I was running toward a being who lay beaten and mangled, but when I got there the mangled form turned out to be a mirror only reflecting what sat in front of it. I look at myself, and I have a split lip and a black eye with a handprint on my shoulders where it looks as if someone pushed down too hard. When I look up, the woods around me are on fire, embers raining down around me, burning not only the barren ground but me as well. I look over my shoulder, and a blurry shadow is running toward me. I take off running again, and I meet the girl from my dream last night motions for me to follow her. I do. For some reason, I trust her. By the time we meet, two shadows are stalking close behind us, but one thing is clear: those shadows are not our own.
As the heat and shadows get closer, I wake up screaming. Unlike last night, I'm not woken by my brother. This fact saddens me once again. According to my clock, it is three in the morning, and I am too awake to go back to sleep. I write a note to my father, the alpha, and Kamrin explaining that I was restless and went on a run around the borders and did not run away. I put on my outfit and walked out the front door. I ran next to the raging river. The other side looked like a haunted wasteland in the foggy dead of the night. I ran past the holding area to see if my brother was where I could talk to him, but all I could hear was the muffled silent screams of the poor rogues in Valley Bay.
As I finish my run and reach my front door, I am drenched in sweat. When I walk in, I see Kamrin and the alpha sitting with my father at the table. I walked in, and their eyes turned at me. The alpha talks first like always. The alpha is first for everything, annoying prick. "Good, you came back. We were thinking you lied on your letter, but judging by your appearance," he said as he motioned his hands up and down my exhausted body. "You weren't lying. Glad we're off to a decent start, and here I thought you would be more of a challenge," he said in a mocking tone.
'You have no clue how much of a challenge I will be,' I thought in my head, disgusted I had to act obedient.
"You and Kamrin will load the bus with the other 20 in an hour and a half. You better be ready or will load you like you are," commanded the alpha.
I walked up the stairs and sighed loudly. After that little unpleasant scene, I showered, did my hair and makeup, and went downstairs to get food, but with each step I took, my yellow flowy tee-shirt moved and revealed my stomach partially. When I noticed this, I tried my best to keep it covered. I grabbed breakfast, which was two pieces of toast and a peach, and then tossed a banana into my backpack, so I could eat it later if I got hungry.
In my backpack, I had a pocket knife, pepper spray in the fashion of a keychain, two books, and a water bottle. I walked out of the house where Kamrin was waiting for me. I instantly looked away from him. I kept my head high, however, unwilling to give him any satisfaction.
"Hannah, I'm sorry all this is happening," he commented as he took my backpack, opened it, and looked at the contents. He then took the pocket knife out and handed me the bag back. "We cannot have you carrying weapons in your situation, dad's orders," he said apologetically as he slid my silver-coated knife into his back jeans pocket.
"Dad's orders? Dad's orders? Don't give me that load of crap. First off, you said if you claimed me, you would reject me, so I could be free, looks like you had other intentions. Secondly, and most importantly, you beat and threaten my brother. My best friend would not do that. To top it off, you never objected to your father! You know he listens to you!" I screamed at him as we started walking to the bus loading area.
"Hannah, I'm sorry. Orders are orders. As to firstly, plans change you will be mine if Luka does not claim you. Secondly, you don't know me as much as best friends would. I have to follow my father's orders. Thirdly, you should not have opposed my father either. He is your alpha, as is he mine. He would not have listened to me. You will listen to him even if it costs you your life," he screamed back, his teeth gritted.
"This just might," I growled loudly, but weakly. With that, our conversation ended, and we remained in silence as we paced toward the others.
The bus was there waiting, but it was not a bus I wanted to take a five-hour trip in. It was a normal school bus, not a charter. Normally, I would not complain, but because I was being forced to do this, I was going to demoralize this trip as much as possible. Kamrin and I started walking over to the bus. Despite his long legs, he was behind me as we walked, probably nervous I would run last minute. When I got to the stairs, he gave me a gentle push up them. I walked up the stairs and saw some girls laughing, some crying, and a few boys thrown into the mix. When I got to the top stair, I noticed that there were names on the seats. Guess whose names are on the very first seat: mine and Kamrin's. I did not have the luxury of the aisle seat; I got the window seat. No one is in the seat behind us, so I am starting to think I am more or less a prisoner on this trip.
As I took my seat, Kamrin slid in next to me. "Looks like you'll have to talk to me or ride in silence, my dear," he said with a smirk as if he had won.
"First off, I'm not your dear, and I never will be, jackass. Secondly, I am an independent woman I can ride in silence," I retorted in the same confident manner he had used.
"Ha, that's cute. You think you aren't 'my dear', but you will be after this week. It's either me or a monster. I respect you're independent, but five hours in silence? That's something you can not do. You can not even go five minutes," he said back mockingly, releasing a chuckle.
After his last statement, I was left speechless for probably the first time. With my silence, the bus roared to life and started moving. These five hours are going to be hell. I looked at him with a face contorted with resentment. He simply smiled at me, as if I was a child throwing a tantrum.
I pulled out a book and started reading. It was really good. It was about a girl who would never see her family, and her friend turned out to be a lying bastard, but it is ok. How fitting for the situation, don't you think? My brother might die, my friend lied to me, and I might be mated and probably killed by Luka, just great.
I get to chapter seven of my book, and I've only killed about forty five minutes. When I flip the page to start chapter seven, the book is ripped out of my hand. I look to see who the culprit is, but I already know it's Kamrin. He marks my page thankfully, as he closed my book. "Hannah, we need to talk," he said quietly.
"I have nothing to say," I replied coldly.
He looked a little hurt, but more angry than hurt by my words. "You don't have much of a choice," he said.
"I do. I always will have a choice," I said sarcastically.
"Hannah, I will physically force you to talk to me if you don't. You know everyone will turn a blind eye because I'm the alpha's son," he whispered into my ear.
"You're a dumb ass. I will not talk to you," as those words left my mouth, he picked me up and placed me in his lap. I instantly go red. I am now squirming to get out of his hold.
"Talk and I'll let you go. Are you mad at me?," he inquires.
"Fine," I huffed. "Yes, I am mad at you. I'm infuriated with you. You beat the crap out of my brother, you tell me you're going to mate me, I'm basically being held prisoner on this trip, and if I try anything, my brother is going to be tortured to death," I basically scream but only loud enough so he can hear.
"I understand that, but, Hannah, this did not have to happen. If you just went along with this like a loyal, responsible she-wolf, your brother would not be involved, and you would have more freedom," he calmly said back.
"A loyal she wolf? Kamrin, you of all people should know that I am not submissive in nature. I want to be free and will fight to be so," I said as I forced my way from his grip and returned to my seat.
"Hannah it's not that hard…," he started, but I cut him off.
"Not that hard? Not that hard? It would be like asking you to give up your alpha position," I said cruelly.
"I would give it up if it was in the best interest of the pack. Just like you should give up trying to be sat free from this prison. I agree that this pack took a move in the wrong direction beating one of their own, but it was necessary. If the alpha did not, the strongest she-wolf in our pack, if not the nation, would not have gone. This would bring shame and ridicule to our pack," he ranted.
I pulled my book back and mumbled "You're wrong." I knew he was partially right: my pack is all about pride. He looked away from me, unwilling to speak anymore. I knew he was tired of my outbursts. Tired of them myself, I picked up my book and continued where I left off. Once I finished the book, we still had an hour left. I was going to pick up my bag and grab another book, but Kamrin cleared his throat, trying to get my attention.
"Hannah, I was told to tell you this. Our rooms are next to each other, so if you run into any trouble or cause it I will know. Two, I'll pick you up from your room for meals and events, other than that you may stay in your room if you wish. If you don't want to, just come get me and I will accompany you. Thirdly, remember you are to be mated to me, Luka, or another alpha by the end of this. Lastly, and most importantly, behave. We don't want to hurt your brother any more, but we will," he grunted half-heartedly. I gripped the leather seat in order to regain my calm.
"Fine, prison warden, I get it. I'm basically in custody, on high watch. I'll behave only if I get some freedom," I stated in a dominant voice.
"No, you will behave so that your brother can get some freedom," he shot back. His eyes narrowed at me.
"You sound like your father," I said numbly. I looked at the window, noting the sign saying 'Now leaving Kentucky'.
"I learn from the best," he said proudly. Our pack's alpha is not the best. He is far from it. I despise him and do not respect him. All he does is use fear as a means of making his pack behave. He is cruel, and it sickens me to see that Kamrin is proud of his father.
With that, the rest of the ride was quiet. We pulled into a huge pack house about six times bigger than our own. We unloaded our bags, and we were greeted by the past Luna and Alpha of the Fierce Darkness Pack.
Every member chosen from our pack started moving over to the two leaders who were already surrounded by a large crowd of the chosen from other packs. I pulled my luggage along and waited for the others to come gather around. Kamrin was only a few steps behind me.
"Hello, welcome to the mating ceremony for my son and the rest of the Alphas' children. You all should feel honored that you are chosen as the strongest and most beautiful in your pack. You all will be given cards with your names, strength, beauty, and intellect scores on them. It will also have your room number on it. You are to wear your cards at all times. There are two girls per room. With that being said, let the mating ceremony begin," announced the Luna proudly. With that being said everyone, other than me, broke into applause.
Time to hunt down my room. I hope I have a good roommate.
We grab our cards from the people passing them out. My card reads Hannah Jacobs: beauty - 6, strength - 9, intellect - 10; room number - 208. Well, both the beauty and the intellect scores were rather generous. I predicted myself to be a five for beauty and eight for intellect. Kamrin's card read Kamrin Morgan: beauty - 8, strength - 9, intellect - 5; room number - 210. Kamrin has never been the sharpest tool in the shed, so I was not surprised at his score. With that, I walk with Kamrin to our rooms. The trip is silent. It would have been filled with laughter in the past, before his betrayal. The thought of my brother always makes me sad.
The halls are like a maze. We have already made about four u-turns. It seems we will never find our room. We've basically seen the whole pack house except for our room. After ten minutes more of walking, we finally arrived at our rooms. "After you, sweetheart," he says as he motions to my room.
"After you, sweetheart," I say in the most high-pitched mocking voice. I put in the room key, and I opened the door, making sure to slam it shut in Kamrin's face. I look around the room and there are two queen sized beds with pale pink covers, 2 black desks, 2 black dressers, and one coffee table. I see bags on one of the beds, so I go to the other and start to put up my clothes when the bathroom door opens. I look over my shoulder and drop my clothes on the floor. My mouth drops open. It is the girl from my dreams. I slowly turn around to look at her. She looks confused, but not as much as I do. Her long dark hair goes down to her hip. Her bangs cover part of her face. She's a tad shorter than I am; she is skinnier and is tan, but she always carries a backpack with her.
"I'm Kara Barker, nice to meet you," she said happily. I looked at her card, and it read Kara Barker: beauty - 9, strength - 5, intellect - 8; room number - 208. She is pretty weak for a wolf in general, but she is decent for a she-wolf. Her beauty makes up for her low strength, at least in the eyes of the alphas.
"I'm Hannah Jacobs; nice to meet you. Do I know you from somewhere?," I asked. I saw her dark, coffee-colored eyes glance down at my card.
"Their judgment of your beauty surely did not do you justice. I think I know you too, but I highly doubt we have actually met," Kara calmly said. She looked like her pack took care of her rather generously. She wore a knee-length, white skirt with black stripes and a flowy, v-cut red blouse.
"Well, I know I have seen you before. I'm from the Rising Rose pack. What pack are you from?" I asked. At the mention of my pack, she kinda shuffled around and backed up as if it intimidated her.
"Technically, I just joined a pack, they wanted to get rid of me, so they sent me here. Their hoping men overlook my strength due to my beauty. I was a rogue on the other side of the river to your pack. I was forced, by your pack, to join the Moon at Midnight pack," she said with a sad look on her face.
"I see," I stated sympathetically. "How about this, we get to know each other better, and if you trust me, you can tell me all about what's happening, and I'll tell you about where I know you from," I extended my hand which she took happily.
She shook it and gladly said "deal." I assumed she was so eager to agree because she was like me: desperately searching for an ally. After she said that, I cracked a joke to get her to loosen up a little. We talked until dinner about all topics like our favorite colors. Her favorite color was blue, while mine was red. She was a white wolf like mine, but she was a really tiny one that relied on her speed and agility. Once dinner time arrived, there was a knock on our door. Kara went to open it.
"Hi, I'm here to get Hannah," he said kindly. I knew he was putting on an act. He was naturally kind, but he was not in the mood to be generous toward me today. Kara saw right through him.
"No offense, but I think Hannah can find her own way. She strikes me as independent," she snapped strongly, yet respectively.
"This matter does not concern you, move now," he said loudly and coldly. Understanding the menace in his voice and his rank, she moved over to the side, but she slipped on her shoes so that she could remain by my side. I admired that even though she was scared, she would not abandon me so easily, despite barely knowing me.
"Let's go, Hannah," he said as he grabbed my wrist. Kara followed behind us, trailing dangerously close to the fire. When we were in the main hall, Kamrin let go, but Kara linked her arm within mine.
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