4

Amelia;

I ran through the halls, not bothering to pay any attention to the people that were standing in the halls, watching as I ran past them. I know that I wasn’t as fast as anyone here, I hadn’t even come into my full werewolf abilities yet, but I didn’t care. I was ready to take on anyone that was going to try and get in my way. The tears in my eyes blurred the faces of the werewolves as I ran past them, but I didn’t care. I reached the main doors and shoved them with both hands with all of my might, not stopping for a second. The minute the cold evening air hit me it seemed to fill me with a renewed strength. The muscles in my legs had began to throb and my lungs were starting to burn. I stopped, placing my hands on my knees in attempt to catch my breath. I straightened and glanced at my surroundings, happy at the fact that no one had appeared to have been following me. I turned back in the direction I had been running and started to walk.

I walked through the gardens of the mansion, tears still streaming down my face. I was so hurt emotionally; I was never going to escape my father and his controlling ways, and I was probably never going to gain “my” packs approval. But I really couldn’t give a fuck. My father kept saying I was in danger but wouldn’t say why or how. But the only dangers that I could see were the ones residing in that damn mansion.

I thought back to the werewolf in the woods, the one that Arlo had saved me from, was that who he was referring to? Or was that just an unlucky coincidence? There was only one way to find out, if my father wasn’t going to tell me, then I would go and find that wolf myself and question him and demand the answers I knew I deserved. The first of which would be “why the hell did you try to kill me?” But who was I kidding? I didn’t know my way back to those woods, a tree branch knocked me off a horse and I had to be rescued by my Alpha. I was pathetic, and a useless individual. Just like everyone had always told me.

I continued walking through the grounds until I came across some stables, I had no idea there were even stables at the pack mansion, especially since animals didn’t tend to like werewolves, something about them being able to sense the beast that lived deep within us. It was strange, I lived in this beautiful big building but knew nothing about it and all of the stuff that filled the land that belonged to our pack.

A horse whinnied and started banging against one of the stable doors, causing me to stop and look around. I froze. I would have recognised this beautiful face anywhere.

‘Pretty girl!’ I cried, rushing over to the stable door throwing it open and letting her out. For the first time, the tears that fell from my puffy blood shot eyes were tears of happiness. I didn’t think that I was ever going to see her again. She was as happy to see me as I was her.

I put my hands on either side of her face and pressed my face into hers.

‘I missed you so much, why did you let them bring you here? You need to be free, not locked in stables.’ I said softly, gently running my hands down her soft nose. ‘Let’s set you free pretty girl. No one deserves to be kept against their will’. I took off my high heel shoes allowing my bare feet to sink into the dry soil and took the clip out of my hair letting it fall back down to my hips. The look in her eye showed that for once, someone understood me and wanted to care for me, my beautiful big friend, my wild horse. It was strange, we understood each other, and I didn’t know how. I was a werewolf and she a horse, she should have been petrified at the mere sight of me, yet we had already built an unlikely bond. I cared for her so much and I wished that I could keep her, but she wasn’t a tame horse. I took her from her friends, a life she was happy in and now she had been locked in stables for a couple of days, most probably terrified by the monsters that stalk around the grounds.

Pretty girl knelt ready for me to climb onto her back, turning her face slightly, watching as I climbed on.

‘Let’s go’ I called stroking her mane. We rode through the dark woods, my hair flowing as the wind brushed past me, again I felt free. For the first time in days I finally felt that I was able to breathe. I wished I could live a life with my wild horse, just me and her, riding all around England, I could find a home with a large stable so she could walk about and not feel like a prisoner and then we could live in peace.

Pretty Girl started slowing down as we got to the other side of the woods, and there was no tracer of the sun in the sky. I was cloaked in a veil of darkness and it made me feel at ease. Pretty Girl stopped a few feet away from a cliff and started eating some grass. It appeared that we had been running for hours, and the poor thing hadn’t stopped to eat or drink once. I slowly climbed off her back and stood staring into the distance. I had never been able to stop and just look at the nights sky before, not like this. In the middle of nowhere everything seemed so much more… magical.

I listened to the owls hooting in the distance behind me, the light wind blowing, gently caressing my bare skin, and Pretty girl chewing on grass. This was perfection to me, the sound of animals and mother nature, this was heaven. How could anyone be kept away from something so amazing? Anger bubbled up within me at the thought of missing out on all the wonders of nature over the past eighteen years. That was time that I was never going to get back. Time that my father had stollen from me. And that was something that I would never be able to forgive him for.

I glanced down the side of the cliff and noticed the little lights that twinkled from the ground below, I assumed that they were from houses and streetlights from a world that had no idea about the monsters that roamed within it. I shook my head, dislodging all the negative thoughts and focused on the twinkling once more. It reminded me of looking at night sky, and that thought was strangely calming.

‘Beautiful isn’t it?’ a deep voice said from behind me causing me to flinch and topple forward. There was a flash of black and pinkie white as two warm hands grasped my shoulders, stopping me from toppling over the edge.

I whirled around and came face to face with the man behind the voice and glared.

‘Oh my gosh you frightened me half to death’ I gasped, not quite being able to contain the rage that was swirling within me; Arlo smiled, not the full smile I wanted to see, just a half smile. I shook my head and clenched my teeth. I actually thought that I was free of that damn pack, for a minute I thought that I had outrun them. I guess I should have known that I was wrong.

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.’ He admitted as he stood staring at me. I wriggled free from his grasp and turned away from him, looking out in the distance once more. I felt him shift closer to me and turn and look out in the same direction as me, his hand folded behind his back. He also seemed to be at peace, unfortunately the same could not be said for me any longer. This was supposed to be my time, my time for freedom. My time for release. But here I was, being reminded that it didn’t matter how far I went, I was always going to belong to the pack.

Don’t get me wrong, I totally understand. I could only imagine what it would be like to have the responsibility of a large pack and he had only just taken over from his father, everything was still new to him. Add that to the fact that he was so young, I am sure there are other pack members that would feel belittled to have someone younger than them in charge. It must have been daunting. But that was still no excuse to now become my new stalker. I understand that the alpha had a responsibility, but he didn’t own me. As of today, no one did!

We stood near the edge of the cliff in silence for a while, strangely it wasn’t awkward, I didn’t feel uncomfortable around him, which was strange, but then I just put that down to him being the alpha. Did that mean that the alpha had some natural charisma that made his pack feel calm around him? Either way, that was still a little creepy. I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath through my nose, trying my hardest to understand the situation that we were currently in. I didn’t feel like he was angry with me for leaving the grounds, but then, would I have really been able to tell as we were stood here in silence, not looking at one another? I exhaled loudly and looked at him from the corner of my eyes. Damn this boy is good looking! I shook my head, trying to dislodge the thoughts of Arlo from my brain before turning to look at him a little more.

‘Did my dad send you?’ I asked breaking the silence.

‘No, he didn’t. I saw you run from my office and told everyone to give you some space.’ He paused for a moment, seemingly trying to gauge my reaction; or lack thereof. He cleared his throat before continuing. ‘I told them that I would come and find you after you had some time to clear your head.’ He admitted. My face flushed and I started feeling irritated once again. How dare he put me in this situation. Allow me to cool off? I grit my teeth once more and shook my head.

‘I don’t need you to come and find me and I do not plan on going back to the pack mansion, so you needn’t have bothered. And I don’t care what you all think you know about me and my family, you don’t so just back off.’ His stare into the distance didn’t break as he put his hands into his trouser pockets and sighed; although there was a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

‘I know you don’t’ I looked at him.

‘You know I don’t what?’ I snapped in reply. He finally turned to look at me, an unrecognisable gleam in his eye. Did he find all this amusing?

‘I know you don’t plan on coming back to the mansion. But that still doesn’t mean that I do not have a responsibility to make sure that you are safe.’ He answered, his voice soft and calm, and surprisingly, caring. I tilted my head to the side like a dog who didn’t understand its owners commands.

‘So why have you followed me?’ I asked, this time my voice a little less aggressive. Was this his way of diffusing the situation? If it was, he was annoyingly good at it.

‘Because I am not the only one who has followed you here.’ My stomach turned in knots when he said that. I looked at pretty girl she was still eating grass, she wasn’t alarmed at all, was he lying to me? Was he trying to scare me? A ploy to make me go back.

‘Who has followed me?’ I scoffed, my face showing how annoyed I was.

‘The same one as last time’ Arlo declared. I looked around, the woods were dark and silent, I couldn’t see anything moving and I couldn’t smell anything. ‘He has gone, he ran when I started following you. But he will be back, and next time and he will get to you. You need to understand he is relentless and is determined to get you alone, I wont always be able to save you Amelia,’ I clenched my teeth once more, feeling instantly infuriated at his words Excuse me? Save me? I didn’t ask to be saved, how dare he.

‘I never asked you to save me!’ I shrieked in frustration, turning on the spot and sulkily walking over to my horse. Arlo’s face changed; he was now looking angry

‘Why are you being so reckless? Why do you have a death wish? Do you want to be killed?’ He snapped, his words causing me to flinch as though he had physically hit me. I was taken back by what he said and I knew that there was no way I should argue back to my alpha, but that wasn’t going to stop me.

‘No, not at all! I just want to be free. Free from a life that I am forced to live. I don’t belong with your people. You know that. I know that. So, just let me go?’ I pleaded, closing my eyes and forcing myself not to cry. Arlo sighed and then walked towards me.

‘You will be free, one day. And I know that you think that you don’t belong with us. But deep down I know that you do. And my father has always taught me that an alpha should follow his heart. If freedom is the thing that you truly desire then I shall grant it to you, but first, we need to stop this wolf that is currently out to get you.’

‘Who? Who do you need to stop, Arlo? Why wont anyone tell me who he is? I feel like I am being shadowed, kept in the dark from my own life.’

‘If I tell you, you promise me, you will come back to the mansion and do as your told?’ Arlo coaxed. I sighed and rolled my eyes, was this information really worth me forcing myself back there? I nodded to myself, I guess the longer that I am there, the more I can try to learn to shift. And once that happens, I can be free. I let out a growl of frustration before answering.

‘You tell me, and I will come back to the mansion, but I won’t be dictated to by anyone.’

‘You forget who your Alpha is’ he smirked with a playful glint in his eye. Did he actually find this amusing? I seriously hated this guy! I mean, he was hot as hell, and when he spoke to me he made my inside turn to jelly, but I still hated him. I was lost for words for a few seconds and then I looked into his eyes.

‘I might do what you ask, within reason.’

‘I tell you what, how about we make a compromise? You don’t go wandering off by yourself and I will personally go for walks with you, that way I can show you everything this place has to offer, as well as ensuring your safety.’ He paused for a second and then said, ‘you can leave the mansion, but you must stay on the grounds, no further than the stables.’ Arlo moved a strand of my hair away from my face, his soft fingers brushing against my cheek. I suppressed the shiver of ecstasy that burned across my skin wherever his fingers touched; he was so handsome, and his golden eyes were just drawing me in.

‘I don’t have a horse.’ I stammered still lost in his eyes.

‘You have a unicorn over there.’ Arlo proclaimed.

‘A unicorn? Pretty girl is a wild horse I took from a field.’ I said turning my stare back towards her in confusion.

‘No, she is a wild unicorn.’ he stated calmly. Was he being sarcastic, taking the piss out of me or did I actually steal a unicorn? I mean, unicorns didn’t exist! Did they?

‘Why are you being so nice to me?’ I asked him as he helped me up onto Pretty Girl’s back.

‘Because I like you.’ He admitted. I narrowed my eyes and considered his words for a moment. I watched as that annoying amused smirk crossed his face and I watched as he circled Pretty Girl before gently placing his hands on her face. Wait. He’s a werewolf. Animals are supposed to be terrified of us. He couldn’t have been serious about her being a unicorn? She didn’t even have a horn. I shook my head in attempt to clear all the confused thoughts from my mind before answering him.

‘But you don’t even know me. How can you say you like someone without even knowing them?’ I watched as he shook his head and chuckled… chuckled! He wandered around the side and I felt as he climbed onto the back of my horse and leant into my ear.

‘Maybe I know more than you think. Or, maybe I see the person that you are destined to be?’

‘You only know what you have been told, that doesn’t mean that you know me.’ I replied bluntly. Arlo didn’t move his face from my ear as he sighed.

‘Do you know how difficult you are?’ He asked, seemingly waiting for me to answer him. He laughed softly and leant in a little closer. ‘You’re right. I apologise. I guess the only way to truly know someone is to learn about them. So then let me get to know you, the real you.’ He whispered, his breath brushing against my ear and sending a wave of desire rushing down my spine. I bit my lip and smiled to myself.

‘Tell me what you know of this man who is out to kill me first, and then I will think about it.’ I retorted smugly. Arlo rested his head against my back and growled playfully.

‘Deal. But you so owe me.’ I smiled to myself and rolled my eyes, seriously, I owed him? Who did he think he was? Although I wanted to be mad at him, something deep inside me longed to know more about him. Arlo reached around from behind me, placing his hands on my hips, causing jolts of electricity racing over my skin wherever he touched. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on anything other than how much I wanted him to touch me more.

‘So, what is it that you know about this wolf? I am assuming that he isn’t someone from our pack?’ I asked, turning my head slightly and talking over my shoulder, praying to anyone who would listen that my blush would go unnoticed.

‘No. He is most definitely not someone from our pack. And if I am honest, I don’t know where he comes from, or who he is. All I do know, is that our pack has been picking up his scent for years. And although he always comes back, we never manage to trace his scent back to where he came from.’ I bit my lip and tried as hard as I could to suppress my disappointment. I really had hoped that I would get some more answers than just that. I reached up and tucked a loose strand of hair back behind my ear and allowed his words to sink in for a moment longer.

‘How is that possible? I mean, someone can manage to evade the entire pack for so many years. And, how many years are we talking?’

‘If I am honest, I don’t know. It shouldn’t be possible. We have some of the best trackers in the world in our pack, and even they struggle to follow it. Its as though someone if purposely throwing the scent off. Whoever it is, is clearly getting help from someone.’ Arlo paused for a moment and sighed softly. ‘And as for how long, well, apparently my father had the same trouble back when he was alpha. So, I would say that this guy has been coming back frequently for just over eighteen years.’ I gasped at his words and shook my head. Surely this wolf hasn’t been looking for me all my life. Why would he do that? There was nothing special about me! I couldn’t even shift for goodness sake.

‘Does your father have any ideas of what it could be that it is looking for?’ I asked, my voice barely that of a whisper. Arlo shook his head and rested it against my back.

‘That’s the thing. No one knows. Whatever it is, it must be extremely important. I mean, why else would someone risk coming onto an elite packs’ territory? If an outsider is found within our lands’ then the penalty is death.’ I nodded once more and tried my hardest to calm my thumping heart. I knew my next question was going to be risky, and I wasn’t even sure that I wanted to know the answer, but I asked it anyway.

‘What do you think he will do if he ever catches me?’

‘That’s never going to happen.’ Arlo replied, a little too quickly for my liking.

‘But, what if it does? What do you think will happen?’ I asked again, this time irritation causing my words to be short. Arlo let out a small growl, a sound that should not have turned me on as much as it did.

‘Are you always this argumentative?’

‘Do you always avoid questions by asking another?’ I retorted. Arlo chuckled and I felt the tremors from its deep notes reverberate up my back, sending a rush of heat into my stomach that begged for him to touch me. His chuckling stopped and a sudden tenseness clouded the atmosphere.

‘Amelia, if I am honest, I don’t know what that wolf would do to you. And I really don’t want to think about it.’ His honesty and the tremor in his voice caught me off guard. The way he sounded was as though it pained him to think about something bad happening to me. But why would he care? Like I already told him, he doesn’t even know me. I figured that this was just an alpha thing. They are supposed to be extremely protective over their packs after all.

We rode the rest of the journey home in silence, neither of us knowing what to say. All humour and good feeling had gone the moment he answered my question and all I could think about was how I just wanted to be back in my room hiding away from the pack. We finally reached the wrought iron gates of the mansion and before I knew it, we were back at the stables.

I had locked Pretty girl safely back in her stable for the night, making sure to give her plenty of kisses before I had left. It was horrible leaving her behind. She was so close to the woods, the place where so many dangers lurked, and I was frightened that something would hurt her. I know that pack lore states that other packs cannot trespass on other pack territory. But that doesn’t mean anything. If someone really wanted to break into our turf and hurt Pretty Girl, then they would. The thought of losing her caused a pain in my chest to ripple through my entire body.

She was the only friend I had in this world; the only friend I have ever had, and the thought of her being hurt or frightened made me feel sick, I just wished the stables were closer to the mansion. Maybe this was something that I could have suggested to Arlo if I had planned on staying here.

‘You really do love her, don’t you?’ Arlo asked, snapping me from deep in my thoughts and bringing me back into the here and now. I turned my dazed stare back to my alpha; who hadn’t taken his eyes off of me, from the moment that he had climbed up onto Pretty Girl’s back, until now. Arlo had decided to stay with me; just so he could walk me back to the mansion. I had told him I was more than capable of getting back myself, but he just would not take no for an answer. Was he doing this out of protection? Or was he doing it because he was worried that I would try to run away again?

I hated how much he was acting like my father; I felt like everyone thought I was incapable of doing anything by myself. All of this “we need to protect you bullshit” was not cutting it anymore, I still didn’t believe him when he had said that someone had followed me to the woods; surely Pretty girl would have reacted to the other wolfs scent? Why didn’t she react to Arlo’s scent? Was it because he had saved me; more than once? Or was there something else about him that Pretty Girl liked? I realised that I was so lost in thought that I hadn’t answered him. I nodded,

‘I guess I do; she is really special to me.’ Arlo smiled at my words.

‘When you’re with her you look so happy. It’s nice to see that. You always seem so… sad’ I paused for a moment at his words and turned to glare at him. Arlo chuckled again! And shook his head. ‘I didn’t mean anything by it. It was just an observation.’ I exhaled softly through my nose, telling myself that there was no need to always be so angry with everyone, before answering.

‘She makes me happy, it must sound really silly, but when I am with Pretty Girl, it’s almost as if she understands me, like she can read my mind’ Why was I being so open and honest with him? I expected him to laugh at me, tell me how ridiculous I was being, but he just nodded along and smiled sweetly.

‘It is strange though. Normally animals don’t like us werewolves. Although she is a unicorn, they are usually worse. They have their heightened senses, just like us. We scare the crap out of them. And then there’s you. She must sense that you are special, that aura that you give off to everyone around you.’ I couldn’t help but smile at what he had said. Finally, I was the odd one out but for a good reason. I would rather be loved by animals then by my so-called family.

I couldn’t suppress the grin that was plastered on my face. It was an unusual sight, me smiling like the Cheshire cat. This was the first time in my life that I had felt happy. I knew that this feeling wasn’t going to last forever, but right her, in this moment, I allowed my happiness to consume me. I had the cheesiest grin on my face, it was actually really embarrassing but I couldn’t help it.

‘What?’ Arlo asked a smile creeping across his face. I shrugged,

‘I like being special to someone.’ I replied, averting my eyes from his and looked out into the darkening scene surrounding us, I glanced at my alpha from the corner of my eye and was shocked at what I was seeing. Arlo eyes lost their familiar happy shimmer and for a moment looked almost sad at what I had said.

‘Hey, it’s not just Pretty Girl that your special too, my mum adores you.’ I nodded, Marie did seem to really care about me, I am not entirely sure why, but she was definitely one of the nicer higher pack members and it was obvious that Arlo was more like his mother than his father.

‘Your mum is lovely, she has made me feel so welcome, it’s made this somewhat a little easier. If it wasn’t for her and her kindness, I don’t know where I would be right now.’ I admitted.

‘Has she told you, how she became the Luna?’ Arlo asked, his voice picking up as a smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

‘No, she hasn’t. But I would love to know?’ I said intrigued.

‘Well as you know, an Alpha can only imprint on someone with high ranking in packs, “royal blood” if you like, and somehow my dad Imprinted on a young girl; my mum who was of lower ranking in the pack.’

‘Wait? Are you telling me that your mother is not an elite?’ I asked, cutting him short and staring at him with wide eyes. Arlo shook his head and smiled.

‘Things are a little more complicated than this with this story.’ He replied, raising an eyebrow before continuing. ‘An Elite and a Mutt imprinting, well, this is extremely rare and there is normally an explanation for it. And, in my mum and dad’s case there was. My mum was abandoned as a baby and taken in by one of our pack members who couldn’t have children of their own. They raised her and lived in one of the Bungalows.’

‘I would never have known that your mum grew up as a Mutt. That’s insane!’ I whispered, my eyes glistening with intrigued. ‘So? What happened next?’ I asked, leaning in a little closer, eager for the story to continue.

‘She became a waitress, and of course my father was the Alpha at that time. He imprinted on her the moment that he laid eyes on here. Imprinting doesn’t always work like that. Sometimes the Selene; the Moon Goddess, makes us wait. She knows when the time is right for us to imprint. However, with my parents, there was uproar! My grandfather; the elder at the time was furious. How could his son imprint on a Mutt, especially one who wasn’t originally part of this pack?’

‘Is being an Elite really that bad? I thought that it was just my family that acted like that.’ I whispered. Arlo nodded.

‘Unfortunately, some werewolves still live in their old traditions. I am one of the lucky ones. I don’t know if it was because of my mother being raised the way she was or not but, my father is quite relaxed when it comes to the traditions.’ Arlo paused for a moment and turned to me before adding. ‘I am sorry for the way that you have been brought up. It’s sometimes hard to remember that not everyone is as lucky as I am.’ I hesitated for a moment, taken aback by his kindness.

‘You have nothing to apologise for. I guess this is just the way that Selene had my life planned.’ I replied softly, pausing as we reached the door to the mansion. Arlo pushed it open with one hand and gestured for me to enter first. I smiled over to him, waiting for him to close the door behind him.

‘So, what happened about your parents? I am dying to know!’ I pleaded. Arlo’s smile broke out across his face, causing him to look child-like for a moment. Was he genuinely this happy that I was interested in his parents’ story? Why wouldn’t anyone want to know?

‘Well, as it turns out my mum, is the blood of an Elite pack member. There are many packs here in England; but only three of Elite bloodline, and my mum is of blood of a pack called Shadowfang. Her mother; my biological grandmother was the youngest daughter of the Alpha and she fell in love with a Mutt. She got pregnant by him and when her father found out who the child father was it was sentenced to death. If it hadn’t been for my grandmother running away and abandoning my mother here, then my parents wouldn’t have imprinted and I would never have been born.’

‘Wow. What a story. Do you believe that the Moon Goddess had something to do with all that?’ I asked. Arlo nodded as he clasped his hands behind his back.

‘I think that everything happens for a reason. And when we feel that something is bad for us, we simply must try looking at it another way. And realise that this was just something that was placed in our path to test us.’ I raised an eyebrow and smirked at him.

‘Really?’ I asked sarcastically.

‘What?’

‘How long did it take you to come up with that speech? Is it something you have to use often as Alpha?’ I asked with a chuckle. Arlo rolled his eyes and shook his head.

‘If you must know, I only use it in the very extreme cases where the persons soul is lost.’ He retorted with a wink and a cheeky grin. I dropped my mouth open with a look of mocked hurt on my face and lightly punched his arm.

‘Rude!’ I giggled. Arlo wiggled his eyebrows suggestively causing me to bark out a laugh. For the first time in as long as I could remember, I was actually enjoying myself. We both walked giggling with one another and before I knew it, we were standing outside my bedroom door. I glanced around in confusion before smiling over to him sweetly.

‘Thank you, Arlo. For everything.’ I whispered. I turned my glittering green eyes down to the door handle and paused for a moment, turning back and planting a soft kiss on his cheek before hurrying through my door and closing it behind me.

What the hell is this man doing to me?