I slid out of the bed as quietly as I could, collecting my clothes from the floor and creeping out of the room. I rubbed my eyes as they were harassed by the glare of the bathroom light; it was still dark outside so my eyes needed time to adjust. I used the guys bathroom and pulled my clothes on, spritzing myself with the aftershave the guy had left on his sink for good measure. I'm sure he wouldn't mind.

I could hear his soft snores from here, which was a good sign that he was still asleep. I forgot to ask if he lived alone, so I'd have to make a beeline for the front door. I hated when they wake up as you leave; it's always awkward having a conversation afterwards when it's obvious you both just wanted a hookup and nothing more. If you wanted something more you wouldn't be looking for it on a club dance floor the night before.

Double checking I had my wallet and phone, I left the stranger's flat, much to Icarus' relief. He hated when I engaged in these kind of hookups because he found no joy in it. Descending down a couple of flights of stairs, I found myself in a pretty nice area of the neighbouring city. It was probably around four in the morning and everything was still. A black cat crossed the road and disappeared behind a bin, its shadow dancing on the wall behind as if it was trying to catchup to the speedy feline.

I could see a corner shop sign in the distance and decided to head that way, following the neon colours in the distance until I was pushing open the heavy metal and glass door. The door chimed as I stepped inside, the fluorescent indoor lights harsh against the natural, dim light of the moon. The shopkeeper eyed me from above his paper, nodding to greet me before lowering his eyes back down to the page in front of him.

I stepped around the loose bottles of fizzy drinks scattered around the base of the aisle and past the random assortment of tinned goods and dried noodle packets before I came to the refrigerated drinks in the corner. The assortment was completely random, yet familiar, as they stocked the same random assortment as any local corner shop. A mixture of name-brand, off-brand, and imported goods too. I know too well that N.J would choose the Caribbean drinks for their brightly coloured blues and purples and syrupy, sugary taste. Mila would probably go for the aloe-variety; something fruity.

I chose an iced coffee.

I walked to the till, placing my choice down and fishing out my wallet from my pocket.

"Is that all, boss?"

I glanced up at him as he look back at me. I looked back down at my drink and then at the shelves underneath the till. I spotted a packet of those peanut-butter chocolates and chucked them with my coffee without thinking, dropping a couple pound coins and taking my change.

As I stepped outside again, I scrunched my nose. I'm not entirely sure why I chose this; I don't even like chocolate. I sat on the steps of the building next to the shop and popped off the lid of my coffee, taking a long sip and relishing the way it hit the spot. I eyed the obnoxiously orange packet and tore it open, the sickly smell of chocolate hitting my nostrils immediately. I usually went for bitter flavours: grapefruit, coffee, lemon. If I was going to buy chocolate it would usually be dark or at least some kind of citrus, ginger or coffee flavoured. I bit into the chocolate anyway, pleasantly surprised by the taste.

I finished the pack. Even Icarus enjoyed it.

I headed off in the dark to find a taxi stand, coming across one a couple of streets away at the junction of a busy main road. I popped the rubbish from my snack into the bin and approached the drivers window, giving him the address before I hopped inside and slumped in the backseats.

"Good night, lad?" The cabbie asked, glancing at me through his rearview mirror.

"It was okay." I nodded.

"I remember when I was your age. I loved going out and getting sloshed with my mates. It's a bit different now, of course, a lot more drugs and what not about. You don't seem too bad, but some of the youth I get in here couldn't tell you what planet they were on, I'll tell you."

I smiled slightly at that, nodding.

"I don't drink." I stated simply, "Teetotal."

"Oh. Quite surprising, mate, I'm not gonna lie. Don't get many your age who don't drink. Especially the clubbing lot. Can I ask why?"

"I'm not a fan of drunk people." I answered honestly, "They're messy. People use it as an excuse for bad behaviour a lot of the time. I don't want to 'let loose'. I like control."

The cabbie hummed in agreement, although he clearly didn't agree. That didn't matter, I'd still enjoyed the slight conversation. It was refreshing to be asked about normal teenager things and my opinion on them; rather than for my opinion on the status of the pack security measures. Obviously, I didn't tell him the other reasons for my sobriety. Icarus wasn't a fan of mind-altering substances; when I first tried alcohol he didn't speak to me for days afterwards, and I decided never again.

The rest of the taxi journey was completed in relative silence and I enjoyed my time watching the world fly past in the window. There was something so serene about being in a car at night; I loved night drives, but it was also nice to experience it as a passenger from time to time.

I tipped the cabbie and thanked him before crossing the park, approaching the men in the treeline with a nod as they lowered their heads. Technically, I was going to be in charge of all of this. All of these people. Weird. I occasionally wondered what they thought of the three of us. Other than Ava, and sometimes Cameron, Gracie or Xavier, our little trips to the next city over were unknown. However, these security guards are always present to see us getting home at all hours of the night; sometimes we arrived all together, but sometimes as a fragmented group. Depends whether I was in the mood to get laid or not.

"Do you require a car?" The security guard offered, but I waved him down.

They always offered and we always declined.

I stepped past them and followed the barely noticeable dirt path through the winding trees, finding the clearance where the walls towered above. I waved to the camera and the door clicked open, allowing me to enter pack land and stroll towards the pack house quietly. The crunch of the wet leaves under my feet was less satisfying now that it had been raining quite heavily and they were no longer dried out.

I let myself into the building and headed towards the kitchens. They would be starting preparations for breakfast soon, but it should still be empty for the time being. I opened up the heavy metal door into the pantry and eyed the shelves upon shelves of ingredients. Eventually I found some leftover pizza and took a slice, chewing it as I left the pantry and back into the quiet halls of the pack house.

It was eerie to experience the pack house when it was this quiet. Usually it's packed to the rim with people, all coming and going constantly. There are kids running about and teenagers hanging out, but right now it's silent. I headed up the stairs, stopping by my room to pick up some things before I headed back to the stairwell and continued upwards.

As I left my room again, I could hear somebody else moving down the halls, which was bizarre for this time of night. Icarus was alert to their presence so I moved quietly, going unnoticed by the individual. I watched him tiptoe his way past my door before he realised I was stood right there, giving him the fright of his life. I covered his mouth with my hand, not wanting to wake up half of the pack house. When I was sure he wouldn't scream, I let go.

"I'm sorry!" He squeaked out in a half-whisper, shuffling his feet and looking at the floor.

"It's okay." I shrugged simply, "Where are you going?"

"Back from a party." He admitted, nervousness threaded through his voice.

Despite it being dark, the residual moonlight was illuminating a fair amount of him. I towered over him, but he was still a wolf so he came up to my chest, unlike most humans. His hair was soft, flopping into his eyes as he faced the floor, which disguised his remaining features.

"Sounds fun." I nodded simply, walking down the corridor to where I was going.

He was pretty cute, but it was strange how he stood still on the spot where I left him until I could no longer see him. I then heard the patter of his feet rush down the corridor and up the opposite staircase, like he was running from a hellhound. Icarus enjoyed that.

Just down the hall from Xavier's office door was a window that opened up wide, opening to a sheer drop of over forty foot. Just outside the window, however, is a ladder bolted to the side of the wall that leads to the roof. During renovations it was recommended to place it there to make roof access for repairs easier, according to the pack records. While the drop below is quite intimidating, I like to climb up there from time to time. Having to read pack records comes in handy from time to time, I suppose.

I crouched on the window sill, hooking the window on its wide-open latch to allow me to use it as a handrail to latch myself onto the ladder and swing my feet from the ledge onto the first rung of the ladder. The ladder creaked and my heart pounded, but I continued to climb. The ladder curved over the edge of the guttering and onto the sloping surface of the tiled roof. Where two sections of the roof met was a slight ridge that was comfortable enough for me to sit, so I swung my legs from the ladder, scrambling onto the ledge and nestling into the nook.

Just past the spire, the sun was gently raising from behind a sea of treetops dusted in gold, red and green flecked leaves. As it moved higher it illuminated more and more of the forest, flooding it with bright morning sunshine. I admired the view as I took out the paints that I had stopped by my room to collect. I rested them atop my backpack, balancing my small canvas in the nook with me. Icarus enjoyed the solitude and I enjoyed the peace and quiet of it.

I sketched out the figure of the painting to begin before unleashing my paints. I blended colours and layered paints while the sun rose, eventually illuminating my canvas with the same sunshine it had graced the treetops with. I noticed a few paint drops on the roof tiles from the last time I came to paint here and dropped the palette while losing balance. Better some paint on the roof than my body on the ground, I suppose. It's not like anyone else comes up here.

By the time I was finished I could hear screams of children from below playing tag. The hum of cars reached my ears occasionally and the general hustle of the pack house picked up as the morning went into the early afternoon. Packing away my paints, I placed everything messy in ziplock bags to keep my bag clean. I had done this enough times to learn the hard way.

I rested for a moment longer, enjoying my time up here, before I began my descent. I hadn't slept in well over twenty-four hours now and I was dying for a nap before Mila and N.J would eventually come knocking when they woke up. I climbed down the ladder with one hand holding the bars and the other holding the wet canvas, moving as slow as possible to remain safe. I had quite a bit of practice of this part.

As I got to the bottom of the ladder, I rested the canvas on the windowsill so I could have two hands to move from the ladder to the windowsill. I was halfway from moving my body over, one hand and foot on the ladder, one hand and foot on the windowsill, when I heard it.

"Alexandros Greg Gille, what on earth do you think you're doing?"

The authoritative voice caught me off guard and I damn near fell backwards, my footing slipping off the ladder. I composed myself and gripped the window handle for balance as I lunged forwards, stumbling inside. I crashed down, taking a plant pot down with me as I fell. At least I fell the right way. My wolf was mortified, but too proud to show it.

I looked up at the elder who had spoken to me, now glaring down at me, and at Xavier who looked less than impressed. I was still dressed in the clothes I went clubbing in, and then removed, and then redressed in, so I knew I looked obviously a little rough. Maybe even a couple of hickies.

"Apologies, Elder. I was painting."

"Up on the roof? Do you really think that's appropriate? Or safe? What kind of example do you think you're setting the other pack members?" The elder asked incredulously.

"Nobody saw me."

Xavier shook his head. I knew that wasn't the point, but it was true. How can I set an example when there's nobody to witness the example I'm setting? It's ridiculous. I held my tongue on saying anything more since Xavier was giving me a look hinting that I was just putting my foot in it further. It was hard to hold Icarus back, though, when he felt he was being unjustly scolded. He didn't really respect the elders because his ego was so big the he felt himself above pack restrictions.

"Xavier and I were just discussing, before this little... incident, that we think you should attend the next pack meeting. Get a feel for things and give your opinion on the issues raised. You show great potential when you're not climbing roofs." The elder spoke, "Read through the relevant material beforehand. And I mean beforehand."

Well, that made Icarus happy.

"Of course, Elder." I nodded, "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Alexandros. Don't disappoint."

"Go get some rest before you start reading." Xavier chuckled as he and the Elder passed by, slapping a heavy stack of papers in my hands.

I nodded, surprised by the interaction. That was the nicest any of the pack Elders have ever been to me and Icarus was over the moon. Especially considering the circumstance of me flailing through a window beforehand, that was an incredibly pleasant interaction. I shuffled the thick stack of papers into one arm and picked up my abandoned painting with the other, heading to my room.

Never before had Mila or N.J been invited to attend a pack meeting. We had attended out of circumstance; nobody was around to take care of us as kids so we sat in the corner and played, but never had one of been invited to partake in a meeting. It was quite flattering to have my hard work towards the role be acknowledged, but it felt strange to be approaching something like this out of sync with N.J and Mila. We usually did everything pack-related together; we were a trio.

That being said, I wasn't going to turn this down. Icarus would never let me, for a start. I know showing up prepared and engaged would make my father proud, and that would be reward enough. It was rare that we got to see each other much anymore, with him working so much and me living at the pack house now, so it would be a good opportunity to show him all of the effort I had been putting in.

Upon entering my room I placed my painting in the sun to allow it to dry before heading to my desk to sit down with the papers. I know Xavier told me to rest first, but the curiosity and eagerness Icarus and I both felt to see what we were going to be discussing at the meeting was too strong to ignore. I shuffled through the papers, scanning the titles of the reports as I went. There were a few boring, but practical, topics, but then there it was.

The final report was titled: 'Alexandros Gilles, pack Omega, promotion to Head of Security: Plan'.