Chapter 5

Oakwood Ridge glowed below us, sprawling from one end of the forest to the other. It beckoned us.

We began our descent towards the lights, the sound, the people. I took it in, listening to the sounds of laughter, children playing. Deathfall was never like this. It was quiet, there were rules, curfews, punishments for not following the rules. It was dark there, it didn’t feel like home. It was never home, not to me.

We walked in silence towards the packhouse, which was situated on the edge of the town. It faced a building that looked like a typical British boarding school and was separated by a large field and what kind of looked like a well-used training arena.

As the packhouse rose up in front of us, I could see it more clearly. The sandstone brick walls were full of large windows and covered in beautiful purple wisteria, which would flower in the coming weeks. Right in the centre, on the ground floor, stood a large dark oak arched door, which was thrown wide open. I noticed the wooden floors, that must’ve been recently waxed, as the glow from the lights inside reflected off it. The walls looked like some kind of oak panelling, that could definitely use a fresh coat of paint.

We walked towards the open doors but had to leap out of the way as a group of teens, who looked to be around my age, came rushing out. They immediately saw Matthias and quickly bowed their heads in respect.

“Beta,” they chorused. Matthias nodded in response and they all turned to walk away, glancing back a few times, looking at me with a kind of curiosity.

“Beta?” I asked out loud. My mother glanced at me, smiling gently.

“You didn’t know?” Matthias wondered. I shook my head, admitting that I didn’t know. He smiled at me and motioned for us to follow him. “Come, I’ll take you to your rooms. You can relax for the night, clean up, have something to eat, rest. I will speak to the Alpha tonight and you will see him in the morning,” Matthias explained.

“Thank you, Matthias. We are so grateful for all your help,” my mother expressed.

I stayed silent, watching everything around me, the wariness of these new surroundings, filling me, the ticking of the grandfather clock pounding through my head. My anxiety grew and became almost stifling. All these unknown faces, being in an unfamiliar place, being in the same place as an Alpha that has been said to be unbelievably ruthless, it was getting to me. I could feel my hands begin to quiver, so I clenched my hands into fists as hard as I could, nails piercing the skin of my palms and shoving them deep into the pockets of my hoodie.

We were led to the large staircase in the centre of the front hall and up to the first floor. Walking down the corridor until we reached two sets of doors next to each other and a large door at the end of the hall. Matthias opened one of the doors and motioned for us to come in.

“Here we go. The room next door is the same. There are some essentials in the top drawer of that dresser by the window,” he pointed out. He turned and walked out the door and pointed towards the large door at the end of the corridor, “and that is the bathroom. It is a shared bathroom, but you won't run into too many people in there, if any,” he added.

My mother looked around and gave the Beta a small smile.

“It’s great, thank you,” she said, looking around again, “The main thing is that we are safe here, for now, and however long that may end up being,” she remarked.

He nodded his head in agreement and looked like he was about to say something, when his eyes glazed over, indicating that he was talking mind to mind with someone from his pack. After a few moments, his eyes cleared and he frowned slightly.

“I will have to leave you both now. I’ll have some food brought up for you. Relax and I will see you in the morning,” he explained. He turned on his heel, striding down the corridor and down the stairs, out of sight.

My mother and I both stood there for a moment, in silence and then we both turned and entered the room with the open door. We looked around quietly taking in our surroundings when my mother sighed heavily.

“Mom? Are you okay?” I asked quietly.

It took her a few moments to respond. I don’t think she heard me.

“Hmm? What was that?” she asked, zoning back in.

“I asked if you were okay, I know you aren’t but…”

“I’ll be fine sweetheart. It’s just a lot to take in. A lot has happened in less than 12 hours,” she commented, exhaustion seeping into her eyes. “I think I will go have a shower and lay down for a bit, you should clean up too. You have twigs in your hair,” she chuckled, pulling a few out.

I smiled back at her, gently pulling her in for a hug.

“We are going to be okay, mom,” I assured her, my voice muffled against her shoulder.

She kissed me softly on my head and turned toward the door, picked up the backpack she managed to bring with her and walked to the bathroom.

I opened the window a small amount, to let in some air. Turning, I walked to the bed and perched on the edge, laying my hands on the quilt, tracing patterns with my fingers.

A small breeze seeped through the opening in the window, rustling my hair, wrapping itself around me. I took a deep breath, feeling the cool air sing into my lungs. I could smell the sweet scent of impending rain. Looking out the window, I watched as the clouds began rolling in, the distant sound of thunder, reaching my ears, calming me, settling my nerves.

“A storm is on its way in,” I stated, informing Atonia.

“Great,” she replied blandly. “I’ll just stay hidden and try to ignore it. Fucking hate storms!”

“I love them, they’re relaxing to me,” I remarked.

“Well you go enjoy your damned storm, and I’ll just go ahead and ignore it” she ended.

She went silent, fading away, leaving me on my own, to enjoy the incoming storm.

I rose off the bed, grabbed my backpack, and headed to the bathroom so I could clean myself up. My mom walked out, hair damp and hanging limply over her shoulder, dripping slightly onto her clean top.

“The water is amazing in there, and the towels are on the side,” she mentioned as she walked past me. She opened the door to the room next to the one I had just left, and walked in, closing the door gently behind her. 

I walked into the bathroom, blinded for a moment by the bright white lights shining off the white floor tiles. I moved towards the shelves on the left, which were full of towels, grabbing a large one and a smaller one. Turning and facing the other side of the room I saw cubicles, with stall-like doors. Moving towards one of the stalls, I pushed the door open, revealing a shower at the end of the cubicle with a curtain separating it from the changing area.

After I placed my things on the bench in the changing area, I closed the cubicle door, locking it. I turned and took a few steps towards the shower, turning the water on and adjusting the temperature. Twisting back around I walked to the bench, opened my backpack and took out the clothes my mother had packed, a long vest, my leggings and my underwear, and placed them next to my bag. Reaching back into the bag I found my wash bag, removing it I placed it on the shelf behind the curtain.

Satisfied I had everything I needed, I began to strip off my clothes. I hadn’t realised that I had bled while we were running through the forest, not until now. Having to peel my top and jeans off in some areas, I saw that wherever I had bled had healed fully, but had left dried blood on my skin. Checking my clothes for holes, I saw that my top had a long slice on the side, and my jeans had a few rips in the legs, all caked in dried blood. I sighed, realising I would have to either try to repair them or just get some more.

Feeling a little frustrated, I turned and strode straight into the shower, closing the curtain behind me.

The water was hot, but it felt amazing. I let it flow over me, soaking me, warming me. I watched as the water at my feet began to turn a reddish-brown colour, from the areas of dried blood and from the mud that coated some areas of my body. I stood there for a while, not moving just letting the water drench me, letting it calm me. I eventually turned and grabbed my shampoo, conditioner and body wash from my wash bag and began my routine of washing myself, scrubbing my skin clean. After washing and rinsing myself off, I put everything back into the bag and turned the shower off. Stepping out into the steamy cool air, I grabbed the smaller towel and wrapped my hair, twisting it and setting it on top of my head. I reached down for the larger towel and began to dry myself. Once I was dry, I quickly dressed. I pulled the towel out of my hair and grabbed my brush, and began yanking it through the knots.

Once I was done, I unlocked the cubicle and stepped out, placed my now wet towels into the wash basket near the door and strode towards my room for the night.

Food had been delivered as promised. My mother and I both ate and spoke quietly, until she got up and said goodnight, kissing me gently on the forehead. I listened as she closed her door and climbed into bed. Turning I looked out the open window. The storm had hit us, and the sound was so peaceful to me.

I got up and pushed the window open wider and sat down on the window seat. Leaning against the window sill,l I watched the storm progress and roll towards the hills. Breathing deep letting the damp air fill me, I glanced down towards the tree line that ran alongside this side of the packhouse. Watching the trees, I froze.

There, on the edge of the shadows, I saw a dark wolf, with piercing luminous golden eyes, watching me, studying me. An unintentional growl escaped me and the wolf vanished.

“Weird…” I silently muttered to myself. “Maybe I should just go to sleep.”

I got up, pulled the window half shut, and closed the curtains. I turned and climbed into the bed, nestling into the thick warm blankets and reached to turn off the light. Submerging myself in darkness, I drifted off into a dreamless sleep.