6. Blood Red Eyes

Jessy’s POV:

My eyes felt like led had been placed against them, I struggled for a moment before I could get them to open and when I finally did, it took a moment before my vision could clear up.

Goddess, I had cried so much last night. I didn’t remember falling asleep, but I had woken up sometime in the night to change out of my clothes and then after crying some more I had eventually fallen asleep again.

I moved to the small bathroom that had been adjoined to the room and after brushing my teeth, I rinsed my face, wincing when I looked into the mirror and my red eyes stared back me.

The events of the previous night was still very fresh in my memory and I knew that it would be for a long time, I was still trying to wrap my head around everything and I hated how overwhelming the situation was and the fact that I had nobody to talk to about any of it. A part of me wanted to call my mom because I knew she would be the easiest to understand me but she had never been good with keeping secrets away from my dad and he was the last person that I wanted to know about any of this.

I looked in the mirror once more cringing at my features, I had only been here for one day and I looked like I had been in a fight. This wasn’t the life that I wanted to live here, I didn’t come here on a mission to find Simon or reunite with him, I came here to find myself and be happy and I was determined to exactly that, Alpha Arthur or whatever didn’t get to ruin this for me.

My raging thoughts was cut off by my phone ringing inside the room and I made my way there and picked it up. Smiling when I saw Kyla’s name flash across the screen.

“Miss me that much?” I asked, the moment I picked up his call, smiling when I heard his soft giggle from the other end.

“Hi sis, it felt weird coming into your room last night to meet Kevin sprawled across your bed. The idiot didn’t even let me join him and told me I had to sleep on the floor. Can you imagine I had to beg him to sleep on the bed with him?” Kyla complained and I laughed.

He had always been scared of sleeping alone and no matter how much my parents tried, they were never able to get him to sleep alone in his room because he would always find his way to my room at some point in the night and it was really difficult to say no to him.

“You have to learn to sleep on your own Kyla.” I said lightly, not wanting to trigger him.

“I know, I know. I didn’t call you to get a mini lecture. I miss you.” My heart constricted within my chest when he said the last sentence.

“I miss you too pup.” There was barely a think I could do to hide the sadness in my voice.

“How has it been?” He asked

And a part of me wanted to tell him everything. About Simon, who was now called Arthur, about how overwhelming and sad last night had been, about how scared I was of my future in this new pack, but I didn’t. I didn’t do any of that, Instead I made sure my voice was light when I said;

“It’s been amazing! You won’t believe it. New faces, new atmosphere, I can’t wait to explore the pack grounds later today and I might take some cute pictures for you, if you promise not to show them to dad. I can’t put it past him that he wouldn’t try to find me through whatever means he can.” Kyla laughed at my words and so did I.

“Who are you talking to? It’s that Jess? Of course, it is. She’s the only one you would call at six in the morning. She’s the only one you would call in fact.” I heard Kevin’s grumpy voice and I laughed.

“Hi Kevin!” I called.

“She said hi. I’ll put the phone on speaker.” Kyla offered.

“Jessy, go back to bed. Are you in a different world or something? It’s fucking six on a Saturday morning and mom will soon be here to scream at me to go clean my room. The least I could get is a good enough sleep till that happens, not Kyla giggling in my ears like a girl in love.” Kevin ranted and I stifled a laughter.

“Fine, I’ll leave.” I heard Kyla say and the rest of their conversation was murmured, but soon I heard the door open and close and then Kyla’s sweet voice came again.

“I’ve never seen a sixteen years old that grumpy before.” He said and I laughed.

“He’s your twin you should know why he gets that grumpy. I have to go now though. I want to take a run just to see what my immediate environment looks like and I’ll like to do that before the sun comes out. Ill call you again soon though. I love you.”

“Okay, have a good run and don’t forget the pictures.”

“I won’t.”

“Jess.” Kyla called and his tone made me raise my brows in question.

“Hmm?”

“We miss you so much. All of us. I’m not saying this so you feel bad or something, I just want you to know that we miss you and we love you. So just be careful out there, and make sure you make leaving worth it. I love you.” He said, ending the call before I could get another word in.

My stomach churned with worry as I tried to think of what could have made him say those words. Kyla had always been this sort of person, serious, full of wisdom and saying things like this randomly but sometimes they were usually hidden meanings in them and I needed to make sure this wasn’t one of those times.

Sighing heavily, I put my hair into a ponytail, changed into my running clothes and made my way out of the house. I needed to clear my head and a good run always helped with that. I didn’t enjoy doing it back at my pack because no matter how early in the day it was, there were always people on the streets, the pack was usually always buzzing with life and it made it harder to enjoy the simple things like this one.

As the morning breeze hit my face, it immediately reminded me that I was in a new environment. The air was fresh, the atmosphere lighter and the streets were empty. As I made my way slowly down the street, praying I didn’t get lost at any point, I briefly wondered how Simon had been able to achieve this in just a couple of years. It usually took time and resources, lots of resources, majority of which was gotten from my dad to start up a new pack and he had accomplished it without going through the process.

I had so many questions, where was Emilia? Was she also going to act like she didn’t know me when we met again? She had easily become one of my favorite people while I grew up and I knew that it would hurt just as much if she did the same.

I didn’t realize that I had wandered off the path that I had initially started in and into the woods until I could hear the breaking of branches beneath my running shoes, I paused for a second trying to trace my way back through where I believed I could have come through but the longer I went, the more obvious it was that I was lost. It seemed as if I was going deeper and deeper and fear filled my frame.

I left my phone in the house so it was impossible to call Lila for help, the trees were soon starting to look and feel more intimidating the further I went and I was desperate for an out.

Thankfully, I found a clearing with a lake of some sorts, surrounded by rocks and the moment I tripped on one of the rocks, I knew that I had to rest. I moved towards the lake, quickly rinsing off my bloodied arm and palm before washing my face. I looked around me hoping to find a way out but there was nothing but the lake, trees and rocks.

I had remembered seeing a couple of warriors along the way, I couldn’t tell how things worked here and if they patrolled the pack grounds as often and as thoroughly as was the case back home, but I could only hope that they did, as I settled into one of the rocks.

I wondered how long it would be before Lila noticed I was missing and how long it would take whoever to find me. Would Simon even care if he heard I was missing? Would he send out a team of men to find me? Judging from his reaction last night, I didn’t think he would. I hated this new image of him that my mind had formed.

Sighing heavily, I moved to get off the rock. I might as well try to find my way back myself, if I walked around for a bit maybe I could get out at another part of the pack and then try to find my way back to Lila’s from there.

Just as I moved from my spot, I heard it. Low at first, but the moment I turned towards it, I heard it louder. A deep growl to my right and it froze me in my spot, but I turned slowly and the moment I saw it, I could have sworn that my heart seized to beat and all the breath in my lungs escaped.

It was a large wolf, one of the biggest I had ever seen and that was saying a lot because I had seen my father and uncle’s wolf and they were both mighty, and this wolf was a close one, but the scariest thing about it was the red eyes, it was just like looking at blood and when it snarled, the action seemed to snap my brain into action, pumping my blood full with adrenaline.

I took off in the direction I remembered coming from, running as fast as my legs would let me and in this moment I couldn’t be more grateful for my father’s training over the years. I was really fast and my small stature let me cover a lot of distance but I could hear the wolf just on my heels, and as much as I pushed myself to move faster, I just knew that I could only run for so long.

And soon I felt the hard push on my back that sent me to the floor with a scream, I tried to scramble away from the wolf but it moved its large paws placing them across my chest and pressing down with a force that was enough to knock the wind out of me. Tears began falling slowly from my eyes, as the wolf snapped its rotting but sharp looking teeth in my face and I close my eyes as I watched it dip it’s neck.

But the pain that I expected never came, instead a louder growl echoed in the space around me, causing the ground that my back was against to vibrate and the pressure that was on my chest was lifted. I scurried from the ground quickly, moving to hide behind one of the trees and watching with wide eyes as the new wolf attacked my predator, tearing him into pieces in a couple of seconds and sending my entire body into shock.