I watched blankly as the casket lowered into the ground, Ben’s grasp on my hand had long turned it numb, and the world around me was a blur. Neither the pitiful looks nor tearful condolences of pack members and friends received any acknowledgement.
Looking at the headstone to the right dated exactly a year prior, the picture somehow looked complete, they were back together, and not even death held the power to do them part.
“He was an important member of this pack, we shall all miss him dearly. I am very sorry for your loss.” Lady Agatha caressed my cheek softly, giving me a soft smile before moving on to Ben.
To them it was simply a loss, to us, our whole world had shifted and no matter how hard I tried, it seemed as if my future had vanished right before my eyes- I didn’t know how to live a life without my parents.
“Sophia, it’s time…” Luna Yasmin’s soft voice broke through my haze.
“O- Okay.” I glanced at her briefly, but my eyes wouldn’t leave the scene before me.
“We’ll give you a few minutes, we’ll be waiting in the car, okay?” she offered generously and despite my brain shouting at me not to take advantage of her kindness, my heart kept my legs firmly in place, “Ben, why don’t you join Alpha Oliver and me in the car and give your sister a moment to say goodbye?”
“Pinky promise,” Ben whispered to himself and turned to Luna Yasmin, letting go of my hand as he did. The loss was like a bucket of cold water over me and an involuntary shiver ran down my spine making me want to grab hold of him again, but before I could their, fading footsteps met my ears.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to say goodbye to both of you, I’m sorry I wasn’t a better daughter, but I promise I’ll be a better sister. I’ll make you both proud. Goodbye Mum, goodbye, Dad.”
The promise rang in my head alongside an unspoken one, the day I return will be the day I’ve fulfilled my promise.
***
Jerking up into a sitting position, I brought my hand up to my chest to stop my heart from beating from my chest and shivered as cold sweat dripped down my back. The image of the dark forest and red eyes surrounding me was still vivid in my mind as I looked around the unfamiliar room of the pack house.
Alpha Oliver and Luna Yasmin went out of their way to make sure Ben and I got rooms beside each other and I really appreciated it, but it wasn’t home and just as I sat there with my head on my knees, it occurred to me- this was my life now.
A low knock sounded on the door making me gasp, who could be up at this time of night? I knew wolves were nocturnal, but since our human side is more dominant we have evolved into more diurnal creatures.
“Who- who is it?” I swallowed, hoping I was only dreaming when the door pushed open slowly.
“Sissy?” Ben’s small voice caused me to sigh in relief.
“Ben? Come here, why are you awake at this time?” I beckoned him towards the bed and pushed the comforter away for him to climb in. It was a tight fit with us side by side in the twin bed, but having him close brought me comfort.
“I couldn’t sleep,” he mumbled, shuffling into my side.
“That’s okay buddy, I couldn’t sleep either.”
“Do you think they’ll meet wherever they are?” the question made my heart pang with sadness, but the answer to that was something I knew with certainty.
“Yeah, wherever they are they’re definitely together.” I wasn’t sure how I knew, but the feeling swirled inside of me. Wherever they were, they are happy to be reunited.
“Don’t worry Sissy, we are together too, I’ll take care of you.” my heart slowed for a second, his voice held so much conviction that I had no doubt he would do any and everything in his power to do just that.
“We’ll take care of each other, Buddy.” I dropped a kiss on his head and laid my head against the headboard, there was no way I was getting any sleep tonight, but there was no reason he shouldn’t. Ben’s soft snores reached my ears only moments later and I chuckled soundlessly, I always envied how quickly he could fall asleep.
The sound of crickets and an owl hooting in the distance kept me company as I replayed the week’s dreams- or nightmares in my mind like a movie. Looking around the room illuminated by the full moon shining through the window, I spotted my sketchbook perched on the nightstand and glanced back at Ben who was fast asleep against my side before reaching for the book.
With only the guidance of my memory and the moonlit night I put the pencil to paper hoping to make sense of the images in my mind and by the time the sky turned golden, pages and pages of drawings filled the book and when Ben shuffled beside me, I was finishing up my last drawing.
“Sissy?” The old nickname brought a smile to my face, his voice was still hoarse from sleep and his eyes blinked to get used to the light.
“Hey Buddy, did you sleep okay?” With his mouth wide open in a yawn he nodded and I chuckled.
“Just don’t swallow me.” Ben rolled his eyes at my joke and glanced at the unfinished drawing.
“That’s cool. I’m going to brush my teeth now.” Before I could react he was out the door, leaving me gaping after him, I’ll never get used to that kid’s energy. The clock on my nightstand suddenly blared my alarm chime, indicating it was time to get ready for school so instead of finishing my drawing I shut the book and climbed out of bed.
***
Walking through the hallway at school, I tried hard to hide my face from all the prying eyes and with every step, I regretted not taking Luna Yasmin’s offer to take the week off, why are high schoolers so nosy?
Taking a seat in math class, I had no desire to learn about Euclidean geometry and without even realising it, my mind wandered. Thoughts of simpler times when I’d sit in the clearing sketching flowers knowing my mum and dad hunted in the forest nearby, how I wish I could take a walk back in time.
“Sophia, is my lesson boring you?” I snapped from my reverie when the class broke out into snickers.
“I’m sorry Miss Black.” I looked down at my notebook, feeling my cheeks heat up.
“Pity party for one, everybody,” Bolton commented making the whole class laugh and I sunk further into my embarrassment.
“Settle down all of you and Sophia, pay attention in my class or don’t bother coming.” She cocked a sarcastic eyebrow at me. She was not being any more of a b*tch than I was used to, but as the class echoed ‘ooh’ under their breaths, I felt my eyes well with tears and before I could stop myself I flew from my seat and only came to a stop when I was panting before the bathroom mirrors.
The school was never easy for the “ghostly loner” I was, but somehow it found a way to get worse and I didn’t know how I would survive it without either of my parents to turn to, because even despite dad’s anger and resentment the past few months, at least I had something to focus on.
Now I was all alone.
Please let me know what you think about the story so far in a Review! -Love Author Kajal PS: Flashbacks are indicated by "~~~" and time skips are indicated by "***"
TWO MONTHS LATER Climbing off the car, I swallowed deeply, the pack house in front of me was almost two times the size of the one back home and I felt my palms sweat. When Luna Yasmin proposed the idea of moving to America for a while, I agreed very hesitantly, after all, we were at her mercy, but the last thing I expected was to be brought to one of the biggest, most notorious packs in werewolf history. Stories of Alpha Allison’s victory over the rogue uprising spread far and wide, she was a legend. After our pack had been devastated by the rogue attacks that took place five years ago, none of us ever expected that we would recover from that, but after a trip to the Blue Moon pack, Luna Yasmin returned to Gwydir with her mate and born Alpha in tow, ready to fix what was broken and our fate was restored. “Oliver, Yasmin, welcome back!” A handsome young man approached us with a wide smile on his face. “Jacob it’s very good to see you both!” Alpha Oliver embraced the man while h
The sky was a deep shade of blue littered with thousands of glowing stars and the evening breeze was cool against my skin as I sat in the bay window of the Alpha House. The day Alpha Allison was discharged from the infirmary, she insisted that Ben and I move into the Alpha house, citing that she needed help with Dominic and I was powerless to disagree. There was a low rumble that emanated from the living room downstairs, which was followed by the smell of popcorn. Everything around me was peaceful and at some point in my life the smell of popcorn would have me racing down the stairs, but the peace inside me didn’t match the world around me and that alone froze my muscles in place. “Sophia?” A soft knock on my bedroom door startled me, I didn’t even hear someone coming up the stairs. “Alpha Allison, I’m sorry I didn’t hear you coming.” I hurriedly pulled the door open, worried that she might scold me for locking it, but she only chuckled. “Not to worry dear, all the rooms in the
My body jerked as I shot up in my bed, the sound of a baby’s cries suddenly fading away as I surveyed the dark, empty room. Sighing aloud, I threw the covers off my body and placed my feet on the cool floor, there was no way I’d fall asleep after that. Pulling on the door handle, I opened it a little more and a familiar sound reached my ears, I could hear Alpha Allison softly cooing at the restless baby downstairs and another pair of footsteps I assumed belonged to Alpha Devin which made me freeze with the door wide open. Baby Dominic’s cries sounded tired, I didn’t even realize when I’d stepped out of the room and onto the staircase till Alpha Allison’s pacing figure came into view. Her shoulders were sagging and her steps were sluggish, I could see the exhaustion written all over her face when Alpha Devin approached her, holding a bottle of milk. I watched silently as she tried feeding him, but the attempt only seemed to make him more irritable and his cries got louder, making
Fear gripped me as I looked around the darkened forest. The cool breeze that blew left a trail of goosebumps on my skin and the shadows of the tall trees felt like they were closing in on me. In the distance, an owl hooted which only added to the eeriness of my surroundings. For the life of me, I couldn’t understand how I got there, the last memory I had was watching reruns of a random TV show after Dominic’s welcome ceremony. A rustling nearby kicked my heartbeat up a notch and once again I surveyed the area, hoping to spot something even remotely familiar, but the Moon Shadow pack was new to me, I’d only been here a week and apart from the drive from the airport, I hadn’t stepped foot in the forest. The rustling grew louder and my head whipped around for any indication that I wasn’t alone when suddenly a figure pounced from the bushes, eliciting a high-pitched scream from my throat before I watched the red-eyed rabbit hop off into the darkness, as far away from me as it could g
Trekking back to the packhouse with a young boy clutching my hand was not the way I planned to spend the early hours of Saturday morning, but as the sun rose in the sky and the scars on his malnourished body became visible, I scratched any item from my non-existent to-do list. “We’re almost at the infirmary, Allison has the team waiting for us to check him out.” Alpha Devin informed after a few good kilometres of walking and the treeline came into view, revealing the buildings of the pack. “Sophia! Are you okay?!” Alpha Allison engulfed me in a tight hug before letting go to examine my body for any sign of injury, which apart from a few small scratches, I was free of, “I was so worried!” she smoothed her hands over my face and looked at me with a deep frown. “I’m sorry I worried you, I’ll-” I looked around at the curious eyes which wouldn’t seem to leave us and dropped my gaze to the hand clutching mine, “I’ll explain later, he needs medical attention first.” As if she only then
Footsteps outside my door shocked me from my trance, my eyes shot up just as Alpha Allison pushed open the door to peek inside. “Hey, are you busy?” She questioned, scanning the room. “No, it’s- it’s okay.” Glancing back down at the sketchbook my heart skipped a beat, I quickly shut the book and shoved it off my lap. “May I?” She pointed to the space beside me at the bay window and I nodded quickly, scooting over to give her more room. “Did- did you speak to him?” I wrung my hands together and resisted the urge to tap my foot, the suspense was nearly killing me. “I did.” She raised an eyebrow at my antics, “His name is Jasper Queen, he’s a wanderer.” A shiver ran through my body at the name. “How did he find us?” Questions were running rampant through my head, but somehow I was able to get one out. “He claims he saw the boy in a vision, he says he’s been trying to find him for months.” Alpha Allison frowned thoughtfully. “What’s going on, Sophia?” Her voice held confusion
“We have decided that it would be best if Jasper remains close by while we figure out the reason for these visions and dreams you are having. He has taken up temporary residence in the main pack house.” Alpha Allison’s explanation came as more of a surprise to me than seeing him outside the infirmary, but when I made no acknowledgement her face grew worried, “Is everything okay, Sophia? You have been really quiet since yesterday afternoon?” Memories of our encounter in the forest replayed in my head and my heart squeezed painfully, that seemed to be all it did these days. “I’m fine, I was just tired.” I lied, plastering a smile on my face to reassure her and though her eyebrows knitted she returned my smile. “We’ll get to the bottom of this, Sophia. I promise.” She laid a hand on my shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, the concern on her face made me feel bad for lying to her. “Good morning Jasper, I’d like you to meet Sophia Hastings, I’m sure you remember her from yesterday
“This is the secondary pack house which was actually built for the Full Moon pack after the rogue attack devastated their old one before Alpha Allison and Alpha Devin got married.” I rambled despite knowing he wasn’t the least bit interested, being around him made me nervous. That and I simply needed something to keep my focus on so my eyes wouldn’t stray to his tanned muscles bulging under the Californian sun. “That’s enough!” Jasper threw his hands in the air, finally growing fed up with my ranting which made me sigh in relief, “You’ve shown me the pack, I’m leaving now.” He didn’t wait for me to speak, instead, he took off into the trees and within seconds he was out of sight. “Great job, Sophia, not only do you annoy him, you nearly bored him to death too.” I berated myself, I didn’t know what I was thinking when I insisted he see the pack. I sighed in resignation. “Don’t blame yourself, he looked like a hardass.” The voice appeared suddenly, startling me which made the girl