ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ Raven ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

Being in this place for only a few days, I wasn't expecting to get so accustomed to the inns and outs of the house but all of the wolves I've bumped into so far have been extremely helpful, whether I liked it or not.

I can deal with nasty and distasteful stares but when met with unexpected kindness, I find myself feeling guilty for having the connotative thought that they were anything other than nice.

While I happened to be deep in my thought, I found myself stopping just before I bumped into the asshole who oh so rudely greeted us back at the diner.

Ulysses.

"Mutts should at least have the common sense to bare their necks in the presence of a higher ranking wolf" he said and I narrowed my eyes, my wolf already clawing at me to just snap his neck quickly but I ignored him.

Here we go again with this bullshit.

"What the hell do you want?" I asked, not caring enough to even entertain his self centered suggestion.

"If I had what I wanted, you and your filthy mutt of a brother would be dead. But for some reason, the goddess favors even the most undesirables of our species" Ulysses said, an unimpressed look crossing his features at the last moment.

I'm not sure why but this guy really thinks he's so different from the rest of us, it was laughable.

In fact, I did just that.

"I don't believe I told a joke" Ulysses said as his ears filled with my laughter.

"I just find it very humorous that someone who's significance amounts to the gum stuck on a shoe believes that they're better than everyone else" I said as I put my hands in my pockets.

"You know, if it weren't for the unfortunate fact that your brother is our alpha's mate, crows would be eating at your carcass right about now" Ulysses seethed in my face and I simply covered my nose for a few seconds.

Someone needs a mint, yikes.

"Yeah, right. Even if you and your lackeys did choose to gang up on us like a bunch of punk bitches, we could have easily taken you. I'm tired of this pointless argument. Just piss off already" I said as I waved him and his breath that smelt like liquid garbage away.

"I'm not done with you" Ulysses exclaimed and I moved my arm before he could grab it while glaring.

"Excuse me?" I said.

"You two don't belong here. I want you gone, hell, dead if I'm lucky" He said and I just deadpanned at him.

Man this guy is really just so annoying. Does he not have something more important to do like oh, I don't know, patrol the borders? I don't even understand how Yulin could allow this guy to walk around freely with the way his breath is smelling let alone be a captain of a patrol unit.

"And why do you think I care about what you want?" I asked.

"Because I'll make it so that every second you and your brother spend here will be so miserable that you'll beg to crawl back to your filthy cave"

All patience that I could have had, or maybe never was really holding on to,
just flew out of the window with that comment.

This guy and her, they were just the same. Two different people but their personalities were so similar that it made me want to vomit at the thought of having this in my life again.

Thoughts of all those times when I would sit there and let that girl berate me when I could have easily spoken up and said something, but instead cowered behind Mika all the time just flashed to the forefront of my mind.

We were only kids but she always made sure to put on a show of how much she hated us, just like this bastard right here and I decided that I nor Mika should have to deal with the same shit in a place that is so far from our childhood home.

Taking the shitty excuse of a were up by the neck, I pushed him against the wall and held him there, watching as he struggled uselessly to free himself of my grip.

"I don't know what the fuck your problem is, but let me say this clearly in order to save me the trouble of having to explain in the future, as to why I ripped this useless tongue out of your mouth" I started before tightening my grip, watching the air slowly slip from Ulysses as his attempts to stop me became more visceral.

"Should anything happen to my brother, understand that I'm within reason to make sure to properly deal with the offender. And I'll take any measure necessary, regardless of what the people around you feel, to make sure the job gets done" I finished before finally dropping the sad bastard on the floor who gasped for air dramatically.

Crouching down, I looked at him with a bored look.

Pathetic.

"You're right, we don't belong here, so it shouldn't matter if I break a rule or two. What's one more pack to be exiled from? But I promise you this, you won't be alive to see it" I said before standing back up and leaving the bastard to grovel.

I have no idea what his problem is but I was sure about one thing, the prejudice that was deeply rooted in him wouldn't dissipate so easily.

Maybe he's had a bad run in with rogues or they killed his family. Whatever the case may be, he had no right to sit there and try to take it out on us.

I can now understand why Mika was always so cautious when it came to other packs, there was no telling what some of them or some of their members would do to rid the world of rogues.

It's only eleven in the morning, why am I already this worked up? Stupid bad breath having bastard.

"Hello" a voice that came from seemingly nowhere filled my ears and I paused before slowly turning in the direction of where the voice came from.

It seemed to be a teenage girl, no older than fourteen probably, her green eyes watching me as she held her mug in her hands.

Shouldn't she be at school right now or something?

"Who...are you?" I asked confusedly.

"No one important. I couldn't help but notice you look upset, is everything alright?" She asked and I was immediately changing my demeanor to match hers.

"Yeah, everything's fine" I said nonchalantly.

"You don't seem to be fine, mister" She pushed and I narrowed my eyes.

"Mind your business" I said and instead of the reaction I wanted, the girl just smiled at me.

"Well, that's no way to talk to a friend. Come, sit" she said as she gestured to the seat across from her.

"If your alpha put you up to this, you can stop. I don't give a shit about making friends with you people" I said.

That wasn't entirely true but I was annoyed right now and didn't want to have someone, let alone a kid at that, poking into my business like they know me.

"Just come sit down. You're so stubborn" she said with a pout and now I just became confused all over again.

Who's kid is this?

Sitting down to appease the little girl, I put my head in my hand and just stared at her.

"My brother always tells me when I'm upset, to make a cup of coco. Would you like some?" She asked.

"No. Why would anyone believe that?" I asked and the girl tilted her head, the blonde strands that fell down in waves behind her following her movements as well.

"Because chocolate is good for your heart?" She said and I could tell she really did believe the things her brother told her as she said it with such a genuine tone.

"What if I told you I don't like hot chocolate?" I said and the girl gave me a frown.

"I would think you have no soul" she said as she shook her head.

Sighing, I let out a small smile.

This girl is strange, she's trying to lend her ear to a complete stranger who isn't even giving her a kind look in return. She really is just a kid and it doesn't seem like Yulin put her up to this so I guess it's okay to relax a bit.

"Well, I guess I'm glad I have a soul" I said and the girl smiled before getting up and leaving out the room.

When she came back, another steaming cup of hot chocolate joined the table and the aroma made me feel warm inside. Olivia loved hot chocolate as well so I couldn't help but stare at the drink fondly.

"Thank you" I said and the girl nodded.

"What's your name kid?" I asked after realizing I've only been referring to her as 'kid'.

"I'm not a kid, my name is Lyra" She said and I raised a brow.

"Okay, kid. I'm Raven" I said.

"I know...everyone's talking about you guys" Lyra said softly.

People were talking about us...that's not exactly a good thing to hear right now.

"Oh yeah? What are they saying?" I asked with a cool demeanor, hoping that she wouldn't think that I was actually interested in what people were saying when I really was just the tiniest bit curious.

"A bunch of different things really but some of it I'm not allowed to repeat back because they aren't nice things" she said as she fiddled with the handle of her mug.

"It's okay, you don't have to say them. I don't really care all that much" I said, sighing a bit, regretting my decision to show that I was interested in such a thing.

"Sorry for bringing something so unpleasant up" Lyra said and I waved my hand in dismissal.

"Don't worry about it. Unpleasant things are typically unavoidable. If you're gonna take something with you from this, let it be that you don't have to listen to that crap. If those punks really had something of value to say, then they'd say it to your face" I said, finally taking a sip of the hot chocolate after staring into it for the past few seconds.

A small giggle rang throughout the kitchen and I turned my eyes up to see Lyra smiling at me.

"I like you mister" she said and I turned away.

"I don't really care if you like me or not" I said, somehow feeling shy all of a sudden.

I was great at interacting with others around my age or older but dealing with children is something I've never been good at. The right things to say sometimes don't seem to come to mind when the time calls for it and I can usually only end up straying away from any interactions with them.

And yet, this little girl seems to have already decided she has taken a liking to me despite me having not been very kind towards her.

"But I want to be your friend" she said, a pout that probably works on all her family members showing on her face.

"Don't you have friends?" I asked and suddenly, Lyra's expression downturned.

"Hm...I don't know" she said.

"What do you mean, you don't know?" I asked. Lyra pushed her mug away before looking to me with an expression that was hardly befitting of a child.

"Do people that hang out with you because they're told to seem like friends to you?" She asked and the air between us remained silent for a few moments.

"No. Not one bit" I said and Lyra's smile this time did not reach her eyes.

"I'm glad you think so too" she said.

Lyra appears to be young but just from this conversation alone, something was telling me that there was more to her than she ever intended to let on.

She approached me of her own volition because I'm new here, so perhaps she just wanted to befriend someone who hasn't yet gotten to hear about her.

Which made me wonder who exactly were her parents...

Her aura was barely detectable, she's young so I doubt she knows how to control it yet but as she gets older I'm sure it'll show itself more prominently if she's the kid of an alpha or a beta.

"Fine, we can be friends" I said, making sure to not seem like I was pitying her while doing so.

Lyra was quiet for a moment before another giggle slipped her lips. This girl was easily amused and it confused me since I couldn't tell what was going on in her head.

"You're so funny" she said.

"What the heck is so funny?" I grumbled.

"Nothing. Thanks for being my friend mister" She said and this time, I frowned.

"I told you my name, why do you keep calling me mister? If we're friends now, just call me by my name" I said.

Lyra didn't seem to be taken aback by my scolding at all, instead she embraced it with that smile of hers as she nodded.

"Right...sorry, Raven" she said.

Standing up, I pushed my empty cup towards the middle of the table.

"It's fine. I'm out of here, see ya around" I said and walked away before I could even hear Lyra's response.

If she looked disappointed that I was leaving, I doubt I'd have the will power to escape the conversation so easily.

Taking a deep breath as I finally began wandering in the halls, a sudden thought had paved its way into my mind at that very moment.

I noticed it even back when speaking with Lyra but no one here smelled like the outside, no trees or even grass like scents passed through here and it was honestly strange.

I wondered why that was since that wasn't exactly a normal thing for werewolves.

We loved our freedom, embracing our natural forms and bonding with nature has always been our culture. So for this place not to have any remnants of it was a bit strange.

Suddenly, a figure up ahead had me stopping in my tracks just as they stopped in front of me.

"Oh...you" I said without thinking.

Seems like I'm just running into everyone I don't like today.

Yulin didn't seem to look at me with any kind of certain emotion, his face remained neutral even after hearing my not so happy greeting which bothered me.

For some reason, I really did want a reason to hate him but he's done absolutely nothing to me for me to be that way towards him. It's just my own childish jealousy that was at play here and maybe he already knew it.

"I didn't exactly expect for it to go like this but I'm glad we bumped into each other" Yulin said which threw me off.

He's glad?

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Questions. I know you have them. Is there any you want answered? I can do that for you now since I have some free time, we haven't exactly gotten to talk much since that day" Yulin said as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Why is he making an effort to converse with me? I'm pretty sure he just sees me as his mate's brother, there's no need for him to go out of his way to be nice to me.

But then again, he's right about the question part.

"I'm not in the mood to have a chat but there is one question that I have" I said and Yulin waited patiently for my words.

"Why does no one here smell like the nature that's right outside?" I asked and Yulin's demeanor changed in an instant as he frowned.

"Sorry, that is some crucial information I should have informed you two of. Runs are banned here, they have been for the last two years" He said.

I felt like my eyes were gonna fall out their sockets from how wide they shot open.

How is that possible? No one has been past these grounds in two years?

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked dumbly and Yulin crossed his arms.

"The rogue situation here is extremely bad, they lurk just at the edge of our northern borders and always try to sneak in. They're waiting for us to let our guards down so that they can attack" Yulin explained.

All of these people are on edge because they can't let their wolves out, it's no wonder they've been holding grudges towards rogues, we're the ones that are preventing them from doing so.

It was surprising to me that Yulin didn't hold those same feelings towards us. Mika, I could understand since that's his mate, but even me. He treated me no different than a regular person and that was the most surprising part of this all.

"What exactly is the problem? You're the 'beast' of this land, shouldn't you be able to handle this?" I asked and Yulin seemed surprised to hear that word fall from my lips.

It didn't take a genius to figure out who he was, and especially since the neighboring pack to that neutral territory was his and his alone. Anyone could have guessed it really, I wonder if he said nothing in fear of scaring Mika.

"It'd be easy enough for me to take most of them on but even I have to say an entire army is just impossible for any one person and that rogue territory is hardly safe for my warriors to camp in. Until I can figure this out, I would rather deal with the ones that trickle in than go head to head with their entire army" Yulin said and I just let out a sigh.

"Are your soldiers incompetent or something? Surely you have enough manpower to push them back" I asked.

Yulin didn't seem offended by my accusation, if anything he took it very seriously as he just shook his head.

"These rogues are different...stronger than what we usually encounter. I've wanted to try boxing them in to force their hand but to do that I need cooperation from other packs, they're just not willing to help us because they don't wish to lose their own" Yulin said.

Typical, most alpha's won't help another pack if it doesn't benefit them. Why sacrifice your people for a problem that isn't your own?

However, Yulin wasn't an ordinary alpha. His pack was ranked pretty high up on the food chain and one would think helping him out would only bring bountiful benefits.

Though what did impress me was the fact that Yulin had the humility to ask others for help, it made me think that it was okay to stop thinking he was your average run of the mill alpha.

"Is that why you're looking to expand? In case you have to move?" I asked and Yulin nodded.

"We've been fighting them for a while now, and while we have the resources to continue fighting them off, it's more of a loss to keep using them" Yulin said.

"Mika's good at things like strategics and what not, you should ask him what he thinks" I said and Yulin's eyes that seemed dull until now seemed to light up a bit at the mention of my brother.

"Is that so? I'll be sure to do so then" he said, a smile that made me want to mentally slap myself appearing on his lips.

Damnit, I didn't mean to be a helping hand in their relationship by giving them alone time together.

Bleh, whatever.

For now, I'll just keep my objections to myself, no matter how much I wished to voice them. My brother only deserved the best and even if he might, I certainly won't settle for less.