Chapter 5

I kicked off my shoes and shut the door behind me, the smell of dinner cooking hit me and I hurried to the kitchen. My aunt turned around as she heard me walk in,

“Hey, how was your day?” She asked stirring a pot on the stove

“It was okay” I shrugged and peered into the pot, she was making a big batch of her chili, and my stomach grumbled loudly, my aunt chuckled when she heard it.

“Settle down,” she laughed and turned the stove off “it just finished, but I want you to take a batch to Alpha before you eat”

I let out a sigh and eyed the chili as she ladled it into a giant bowl and closed the lid. Thankfully the pack house was fairly close and it wouldn’t take long to get back. Having lived here for almost 3 months I was getting used to town, and discovering that my Aunt was a great cook, often making me deliver food to other pack members, she knew who loved which dish of hers and always made extra. Without kids or a mate of her own she took to taking care of everyone in the pack.

I knocked on the pack house front door, looking ridiculous wearing oven mitts to hold the giant bowl of chili even though my wolf hands wouldn’t get burned, my aunt insisted. I waited a minute or so before the door swung open and I was face to face with Nico. He smiled brightly at me, his brown hair shaggy and ruffled, he really was quite gorgeous, now that I could stare without meeting too much naked flesh. He was tall, a solid foot above me, slender but all muscle, and a smile of perfect teeth and dimples. I bit my lip and he eyed the bowl,

“Vanessa?” He asked pointing at it, I nodded and held it out to him.

“For, you, Alpha and Luna” I said quietly and he took it

“Tell her thank you”

“I will” I stood awkwardly while he just looked at me “are you serious about Saturday?”

“Yes, why wouldn’t I be?” He asked

“I don’t know, it just doesn’t seem like the most productive use of your time, don’t you have future alpha training things to do?”

He laughed and I grinned nervously “I do, but also training my future pack is beneficial for everyone”

“Oh” I nodded “well, thank you..” and took a step down the porch stairs without turning away

“Any time, Jess” he winked

I realized I was still wearing the damn oven mitts and my face burned, I turned and stumbled down the last step before sprinting back to my Aunts house. I heard a soft chuckle behind me before Nico shut the door. Damn him, must he be so attractive AND nice? Moon goddess help me, I have to stay away from him.

After stuffing my face and helping clean the kitchen, I flopped down on my bed, my face buried in pillows and my feet dangling off the side. I reached around and grabbed my phone from my back pocket before flipping over and browsing through a few texts from Leah making sure I was okay after Troys rude comments today, and I responded letting her know all was good. I recalled the rogue attacks and dialed my moms number, before sitting up in bed and making my way over to the window.

“Jessie!” Her voice sounded cheerful as she answered

“Hey mom, how is everything there?” I asked fiddling with my curtains

“Oh everything is great, your dad is still struggling to get that bike running, and your brother is mostly staying out of trouble. I swear that boy has a death wish sometimes with all the rule breaking and limit testing he’s always doing” I heard my brother Jake yell out an argument in the background and my mom shush him “is everything okay?”

“Yeah everything here is great, focusing on training and definitely feeling stronger” I said “I was just calling because I heard some rumors about a rogue pack on the east coast”

“Oh..” I could tell my mom was anxious about the subject “yes, yes we’ve been hearing the same, but nothing to worry about you know how Alpha is about patrol and dad makes sure to lock up every night”

“I don’t know if a few locks are really gonna stop them” I mumble

“Jess it’s nothing for you to concern yourself with, everything here is good we haven’t had anything happen close to us”

“Yeah but I heard about the Gray Stone pack-“ I start but she cuts me off

“Honestly Jess, don’t start.” She sounds irritated so I stop, and we share a moment of awkward silence

“Sorry mom.. I guess I just miss you guys. Maybe you can visit?”

“Your father has been nagging to come see you and his sister, I think we can make it sometime next month”

“I would love that..” I almost ask about Jensen, is he okay? Has he shifted? Is he all alone.. but I bite my lip instead and look down at the trees along the property line.

“He’s lonely you know” my mom says, as if sensing my thoughts, “I see him walking home from school alone”

“I’m gonna go finish my homework, I’ll call you tomorrow, love you” I hang up quickly and stare down at my phone.. I open my texts and click on Jensens name.. we hadn’t spoken in so damn long.. I begin to type out an I’m sorry, but quickly delete it.. maybe tomorrow I’ll try..

I didn’t.

But Saturday came quickly, Leah and I met up at her house which was closer to the falls than my Aunts. I wore some black exercise pants, sneakers, and a teal sports bra, Leah wore matching red leggings and sports bra. We nervously set out on the hike, at 6:30 in the morning, it was about an hour hike in our human form, but neither of us wanted to show up naked in case he beat us there. I was also under the illusion that the hike would be soothing for my nerves. Between stumbling on roots, almost losing the trail, and swearing we heard something creeping around us, my nerves were worse than before the hike. Despite all of that, the forest was really really beautiful. There were massive trees, beautiful foliage lining the forest floor, and the sounds of birds and other critters filled the air. I basked in the cool breeze that filtered through the leave, keeping my temp down as I pushed through the hike.

Leah was mostly quiet, I was guessing her nerves were about as shot as mine. This was okay with me though, I never had any issues with quiet. Jensen and I could spend hours with each other and never utter a word.

“This isn’t gonna be some prank right?” I look over at Leah and I notice her pale as she realized it was a possibility, higher ranks don’t usually help unless there’s something in it for them

“I.. don’t think so..” she didn’t sound sure but we kept moving in silence. The atmosphere heavy with a new sense of dread.

We started to hear the rush of water, and hurried our pace, I had lost 15lbs in the past few months and I was mostly lean muscle now, but my legs burned with the endurance required on the hike and I was eager to get there and rest before Nico showed up. Unfortunately for me as the river came into view, so did a naked figure sitting on a large rock at the edge of the falls. His hair was wet and he was already looking in our direction as we approached. He smiled as we both awkwardly waved to let him know we spotted him.

My cheeks started burning as I had to make an active effort to keep my eyes on his, I could feel my blush creeping down my damn neck and chest. He clearly noticed as his eyes flickered down and met mine again with a sparkle of amusement, but he didn’t mention it.

“When I was a pup, my dad and I used to spend hours here” he said, “he told me that the foundation of any good warrior is the ability to face their fears and push through them.”

Leah and I kicked off our shoes and socks and slowly stepped along the rocks protruding from the river as we tried to make it closer to Nico. The rocks were quite slick and the water was frigid, but I only almost died twice as we moved.

“We will build strength, agility, and speed, but first we have to learn to harness our fear” he said before turning and diving off the falls.