“She tried to kill me!” shrieked Violet. Any remorse Arla felt at hurting her immediately vanished.
“You will all stand down immediately,” boomed Drew in his Beta tone, causing the crowd to bow their heads slightly in acknowledgement of his rank and request.
“Alpha,” shouted Alan, seeing Lorenzo emerge from the forest line. “What punishment will the witch face for her crime?”
“As I said earlier, all the pups involved will receive their punishments in due course, Alan,” Alpha Lorenzo replied calmly.
“How can you assure us this won’t happen again?” asked a woman at the back of the crowd.
“Yes, exactly,” echoed Marie Langford, glaring at Arla. “How can we be sure that our pups are safe at school with this witch around?”
Drew and Granny Elsie followed Lorenzo to Arla’s room and watched as he sat on the bed, gently placing Arla next to him. “I don’t want to go, Alpha,” she whispered, her dark brown eyes still shining with tears. Lorenzo felt like his heart was about to rip in half. “I can’t keep you safe if you stay here, Arla,” he replied quietly. “Not without sacrificing a lot of your freedoms.” “But you’re the Alpha!” she exclaimed, trying to wipe her wet cheeks with the sleeve of her jumper. “I know, but there’s a lot more to being Alpha than just telling people what to do.” He reached over to the bedside table and handed her a tissue. “They fear what you can do, Arla, and when people get scared, they do stupid things. I promised your mum I would take care of you, and at the momen
The bumping and jostling of the car as Andy turned off the highway onto the dirt track woke Arla from her nap. She squinted her eyes, trying to recognise anything out of the window, but all she could see illuminated by the headlights was dense, dark forest. “Where are we?” she asked, rubbing her eyes then stretching her arms in front of her. “We’ve just left the highway,” answered Andy. “We’ve got roughly half an hour more to drive along this track, then we need to go the rest of the way on foot.” “We’re going to walk in the forest in the dark?” she questioned, her voice rising slightly in trepidation. She didn’t like the dark, and the forest always seemed to turn from beautiful to creepy at night time. Sensing her apprehension, Drew tried to reassure her. “Yes, we’l
“Drew, can I ask you a favour?” she said, looking up at him. “For you, little lady, anything.” “Can you look after Felix for me? Please?” she asked, her big brown eyes pleading. “Well, maybe not you, I know Betas are important, but can you get someone else to do it? He’s a human, he can’t defend himself from Violet and the others.” “You’re right, I have worked too hard and am far too important to babysit Felix Thompson,” he teased. “But you don’t have to worry, I will make sure he’s looked after.” “Promise?” “I promise.” “Thanks Drew,” she said as tears of gratitude filled her eyes. She pulled on the front of his shirt and
“I, uh, I didn’t understand any of that, sorry,” said Arla, as she stretched and began climbing down from the top bunk to get a better look at her roommates. “Who are you?” asked the tallest girl Arla had ever seen. She was almost the same size as a full-grown Alpha werewolf, towering over Arla and the other two girls in the room. She had deep olive coloured skin, hair the colour of mud, and eyes that matched. It looked like she spent all her free time outdoors under the sun. “How do you fit in the bed?” asked Arla incredulously, before she gasped and her hand flew to her mouth to cover it. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be so rude.” The three girls chuckled. “It’s ok,” replied the tall girl. “To answer your question, I don’t fit, it’s very uncomfortable.”
Stepping out onto the cobbled street, Arla got her first look at her new community in the daylight, and was instantly enchanted by it. It felt like she had stepped back in time, into a quaint village she’d only ever seen in movies, yet it had a familiarity that made her instantly relax. The smell of chimney smoke hung in the air, and although it aggravated her nose with her heightened sense of smell, she knew she’d adapt quickly. The girls walked to the end of the main street, in the opposite direction Arla had arrived the night before. Another wider section of the lake came into view, and it was breathtaking. It was completely still and looked like glass with the sunlight bouncing off it. They veered to the left and stopped in a wide open paddock. The training area appeared to be broken into various zones; there was a section with a garden, anoth
“I’m sorry,” she said, trembling as tears streamed down her face. “Was that? Did she?” Julian rambled, leaving his students and rushing over from the lake. “Yes!” replied Carmen, slowly regaining her composure. “Pure magic. White.” “Wow!” was all Julian could say as he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. “We need to inform the Elders.” “No! Please don’t!” begged Arla, the feeling of déjà vu was overwhelming. “I’ve already had to leave two packs because of my magic. I won’t have anywhere to go if the Elders kick me out too.” Julian and Carmen exchanged confused glances. “You don’t seriously t
“I hope I’m not interrupting, I just wanted to come and introduce myself to Arla. I’m Victor. You made quite a debut this morning,” he said with a lopsided grin, extending his hand for Arla to shake. Arla felt her cheeks heat embarrassingly, taking in his compliment as she returned his handshake. “Uh, um, thank you, I think,” she replied, nervous under his intense gaze. “I hope we have a class together soon. I’ll see you around, Arla,” he said as he returned to his own table. Meredith’s laughter broke the three other girls out of their trance-like state. “You should see the look on your faces right now,” she teased. “A good-looking boy comes along and you all turn beet red.” “He’s divine though,” sighed Lydia hopelessly,
Arla enjoyed the early morning sunshine as she walked to Harriet’s farm. The village seemed so peaceful, and as she crossed the bridge, the lake was flat and calm. Birds chirped happily, and she stopped for a moment to take in the view. It was all so new to her, yet warm and somehow familiar, and despite missing her pack and her friends, she had started to view it as home. She had written letters to Felix and Chloe which Elder Laurel had promised to send for her, and now she was impatiently waiting for replies. Elder Laurel had also offered to have mirrors delivered to them so they could communicate more regularly. As she watched the small fish in the water, she wondered what her friends were doing now. She wanted to know if Felix’s ribs were healing and smirked, imagining how Violet and Rocco’s first week of cleaning duty had gone. It was a great