2

Amelia;

Come, my children, homeward bound

When all is lost, then all will be found.

I opened my eyes with a start, my heart pounding in my chest. Those words… again. What did they mean? I strained my eyes, trying to adjust to the bright lights around me. I was in a bed, but it wasn’t my bed, the air smelt different. My room didn’t usually smell of anything, this room smelt of spiced pumpkins. I knew the smell well; my father would always give a spiced pumpkin candle to my grandmother every time he visited us at the cottage. My eyes widened and my heart skipped a beat, I was back at the cottage. No, no, no. This couldn’t be happening! I tried lifting my head to look around, but it was agonising; the room felt as though it was spinning. My stomach tightened as a sudden wave of nausea washed over me.

‘Hey, hey, hey’ a female voiced hushed. ‘Try to get up slowly, you have had a nasty fall.’ It wasn’t my grandmother, but it was a voice I recognised.

‘M-Marie?’ I croaked.

‘Hello darling girl’ she whispered, smiling as she leaned over the bed and gently ran the back of her finger over my cheek. I waited for a moment as my blurry eyes focused on her face, her blue eyes sparkling under the bright lights, and the soft wrinkles that framed them. I blinked rapidly, fighting through the dull ache in my head and allowed my eyes to travel over to sandy blonde hair which was now beginning to grey and smiled up to her weakly. Marie was the Alpha’s mother and the packs recently retired Luna. She would sometimes join my dad and her husband; Tristan on their annual visits to the cottage. She was always kind to me and would show interest in what I was doing whether that would be me playing with my toys, doing chores or studying; she was the only woman that had been in my life that showed me a mothers love; although she had aged slightly, that warm smile remained the same, full of love as always.

‘My dad?’ I asked trying to lift my head, this time a bit slower.

‘Can wait poppet.’ She smiled putting one of her arms under my back and gently lifting me as to sit me up.

‘Where am I?’ I asked looking around the room, I wasn’t back at the cottage. This was a bedroom, it’s walls were painted a dark green, gold wall lamps lighting it up. The floor was wooden with gloss painted over it a large green rug lead from the door to the bed.

‘You are at the pack mansion.’ Marie said pulling the green duvet off my legs. I started crying, I didn’t want to be here as much as I didn’t want to be at the cottage, I wanted to be away from everyone, I was supposed to run away and be free, start a new life up somewhere away from everyone and now I was in the pack mansion, my father probably making plans for me to go back to the cottage.

‘Shhhh, it’s okay, you aren’t going back to the cottage, this is your home now sweety.’ I put my head down and started to uncontrollably weep.

‘I don’t want to be here either.’ I said in between sobs.

‘Amelia, I can promise you this. You will not have the same life that you had with your grandparents. You are part of our pack and you will be treated as such. I can’t promise complete freedom as there are always rules to follow, but that will come in time.’ Marie soothed, as she carefully helped me to my feet. I put as little pressure on my ankle as possible as I could still feel the throb, but luckily my werewolf genes had already started the speedy healing process.

‘I don’t understand. Why now? Isn’t it a bit convenient that I try to run away and then I am suddenly moved into the pack mansion?’ I snapped. I closed my eyes, instantly regretting the way that I was talking to her; but it was as though, I had no filter stopping the words from coming out. I sighed softly and shook my head, trying my hardest to fight back the tears that were threatening to spill before continuing. ‘I thought that I was free. I thought that I was going to escape the prison that was my life.’ I whispered, my voice wobbling with the raw emotion clogging my throat.

‘Sweetheart, there is more to this than any of us know or understand. I wish I could give you the answers that you need. But I am certain that they will come in time.’ Marie answered, not seeming to be bothered by my sudden outburst.

Marie started walking me over to a white door and grinned proudly, gesturing to the room around her.

‘This is your bedroom. Arlo allowed me to choose it for you, not that he had much say in the matter anyway; so, I chose one with an en-suit. Every lady deserves her own bathroom.’ She continued with a beaming smile. She paused for a moment before opening the door we had come to stop at; my bathroom was bigger than my room back at the cottage. There was a toilet, sink, bath and a shower, with still so much room to walk around. It was lovely admittedly, but nothing was going to change my mind. I was breaking out again, whether anyone liked it or not.

I watched as Marie closed the door once more and slowly led me over to the large bay window that looked out over the grounds of the mansion. There were acres and acres of land surrounding us and a little kids park in the front garden; it reminded me of a community town as everyone either lived in the mansion or houses and bungalows around it. I glanced over to the other side of the meadows and could just about make out the cemetery at the back, small carved wooden totems representing each pack member that had passed. Just visible through the line of the trees; I assumed it would be for fallen pack members, I wondered if my mother’s totem was there, but was too wary about asking anyone, I had always been shut down as soon as I mentioned her name, so why would that have changed now? I realised that I had been quiet for a few moments too long and pulled myself from my mental rant. I forced a smile and sighed softly.

‘So, what are these rules that I need to follow?’ I asked, hoping that Marie couldn’t see through my small talk. The more that I learnt about the life of the pack, the easier it would be for me to make my second escape; I just needed all the details. The more I followed the rules, the less noticed I would be. That would make for an easier escape! Marie clucked her tongue and shook her head.

‘My sweet girl, there is plenty of time for all that. For now, let’s get you down to the kitchen for something to eat. I bet you are famished.’ She replied, placing her hand gently on my back and guiding me from the room.

We stepped out into the long hall and I looked across at the red and gold décor that framed the walls. I never imagined the inside of this building reminding me of some fancy hotel, but what else did I expect? Marie slowly walked forward, making sure that I was able to keep up; even with my limping. We continued down the hall and I glanced backwards.

‘Why are there only two rooms on this floor?’ I asked, curiosity getting the better of me. Marie chuckled and shook her head again.

‘I guess that, that is just the way that this building was designed.’

‘Oh, right. I just assumed that there would be more of us, I guess. I always assumed this place just looked like a giant fancy hotel on the inside’ I responded. I glanced over my shoulder once more and took in the two doors that stood together when we stopped once more. I turned my attention back to what was in front of me and couldn’t stop the awe-struck gasp that escaped my lips. We had paused at the top of the grand staircase that curved around to the left which led down into a large main hall. The giant, crystal chandelier sparkled like diamonds above our heads, casting prisms of light across the grey marble floor. Yep! Definitely a fancy hotel on the inside! I turned back to look at Marie who was smiling kindly to me as she held her arm out for me to hold on to. No one had ever been this caring over me, as nice as it was, I was still finding it a little strange. Kind of like this is all some elaborate trick and this is just the build-up.

Slowly we descended the stairs, taking them one step at a time making sure as not to put too much pressure on my still swollen, black ankle. I could hear the faint whispers from the other werewolves that were dotted around the main hall. I didn’t know these people, and they didn’t know me, but that didn’t stop them from judging me anyway. We finally made it to the last step and Marie continued leading me away from the others.

‘Darling, pay no mind to the others. It has been a while since we have had someone new come into the mansion. I am sure they just don’t know how to react to your presence. Things will even out in no time. You’ll see.’ She whispered comfortingly, reaching down and taking my hand in hers. I bit the inside of my lip and nodded, not sure whether I could trust my voice to come out sounding strong and confident. As much as I wished that this could be my new home with my new family, I still knew that I didn’t belong here. I wasn’t one of these people. And, I never would be! The sting of unshed tears burned my eyes and I turned my face away from Marie and looked out one of the floor-length windows that covered the entire wall. To my surprise, it led to a room that held a huge swimming pool, covered over with a greenhouse-like dome allowing the sunlight to pour in from above. I focused on the way that light glistened across the crystal-like surface of the water and found that it had already started to soothe me.

‘This room here is the games room. It’s a place that all the youngsters such as yourself likes to hang out. Maybe you could stop by in there later and meet some of the others that are your age?’ Marie asked softly. I forced a smile and nodded not wanting to come across rude, but it was all so much for me to take in.

We stopped at a pair of large wooden doors with long thin windows and I peered inside. We had made it to the kitchen. I hadn’t realised up until now how hungry I actually was. I hobbled forward and peered in through the glass and took in the sight of the black marble work surface and the white tiled floor. This kitchen was huge. There were a few other members of the pack dotted around the large room, all wearing white and black; the girls wore white blouses with black skirts, and the guys wore white long-sleeved shirts with black trousers, their look finished with a small red apron tied around their waist.

‘They are the servers.’ Marie said, answering my unasked question. I turned my attention back to her with a look of confusion crossing over my face. She smiled down to me and looked back at the workers. ‘Some members of the pack work here. It’s their way of earning some money while they are here. This is their way of making a living so that one day when they leave, they have a little bit of money to help them out while they make a new life for themselves. I nodded and turned back to look at the servers and was shocked to see a girl hurrying over to us.

I took in her beautiful auburn hair, all pulled up into a bun on the top of her head. Her pale skin was dusted with freckles across the bridge of her nose and under her light brown eyes, and she had a smile on her face that would make even the most miserable person smile. Before I had a chance to prepare myself, she pulled the door open and smiled out to us.

‘Oh, my goodness, I heard that we had someone knew in, I just thought that it was rumours! Hi. I am Piper. What’s your name?’ She asked, still smiling down to me. I opened my mouth to reply but no words came out. Piper stepped backwards and gestured for us to walk towards the kitchen. ‘So, how are you finding it here at the mansion? I bet this is a lot to take in, right? I guess we are all just used to this life, it’s all we have ever known.’ She continued. I turned my stare to Marie who just smiled back at me.

‘Piper, we have come to collect the order that I placed.’ Marie said softly. Piper froze, turned her smile to me and then nodded, disappearing out the back and hurrying back to us with a large cupcake cradled between her hands.

‘Here you go. I made sure that they had everything prepared for when you needed it.’ Piper rambled. I nodded and forced another smile and stepped back. Was this cupcake for me? No one had ever really given me cake on my birthday. ‘Well, if you need anything else you know where to find me.’ Piper said one last time before disappearing back out into the kitchen. Marie chuckled lightly to herself before turning and guiding me out of a side door that led us out into the courtyard.

Marie and I stepped out into the grounds and I turned back to look at the building. The Pack Mansion was just as I imagined it, a tall elegant grey stoned building with colour stained windows that glistened in the dusky twilight. If I hadn’t felt like I was being held prisoner against my will, then this building would have been a dream house. She led me over to a wooden bench off to the side and handed the cupcake to me.

‘I hope you like it. It’s a salted caramel fudge brownie cupcake. I just figured that you should have something to mark it being your special day.’ She whispered, planting a soft kiss on the top of my head. Is this what it felt like to be loved by a mother? I thought to myself. I could no longer contain the tears that had been threatening to spill. Marie pulled me into her arms, and we sat there for longer than I cared to remember. We sat and spoke about the way that life was going to be here in the pack, she explained the things that would be expected of me, and that I was still yet to meet my alpha.

Seconds turned to minutes, then minutes into hours, and before I knew it, we were seated beneath a velvety black sky littered with twinkling stars. Marie helped me back to my room and said that she was having some food sent up to me so I could just focus on resting for this evening. We said our goodnights and then went our separate ways. I watched as she slowly disappeared down the hall before closing my bedroom door and collapsing against it. This was going to be a whole new experience for me, but I still didn’t want this life. I needed to plan. So that was exactly what I was going to do.

I had been there for two days and I still hadn’t seen my father or my brothers, nor had I seen the new Alpha; Arlo. Charlie was his Beta, Arlo’s right-hand man. They had been best friends since they were toddlers, so it wasn’t surprising Arlo had chosen him. Marie turned back to me and smiled sweetly.

‘Let’s get you back up to your room. Get bathed, get in a pair of the new pyjamas that I sent for and you can recuperate for a couple of days.’ I nodded, this was all so much to take in, and I think I needed a few days to get my head around everything.

I spent all day and night in my room, I didn’t know anyone else other than Marie and didn’t really want to integrate with anyone else; I was more interested in making sure I was healed enough to make my next escape. I was too shy and not used to being in social situations; and If I am honest, I was terrified of seeing my dad. I knew he was going to go batshit crazy at me for trying to run away and I had a sneaky suspicion that Marie had been the one keeping everyone away from me to give me some peace. But this day was to be different, I was told by Marie; who had come to visit me with a hanger of clothes concealed under grey wrappings, that Arlo had requested that I came down for dinner and that I had to meet my pack, this time I could not argue. I had to obey my Alpha; that was rule number one; but not for long. I had plans to run away again. This time I was going to wait until I had shifted for the first time, I had more of a fighting chance then. Plus, I suppose that I should have learnt everything there is to know about our kind before I go on the run. Not understanding the changes that I would be going through would be awful! I would get what I could from these people and then I will be gone!

Marie had chosen for me to wear a red tight-fitting dress which had sleeves that went down to my elbows, the dress went just above my knees. I think my father would have a fit if he saw me in anything shorter. I had a wardrobe full of brand-new clothes still with tags on them. They were expensive and fashionable, but all I owned were joggers and T-shirts. I thought that Marie had given me someone else’s room at first. However, she was very proud to tell me they were all mine; she had bought them all, as well as all the shoes, stocked my bathroom with the most luxurious toiletries I had ever seen; which smelt divine by the way, and filled the vanity unit with makeup. I guess she was trying to do anything to make me stay. I followed Marie down the large purple carpeted staircase into the main hallway. I watched as she walked with confidence, her long sapphire blue dress shimmered against the light from the chandelier. She was a beautiful and elegant woman, the once upon a time young bride of an Alpha 14 years her senior.

She led me into a hall, which was massive; much bigger than any of the others that I had seen so far, just like beauty and the beasts dancing room only this was full of tables and chairs. A long white marbled table was placed in the middle of the room, it had 22 marbled chairs neatly tucked in, one at each end and 10 on each side. The other tables were not as long but still seated around 16 people each. I knew I was part of a big pack, but I didn’t realise how big. It was the first time I had seen anyone other than Marie for the past two days. Everyone stared at me as I followed her to the biggest table, whispers filling the large room and following me like a wild-fire, I put my head down and stared at my feet.

‘Enough!’ a man roared, slamming his fist down onto a table causing me to flinch. Arlo Blakeley, the Alpha was standing by the front entrance with his father Tristan; my father, a young man I had never seen before and my brothers. He was extremely tall; around 6 foot with black curly shoulder length hair, his eyes were a light yellowy brown; I knew I had seen those eyes somewhere before. ‘As you all know, Amelia Hunt has now officially joined our pack, she is your Beta’s sister, so I expect you all to be respectful and kind.’ he said in a clear, authoritative tone. Charlie turned his face away from the pack, looking more than a little embarrassed at being associated with me and that Arlo had announced that I was his sister; he looked at me like he wanted me to just disappear. It was clear to me in that moment that nothing had changed, I was still loathed. He had never joined my dad on his visits to me, Eddie would always come along though and we both get into trouble continuously, but not Charlie. He let me know that I was nothing to him, and that was just the way that it was always going to be. Eddie was a natural funny person but he was also a menace, I remember once he had placed a whoopie cushion under my grandmothers favourite cushion, it made a terrible noise and she went as red as a beetroot, telling my father he needed to “control that boy”.

Arlo sat at the top end of the table, his father was next to him one side and Charlie on the other. Next to Tristan was Marie, then my father and then me. Next to Charlie was Eddie and next to him was another of Arlo’s friends whose name I had yet to learn. Other important pack members filled the rest of the table. It was so daunting being sat around all these people who either didn’t know me, but knew of me, or they simply despised me. For once me and Charlie agreed on something, because at that time I just wanted to disappear.

Everyone sat chatting amongst themselves while I stared down at my hands refusing to make eye contact with any of the others. Although, every now and again I would feel the burning hot stare of Arlo boring into me. I was too nervous to look up. The main doors to the hall flew open and the most amazing smell filled my nose, causing my stomach to growl.

We were served a beautiful hog roast, with all the trimmings, crackling, steamed veg, roast potatoes, parsnips, fennel infused gravy and to finish off there was the largest selection of fresh fruit, cakes and other pastries for dessert. It was the best meal I had ever eaten in my life. I ate with my head down the entire time, not talking to anyone or risking eye contact with my brother’s.

Sitting next to my father was horrible, I felt his eyes on me every now and then, his angry, disappointed eyes tearing into me like lasers. I knew after the meal I was in for it; Marie may have managed to keep him away from me while I was hidden away, but now there was no hiding. This man was determined to keep me locked away for the rest of my life, I was sure of it.

‘Excuse me Miss Hunt, would you like a glass of wine?’ A gentle female voice said. I looked up, the red-haired girl with a soft freckly face was holding a tray full of glasses of wine, red, white and Rose’ I had never had alcohol before, and I knew my father and Charlie would certainly not approve.

‘Piper, right?’ I asked with a soft smile. The girl nodded, looking happy that I remembered her. I turned my attention back to the glasses on the tray and nodded. ‘Yes, that would be lovely, thank you. Could I have some of that one please?’ I asked pointing to the Rose’, she placed the glass of wine in my hand and smiled.

‘That isn’t a very wise thing to do Amelia’ my father hissed leaning towards my ear so no one else would hear.

‘Nothing I ever do is very wise according to you father.’ I replied, rolling my eyes, before taking a large sip of the pink liquid in my cup. I looked up at him and fluttered my eyelashes, he was extremely pissed off, and I was loving it.

‘We will talk after this meal’. He growled through clenched teeth. I rolled my eyes and took another sip of my drink this time a bigger mouthful, Eddie was grinning at me. He clearly found me annoying our father funny. Charlie on the other hand, looked furious with me, he slowly shook his head at me and then glanced up at the father and widened his eyes as in, ‘well are you not going to stop her?’ I’m not entirely sure why me having a glass of wine seemed to be such an issue, I was well within my rights to drink. ‘What?’ I mouthed at him before taking another mouthful of wine. His face went bright red, steam may as well have been coming out of his ears. This time I looked at Arlo, he was smirking at me, clearly very amused at our family disagreement, his sipped his red wine as he looked at me, unblinking. My eyes met his. I knew those eyes. Why did I know those eyes? I sat for a minute. Why did I know those eyes? I allowed myself to get lost in thought for a moment; not understanding how I could recognise someone when I had never been here before, when it suddenly hit me!

The eyes! I had seen them before! He was the black wolf in the woods. My stomach did somersaults, and I thought I was going to throw up. My Alpha was the one who saved me?

Could my life get any worse?