3

I picked through the food and tried my hardest to eat, but sitting in the room like this, knowing that everyone was whispering about me in some way had me a little on edge. I never realised how intense and close nit pack life was going to be. I shook my head and noticed one face at the table that wasn’t staring, glaring or whispering about me. Marie. I offered a gentle smile in return, before dropping my stare back down to my lap, where my hands were folded. How long did I have to sit through this torture? It might have been different if I had a friend here. But the only friend that I have ever had in the world was my Pretty Girl.

I turned my gaze to Arlo and stared at him, watching as he tried not to look bored at the conversations that were going on around him. There was a look upon his face that made him seem so much older than what he was. A look that said he had the weight of the world resting on his shoulders, and at any minute he may succumb to the pressure. I took in his curly shoulder length black hair, and the way it moved as he shook his head, clearly getting into a bit of a debate with Charlie.

The sound of shrill, over enthusiastic laughter cut through the chatter, drawing his attention to her side of the table. A look crossed his face that was hard for me to place. It looked as a mixture curiosity and desire, with a hint of something else. I turned my stare from Arlo to the girl and watched the embarrassing scene playing out before me.

I took in the sight of her perfectly straight, platinum blonde hair that seemed to hang all the way down her back, and the way that her blue eyes shimmered whenever she thought that Arlo was actually looking at her. The way that her cheeks flushed crimson as she was fluttering her sea blue eyes and flipping her long hair over her shoulder. I know that I had no social skills so to speak, but even I could pick up on her desperate attempts to flirt with our Alpha. I rolled my eyes and turned my stare back to the glass in front of me. I didn’t know very much about the pack lore; being kept in the dark all your life has that effect on people, but even I knew that the Alpha had to be extremely careful when it came down to choosing his Luna. And if she was the type of girl that was destined to rule our pack alongside the alpha, then things in this mansion were going to take a drastic turn for the worst.

I turned my attention back to the girl and her friends; who were all whispering something to her, causing her to giggle loudly once more. It was obvious why Lori had picked these two girls as her sidekicks. They were pretty, but they paled in comparison to Lori. Their brown and black hair seemingly making them blend into the background. I sat and watched the three girls; or the ‘bitches of Wolfwick’ as I had now decided to call them, and quickly downed the rest of my rose. This time I didn’t even need to look up. Piper reappeared, seemingly from thin air and placed a fresh glass in front of me. I no longer bothered checking for my dad and Charlie’s reaction. I don’t know if it was the wine or not, but I honestly didn’t care right now.

There seemed to be a break in the eating, as people left the table for a bit, going off in little groups, talking amongst themselves. To my surprise, Piper dropped down into the empty seat beside me and smiled.

‘So, how are you finding it here at the mansion?’ She asked, placing her circular golden tray on her lap. I sucked in a deep breath and blew out dramatically.

‘Well, is pack life always like a prison?’ I muttered, causing Piper to bark out a laugh that was in competition with Lori. I clasped her hand over her mouth and cleared her throat.

‘Sorry. Its just strange to hear someone talk so bluntly about the pack. Usually all we ever hear is how this is the place to be. And how people would literally kill to get in here.’ Piper replied, tucking a lose strand of her red hair behind her ear. I bit my lip and closed my eyes. I was supposed to be trying to make a good impression on my first time with the pack, and here I was, insulting the one person that is being nice to me. I cleared my throat nervously and turned my stare to Piper once more.

‘So, do you live in the mansion too?’ I asked, hoping my swift change of subject was enough to get out of the awkward situation that I have just put myself in. It was Piper’s turn to look uncomfortable.

‘Um, actually no. This is reserved for the highest members of the packs. I live out in the bungalows with my parents. Just out there.’ She whispered, pointing out through the large windows that led out to the little village that was within the mansion grounds.

‘What do you think you are doing?’ Came a sharp voice from behind us. I turned to see what was happening, and locked eyes with Lori across the room, glaring daggers at us. I looked back to the person that was stood over us with her arms folded behind her back. Piper jumped to her feet and looked as though she was about to cry.

‘A-Adela… I… I’

‘What makes you think that you can sit down while you’re working. Let alone sit at the table with the higher members of the pack? Do not make Lori have to report this!’ Adela snapped, flipping her lightly curled black hair.

‘N-No. There’s no need for that. I-I’m sorry.’ Piper stammered, her eyes widening in fear as she glanced around the room, obviously looking for Arlo.

‘Who do you think you are speaking to someone that way?’ I snapped, rising from my seat and glaring at the black-haired girl standing before me. Her eyes blazed with anger and her jaw flexed.

‘You may be new, but that is no excuse to talk to your superiors this way.’ She snarled, stepping so close to me that I could feel her breath on my cheek. I widened my eyes and stepped back. Adela smirked and looked me up and down. ‘At least you know to back down in the presence of the higher ranks.’

‘Oh, no. Please don’t think that I was cowering to you. It was just the strength of your dog breath that nearly knocked me over.’ I retorted, my tone sounding bored. Adela’s eyes blazed once more, and she turned her stare to Lori who was watching our show.

‘Why you little-’

‘Ok everyone. Please take your seats once more. The kitchen has just informed us that the dessert trolly is on it’s way up.’ Arlo called, gesturing for the rest of us to do as he commanded. The whole time that our alpha was talking, I never broke my stare from the bitchy girl standing before me. Her eye twitched with anger as she flicked her hair over her shoulder in my face and stormed away.

‘Are you ok?’ I asked, turning back to face Piper once more. She stood motionless in front of me, her eyes and mouth open wide. She nodded quickly before scurrying away back out into the direction of the kitchen. I dropped back down into my seat and took a huge sip of my wine. The sound of the main doors opening drew my attention across the room. The servers all came in with trollies full of cakes, pastries and every other type of dessert you could think of. I always have had a bit of a sweet tooth, so now I finally had something to focus my attention on. On the plus side, werewolves apparently had a higher metabolism than most others, so we didn’t have to worry about getting fat. The moment the servers had left the room once more, I watched as the others rose from their seats and hurry over to the trollies, filling their plates with more food than what seemed necessary. Shaking my head, I rose from my chair and made my way to the trolly furthest away from anyone. Seeing all these desserts at a distance was incredible but seeing them up close was in a whole other league entirely. The kitchen staff should have been proud of themselves; these desserts could have put even the most famous chefs to shame. I completely lost all focus of everything else around me and allowed myself to be lost in my own sweet heaven.

Until. I was rudely snapped from my happy place as someone barged past me, almost knocking me to the floor. I whirled on the spot and came face to face with intense sea blue eyes surrounded by a head of platinum blonde hair. I rolled my eyes and turned to face her fully.

‘Watch where you are going next time. It would have been such a shame for you to make a fool of yourself in front of your entire pack now, wouldn’t it?’ Lori asked sarcastically with a smirk. I felt the anger bubbling up inside my chest and closed my eyes. As much as I hated to admit it, she was right. If I lost my cool now then that would be me making a fool of myself, and my family in front of everyone. So, I did the next best thing. I smiled.

‘I am so sorry Lori. I really must pay more attention to my surroundings.’ I paused and leaned in a little closer. ‘I know that it must be hard for you, walking, breathing and looking where you are going all at the same time. Blondes struggle with even the simplest of tasks.’ I continued smugly. I stepped back and leant across her, scooping a large slice of hot chocolate fudge cake onto the cake slice and slipping it on to my plate. As I began to turn away from Lori, she flicked her arm out at a speed that was even hard for me to see coming. She clipped the edge of my plate, causing it to drop from my hands and clatter to the floor loudly before smashing. The entire room fell into silence and all eyes turned towards me.

‘I think someone has had a few too many wines with dinner.’ Lori called loudly, looking around the room and giggling as if we were friends. She turned her smiling face back to look at me and her smile fell for a moment, a look of pure hatred crossing her face, before she put the smile back on.

I dropped to the ground and began gathering up the broken pieces of plate, before searching for something to clear up the mess of cakes that were now smeared all over the floor. The sound of footsteps rushing towards me had me holding my breath, the image of my father flashing through my mind rushing at me in anger causing me to fell sick.

‘Here. Let me do that.’ Piper said, dropping down to her knees and sweeping up the mess into a dustpan. ‘I am so sorry Amelia. This is all my fault.’ Piper whispered without looking up.

‘What are you talking about? This isn’t your fault; you have nothing to apologise for. Some people just need to be put in their place.’ I growled quietly, glancing over my shoulder and locking eyes with Lori once more. The smirk that crossed her face filled me with so much rage that it took everything inside me to not run over to her and knock it off her face.

‘If I hadn’t of sat down to talk to you none of this would have happened. I am sorry, I should have known my place!’ Piper continued, still refusing to meet my eye. I reached out and placed my hand over hers, causing her to flinch.

‘Pipes, please don’t think that you have to feel that way around me. I am not like these people.’ I said softly. I may have not had much experience with people, but even I knew that there was a right and wrong way to treat people. And the way that this girl was treated was despicable. Piper smiled over to me and I could see the unshed tears shimmering in her eyes when she dipped her head back down to the floor and continued sweeping.

‘Hey, you better go back to your seat. Please, I really don’t want to make anything worse for you.’ She mumbled, keeping her eyes down. I rose to my feet and turned back to face the pack, noting that most people were still staring in our direction. I suddenly had no interest in eating. I hurried back over to my seat, swiping a bottle of rose from the counter as I did. I dropped back down to my seat and poured myself another glass.

I sat in silence, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes for the rest of the meal, and trying my hardest to ignore the whispers that were still about me flowing around the room. Arlo announced that dinner was over and without a moments hesitation I pushed up from the table and downed my fifth glass of rose; I have never been drunk before but I definitely felt a little woozy. I shook my head in attempt to clear my slightly blurred vision and made my way towards the main doors; I suddenly felt extremely hot and needed the comfort of my own room. I placed my hand against the wall and slowly made my way forward. The sound of the chattering around me grew louder until it almost reached a level of intolerable. I closed my eyes and continued stumbling forward, covering my ears with my hands as I went.

I felt my foot scrape along the floor and knew too late that I was going to fall; and there was nothing that I could do about it. I fell into something hard, followed by the sound of sloshing and a frustrated growl. Before I hit the ground, I felt a strong pair of hands wrap around me, holding me in place. I opened my eyes and stared up into the golden-brown eyes sparkling down at me. Arlo.

‘I-I…’ I stammered, scrabbling in my mind to find the right words to say, but my mind had turned to mush. Arlo pulled me back up onto my feet and for a moment I was lost in his gaze. The angry sound of a girl behind him brought my attention back to the room.

‘What the fuck!’ Lori exclaimed, clenching her teeth and balling her hands into fists. I looked from the angry girl to a smirking Arlo; who was obviously trying his hardest to not smile and bit the inside of my mouth to keep myself from laughing. ‘What the hell is wrong with you, you stupid bitch!’ She growled again. I turned my attention back to Lori and fought to find the words when Arlo interrupted.

‘I am sure that Amelia is very sorry. It was clearly an accident.’

‘No! She…’

‘Lori, I think that Amelia can be forgiven. This is her first time with the entire pack and I am sure that she was more than a little intimidated about the entire situation.’ Arlo interrupted, giving me the chance to break free from his grasp and make my second attempt at fleeing the room.

Before I could escape, a firm hand slapped down onto my shoulder causing me to freeze. I didn’t need to look around to see who it was. From the tightness of the grip it could have only been one person. My father.

‘Amelia please come with me; I need to talk to you.’ I froze on the spot and shuddered, by the tone of his voice I knew that he was far from happy with me; but what was new there? I was led to a reasonably sized room, it wasn’t big, but it was certainly four times the size of the living room back at the cottage. I looked around and realised that it was some sort of an office. It had four dark blue crushed velvet sofas. Just in front of them was a round dark-oak coffee table. Then it suddenly dawned on me. I was in the Alpha’s office! I glanced around the room and took in the sights surrounding me.

It was clean and tidy; just like the rest of the mansion, painted portraits of all the past Alpha’s and their Lunas lined the walls; each looking sternly at the artist, showing their intimidation in their image. I ran my eyes along the wall, taking them all in until I finally got to the last one. Arlo. I looked at Arlo’s one, he was on his own, obviously he hadn’t found his Luna yet. It was a very recent portrait, I knew this because he had only just become the pack’s Alpha; I assumed that the portraits were something that happened fairly early on, he wasn’t smiling, he had a serious expression on his face just like the others, except a little less intimidating. He was wearing a black suit with a red satin tie. He really was a handsome guy, and it was a nice photo, but it was a shame that he wasn’t smiling, I still hadn’t seen him look happy yet.

The sound of my father closing the door behind us brought my attention back to what was happening, and I crossed the room quickly and dropped down into the softest sofa I had ever sat on. The minute that I was in it, I felt as though I was in heaven. I regained my composure and braced myself, waiting for world war 3 to start. As soon as he closed the door, my dad turned to me with his disapproving eyes burning into my soul.

‘What the hell were you thinking, Amelia? Why the fuck did you go out by yourself?!’ He growled, crossing the room in three large strides, and stopping inches from my face. I rolled my eyes, surprised by my lack of fear that I usually held of him.

‘I just wanted to go for a walk.’ I lied trying not to make eye contact with him, he always had a way of knowing if I was lying to him or not. I still wasn’t sure that I knew how he could tell, I just assumed it was something to do with looking in my eyes.

‘You know full well that you never go out without anyone else. We have been over and over this.’ He said grabbing my shoulders and shaking me. I shrugged free from his grasp and gulped down a deep breath.

‘But I am 18, it was my birthday, I just wanted a bit of freedom. Especially now that I am legally an adult’ I said quietly looking down at the floor. I was so fed up of looking down at the floor like it was me who should have been ashamed. Why should I have to keep doing it? I didn’t do anything wrong, I never had. I could feel myself getting hot as my anger rapidly began to bubble to the surface, this was going to end badly.

‘Freedom?!’ he cried ‘You cannot have any freedom. It is not safe for you out there! You know nothing of this world, the dangers and th-’ I cut him off before he could say anymore. Why wasn’t it safe for me?

‘And why is that dad? Why don’t I know anything of this world? Hmmm? Because you have kept me prisoner for my whole life? You have done this, not me! And what do you mean it isn’t safe for me?’ I cried standing up and knocking him backwards. He steadied himself and looked stunned; I had never stood up to him before.

‘I have tried to protect you, you un-grateful bitch.’

‘Protect me from what?’ I shouted back in frustration. He turned away from me as he let out a low guttural growl in anger. I waited silently for a moment before I continued. ‘Answer my question!’, but he didn’t acknowledge me. It looked as though he had decided to ignore me and pretend like this situation wasn’t happening, his back still turned away from me. I clenched my teeth once more and balled my hands into fists before continuing.

‘You know what? Fuck you! I hate you. All of you, just as much as you all hate me. Actually no. I probably hate you all more. Why don’t you just let me go?’ I spat barging past him and walking towards the door.

The man who is supposed to be a father to me and yet is a stranger, grabbed my arm and threw me to the floor. He had thrown me with such force that I skidded forward until I slammed into the door with a bang.

‘I am so sick of this.’ He muttered, almost to himself. He shook his head before turning back to look at me. ‘What has gotten into you? You are acting like a spoilt little girl and I will not stand for it.’ He said through gritted teeth. ‘I will not have you embarrassing me in front of my pack. There may be many things that I will tolerate, but that is not one of them!’ He hissed. I turned my face away from him for a moment and closed my eyes, pushing back the tears that had been threatening to spill. There was no way that I was going to show weakness in front of him. Not this time. In one swift movement, he lunged forward, grabbing my wrists and yanked me to my feet.

‘Why did you come here you horrid little bitch?’ He snarled, staring down at me with a look of disgust burning in his eyes. I struggled lightly against his hold, but his grip was getting tighter and tighter the angrier he got.

‘Get off me’ I whimpered, tears beginning to fill my eyes.

‘No, you will listen to me. You can hate me as much as you want, but you will obey me. You will not leave here unattended, you will not drink alcohol, and you will be respectful to me at all times, especially in front of our Alpha.’ I could feel his spit hit my cheeks as I tried my hardest to turn my head away from him.

‘Fuck you’ I hissed tears rolling down my cheeks, I pushed all my body weight into him making his grip loose enough for me to get away. The moment that his grip loosened, I wrenched my arms free and threw open the door, so hard that it slammed against the grey stone wall, and ran through the halls, heading in the only direction I could. I needed to be free from this worthless life. No way was I staying here. Screw shifting, I was leaving right now. And this time I didn’t care if I lived or died.