Chapter 2

Matthew was definitely a man of few words as he drove her around town. Maneuvering Streets and venturing deeper into the town. 

"So…the new Alpha, what family is he from?" 

Matthew gave her a side glance and pulled up the side of his lips. "You can ask him that when you see him." 

"Are the four packs still united?" 

He chuckled at her this time. "I see you were told stories. Yes. Still very united." He did not spare her a glance and continued to drive. Ava took it as her cue to not ask him anything. 

He finally stopped at a huge mansion and she alighted. 

"The Alpha lives here." He exchanged words with the men at the gate and they were allowed in. 

Holding her bag tightly to herself, she looked around as they walked in. People gave a curious look. Some blatantly pointed fingers and whispered to themselves. 

When she came to face the Alpha, she was surprised to find that he was a young man. He looked to be in his mid thirties. Had salt and pepper hair with cold blue eyes and he scrutinized her with a look that could pierce one's soul. 

"Daughter of Goldington hun?" 

"Yes Alpha." She knew it was normal to respect the Alpha. 

"And what brings you here. Your ancestors have long left." 

Ava tried to hold her tears in but her eyes were slightly red as she stared at the Alpha and explained to him how her parents were brutally murdered. The man had a frown on his face the entire time she spoke. 

"And you stood by and watched?" Was the first thing he asked. "Your wolf didn't feel the need to change despite the danger?" He sounded like she was telling him an unbelievable story.

Ava shakes her head and tries to explain her situation to him but she knew it was a shame for a werewolf to not be in contact with her wolf. Especially one of her age. She pursed her lips and stared at her fingers as she tried to stop her tears.

As if he had suspected her, he took a step closer and smirked. "You can't control it can you?" He asked in a taunting voice.

Matthew who brought her over had a shocked look in his eyes as she stared at her. "You can't freely transition?" The disbelief in his voice was obvious and it made her feel small

She slowly shakes her head and hears the man hiss. 

"Quite another show." Matthew comments. 

The Alpha raised his hand to stop the whispers and told them with a cunning smile on his lips. "Ava is the daughter of an ex Alpha and we will treat her with the respect she deserves regardless of how less power she holds on her wolf. Even though we all know that is something to be ashamed of." He said the last line like he was spitting her and it made her jump in fright. 

Perhaps she had been too forward in coming to Lyconia. 

The Alpha assigned her a lady to show her to a room she could use. And the lady, obviously not interested in Ava and disgusted by her presence, brought her to a small room at the back of the mansion. Dust was everywhere, cobwebs filled every nook and cranny and she could faintly smell dead rats around. She couldn't even imagine what the bathroom would look like. Just as she was about to ask when the room will be cleaned, she heard the door being slammed. The lady had left without a word. 

Ava dropped her bag at the door and began the cleaning herself. Maybe they needed time to adjust to a new member coming in. Or perhaps they were being that way because they were yet to know her and simply judged her based on her incapability with her wolf. 

It was hard settling in but a week went by and she found herself getting used to the nooks and crannies of the town. She barely got to speak to anyone. It was as if a news had been passed across for no one to speak to her. 

Wandering outside the town one day, she watched the ladies walk in a group and point fingers at her. They hated her. Maybe a stronger word like despise could be used to describe the looks in her eyes. 

She had tried to make friends with people at the mansion but was shunned like some sort of abomination. Some even went as far as spitting her to her face. When she told the Alpha about it, the man, who clearly didn't like her as well, told Ava there was no way he could force his people to like anyone.

She couldn't find out why. She had done nothing wrong but was still made an outcast. It was obvious she was unwanted here. 

Ava saw Matthew talking to a group of men and felt slightly relieved. The day he brought her to the Alpha was the last she saw of him. Maybe Matthew could help her explain to everyone to give her a chance so they could get to know each other. 

"Excuse me, Matthew?" She meekly calls tucking her hair behind her ear. 

Mature turned around and dismissed the other men. "Yes, how may I help you?" 

"Well, I have noticed something strange since I got here. No one seems to like me. No one wants to talk to me and they all look at me with hatred in their eyes." She raised her head and stared at the man who seemed impatient. "Did I do something wrong when I came here or was it something my parents did?" She asked, her curiosity reaching the peak. Her father was a nice man and Ava couldn't even imagine him being otherwise. 

Matthew clears his throat and begins. "Listen carefully Ava. No, it isn't something your father did. Yes, it is you and we all despise you." 

"We…?' She croaked feeling the base of her throat start to get filled with a bitter taste. The same she got when she first saw her parents' dead bodies. 

"Yes, we. Listen, you watched your father, the ex alpha get killed in cold blood yet you and your wolf could do nothing about it because you can't control it yet. What twenty-two year old can't even have a proper transition?" He asks, looking at her like she was some sort of alien. "Not to say, according to the werewolf myths, anyone who is past eighteen and can't control their wolf is evil. You must have done something evil in your past life to make the moon goddess give you such a punishment. And people who associate with you will be implicated by your bad luck."

"No…I..I am not…" she wanted to tell him she wasn't evil but he stopped her.. 

"Don't. Who is to say your bad luck didn't destroy your parents?" And with that, he turned around and left, joining the group of men who were cackling loudly. No doubt at her situation. 

She really couldn't tell where she was walking to. All she knew was, after hearing Matthew talk, she begins to aimlessly walk around. Ava stopped when she got tired and the words he spoke to her replayed in her memory. The memories of her parents death began to flood back to her making her feel like she couldn't breath. 

She lowered herself on the road and patted her chest trying to get her breathing stable and not think of memories that only brought her pain. But she couldn't. It was not like she could magically make it vanish. 

And Matthews' words simply ripped the plaster off her wound and ruined any hope she might have had of redeeming herself to the people who hated her. 

Now she knew better. They simply hated her because of a myth. Maybe she really is bad luck. Because of her, aunt Janet couldn't even go to work everyday like she used to since she had to watch over Ava and make sure the young lady wasn't trying to hurt herself. 

Using the breathing technique her therapist had taught her, she was finally able to stabilize her breathing. 

She stood up, wiped her wet eyes with the sleeves of her cloth and turned towards the forest. Thinking, she could try to call out her wolf and learn how to control it. If she succeeds and finally has a smooth transition, everyone wouldn't stare at her with so much hate and she could finally start to investigate the death of her parents. 

But when she got to the forest, she sniffed a scent that felt familiar yet strange. Curious, she began to walk towards the scent and finally stopped when she saw a man loading a gun with silver bullets and the other with wooden bullets. Ava hid behind a tree and watched his sexy back. 

She watched the way the ripples of muscles on his arms moved as he arranged the bullets. He was probably over six feet tall and had a huge build. His dark hair was cut low on his head in a buzz style. When he turned and looked around the forest, he made her heart race and her mind felt unsettled. Her body began to get excited for no reason. As she saw his clean shaven beards, piercing black gaze that wandered across the forest with lips that formed a thin line, she felt her body start to go hot.

'What is wrong with me?' She thought. 

It was as if her wolf was trying to break free and run into the arms of the strange man. 

'Relax, I know he is handsome but we can't do that.' 

"Is someone there?" He shouts holding one his guns and pointing it to the forest as he walks towards the tree Ava was hiding behind. 

Her heart skipped beats and butterflies fluttered in her stomach. 

'Mate!' A voice grunted in her head and her eyes went wide with shock. 

'Mate?' She could find a mate in the middle of this hatred? 

Excited for the man to officially meet her, she walked out with her hands raised in the air and gave him a sheepish smile. 

There were barely five steps between them now and he gave her a hard gaze as a slight frown carved on his lips. 

His gun still pointing at her, he watched the silly smile the lady had on her lips and wondered what could be so interesting that made her smile.