CHAPTER 3

Camila still sobbed. She had never thought she would wrong her father one day and get sent from her pack. She had seen him banish pack members before. Slowly, their pack dwindled—some Eastern Wood Pack members even fled before news of their sins reached him.

Camila was so lost in thought that she didn't notice Henry had arrived home. She expected him to take her to the refugee house. She knew no one in the Western Wood Pack and had no family there. When the other former Eastern Wood Pack members her father banished saw her, they would want revenge.

"Come down from the car," Henry's deep, masculine voice jolted Camila back to reality. She snapped out of her trance, stared at him, and watched him step down. He walked to her side and pulled the car door open.

Camila stepped down from the blue car, afraid. She hadn't even glanced at it to realize it was a Porsche. Her mind stayed fixed on her sin and banishment—her father showed no mercy.

"Follow me," Henry said. Only then did Camila snap out of it. She saw the place lit up around her. The magnificent white mansion in front amazed her.

"Is this the Western Wood Pack refugee house?" Camila asked in shock. She hadn't even noticed their arrival. Henry laughed first, then replied coldly, "No."

Camila gulped. She had thought the Western Pack was so rich that they built such a magnificent place just for homeless foreigners and werewolves. But as they approached the front, since Henry had parked far off in the garage—she saw how grand the exterior was. The white mansion stood thrice as big as her father's. Guards at the frontage bowed to Henry as he walked ahead of her.

Henry reached the front door, unlocked it, and told her, "Wait here."

Camila watched him walk inside. She stood at the frontage, staring around, wondering what came next. She couldn't trust anyone from the Western Wood Pack—not after her father's training and teachings.

Soon, two young ladies came out. Camila was shocked—she expected an older man, maybe her father's age, to judge her sins. But the maids said, "Follow us."

Camila gulped and followed. They led her to the back of the mansion. One maid picked up a hose from the floor, connected it to a tap, and said, "Strip your clothes."

"My what?" Camila looked embarrassed. The maids in blue uniforms wanted her náked. She wondered what they planned. *Do they want to prepare me for that man to sleep with me?*

"No! I can't strip. Please let me go. I mean no harm."

Camila saw the maids glance at each other. The half-moon symbol on their foreheads marked them as born, loyal servants to the Alpha—like her maids back home. One finally said, "You're a foreigner here. We don't have time to chat. We don't know your mission in our pack. Alpha Henry sent us to bathe you and search you properly for weapons under your dress. Be fast—Alpha Collins and Luna Ruth wait to meet you in the Grand Hall."

Camila gulped. She couldn't protest anymore. Tired, she needed rest for her wounds to heal. She stripped off her light nightgown until fully nàked. One maid handed her soap and sponge. Camila shivered in the cold—still damp from the rain that had stopped.

Meanwhile, inside the mansion's Grand Hall, Henry's father spoke to him. "Henry! How can you breach our pack law and bring a foreigner straight to our mansion? Do you want to risk all our lives?"

"No, Father. Actually, I—" Henry tried to explain, but his father cut him off.

"You have no right, son, to bring a total stranger here—especially from the Eastern Wood Pack. She goes to the refugee house now, once the maids finish whatever you sent them to do. We don't mingle with foreigners or live with them. Fail to keep your guard up, and they trample us—turn rogue and take over our pack."

"I'm sorry, Father," Henry apologized. His father sat on the throne, staring at him. His mother stood with his two younger sisters, curious about the foreigner Henry brought home. Henry had never made such a mistake.

"It's all right. Send guards to take her to the refugee house. Tomorrow, bring her here first thing. I want to see her and learn if she tells the truth. If so, she joins our pack. If guilty of lying, the guards will punish her severely, and I will forbid her from our pack."

"Okay, Father. Can I go check on other things?" Henry asked.

"As you please. But send guards to take her away once she's done outside. Let this mistake never repeat. Good that pack members are home—no one knows you brought a stranger to our mansion."

"I'm sorry, Father," Henry said again. He felt the anger in his father's voice. His father dismissed him. "Leave my sight."

"As you wish, Father." Henry walked out. His mother and sisters followed—Juliet and Madelyn, the twins, were angry and curious to see the foreigner Henry had brought home.