CHAPTER 3

I was kept in the hospital for a while until they got me the right painkillers and plastered my arm properly and then I headed downtown and it was too late to even attempt going to school today so I went to the diner and started work early. I had tried to call my mother but she didn’t answer.

It was only 1pm which meant an extra 3 hours of work coming my way and that meant more tips since it was the lunch rush at the moment. And the whole time I had the thought of possibly going home on my mind. But I wasn't going to say anything to anyone until I knew for sure. I hadn't been told anything directly. Only a conversation that my mother had with the Alpha. That was hardly conclusive. So, I decided that I would call her tonight when I finished work. I knew that she would still be awake and I would skip training. 

My shift seemed to take forever that night but when it was finally closing time, I walked towards the gym but I stopped outside and I sat on a chair out there and I pulled out a smoke and lit it while I called my mother. 

"Hello." She answered quickly. 

"Mom." I say. 

"Taylor. I'm so happy to hear from you." She says beaming. I could hear the excitement in her voice just from me calling her. Even though we do talk every week. 

"It's good to talk to you too." I say.

"Well, this is weird. You don't usually call during the week. It's only the weekends." She says.

"Yeah, usually. Except I was talking to Alpha Richmond today. He said something about you calling him today." I say. And there was a bit of a pause before she started talking again. Like she was trying to figure out what to say to me. 

"Yeah. I'm sorry about having to do all of this." She says. And her whole demeanor changed after that. 

"Does the new Alpha think that I have something to do with Lucas?" I asked.

“How do you know about the new Alpha?” She asked.

“I’m still a member of the pack, remember. I know when there’s a change in leadership. I can feel it.” I reminded her.

"Yeah. He's asking questions. And I think he thinks you left a lot later than you did." She says. And I shook my head and rolled my eyes. If he did his research at all about me then he would know that I left a lot earlier. All he had to do was check the school records. That would have told him. 

"A lot of people will vouch for me. They'll all say that I've been gone a lot longer than that." I defended myself. 

"I know. That's what I told him and Alpha Richmond said that he would call Alpha Jackson and tell him the same thing." She says. 

"Alright. Thank you." I say.

"Of course. I will make sure that you had nothing to do with Lucas." She says. And then I stopped suddenly and practically froze for a moment when what she said registered to me. 

"Wait a minute. Did you say Alpha Jackson? As in Jackson Cooper?" I asked practically shouting the name in shock.

"Yeah. He's the one that killed Lucas and took over our pack." She says.

"Holy shit. That guy has killed about 12 Alpha's and absorbed their packs." I say.

"That's right. We're now under his command. That's why I don't want you to come home. He's strict. This whole place has changed. The guards have changed. He has his own warriors."  Mom says. 

"Are you in danger staying there?" I asked. My voice was laced with concern. 

"No. I'm alright. I'm one of the school teachers. So, he actually likes me and doesn't bother me. He thinks education is important for the kids. So, I'm safe." She insisted. 

"Alright. Well, wouldn't I be safe there too? I mean, I'm a student." I say. 

"No. You wouldn't be safe here. Especially with your smart ass-mouth. Isaac is still a warrior here and he will do everything that he can to make sure that Alpha Jackson sees that." She says. Isaac is my mother's new mate. 

"Okay. I'll talk to you later." I say.

"Bye." She says. And I hung up the phone. 

I wasn't sure if I was in real danger now or not. I know that if I ran away right now then I would look guilty. But I was scared that I was going to be accused of something that I didn't do. I looked up to the sky and the moon was out so I started praying to the moon goddess that everything was going to be alright. That Alpha Jackson would see reason and he wouldn't get the wrong impression and have me killed for treason. A crime punishable by death.

I stayed outside until that training session was over and then I saw the warriors coming outside and Ethan came to close the door and saw me sitting out there. So he came and sat next to me. He didn't say anything for a bit because he knew that something was bothering me. But he looked around to make sure that there was no one lingering around before he took my hand in his.

"What's going on? Why didn't you come in?" He asked. 

"Because I needed time to think." I say.

"About what?" He asked. About my new Alpha at my pack. About my mother possibly being in danger. About how he might force me go back to that pack. About how I was terrified that he might link me to Lucas. 

"My pack has been taken over by Alpha Jackson Cooper." I announce. 

"Holy shit. Are you serious?" He asked. 

"Yeah. Unfortunately. Apparently, the Alpha thinks that it's suspicious that I'm here instead of in my own pack. He thinks that I might have been involved with Alpha Lucas in one way or another." I say.

"Were you involved with Lucas?" He asked. 

"We knew each other. That's about it. Our mothers were friends. When Lucas took over as Alpha a year ago, that's when my mother sent me away. Because Lucas was picking fights with every pack within a close proximity. And he obviously started a fight with Alpha Jackson that he couldn't finish." I say.

"Shit. And Jackson thinks that you're hiding?" Ethan asked. 

I explained the whole situation to Ethan and he sat there listening to everything. I never even really like Lucas growing up. I was the first one who ever called him on his bullshit when he was acting like a spoiled brat. Which was most of the time. And he hated me for that. But that was as far as it went. When I was old enough to stay home alone, then I would. 

"Alright. Then you've got nothing to worry about." He says. 

"If Jackson orders me back to the pack then you know that I'm gonna have to go back. I can't disobey an order. Technically, I am still a member of that pack." I say. 

"I know. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Do you want to come in and talk?" He asked. 

"Not really. I want to go for a run. I'll see you tomorrow." I say standing up. 

"Bye." He says. He looked around the street to make sure that no one was around when he kissed me goodbye and then he went back inside and I headed towards the woods. 

As soon as I got beyond the tree line I undressed and left my clothes there neatly and I shifted into my large black wolf with white paws and a white diamond pattern between my eyes. 

"Good evening Ava." I say in my mind. 

"You haven't been on a run in a while." My wolf Ava says. 

"That's because you stopped talking to me." I say. 

"I only stopped talking to you when you put that snake in the teacher's office." She says.

"The bitch accused me of cheating. You know I didn't cheat." I say.

“That doesn’t mean you can go and do shit like that. You’ll get us kicked out of here.” She says.

“No way. Everyone around here loves me.” I say smirking.

"Fine. I'll stop giving you the silent treatment." She says. 

"Cool. Let's do this then." I say. So, I stretched out my paws on the ground and felt the dirt under my claws and shook out my fur. I stood tall and let the breeze run through my fur making me feel free. It's the only time I felt truly free. I looked around in the woods and my werewolf vision was 10 times better now. I could see the guards on patrol but I tried to stay out of their way.

I was considered to be a large wolf, even by werewolf standards. And I know that sometimes I put people off, which is why I only ran at night time and I avoided the patrols in case they thought I was a threat. I don't mind link with them because I'm not a member of this pack. But when I am stressed or worried about something, a simple run in the woods would make everything feel so much better. It could make my problems seem less important.  

I was out for two hours before I finally went back to the tree line. I shifted back to my human self and got dressed again and I grabbed my things and started walking back to the house. 

When I got there, I realized that Victoria was true to her word. The front door was locked. So I went around the side to where my bedroom was and I tried my window and luckily it wasn't locked. I opened it up and I put my bag inside and just as I was about to jump up into the window myself someone grabbed my shoulder. 

I fell back to the ground and shouted when I did because it scared the hell out of me and I turned around to see a very haggard looking 6-foot 3 20-year-old man standing there with greasy blonde hair and torn clothes. 

"Lucas." I am shocked.