Katya
My mother, seeing my panic, rushes to me. I try to breathe around my tight chest. He isn’t letting me go home. Does that mean I am being banished because I have no wolf? Does he know? Did he figure it out?
“What did you do to her?” My mother demands.
“Nothing, you have five minutes,” he tells her before leaving the room and shutting the door.
“Calm down Kat, breathe,” my mother tells me, clamping her hands on the side of my face trying to stop my panic attack. “Breathe, sweetie, breathe,” she urges, trying to ground me.
“He is making me leave you. He knows,” I whimper.
“He doesn’t know, but you will be staying at the Packhouse with him until I can be trusted,” I shake my head and her grip tightens. “Breathe, I need you to calm down,” she tells me and I nod, closing my eyes and I try to control my breathing.
“He will find out, he will find out and make me leave, mom,” I whisper. I have never spent a night away from them. I have always had at least one parent at home. “Please, you can’t let him take me. I want to come home,” I beg her, opening my eyes and she exhales letting me go now that I have calmed down a little.
“Listen Kat, you will be fine. He won’t find out, and if he does,” she shrugs. “It's fine, we will go rogue. I never should have given you wolfsbane, this is my fault Kat, not yours and anything that happens because of it we will deal with,” she promises me, and I swallow. “That’s not all, though.”
“What?” I ask her worried about how this can possibly get any worse.
“The Alpha-” she doesn't get a chance to answer as the door opens and my father steps in. He glares at my mother, shaking his head and I watch as they mindlink. My mother gets up and steps away from me and keeps her distance from my father as she moves to my other side.
“Hey Pumpkin,” my dad greets with a sad smile, sitting down next to me and grabbing my hand in his. He leans forward and presses his lips to my forehead, then sits back up, brushing my cheek softly with his other hand before tilting his head to the side watching me. “You will be staying with the Alpha, he will keep an eye on you.”
“But I want to come home, I can’t stay with him, Dad. He will find out. He will banish us.”
“He won’t find out. You’re a smart girl. Even if Alpha Ezra does, he seems to be a good man. I don’t think he will care,” my father says and my mother scoffs beside me, not agreeing.
“Get out!” He growls at her, not even looking away from me.
“Derrick?” My mother whimpers and I look at her, seeing the hurt shine in her eyes.
“I said get out,” he snarls, not even glancing in her direction. She goes to say something to him but stops. He holds up his hand. “Don’t!” he growls.
My mother blinks back tears, nods then leans over kissing my head. “You will be fine,” she whispers before walking out of the room and leaving me with my father.
When she is gone I look at my father. “Please don't hate mom, you know she wouldn't have meant it,” I tell him.
“She was warned last time. Your mother does stupid things out of fear, but hurting you should never be one of them,” he says, brushing my hair behind my ears. “Alpha Ezra gave me his word to look after you, and you will still see us. Besides it is your birthday in a week so he might let you come home, if you want to of course.”
“Why wouldn’t I want to? I want to come home now, Dad.”
“I know but everything will be okay, I promise. I have to take your mother home and talk to her, but I will come see you tomorrow before the Pack run on Friday,” I nod, and he kisses my head before walking out.
Alpha Ezra comes back in with Beta Mateo, my nerves play havoc on the idea of being in the Packhouse with him and him discovering I have no wolf. It is one thing hiding it when I have a place to go, in the Packhouse there will be nowhere to hide from him.
“I'll send Mateo to retrieve some clothes for you,” the Alpha tells me and Beta Mateo nods at his words before leaving me alone with the Alpha.
“When can I go home?” I ask him, wondering how long he plans on keeping me at the Packhouse.
“That hasn’t been decided, but after your birthday if you wish to go home I will allow it.”
“Why can’t I go home now?”
“Because your mother just broke the law, and nearly killed you while breaking it. She is lucky I didn't banish her, and until I am certain she is no threat to you or any of the students at school, I don't want her near you.”
Worry makes me cringe at his words, I know she didn’t mean to hurt me, although, some part of me knows I should be grateful he didn’t report her or banish her. “My mother didn’t mean it,” I explain again.
“That may be true but until I know for certain, you will be staying with me,” Alpha Ezra informs me. I nod knowing he has already decided and I can’t convince him otherwise.
We wait in awkward silence. Doc refuses to let me leave until my IV bag is empty and he takes more blood. By the time I am ready to be discharged, the moon has almost completed its trip across the sky. Beta Mateo doesn’t return. I thought he would have, at least to bring me back to the Packhouse. The Alpha never left my side, remaining with me the entire time.
Grabbing my flats, I slip them on, standing upright. Alpha Ezra watches me from the doorway, his arms folded across his broad chest and his lips press together while Doc checks that I wasn’t going to drop dead on the floor.
“She seems good to go,” he tells the Alpha who nods before motioning for me to follow him.
I do and we walk outside, the cool night breeze makes me shiver as I am blasted with the frostiness of the air. Alpha Ezra shrugs off his jacket, draping it over my shoulders before leading me to his blue car. He opens the door for me and helps me into my seat. Then hops in himself, starting the ignition before turning the heater up. His sandalwood aroma is strong here, his jacket is warm, and I can smell the unique masculine scent of him on my arms and shoulders from his jacket. We drive back to the Packhouse in silence.
The twists and turns of the road toward the Packhouse make me woozy. Driving this far out in the dark, the forest is eerily quiet and the eyes of wolves reflect amongst the trees as the patrols do their runs.
“Patrol,” Alpha Ezra tells me and I nod, having gathered that.
“How many people stay at the Packhouse?” I ask, tangling my fingers together in my lap and picking at my fingernails.
“Just Mateo and I usually. But it is kind of like a drop in center, anyone can stay at any time if they are Pack members or just don't feel like going home. We get a few teens in every now then when they are having trouble at home,” he explains and I nod. “Thursday nights the Packhouse is usually Packed, most of the teens prefer to stay Thursday for Pack runs on Friday, a reason to ditch school on Fridays because no buses come out here.”
“You don’t mind them ditching school?” I ask and he shrugs, glancing over at me, before his hand grabs mine.
“Kat?” he says, glancing at my lap and I realize I had made the nail bed bleed from pulling at a cuticle. He lets me go, giving me a worried look. “I won’t hurt you,” he assures me and I nod glancing out the window again. “But to answer your question, no I don’t mind them skipping, Fridays aren't that eventful at school because of the Pack run, minimal training, and only two morning classes, so kind of seems pointless to go anyway.”
I nod, feeling a little nervous, not wanting to run into Angie. Alpha Ezra drives a little farther before pulling up to the front of the Packhouse and parking near the doors.