opening the door. It’s like there is a giant spotlight on me, and its worse when I hear some of the chatter from the pack.
I glance back to see none of the boys followed me. Starting to panic at their absence, I see Tim shake his head subtly. Great, apparently, I’m on my own.
Stepping up next to Walter and Monique, I try not to let my nerves show. I put my head up and straighten my back, showing my confidence. The wolves are all staring and whispering as they check me out.
“Dani, would you like to say anything?” Monique asks, and I almost run away. I hate public speaking.
“Um, Hi.” I say, blushing when there are a few laughs.
“Well. I guess that’s it. Is there anything anyone would like to ask?” Walter asks the crowd. A few people raise their hands and Walter nods at one of the girls in the back. When she steps forward, I nearly groan. It’s one of the girls from the school. This should be good.
“How do we know she’s the heir? She smells human,” Melanie or Sarah, whichever one of the Barbie quads it is, sneers the question, causing a few of the wolves around her to back away from her slightly, as if afraid.
I wait for Walter to answer, but it’s Laura who does. She jumps from the patio and stalks to her.
“How dare you disrespect the Alpha Pair in our home!” Laura stops short, grabbing her by the ear and pulling her towards the stage.
“Stacy, Bain, come claim your child, who dares to be so disrespectful in the presence of our previous Alpha Pair, and our future one.”
I watch as two wolves detach from the back of the crowd, making their way up front with their heads hanging. Both of them are as blond as the girl in Laura’s grasp, and they are roughly the same height. I can smell the fear coming from them and wonder why they’re so afraid.
Monique steps down from the patio to approach them. They tremble in her presence, and I try not to smile at the expression on her face. She’s enjoying their fear. My wolf is alert in my mind, watching through my eyes to see what happens.
“What’s your name, child?” she questions when she stops at Laura’s side, while the girl whimpers.
“Sarah,” she whispers.
“Tell me, Sarah, are you high in the pack?”
“No,” she says, her shoulders slumping.
“Then why do you assume that it’s okay for you to question us? As for your parents, they have the choice of making you suffer for your disrespect, or taking the punishment for themselves. What will it be?” Monique asks, staring down her parents.
“She is old enough to shift, so she’s old enough to face the consequences,” Bain, Sarah’s father, responds. He stands there with a stoic face looking at his daughter as she cries.
Wow. What kind of punishment is it for a reaction this bad?
“Sarah, your punishment will be a week of isolation. No communication with anyone in the pack, except for your parents. If you break this, you will get the cage. Is that understood?”
I watch as she slumps in defeat, sinking to the ground on her knees. I thought I heard sobbing, but I don’t understand what just happened.
“Now to answer your question, just as you can smell your mother and father, I can smell my family blood. The reason Dani smells human, is because she’s spent her life living as one. Hopefully the exposure to the packs will bring her scent to the forefront. Until then, I suggest you all get accustomed to smelling a human on the grounds. Are there any other questions?”
A man steps forward raising his hand. He’s roughly the same age as my father by the looks of it. For some reason, he looks familiar.
“Does she have any mates yet?” he asks in a deep, gravelly voice sending shivers through my body. His voice brings a sliver of déjà vu and I try to think if I could have seen him before.
“Yes, a few mates have made themselves known, but they wish to remain anonymous until the second trial starts. We have, however, appointed a few trusted wolves to keep Dani safe. We all know how rough the trials can be, so we will rely on our very own Alphas to keep her safe. She will never be without one of them by her side. So, if you wish to step forward as a mate even though you don’t smell or feel the connection, be warned. If you try anything, they each have permission to lock you in the cages,” she says with an evil smirk as the doors behind me open.
All my mates step out, looking hot as hell and extremely fierce. If I were an enemy, I wouldn’t want to mess with them.
“You all know our pack Alphas? Good. Now are there any males that would like to step forward as a mate? Once you reveal yourself, you can’t take it back and must compete in the trials,” Walter says stepping close.
I swear if he starts saying good shit about me as if I’m in an auction, I will deck him right here.
Thankfully he doesn’t, remaining silent as he looks out at the pack, waiting for any mates to step forward. I’m relieved when no one steps forward and almost get out of it but I should have known my luck wouldn’t go that way.
A guy steps forward roughly the same age as the boys, with light brown hair and sky blue eyes. What is with all these wolves having blue eyes? Only minimal numbers have green, or brown the rest have varying shades of blue. It’s starting to remind me of a cult.
“I believe I’m her mate,” he says stepping onto the first step of the patio and surrendering his neck. Walter stares then nods and gestures for him to come over to me.
I literally no idea what to do when he steps in front of me but thankfully all he does is introduce himself.
“I’m Stephen of the Tiern Pack,” he says smiling at me softly. It’s a beautiful smile but my wolf isn’t the slight bit interested.
In all my meetings with the others, she was always at the forefront of my mind, excited being around them. Now she’s just lying down in my mind, bored with their meeting.
“Hi, I’m Danielle,” I say nodding my head slightly. From what I heard from the others I shouldn’t have to submit since I’m the one in a higher position.
He moves off to the side of the boys and another two people step forward from the crowd.
“She smells as if she is our mate,” the taller of the two says. I try not to gape at
his height but he has to be 6’5 maybe even 6’6. His companion is only 6’4 but still they are massive. I thought my boys were huge but these guys, they are built so much more like body builders. I admire the fact that they have been able to keep their bodies in such marvellous shape.
I watch as they submit their neck and wait for a nod from Walter. What I’m not expecting is a nod and a small smile. He’s been straight-faced the whole time, why is he smiling now?
Both guys step in front of me.
“Your Highness, my name is Jake, and this is my best friend Rick. We just want you to know even if we don’t win the trials, we vow to protect you and your King Alpha,” the first guy, Jake, says dropping to his knees.
I look to his friend Rick and he smirks before bowing his head and following his friend to his knees. I literally have no idea what to do. I look to Walter for some kind of hint but all I get from him is a smirk.
Laura however is miming behind his back. I try not to laugh at her obvious need to get a message across. I think what she’s saying is to get them to stand up but I have no idea how to do that. Guess I’ll wing it.
“Rick, Jake, you do me great honour. I hope you make it far in the trials. Rise and take your position beside my protectors,” I say my voice oozing authority that I don’t feel. I glance back at Laura and see her give me brief thumbs up making me sigh in relief.
They get up from their kneeling position and stand by Nate and it’s not until I see them exchanging looks that I realize they didn’t say which pack they were from. Why didn’t they say anything?
“Okay everyone,” Walter starts but stops when a guy step forward.
“Wait, I’m her mate also,” he says stepping up to the patio in front of Walter. He doesn’t immediately show his neck but after a minute he gives in while Walter stares him down. After a moment, he frowns and nods while the guy walks to me.
I study him trying to recognize where I know him from. It hits me the moment my wolf starts growling in my mind. This guy and his father tried to kill me two years ago.
I was leaving the gym and was ambushed by them. They grabbed me, trying to stab me with a knife made of pure silver. It was lucky that my dad showed up to pick me up and we fought them off together.
I glance back at Dad and can see by the look on his face that he remembers. Immediately after that had happened, we moved again. We went all the way across the state so we could lose them.
“I’m Trey from the Bairn Pack,” he says grabbing my attention. He’s from Cam’s father’s pack? Somehow it doesn’t surprise me. If this guy thinks he stand a chance with me though, he’s got a whole other thing coming.
“Thank you,” I respond trying to be polite and not draw attention. I have no other words for him otherwise my wolf will leak through. It doesn’t help that Nate and Cam getting a bit fidgety over to the side. They must sense somethings off with me.
“Well, if no one else has anything to say then let’s get this party started. As for your Mates Dani, it’s best if you tell them to prepare. The second trial will take place in five days. If you have any questions we’re here for you,” Monique says stepping beside me and gripping my hand.
“Alright pack, let’s show our future Alpha Queen and King how we throw a party,” Tim says getting the pack to cheer.
I wait for someone to tell me what the next step is because I don’t want to move and cause a scene of disrespect. I’m supposed to be playing stupid not arrogant.
My dad comes to my side, steering me back into the house with Monique and Walter not far behind us.
“Do you care to explain what that was about?” Monique demands looking from me to my father once the door closes behind us.
“It was nothing,” Dad says playing it off but Monique gets right up in his face.
“Don’t you dare pretend like it was nothing. I could feel her wolf, that’s how afraid she was. Her mates could also feel the change and almost reacted to it. It was just lucky they showed great self-restraint.”
“Wait, you could feel my wolf?” I ask excited.
“Yes, child I could feel her. If your mother were here, she would have as well. It’s part of a built in protective instinct required of our blood line,” she explains looking at me with soft eyes. Since she’s being honest with me it’s only fair I do the same.
“The last wolf who came up, Trey, I’ve met him before,” I tell them watching their reactions. Walter and Monique both look at me patiently and I plough through it as quickly as I can.
“He and his father tried to kill me when I was fifteen. I had left the gym and was waiting for Dad to come pick me up. He usually picked me up the same time I was finished but he ran late in traffic and they took advantage of that.
His father stepped up to my side cutting me with the knife he held and told me to walk towards the alley. I knew I had no choice so I did what he asked. His son was waiting there holding another knife.
Trey’s father pushed me into the wall and I hit my head hard. The next words I heard was ‘kill her now, you won’t be a part of the pack until you do.’ I was terrified but I knew my father would be disappointed that I didn’t fight so I got back up prepared to hold them off when my father jumped out of nowhere in his wolf form.
They tried to fight back but we were stronger together and they took off. We moved after that, never really discussing it again, until now.
I just find it too much of a coincidence that he and his father are here now,” I say thinking of what their motivations could be.
“Wait his father was here too?” Walter asks me with a perplexed expression on his face.
“Yeah, the guy in the crowd who asked if I had mates, that’s him.”
“Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle. I didn’t know Trent had kids. This makes things a whole lot more complicated than I expected,” he says exchanging glances with Monique.
“Why?”
“Because he’s my cousin,” Cam says coming through the door. He heard us? And Trey is his cousin?
“What?!” Dad asks clearly enraged.
“Relax, I barely know him but yes he’s my cousin. Trent is my dad’s brother, and Head Enforcer. That means he knows you exist and has for at least two years. You have to promise to be careful near him. Trent is just as bad as my father. Sometimes, he helped punish me,” Cam says a sadness in his tone.
I hate that his father has this effect on him. He doesn’t show it on the outside but my wolf and I can sense it when the subject of his father comes up, which means it must really hurt him.
“Okay, we’ll have to deal with this later, everyone’s looking for you,” Monique says cutting off the conversation.
“Sorry, Dani, she’s right. Just be careful,” Cam says his heart in his eyes. I agree purely to keep him happy but I doubt I’ll be caught near Trey. Now that I know exactly who he is, I’ll be keeping my ass as far from him as possible.
Besides I’m not an uneducated fifteen year old anymore. I’m stronger and faster than ever before.
Chapter 14
Three hours at this party and I’m finally excited. I’ve been exchanging small talk with all these wolves, most of them asking how I could survive in the human world which has become tiring. You’d think it wouldn’t be as fascinating to a bunch of wolves but apparently, they can’t get enough of hearing how we hunted without being caught by rogues or human hunters.
Nate and Pete are sticking close by because I’ve almost screwed up a few times now. First, there was an older lady who asked me what I was going to do, to better the community. Since I had no idea what was going on in the community, I had to think about it, which was the wrong choice. According to her, I should have answered immediately. Thankfully Cam was nearby and explained I only found out about all this yesterday which seemed to get my forgiveness, but then there was another incident with an Enforcer’s daughter who was visiting. She didn’t submit to me, expecting me to submit to her, but my wolf wouldn’t have it. My wolf knew she was weak and wh
en I said so, she was outraged, demanding to speak to the Alpha. Laura smoothed that over explaining that as future Alpha Queen, even if I’m not ruling yet, I hold more sway than any other wolves, including Alpha’s, therefore she disrespected me and the pack housing me, so the Enforcer’s daughter apologized.
After she stomped off, Laura told Nate and Pete they were to stay with me the whole time, no exceptions. Since then, they’ve been attached at my hip until Jonnie comes running to me, all excited.
“Guess what? Guess what? Guess what?” he says repeatedly, jumping up and down in excitement, grabbing my hands getting me to join in.
I laugh at the pure excitement emanating from him. “What?” I ask.
“We, and by we, I mean Pete, Nate, Cam, Jason, Mitch and I are taking you for a run and maybe, if we get lucky, a hunt!” he says with a grin that melts my heart. He’s so gorgeous when he’s smiling like this.
“Okay, when?” I ask getting just as excited.
It took us two weeks to move to this town, then we ended up here. Dad thought it was too dangerous for me to run with him so I stayed in hotels while he ran. Now I might actually get to let my wolf free, well in a sense. I can’t wait until I can shift.
“Now, if you’re ready?” he asks waiting for my response.
“Hell yes, I’m ready! Let’s go!”
He laughs at my enthusiasm causing Pete and Nate join in. They start steering me towards the back of the house. I gasp when I see the forest.
From my room, you can see the tops of the trees and see how vast the forest is, but standing here, you can see the full impact of its beauty. I love nature and how alluring it can be. The trees grow and when they’re cut down, the whole forest mourns their loss. Just like a pack, when one is lost, the whole pack mourns.