by G. Bailey
“Lift your elbow with the hit and aim to meet the middle of my sword,” Silas instructs. I nod and do as he asks, finding that the slam of our swords is easier for me to hold onto this time. Silas stops, glancing over my shoulder once at Henderson before looking at me. “You’re too weak. Every morning, I want you running two miles with me before doing core exercises like sit-ups for half an hour. Right now we can do a run and start training again tomorrow. Follow me.”
“She would be stronger if she shifted,” Henderson calls out to Silas’s back, but he is already out of the room, ignoring him, and Henderson gives me a sympathetic smile.
I’m training with the devil, and he holds the only thing I want. Great.
Silas runs too fast out of the room, and I have to run faster than ever to keep up with him as we leave the mansion and follow a path through the forest of trees outside. This is going to hurt tomorrow...but I’m not giving up. A wolf never backs down after all, and it’s about time I treat myself as a wolf instead of a sheep.
Every part of me aches from the training yesterday, and not only was the two-mile run that Silas made me do enough to make me pass out, but the intense training afterwards was overkill. Everything from sit-ups to twists and weird movements Silas promised would strengthen my core so I could withstand a hit made me absolutely exhausted. I left training and went straight up to my room and slept ever since, ignoring the rest of the pack outside even though I am itching to go see the pack that I’m currently freely living in. The marks on my back seem to heat up for a second, reminding me of their existence and the forbidden god I’m now sworn to.
I roll over on the soft sheets that I’m just not used to, and my body still aches for the sheets I had back at the foster home, which had holes in them, and they weren’t overly clean, but they were mine. The Fall Mountain Pack must have some sort of connection to the humans that my old pack definitely doesn’t, because if this is their spare stuff, I don’t even want to know what their expensive stuff is. Either way, this house and everything I’ve seen so far is more human than anywhere else. I’m curious if they talk to the humans we are not meant to have much contact with since the peace treaty between our kind was made so long ago, way before I was born.
I lie back and stare up out of the glass at the trees above, not liking how they don’t move in the breeze. The view reminds me of the forest outside my foster home, and I might not be able to shift, but a deep part of me loves the forest. The trees, the smell of the forest and the safe feeling it gave me. Being homesick is normal, I decide as I stare out of the window. I’m homesick for a pack who would kill me on the spot if I went back there. I can’t decide what that makes me, knowing deep down that I miss Mike, Daniel and Jesper more than anything the pack had. They were my pack, as dysfunctional as they were, and now I have to find a way to accept I won’t see them again. I wonder what they know about the mating ceremony. Daniel saw what happened, but he couldn’t stop the alpha, and I hope he is okay. I hope he can still keep his promise to look after Jesper, because I can’t. Not anymore.
Deciding that I need to get up, I make a plan to explore the kitchen to get some food because I haven’t eaten all day since I’ve come back from training. Climbing out of the bed hurts as I make my way to the new wardrobe in my room, which somehow appeared after I came back from training. One of the alphas did it, but I am in love with the beautiful wooden wardrobe that has red roses painted all up the sides and glass doors framed with oak wood. I run my hand down the door, knowing whoever made this put a lot of effort into its design. I’m surprised when I open it up to see several pairs of jeans and multiple tops, all in dark colours, and a load of lacy black underwear, which I was not expecting. I’m really hoping Seraphim helped with this, or the idea of the alphas going shopping for me and getting these clothes kind of freaks me out. For a second, I pick up the lacy black underwear, and a note falls out onto the floor. I lean down and pick it up, turning it over to read what it says.
“Guessed your size and chose something I would wear. Hope you like. Phim.”
I chuckle as I pull them out and realise they’re exactly the right size, right down to the fluffy socks made of a strange material that I’ve only seen on the upper class of the Ravensword Pack. I get myself dressed as fast as possible—which isn’t as fast as usual because I’m sore—and quickly use the bathroom next door, taking note of the small room. It has nothing more than the toilet, a sink, and a bathtub with a shower, and all of them are plain, made out of porcelain, but the place is absolutely spotless, which I wouldn’t expect from the fact that there are three grown men living here and one young boy. So someone is clearly cleaning around this place, but I’m yet to see them, so it might be the alphas. I plait my hair quickly to make sure it’s out of the way before going back down and looking around the silent entrance hall.
The living room door is slightly open with light pouring through the gap, but I know not to go that way; the kitchen can’t be back there. I know the back doors lead to the tiny rooms, so I search the three doors on the left, deciding on the middle door. The place is so quiet as I creep around, feeling foreign in this big place and like I’m not meant to be here. I make my way into the kitchen, not surprised to see it is again a massive room. It’s filled with round countertops in the middle, shaped into a massive circle with dozens of leather stools all the way around them. The countertops are made of granite, and the cabinets themselves are made of dark wood, but light pours in from the gigantic windows on either side of the kitchen. So the place isn’t dark at all, and I really like it.
There is a massive crystal oval-shaped lampshade hanging over the middle of the kitchen, which shines so brightly it’s hard to look at. This is not something I was used to before. The lights were never this bright and playful, mainly because there wasn’t enough electricity to go around for the foster home, let alone to make it bright. We lived off donations after all. But this place, it’s spotless and bright, and there’s a massive fridge that doesn’t look old at all. It’s made of stainless steel with several yellow post-it notes stuck on the door. I make my way to the fridge, reading some notes. Some are rude jokes that make me laugh, others are random food, and one is a riddle.
As the river travels, I go away. You’re confused if you think I’m a bird, but we share our letters.
I smile and pick up the pen on the counter, staring at the riddle for a long time. I love riddles; Mike gave me a book of them, and I spent so many months figuring out answers. This one is easy. I jot the answer below the riddle and put the pen back before opening the fridge. Inside, there are dozens of meals in tubs and loads of beers lining the bottom of the fridge, but little else and not a bit of vegetable or fruit in sight.
Who is the cook? I open up a few of the tubs, and I find one of the containers which just has turkey sandwiches in. I grab a few of those before starting to search the cupboards near the fridge, finding the plates and bottles of water in another one. After a few cupboards, I find some banana chips and some raisins and decide that’s enough for me. I sit down on the stools to start eating in silence, wondering exactly where everybody else is and how this place is so quiet. But when I look out the window, I see the light is from lamps in the forest. Instead, it’s coming from the bright streetlights that are outside the house. Just as I’m about to finish my sandwich, I hear Phim’s voice shout through the house.
“Hey, where are you, wolf girl? I know they left you in this house all alone,” she shouts out, her footsteps filling the house with some much needed noise. “They up and left to go to a party without you, and I know exactly why they did that, but I’m here to save you.”
Phim walks into the kitchen and grins as she puts her hands on her curvy hips. Phim is dressed in a sparkling black dress that can’t be covered in any more glitter if she tried.
Her long red hair is wavy, falling down to the middle of her back, possibly even longer than my hair, and she has strange markings around her eyes that make her look really prett
y and her eyes really pop. Phim looks at me, taking in my casual jeans and black T-shirt, and rolls her eyes with a bit of a sigh.
“No, you can’t go to the party dressed like that. No one is going to notice you, and everybody needs to notice you, especially when you’re living here. We need to make a point tonight,” she tells me as she crosses her arms. “You desperately need a friend, and I’m not usually the type to have friends, but I’m here.”
“I didn’t ask for a friend, and you don’t have to feel sorry for me,” I reply as I look at her in a bit of confusion.
“Tough shit, you’re stuck with me now,” she replies, waving her hand. “You don’t seem to want to challenge me on sight like most of the girls in this pack. That makes us fast friends with you living here with my only friends, the alphas.”
“They don’t seem to be the type to have friends,” I respond.
She laughs and changes the subject quickly. “We are going to make a point tonight. Make a point that you’re living with the alphas, and you’re not going anywhere. You don’t need every skanky girl trying to challenge you.”
I have no idea what to say to that as she comes right up to me and hooks her arm in mine, dragging me off the chair.
“Phim—”
“See, we are friends, you call me by my nickname. A clear sign of affection,” she interrupts. “Irin, or do you like Mai? Either way, I’m sticking with Irin.”
Giving up on resisting her pulling, I walk with her up the stairs as she keeps talking. “Look, there’s a massive party going on tonight. It’s a good party, it’s the bi-quarterly moon party.”
“Is it like a moon goddess party? We have those back—”
“No, don’t mention that pack. No one talks about them around here. Everyone knows what they’re like, and it’s just depressing we can’t kill their leaders and teach them how to be free,” she tells me at the top of the stairs. That would be one way to sort out the Ravensword Pack. “No, the main party is, um, a freedom kind of party.”
I look at her once again. “A freedom party? Do you want to describe that one a little bit better to me? What exactly are we celebrating?”
“Not celebrating anything other than the fact that we’re free. But yeah, you need to be there,” she tells me as Trey walks down the corridor, coming to a stop when he sees us.
“Hello, Mai,” he calls out before he gets to the top of the stairs, and I sort of frown at the nickname that he’s clearly picked up from the alphas.
“Hey, Trey. I haven’t seen you around all day, but then again, I have been in my room. What are you up to tonight?”
“Watching reruns of this thing on Netflix that humans have, and it’s the best invention since forever.”
With that, he disappears down the stairs, and I turn to look at Phim. “What’s Netflix?”
She laughs and shakes her head. “Wow, the Ravensword Pack are definitely living in the past. Crap. Even I said their name.”
For some reason, I laugh with her as she bursts into my room straight away without asking which one it is. Clearly, she knows exactly where she’s going.
“I don’t have anything to wear that’s anything like what you’re wearing,” I tell her. She shakes her head.
“Now you do. I bought everything in here, so I know exactly what you have to wear,” she answers me, and with that, she starts going through the drawers at the bottom of the wardrobe that I didn’t open before and assumed were empty. Inside them, she finds this white dress, well, a slip of a dress, and holds it up in the air. I glance at her and then back to the dress.
“No, I can’t wear that,” I tell her outright. It’s basically nothing. Phim throws it at me, and I catch it in the air.
“Get dressed in it and do your hair and then let me do your makeup. That’s a beta command, Irin,” she says with a wink and not an inch of wolf power in her voice.
I just stare at her in complete shock, wondering if I could just escape this, but one look in her eyes, she blatantly says, No, no, you’re not escaping this without saying a word out loud.
“Look, it’s part of my job to keep you alive. And trust me, you need to be at this party tonight. Not only are all the alphas there, but all the bitchy women of the pack will be, and they will be watching. You don’t need the alphas walking all over you in this house and telling you what to do, so you need to make a point in front of the entire pack by coming tonight even though the alphas didn’t bring you.”
“Will they be mad at me?” I ask.
“Who cares?” she counters. “You aren’t their mate, or theirs at all, so why do they get a choice? This pack is about freedom, girl.”
“Freedom is new to me,” I counter.
“I get it. Everyone’s whispering about you, and it’s about time you just show your face.”
I frown at her but have a sneaky suspicion that she’s right. Somehow she’s become a beta wolf, a female beta after all. And for that alone, I’m extremely impressed, impressed enough to take her advice and walk into the bathroom and go and get changed into the dress. It takes me several times to get the really tight fabric on, which sticks to me, outlining all of my underwear. So I decide to shimmy out of the panties, at least so that they’re not completely seen through the white dress. The white fabric is thick enough to hide anything anyway, and it falls just above my knees, with a slight slit that goes up to my thigh. There are gaps in the dress around my ribs, and the cut is so low, pushing my breasts up and making them look big. While they’ve always been quite big, this dress certainly makes things look bigger. I undo my hair like I was told, and run my fingers through it before looking at myself in the mirror.
The white dress brings out my blonde hair, making it look even shinier in some sense, and every part of me just seems brighter. My eyes look more alert. I suppose that’s what freedom does to someone. It’s what not living in constant fear does too. I don’t know whether my old alpha will ever find me here, but part of me does feel safe even when I don’t know these four alphas at all. I just get the feeling they are not going to hurt me. They could have done by now, and they haven’t. And they don’t seem like the type to play sick, twisted games like my old alpha did.
I suppose I’m questioning absolutely everything in my life now; I have been since I got these marks on the back of my neck—no, scratch that—I have been since the mating ceremony went so wrong. I can still see the alpha’s face as he held his hands around my throat before he threw me off that cliff. I shake the thoughts away, knowing that I need to fit in with this pack, and I can’t do that if I’m constantly living in the past. Holding my head higher, I walk back to my bedroom where Phim is sitting on the bed, relaxed with her long legs crossed.
She looks up at me. “Wow. Yeah. You’re definitely going to attract the right attention.”
“I really, really don’t think I will,” I reply. She just laughs.
“Yeah. You have no idea what’s coming. The alphas are not going to be happy. Well, they might be. I’m not sure, but it’ll be funny,” she says with a big smile. “Come on, let’s do your makeup.”
“No, I draw a line at makeup. The dress is enough. Let’s go,” I suggest.
“All right, Miss Bossy. Well, I didn’t know that you had that in you,” she says as I slip my boots on, and she looks at them but doesn’t comment. I never got along with any of the females in my pack, and I’m struggling to trust Phim, even when she makes it easy to attempt to. The pack always saw me as an outcast, something that they weren’t interested in. In some ways, I was safer at the foster home than I am walking around this pack when anyone could challenge me and the alphas wouldn’t be able to stop it. Phim could if she wanted to. I know I’m being slightly paranoid, as she has only made me feel comfortable, but my past has taught me to trust no one. I’d be a fool to relax. We walk out of the house and start heading straight down the path towards the gates, and my boots seem really out of place with the white dress as they clunk across the stone ground.
&n
bsp; I notice how I don’t really care, and it’s amazing. I never would have been this brave before, I’d usually hide from parties like this, and it feels good to be brave. The last time I went to a party, I snuck in the back and ended up running away. But this will be my home, and I can’t hide forever.
We head out the enormous gates, which are left open, and down the steps as I breathe in how the pack smells like a mixture of forest and fire.
“How far is it to this place where the party is?” I question.
She smiles. “Oh, it’s on top of the mountain where most of the adult parties are held. It’s not far.”
As I wonder if it’s going to be freezing on top of the mountain, she all but drags me to the side of the steps and off them to a pathway to a staircase where several of the people are already heading up. Two men with dark brown hair walk behind a group of three women, all about the same age as I am, and they are equally as beautiful as each other. They look back at us for a brief second before turning their heads away and whispering to each other as Phim just rolls her eyes when I glance at her.
“Expect that for the rest of the night. This pack is so nosy, I swear,” she laughs. “It’s like one giant family when someone new is here, everyone’s just got to know about them, especially if they start to live with the alphas like you did.”
I go red from the attention because I’ve never really been the centre of attention in a good way, and I have no idea how to accept it or deal with it. Phim just kindly smiles at me as we head all the way up the stairs and come out into the cold night at the top of the mountain. It’s a big circular area with nothing but jagged rocks at the sides.
“I thought you hated me when we first met, but you actually seem pretty cool, Phim,” I tell her.
She flashes me a tooth-filled smile that is partly scary, and I have no idea if she’s aware of it. “I thought you were a new hussy I would end up challenging because they got too attached to the alphas and tried to kill them. When I realised you weren’t an airhead and you weren’t in their pants, I lowered my guard.”