Chapter 4

Willow POV

“What do you need? Did he hurt you?” Greyson asks looking me over for injuries. He reaches towards my face to get a closer look. I flinch away it is my normal response when people get too close. He notices and takes a step back.

“No I’m fine,” I say keeping my eyes to the ground. “I just know Seth will come for me again. You can’t always be there to save me. So I thought..”

He stares at me patiently waiting for me to finish. I take a deep breath.

‘I can do this. Greyson will help. He has always been kind to me.’

I look up to see Greyson staring intently at me. “I need to leave.” I quickly rush out. I don’t look away so he can see how determined I am. His expression is unreadable. The time he takes to answer begins to feel like hours when I know it is seconds.

“Okay, what is your plan? I will help as much as I can. You don’t have a wolf so this will be very dangerous.”

I smile and quickly hug him. I can see the look of surprise on his face when I do. He quickly replaces it with his charming smile and blushes slightly. It’s so light I thought I imagined it being there. He rubs the back of his neck shyly. I take the opportunity to take an appreciative glance at his body. I feel my face heat up when I catch him smirking because he knows I am checking him out. I quickly look away to hide my face.

“I do not have a plan just yet but maybe another pack can take me in. Or I can live among the humans.” I say as I look back at him. I glance up at him to take in his thoughts on my idea. He towers over me easily at 6’7. I’m not super small only 5’5 but tiny for the average she-wolf. He furrows his brows as he thinks over my plan.

“I think living with the humans would be the best plan. You will have to go far though. So they can’t track you and change your identity. In an pack, the Alpha King will still have control over you.” He says after some thought.

He is right. The Alpha King is over all the packs in the country. I would have to leave the country to survive and I do not know if I can even leave the state. I think about all he has said. I do not know much about humans but I think I can live among them unnoticed. I am good about blending into the background. It is how I survived all these years. With my father blaming me for my mother's death I try to stay out of his way as much as possible. Everyone else just likes to use me as a punching bag.

“You are right the humans would be my best choice. I do not know much about their world but I can learn. I will earn money by working. I can do lots of things.” I say looking at him with a smile as I think about the future. He smiles back but it looks a bit strained.

“Okay, I will figure out the patrol schedules to see when would be the best time. We will try to do this before your birthday.” He looks around to make sure no one is there. “I will miss having you around. Who knows maybe I could visit and see you sometime.” He looks at me with a hopeful look.

I stare back surprised this is our first real conversation. Most of our interactions are him telling people to leave me alone. He gives me a nod every now and again. But we mostly do not talk. I am surprised he would miss me I am no one to him. Tears form in my eyes as I realize I have someone who cares for me for the first time since my mother's death.

“I’m sorry! I did not mean to offend you or upset you.” He says quickly looking very worried.

I laugh like actually laugh. I haven’t laughed in years. “ No, I am just happy to have someone that would actually miss me.” This feels so nice to have someone in my corner again. It makes it seem like I have hope in this life.

“Of course, I will miss you, Willow. You are the most kind-hearted person I have ever met. You are very strong too.” He says looking at me sincerely.

I scoff when I hear what he says. I know I am not strong. I am a weak wolf even with Alpha blood. “Thanks for that but I know I am not strong.”

“Sometimes strength is not physical. You can be strong mentally and emotionally. You have been through so much but haven’t yet broken.”

I get teary eyes again and look away to hide them. I quickly wipe my eyes. “Well, I need to get back to breakfast and cleaning the house.” I turn around toward the mess Seth made.

“Okay, we will talk more about this tomorrow then.” He says as he turns toward the door to leave.

I quickly clean the kitchen and start on breakfast. Breakfast in the mornings for the pack house is normally buffet style so everyone can get their fill. With so many warriors we normally make lots of protein and carbs in the morning. I quickly make five trays of bacon, sausage, eggs, potatoes, rice, and pancakes. I look at the time as I finish. It is only 4:30 am. I have 30 minutes to clean the kitchen, dining room, and recreation rooms. It should be fast since I cleaned last night. I just have to make sure everything is in their place still.

I quickly clean everything trying to make it back to the kitchen before some of the warriors come down for training. Training starts at 5 am and breakfast is served from 6 am to 8 am. I made it back to the kitchen at 5:15 am I did not see many of the warriors on my way back and they mostly kept to themselves this morning. As I enter the kitchen I make sure everything is in order before I begin to set the table. After everything is done it is 5:55 am and I head back down to my cell exhausted.