Sadie

When Jade mentioned a pack house, I'd imagined it to be big. At the very least, I expected it to be a house. That wasn't too much to ask, was it?

Apparently, it was.

Jade led me onto uneven forest paths winding through the trees, many of which were being reclaimed by nature and overgrown. After a fifteen-minute walk we reached a clearing in the forest. We stopped in at a cabin surrounded by flowerbeds and a picnic table out front. It was clear the cottage, and the flowerbeds had recently fallen victim to a fire... or to some sort of disaster.

The grass and foliage were charred black at some places, and upon closer look, the cabin and table had clearly been wrecked and repaired. The roof didn't have the same colour straw everywhere, and they had attached wooden planks to the existing structure with nails to reinforce the weak spots. A tornado and a fire? A fire tornado?

"This is your pack house?" I asked, pointing at the pathetic ramshackle cottage in the middle of the field. "No offence, but I expected a little more."

Jade's lip curled up in a sneer, but then she regained her posture. "We were recently attacked. They killed our last alpha behind this building," she spoke with deliberate calmness.

I felt a stab of regret in my chest for my flippant attitude. I could've known people had died in this field judging from the burned ground and damage. Still, I wasn't about to take my words back. Apologising to a kidnapper was the last thing I'd do. "So, you thought it would be a great idea to take your next alpha, me apparently, here as well?"

Jade's jaw clenched, but she still kept her cool. "It's... better to meet a few of the others here first, before introducing you to the entire pack."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever you say. Being your 'alpha' doesn't seem to mean I get any choice in the matter."

"You will get a say... if you just." Jade sighed. "Do me a favour and try not to aggravate the other pack members immediately? I also brought you here for your and your brother's own protection, as you know. I didn't take you from your dorm room for fun."

"Are you telling me they're going to try to kill me too if I don't play nice with them? Great, I feel so much safer already."

The angry words kept coming to me. I wasn't doing well on the 'keeping cool' front, but Jade was distracted. She stared at something behind me. For a moment, I thought the werewolf welcoming committee had arrived, but then a familiar voice rang out.

"Sadie!"

I whirled around. "Mylo!"

Relief flooded me as I saw my little brother standing in the grass. Then I scowled when I laid eyes on the man who'd taken him. He was standing a little too close to my brother. He kept doing that, but I ignored it for now. I ran towards Mylo and captured him in a right hug. He wrapped his arms around me as well with a startled chuckle.

"He didn't do anything to you, right?" I narrowed my eyes at Lasha over Mylo's shoulder. He was still the creep from the club for all I knew.

Mylo released me. He flushed, glanced at Lasha, and then shook his head. "No, uh, he didn't do anything to me."

I knew that look in my brother's eyes, and I was exasperated already. He wasn't honestly going to tell me he still had a crush on the man who took us here. Actually, he didn't have to tell me. I saw it in his eyes.

"I'm fine too, I guess," I said. "Aside from chains being put on me in the car."

"Hi, I'm Jade," Jade introduced herself to my brother with a small wave (I was glad she had the sense to not try to shake his hand in front of me). "I think Lasha already told you everything on the way?"

"Hi, I'm Mylo," Mylo replied, waving back. "And yeah, uh, he told me how Sadie is supposed to inherit this forest?" Mylo vaguely gestured around him.

Jade shrugged. "Sure, close enough. Because of that inheritance thing, we have a few people we'd like for you to meet first."

I crossed my arms. "Mylo and I could use a shower and something to eat and drink first."

Mylo and I were both pretty hardy and would be able to go without food or drink for a while, but I wasn't about to be here against my will and be uncomfortable, too.

"Of course." Lasha dipped his head and promptly walked off, presumably to get some food and something to drink.

With a sigh, Jade gestured at the cottage and started walking. I guessed it looked sturdy enough, even if it was just different planks of woods hammered together haphazardly, so I followed her inside together with Mylo.

The floorboard creaked under our feet, and inside, the destruction could be seen, too. Some of the planks inside were also charred black and the cabin was rather empty—I suspected many of the pieces of furniture were removed.

Once we were in, Mylo and I sat at the table together. Lasha came back with food, which was literally just some soda and a few candy bars that looked ancient, but I accepted them anyway.

Mylo smiled brightly at Lasha. "Thanks!"

Lasha returned his smile, and I wanted a puke bucket. I'd have to sternly talk to Mylo about his behaviour around kidnappers.

I turned to Jade. "I'll have a moment alone with my brother, if you please."

Jade and Lasha looked at each other.

"I'll get the others in the meantime," Lasha said.

"Who are the others?" Mylo asked.

"A few of our higher ranking pack members you should meet before the others at the pack house," Jade clarified. "I will be outside then."

"Listening in on what we're saying, I'm sure," I muttered.

"To ensure that we didn't come this far just to have someone kill you here," Jade snidely corrected. It seemed she'd finally had enough of staying polite. Good. I preferred it when people showed their real face and thoughts.

Jade and Lasha left the cabin, and while I was very aware we weren't really alone, at least I didn't have to look at their faces for a bit.

"We're not staying here any longer than we have to," I told Mylo immediately, because I didn't care that Jade heard.

I had expected immediate agreement, but Mylo didn't nod or say yes. He bit his lip and hesitated. "I don't know. You getting attacked seemed very dangerous. Maybe we do need to wait it out a moment."

I stared at him hard. "You've got to be kidding, right? What did he give you? You're just agreeing to being ripped out of your life? You have work. I have exams. Our parents and friends will worry."

Mylo fished his phone out of his pocket and waved it at me. "Lasha let me keep my phone, so we can call them. And if one of those wolves tries to kill you again, then what? We don't know anything about werewolves. The least we can do is hear them out... and find out what's going on that causes us to get hunted. Isn't there some part of you that wants to meet more werewolves and learn more about our parents?"

I sighed. "They told me they were werewolves, too. And that they fled their pack."

"... Yeah."

"I do want to learn more," I admitted, rubbing my eyes. "But I don't want to do it here. I don't want to be their alpha or land owner or whatever they want from—"

I shut up in the middle of my sentence when I heard footsteps in the distance. Three people. That'd have to be the welcoming committee. I clenched my hands under the table and waited until they reached the cabin.

Lasha knocked on the door, then entered with two moody-looking people. One was an older man with grey hair, brown skin, and hard eyes, the other a pale woman with her blond hair in a tight bun and sharp features.

The woman sniffed the air. "It's the woman. Elizabeth Shaw, right?"

"Sadie," I corrected her.

The woman didn't reply. She walked closed to me and narrowed her eyes. I stared back at her, unyielding.

After a few moments of our staring contest, the woman scoffed. "This is what you bring us, Lasha? Two humans? At least she keeps her chin up, I guess."

The man approached me next and got up in my face. I thought I was up for another staring competition, but then he suddenly raised his fist and swung at me. Before I could react, he stopped, his fingers inches away from my nose.

I leaped up from my chair and glared at him. "What the hell are you doing?!"

The man sighed and turned to Jade and Lasha. "This wins us one month. The next alpha battle they choose us and she loses."

The man turned on his heels and made for the door.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I yelled after him, but he simply walked out without speaking.

Mylo put his hand on my arm. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," I snapped. I looked at Jade. "What does he mean with alpha battle?"

Jade grimaced. She'd gone a little pale around the nose. "There is one obligation that comes with being an alpha, and that is the need to fight. You can lose your territory if another alpha challenges you, and you lose in a one-on-one fight."

"Great!" I let out a laugh as I raised my arms and then dropped them back down to my sides. "I'll yield and then we're out of here, as they will no longer want what I have, right? They'll leave me alone?"

"...You would be correct they'd no longer chase you," Lasha said after a brief silence. He pressed his lips into a thin line. "Because you'd be dead. These alpha fights are to the death."