April
The low roaring of the engine wakes me softly.
Opening my eyes, I recognize that I’m sitting in my mom’s truck, tucked in a warm blanket, about to leave the pack in which I grew up, fell in love and was betrayed by it.
I push out a shaky breath just as we pass the statue of my father’s wolf, which was erected to honor my father’s sacrifice for the pack and his Alpha. Touching my chest, I press onto my skin above my heart as it twists painfully in my chest at seeing that it has been completely destroyed. As we pass it with the car, I sit up to look back at the pieces of it shattered on the floor, and my mother sighs sadly.
“This was just mean,” she whispers as she has her eyes still set on the road before us. “And unnecessary. There was no need to drag him into this situation after what he did.”
I blink repeatedly, looking up at her with a heartbroken expression. “I’m so sorry, Mom. Please forgive me.”
If it wasn’t for me, she wouldn’t be banished.
My mother shakes her head, shushing soothingly as she reaches out to caress the top of my head. I can hear her voice heavy with sorrow as she speaks, fighting back her tears. “Don’t worry, my love. Everything will be alright. It’s not me you have to ask for forgiveness. I will always be here for you.”
Her words hurt me badly, but I take comfort in her having my side, even if she doesn’t believe me. Flinching, I reposition myself in my seat, and take a deep breath, waiting for the pain streaming through my body to fade.
“We can start over in a new pack, find a new home and live a good life nonetheless, I’m sure about that.”
She flashes me a smile as we pass the pack’s border, feeling one last tug which makes us go rogue.
We have been driving for hours as heavy raindrops start hitting our windshield.
The car slows down as my mother applies the brakes, wanting to adjust our speed to the weather raging around us. I can feel her helplessness growing as seeing the road clearly is nearly impossible by now.
“Where are we going to stay?” I ask quietly, making her hum.
She activates the higher level of the windshield wiper, squinting her eyes onto the streets. “I don’t know, honey. I thought about finding a cute little pension to settle in for a few days. If we are lucky enough, we can start asking a few Alphas ruling over the packs in the closer vicinity to ask if they would take us in. Otherwise, you don’t have to worry, either. I have enough saved up to keep it going for a few weeks until we find a job and maybe a cozy apartment in town.”
My heart squeezes in my chest as she turns towards me with a smile.
She needs to change a lot as if she doesn’t want to hurt me more, otherwise I will die.
“Mom!” I scream as suddenly a dark shadow moves, getting right into our way. She hits the brakes, causing me to fly forward. Whimpering, I clench my teeth as the pressure of the seat belt on my rips makes me black out for a second.
“Sorry,” my mother says quietly, as she looks outside. “But what was that? I didn’t hit it right?”
Pushing out a deep breath, I scoot back into my seat, leaning against the cold leather while closing my eyes. “I don’t know. But it seemed huge.”
“Should I go out and watch if I hit it?” She utters her thoughts out loud, relaxing into her seat while still holding onto the steering wheel. “I wouldn’t want it to die or, even worse, roll over it.”
The silence is only interrupted by the wiping noises of the wipers, scratching over the windshield with a monotonous tune. We stare into the distance spellbound, and I’m just about to say something as I turn towards my mother, seeing a huge wolf charging against our car.
“Mom! Watch out!”I scream as the gigantic rogue slams into us, hitting the car with an enormous force.
The car gets catapulted towards the side of the road, causing it to topple over. I shield myself from the car parts and shattered glass exploding around me and fight to ignore the pain surging through me as my wounds must have reopened.
My mother’s scream rings in my ears as we land in the ditch next to the road, and I cough as I move, cutting myself on the glass sherds lying around. I groan, fighting against the door while the side of my top drenches with fresh blood, streaming out of my wound.
“Mom,” I breathe out as I check if she is doing fine.
“I’m here,” she moves towards me, kicking open the door to get us out of the car.
The raindrops crash heavily on us, drenching us in a cold and uncomfortable wetness, making it hard for us to drag ourselves from the car wreck.
“It’s alright, baby,” my mother continues to whisper comforting phrases to me while we get circled by rogues. “Press this onto your wound.”
She hands me her scarf, and I flinch as I press it on the wound on my waist, cursing Scott internally as I roll back into a ball.
Unfortunately, this is the worst situation possible as the rogues surround us slowly, fletching their teeth while their hungry and crazy eyes set on us as foam already forms at the edges of their mouths. I sense how my mother’s thoughts are running wildly in her head as she is about to construct a plan for our safe escape.
Desperation crawls up my legs, taking my body hostage as I feel so useless as all I can do is whimper while sobbing on the dirty floor.
“Don’t worry. I got this.” She suddenly grabs me, lifting me up, making me scream in pain, and starts running into the forest. “I know it hurts, but them getting us will hurt more.”
I roll myself up into her arms as she manages to outrun the rogues for a few meters before they catch up with us. She lays me back onto the wet ground and turns around to face the rogues.
After taking a few deep breaths, she shifts into her wolf. She assesses the situation, pacing back and forth in front of me before charging against the rogues already coming to attack us.
I would like to get up and help my mother but my body slumps back down powerlessly, and I can’t do anything more than watch her fight against the group of rogues.
Suddenly, it strikes me.
My mom didn’t do anything wrong, and this place is still not too far away from Scott’s pack.
I can beg him to accept my mom back into his pack.
Still harboring this stupid feeling for Scott together with the hope for him, I take out my phone and dial his number, convinced that he is my only chance to save my Mom.
Scott“Huh?” Liam looks at me wide-eyed, annoying me even more. “Get the fuck out of my office,” I growl, and his confused face falls, morphing into a disgruntled expression. “Sure… As you wish, Alpha,” he snarls back, and I ball my hand into a fist, ignoring the disrespect with how he sneered my title. Pushing out a deep breath of relieve as he leaves my room, I stare at the closed door for a few heartbeats before I try to concentrate on my documents once again. But it doesn’t take long until I get distracted again by my own thoughts, and soon enough, I call it a day. After putting my files away, I take a bottle of bourbon out of the bottom drawer and pour me a bit of the amber liquid into a crystal glass. With a sigh, I take a slow sip, closing my eyes as I lean back in the seat. I enjoy the alcohol gliding down my throat, triggering a burning sensation and I distort my face as I put the glass onto the desk. ‘So, what are we doing?’ my wolf asks me, slurring his words as his
Scott“Is there something you need to tell me?” Liam asks me. His expression has lost all its smugness as he looks up at me with a void expression. “About April, I mean.” He adds the phrase as if it were nothing. And still he gets my heart to nearly explode. What the fuck is happening with me? I fucking rejected her. The gears turn over and over in my head, my brain calculating the risks of just telling him all. Maybe it would be good to talk it out. Maybe it wouldn’t be that serious anymore. Maybe he could beat some sense back into me… “There is nothing to talk about,” I finally say, redirecting my eyes to the documents and hoping that he will understand and see that the conversation is over. Or at least get that I don’t want to talk about it. Whatever it is.But as the stubborn best friend he is, he gets onto his feet and leans against the desk, lowering his voice. “Scott, if there is something going on with April, I as your Beta need to know about that.” I take up my p
Scott“The omegas were whispering something quite interesting in the hallways.” I can hear the grin in his voice even if I keep my eyes glued to the documents spread before me, avoiding looking at him. “I don’t know what you are talking about,” I murmur in an annoyed tone, but he only chuckles before practically jumping into the seat standing in front of my desk. “Did the traitor say something regarding our warriors?” he asks, and I finally lift my gaze to see that he is looking at me with big eyes. His dark irises nearly sparkling in expectation. “She wasn’t able to tell me anything. She is still searching for the cause,” I say with a sigh, hoping he would just go away. But it is to no avail. He has always been the obtrusive kind. “So, she couldn’t tell you why our warriors’ health conditions are deteriorating and why their wolves stopped healing them properly?” His grin grows, and I really can’t see where he wants to get at. “Hm-mhm,” I answer with a hum as I lean my head o
April “Oh, stop it,” I groan as Daisy pushes herself off the seat, gasping. “No! Listen to me!” She screams before lowering her voice dramatically. “I drank that tea too.” “Everybody drank from that tea,” I shake my head, as she lets herself fall back into the chair. “Do you want to go on and be dramatic about it or do you want to talk about what happened in the library?” Daisy pouts, crossing her hands as she bounces in her seat. “Why? What happened in the library?” I chuckle, taking another sip of the tea, and I must admit that it is indeed delicious. “Alpha Scott waited until Beta Daniel had left the room to fetch us something to drink and came in to talk to me,” I hold the cup in front of my face, watching her smugly as she turns her head at me, looking intrigued. Even if she is still pursing her lips, wanting to play it cool. “And what did he say?” she asks. I clear my throat, shifting in my seat. “He wanted to talk about his warriors and the process of the treatme
April ‘I don’t think that we should drink that,’ Beta Daniel warns me via our mindlink, and as if the warrior was able to get it, he flashes us a big smile. “Ana was so kind to bring us all a cup of this delicious tea,” he gushes, and I sigh. Beta Daniel rolls his eyes, accepting one of the cups she is holding under his nose with an uncomfortable smile and takes a small sip with an exaggerated slurp. I giggle lowly, hiding my lips behind the border of the cup as he hums theatrically, “It is indeed one of the best teas I have ever had.”Turning towards me, he broadens his smile, his expression turning nearly grotesque. “Right, April?” Coughing as the sip I took went into the wrong pipe, I nod repeatedly, holding my hand on my chest. “Yes. Yes, definitely one of the most delicious. Thank you so much, Ana.” Ana beams up at us, smiling so brightly that I fear her face is going to disintegrate on itself. “Oh, I am so glad. I am going to tell Scott that you liked it right away.” With
April I stretch as we walk out of the library under the curious gazes of the omegas who are acting as if they are dusting the shelves and the insanely boastful statues. Chuckling to myself, I hug my book closer, walking faster through the long hallways of the dimly lit packhouse. As I have forgotten the time during my research, it’s already dark outside, and it has always been this dark also in the pack house as the Luna loved this mood. So the former Alpha kept it like this even long after her death. And I guess Alpha Scott just waddled along. “Has the pack house always been this depressing?” Beta Daniel asks, making me laugh. I nod as we turn into the hallway that leads to our quarters. “It’s because the late Luna, Alpha Scott’s mother, loved thunderstorms, so this lighting arrangement was made to make her happy.” “Ugh,” he scrunches up his face, his gaze still directed to the hallway in front of us. “I didn’t know that those bastards could be that cute.” I laugh, “Yeah, but