Filed To Story: Secret with Betas Daughter: Skylar Story Series
How does Kaley always seem to find me with the guys? Even if it’s not the twins, she manages to track me down and make things difficult and cause a scene, then I am attacked the next day. I wish they would at least get creative and find a way to hurt me at training.
Then again, I would have their faces and be able to identify who is abusing their strength and assumed power. What is it about her dad that gives her so much power to not get in any kind of trouble? Just that thought makes me angry again. I run faster, pushing my legs.
I need to feel the burn in my muscles before I turn over control. I start running the patrol route and let muscle memory take over letting the heat take all of the anger I have towards that one person and incinerate the emotion.
I’ve been going for about an hour when my wolf lets me know there is another presence near us. I’m on alert now, letting her enhance my vision and hearing. To my left I can hear labored breathing, someone is trying to flankme, but at a distance.
Then a twig crack to the right and a huff. I sniff the air, they are down wind, but not making an effort to be stealthy.
Whoever is following me should have known I would figure them out quickly, so they either want their presence known or they are stupid. I’m hoping it’s the first one, I’m not close enough to the border’s edge for a rogue or neighboring pack member to be following me without patrol picking it up, but as I have that thought six faces pop into my head.
As if I manifested them, all of my friends appeared from different places behind me. Even Sierra is with them, looking worried. I keep running. I can’t stop. I don’t want them to try and understand. I don’t want them to talk me into working something out. It will hurt more than anything. I have to let them go, protect the pack at all costs, be worth the Beta blood running in my veins, prove myself a loyal pack member, and put my job as a warrior above all else. I can’t be distracted by the drama that having them as friends brings. I ran harder, I can hear them all struggling to keep up, but they are there, just as stubborn as me. There’s only one way to get away from them. Let’s shift. Full throttle from them. Are you sure you don’t want to talk to them? Maybe they could help if you explained a little bit more. No, you saw them before, they aren’t going to be reasonable and they don’t get to step in like white knights when they haven ‘t paid enough attention to notice when things are wrong. This isn’t just about me, they don ‘t notice when any kids come in with marks and injuries that didn’t come from training. They don ‘t know any of these kids, unless they are a popular female old enough to f*ck No, they don’t get easy explanations, they can do the work and find out the hard way. Now shift. I can feel she wants to talk to them and is coming up with reasons to stop running. But you will destroy your stuff, are you sure? We’ve never done it moving. There’s only one wayto find out. I can’t keep this pace up forever, and they have been training with me long enough to know when my stamina will give. They are wearing us down and starting to corral us. There’s a reason they waited until we were an hour into our run. Worst case we crash and they catch up anyway. Alright. You got it.
I let her come forward and just focus on my legs moving continuously. We are on a pretty clear path, one I take regularly, so I don ‘t have to think veW hard about where my feet need to go. I can feel my lungs starting to burn with the effort of maintaining the fast pace longer than usual. I put on a burst of speed to give us some distance. I’m ready, on the count of three, jump and I will take over. Let’s hope this works. One… Two…THREE
As she says three, I jump as high as I can go, giving her as much time to change and land as possible. We twist in the air and I can feel my bones dislocating and reforming, the hair on my body is growing thick, my nose and mouth lengthening. I hear the ripping of clothes.
It’s too bad those were some of my favorites, and I will for sure need new running shoes now. We land on the ground on all fours. My jet black tail fur is gleaming in the moonlight. But we don’t stop moving. Picking up speed we start to create Some distance.
“What the f*ck? Since when can she shift?” Oliver, I think, yells. “And how has she managed to learn how to shift on the fly?” Cameron, the oldest, usually gets his panties in a wad when he isn’t first at something, which is “I have no f*cking idea. Clearly, she’s good at hiding sh*t from all of us.”
Mateo blurts angrily. Is he mad at me? He does not get to be mad at me when he hasn’t been there for me the last few years. Why would I tell him anything? We put on a burst of speed.
We have put some distance between them and us, but I can feel my wolf’s hesitation. She doesn’t agree with running from them. She spins once to get a lookat my friends, then keeps moving forward, but more slowly.
They all look shocked. At the fact that I can shift, how quickly I shifted, or at the realization that there is another thing they didn’t know about me I’m not sure. She looked back at them with sympathy coursing through us, slowing more, I have no control right now.
She is going to force me to talk to them. She slows completely and turns in their direction, but doesn’t let her guard down. I Imovv she wants to go to them, and rely on them to help. Wolves are pack animals, we are designed to work together, but I won’t budge on this.
They need to act like leaders, not just wait for things to fall into their laps. They make a semicircle around us as we all come to a halt. Mateo tries to take a step forward and we bare our teeth to warn him not to come closer. At least she agrees with my decision to make them earn my trust fully.
My wolf refuses to growl though, she will not show hostility or disrespect, just that we are upset and don’t want them near.
Hey, Little Bit. I know you can hear me. You can shift so you can mindlink I don’t know what’s going on, but clearly there are things we don’t know and you seem to be really upset with us. We just want to help. Don’t shut us out. We can’t help if we don’t understand.
As goofy as Sarn acts, he is the only one who even thought to mindlinkme, unless the rest of the guys were just listening, trying to keep me calm now that I have stopped running. I hear movement to my right and see Dakota moving to circle me. We bare Our teeth at him and he stops.
I’m fighting the urge to yell at them through the mind link. Once Sam gets me to talk, he’ll be able to distract me long enough for the guys to catch me. We spread our front paws and lower our head just a little, looking like we are going to strike, but in reality, I see a breakin their formation I could use to get back to the house before them.
They will never catch me in my wolf form, she is fast, especially when I let her go full throttle. If she will run away from them that is. Hey! Quit trying to run, we just want to talk to you. Oliver jumps in my line of sight, he’s quick to figure out my movements. They must have all been listening.
I keep my head moving, I want all of them in my sights at all times. I still refuse to talkto them. My wolf says she can communicate with their wolves and they are terrified of what they saw last night and what I said.
They really want to be here for me, but I just can ‘t. I don’t want to get close to them. It hurts too bad now just trying to keep my distance, and it’s only been a couple hours. We are only going to get hurt more. Whether it’s from Kaley, Jeanie and Marnie, or any other mate that doesn’t want them to be close to us. It’s just better for all of us if this whole thing ends now.
Please, just come back and talk to us. You can stay in your wolf form if that would make you feel better. Cam takes a small step forward and then sits on the ground. Orwe can stay right here. This seems to be your favorite spot anyway. It smells like you no matter what time Of day I run through here. He smiles at me. My head snaps to him. What? He follows my trails? Does he know my favorite spots? Wait. No, I can’t let them distract me. I shook my head to clear it, look around and get a head count, keeping them all in my sights.
Sierra comes over slowly and lowers herself to the ground next to Cam. “Well I assume you are all having a riveting conversation without me, but it looks like we may be staying outside to talk Can we at least go to the fire pit so the rest of us, not wearing fur, Can get a little more comfortable?
My wolf stands up to her full height and starts to walk in the direction of the fire pit in the little valley behind the pack house.
Clearly we are entertaining being around them for now. She seems to trust that they won’t do anything to us while we walk in front of them. Pm sure that has something to do with her secret communications with their wolves. I seem to be along for the ride right now. Just don’t tell them what’s going on. I know, it’s stupid and petty, but they really have never cared before and I don’t understand why they all of a sudden give a sh*t about me. I want them to fix things, and I know that giving them information would, ultimately, help. But I can’t prove what’s happening to me and the other kids or by whom and I don’t need them going on a rampage and making things Worse. I don ‘t need anymore pack members thinking I am weak and need their protection. I was left out here to suffer and hopefully die, that is the leadership they have shown.
Letting pack members harm and torture each other without punishment to try and gain power in the pack You got it kiddo. I understand your reasons, but you need to understand mine. We need our pack and they want to know. Why they have taken notice is only something they can answer, but in any case they do care now. Give them something to work with.
Fine, but the minute they start asking about my injuries, I’m out. I don’t want to rehash those memories agaln_ Deal. We gather around the firepit, My wolf sits on one side watching as the rest of them sit on the logs across the pit from me, just staring. Dakota and Cam set up the fire pit and get it started. Now it is a waiting game. They followed me out here, they can break the silence.
“Okay, so are we just going to sit here and stare at each other?” Sierra asks. “Or can I just ask one ofyou to translate, if you are talking to her already?” She rolls her eyes. “When did you first shift?” My brother asks quietly, looking sad and I can guess why. Shifting for the first time is painful and it takes a really long time. He’s probably worked it out that I did it all by myself, just me and my wolf to comfort me through it. The guys all had each other and their parents to encourage and be supportive and of course a party to celebrate with everyone. It didn ‘t have that, never had that. They are starting to put the pieces together. About a week after all of you did. The night of the celebration for all five of you shifting. My wolf made eye contact with each of them as their eyes all grew in astonishment _ My answer is short and to the point. Sam relayed the information to Sierra. “By yourself? Why didn’t you come to get me or anyone to help you? Do you know how dangerous it was to go by yourself?” Is he really offended right now?
First you were all at a party I wasn’t invited or allowed to go to, very occupied by all of your friends. Second, why would I come to people who have avoided me for the last five or six years. I was not worth any of your time or effort, or dad’s for that matter. Why would I come to people who made it very apparent that I was not wanted, just tolerated?
Even if I wanted to, I wasn ‘t in a position to come and get anyone. The shift was unexpected but necessary, at thirteen I certainly didn’t know what to do. He looked hurt, and the rest of the guys were looking at him as if they were the ones treated poorly.
Even in my head it sounds like I am being b*tchy and asking for pity, which isn’t completely true. I don’t want pity, and I don’t want them to tell me they would have been there for me when we all know that isn’t the truth, not then. They were all too caught up in their own lives and their own first shifts and being another step closer to being the pack leaders.
Anything they say now to try and make me feel better is strictly to ease their own conscience. I didn’t trust them to take care of me in a real moment of need when they didn’t take care of me in day to day things.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.