I woke up and immediately texted Avery back if we could hang out tomorrow and she responded with an excited yes.

I was honestly so excited to hang out with someone and I hope it goes well. Ready to see something out of this pack. I didn't like where I was and everyone treated me like I didn't belong here. Ever since I could remember I was treated like this by everyone, including my parents. I never left the pack either as I had nowhere to go. I have never felt as though I belong anywhere.

After laying and bed playing on my phone I finally decided to get up and get ready for the day. I have to assist my mother put the house back to normal after the party last night. Probably cleaning up trash, washing up dishes, and taking down decorations.

After showing, brushing teeth and hair, I put on a pair of athletic shorts and a cropped tank and headed downstairs to eat some breakfast. I made myself a bowl of cereal and my mom came in the kitchen, dressed for the day. 

She always dressed as though she needed to impress someone, even if just cleaning up the house. With black slacks and a blouse, makeup on and hair curled. She is a beautiful woman, but her personality took away from that beauty. She always tried to make me dress up for everything, but it just wasn't me. I did not care of what others thought, I just dressed for me and not for the gaze of others.

"Good morning Emma." She said to me. I nodded back as my mouth was full of cereal. "I want to bring out the valentines decor since it is just around the corner."

"Okay. That sounds good." I said back to her, finishing up my cereal and drinking water.

"First, we need to clean up the mess that the guests made. Oh, did you enjoy the party? You spend so much time alone I am sure it was nice to be around people." She said, sounding disappointed in me. It wasn't my fault I was seen as the pack outcast even when I tried to do everything right.

"Well, I think I made a friend. We are actually hanging out tomorrow." I said, welcoming the smile that formed on my face.

My moms face lite up and she walked over to me.

"Oh, are they from this pack?" She said, smiling at me.

"Her name is Avery and she is from Alpha Theo's pack." And with that statement her smile dropped.

"You couldn't find a friend from somewhere else, from her?. That alpha Theo is bad news and I don't want you anywhere near him." She said. "There are plenty of great girls in this pact, they will be a better influence for you. Anyone from that pack cannot be good."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at my mother and her horrible attempt at caring about me. It made no sense to me why she was acting, when I knew she didn't care about what happened to me. Only what people thought about her.

"I am not going there for him. I am going there to see Avery." I said, taking my bowl to the dishwasher. "She is really nice, dad even met her."

"Well, I'll have to ask about it later. Now let's get started." She said, changing the subject.

—-
After spending the day cleaning and decorating with my mother it was finally time to get ready for bed. The day went by long and boring and on more than a few occasions she made me want to rip the hair out of my head.

I was nagged all day about how I was cleaning and that I wasn't putting the decor piece in the exact right place. It was exhausting being criticized for every little thing I was doing.

-----

Beep beep beep

My alarm woke me up from my phone. I hit end alarm and got up for the day. I couldn't wait to go somewhere different with someone who shared similar interests as me. 

I decided to wear athletic shorts and an oversized tee since we were going hiking. I grabbed a few granola bars and filled my bottle with water and ice, trying to be quiet and quick as I did not want to run into my parents before I left. I did not want them to try and stop me as they tried for dinner last night.

They tried setting me up with a group of girls to hang out with instead, but I didn't listen. I headed to my car and drove the 20 minutes to Avery's house. I pulled up to a gate, a man stopped me and knocked on my window and I rolled it down.

"What is your business here?" He said, in a stern tone. I knew he was border patrol for the pack. My pack did not have security like this and it caught me off guard.

"Just visiting a friend." I said to him, my voice cracking with nerves. I hoped Avery told them I was coming because I did not know if they would let me in if not.

"Name?" He said, looking at an iPad.

"Emma Jones."

"Okay, everything looks good, head through the gates and have a good day here."

"Thank you."

I drove up to Avery's house. It was a cute, blue, one story house. I texted Avery that I was here and made my way to the front door. It opened and she stood in front of me, smiling at me.

"Come inside for a second and meet Tessa before we start heading out."

She pulled me over to a girl my age. She was dark skinned with brown hair and eyes. She was very pretty and her smile was big and bright.

"Hi Emma." She said, waving at me.

"Hi Tessa, it is nice to meet you." I said back to her.

"Let's get going. I had a backpack full of snacks and drinks." Avery said leading the way. "Tessa said she will have lunch ready for us when we get back."

"Bye baby." Tessa said, kissing Avery.

We walked five minutes to a trail and made our way through the woods.

After 30 minutes of hiking we made it to a stream. I took in all the nature and the sounds of the birds chirping. We sat on a rock and ate snacks and drank some water.

"I'm glad I met you. Tessa hates hiking and though she comes with me I hate dragging her into the woods." Avery said.

"Yeah, I have nobody to hike with me either." I said.

"The Alpha and beta like to walk these trails too. I've ran into them before. Hopefully we won't today." She said, looking around, like in case he appeared.

"Why's that?"

"Just awkward honestly. He doesn't talk much unless it's with the beta. The beta is cool though. A bit of an idiot, but cool."

"Yeah, I don't really want to bump into them either."

Just as I said that I heard twigs snapping behind us, our heads wiped back to see three men walking towards us.

"Is that..." I said, but Avery interrupted me by growling. I figured that it wasn't her Alpha and panic set in.

"What are you doing on pack lands rogues."

"Just wandering around. You two are very beautiful and we just had to get a closer look." The man in the middle said.

He was tall, with blonde hair and a smirk on his face. One of the men inched towards me.

"Get the fuck away from her." Avery sneered at him, pulling me behind her as to protect me.

"Okay momma bear." The the guy said, raising his hands laughing.

"My alpha is on his way. So, I'd suggest that you all leave and never come back." Avery said, confidence in her voice.

"No, this is not how this is going to work. I make the orders around here not you."

All of a sudden he leaped towards us.