~Wren~
I slink in through the loose shingles on the roof, softly landing in our makeshift hideout loft. It isn’t much, honestly, it looks like a child’s playhouse, but when all the outliers are beggars or thieves, it’s hard to come by nice things for a rebel headquarters. We are lucky that Ms. Grayford is deaf and never travels upstairs. Not that she would care if she did. She hates Alpha Alden as much as we all do.
The illustrious Alpha Alden, leader of the Black Moon Pack and royal asshole of the surrounding lands. He hates all things happy and makes it his mission to destroy all heavenly bestowed gifts, like true mates. Rumor is that it all started when his heart was broken. He couldn’t stand for anyone else to be happy when he was miserable, so he made everyone’s life as shitty as he felt.
I don’t give a shit how it started, I just care how it will end. With Alden dead and the missing mates, he has as slaves in his packhouse, reunited with their families and loved ones. My mother included. Alpha asshole took her in a fit of rage when my father refused the offer of the Beta position. When he realized he could control my father with threats to my mother, he harnessed this great weapon.
The mate bond gone bad.
The one thing all outliers now fear instead of seeking.
Sure mates still exist and people still find them, but not out here. Not in the slums of the city where the unwanted laborers lay. Nah, we aren’t good enough for love and happiness. Be it our misfortune of standing up for what we believe or who our parents are, we are outcasts stuck on the outskirts. I stay for my dad, others stay for their family members or their mates that have been taken just out of reach.
The only thing we have going for us is that the mate bond requires two things for it to be acknowledged. Physical contact like a handshake or brush of a cheek and direct eye contact. So the only two rules we have in the outliers are: always wear long sleeves and gloves or never make direct eye contact.
Avi, my right-hand man, and best friend can’t stand the heat, and it admittedly gets hot as hell. He opts to wear sunglasses. All. the. Time. It’s how he got his nickname. Avi is short for aviator, the style of sunglasses he wears religiously. We all have our ways to avoid the one thing that could complete or completely break us. Better safe than sorry.
The light thuds of everyone showing up and dropping through the roof are enough to make me sweat. I may be the appointed leader of our tiny rebellion, but I am the one sent on the missions. Mostly because I have a mouth and a knack for disappearing easily. I can talk my way out of anything and be gone before the person knows they have been swindled. A sweet little trick of the trade, I suppose. Unfortunately, today I failed in one of our most important tasks.
The fucking peace treaty.
What kills me is that it was in my hands too, but I got cocky. When I was invisible, someone saw me. No, they stalked me. I could feel their eyes on me, which is why I chose to be less invisible. Take the bold approach to assert my authority. Clearly, that bit me in the ass. Lesson learned, Wren. You ain’t all you’re cracked up to be. A little humbling has never killed anyone.
A heavy hand pounds down on my slim shoulder and I glare up at Avi, who just grins. I know he watched the entire exchange. Every mission he is always watching from somewhere, protecting me. It’s like having a super annoying, overprotective big brother.
“How ya feeling there, bud?” he grins, his perfect white teeth on full display making his dimples work their magic and I push his hand off my shoulder with a laugh.
“Fuck you, Avi.”
“Oh, hard pass on that one. You aren’t my type” he lifts his glasses for a quick wink as he plops down onto a pile of old worn-out pillows.
“Oh, my, what a shame.” I mock him and he just chuckles deeper.
“So? We going to war or not?” Jude asks, walking over, danger gleaming in his deep green eyes.
Jude has been itching to take Alden out since his mate was killed two years ago. He isn’t from the outliers like Avi and me. He came from inside the city, but they took away his mate when a guard picked a fight with him. After a couple of months, he felt the bond break and he came seeking revenge.
He can’t utter her name without breaking down, so we eventually stopped asking what it was. His fiery red hair is a wild mess as he takes a seat next to Avi, reaching over and stealing a book that he had picked up and looked through.
“Wren got her ass handed to her and lost the treaty.”
The others hanging around and chatting suddenly stop, and all eyes are on me. I toss Avi a scowl and he looks away from me, eyes to the ground. Little Snitch.
“You didn’t get it?” Lacey asks, sounding a little peeved. “You said you could do it.”
“I believe you said ‘easiest grab I’ll ever do’” Another rebel tosses out, though they hide like a coward.
“How many of you volunteered for the fucking job, hmm?” I ask, looking around as they all look away. “Right. And I did snatch it. I just got caught and had to fight off the biggest man I’ve ever seen. But you're right, how dare I fuck up for the first time?”
“We need it to get the other packs to go to war! If Alden signs that treaty, we have no one coming to our rescue.” Jude reminds me.
“So what’s new? No one has ever come to our rescue,” Avi scoffs, tossing an elbow into Jude’s chest.
“The actual signing is days away. And after watching him take it from me, I noticed he checked to see if the seal was still intact. All we have to do is break the seal. No need to steal it. Just take it for a moment and break the seal.”
“What if we all stormed in and held them up, broke the seal, and left?” Reid asks from the far corner of the room.
“Don’t be a moron.” Lacey shoots at him with a scowl, effectively making him squawk at her confrontation.
“They can’t know who we are. You all know this.” I groan and roll my eyes.
“Yeah, I get that, but since they caught you stealing it…” Reid pipes up tentatively.
“Yes, which is why I think it would be best for someone to offer to be their guide. Show them around out of the kindness of their heart.” My eyes find Lacey and she instantly shakes her head no. Fuck. It needs to be a girl and since Cynthia and Gwen both got new jobs, the only other person qualified is me.
“They have seen my face,” I say, looking around at all the eyes pinning me in place.
“You and I both know you look completely different when you do your hair and makeup and dress like an inner wall girl,” Lacey says.
“She is right, Wren,”
I groan, putting my hands on my hips, thinking about it for a moment. I really would love another chance to take on the big guy. And the pretty boy is the opposite of hard to look at… it could be fun pretending to be something I’m not.
If I’m being completely honest, I’m not all that convinced that the big guy even told the others about me being the one who took the treaty, not sure why he wouldn’t but he didn’t strike me as the type of guy who blabs too much about how things happen. So the bonus point is I could dress pretty and if I get recognized, I can easily just claim that I was working or something.
“Fine. Lacey, we need to dive into your closet. I know your shit is nicer than mine.”
“That’s because I steal my shit from the inner wall.” She says with a smirk.
“Yeah, whatever. Just. let’s get this over with. I have some boys to go make a pass at.”
Chapter 3: Dibs ~Sebastian~ “Oh, oh shit! Dibs. I call dibs!” Nickolai whispers loudly. Day two and I already want to kill him and blame this pack for it. It’s just Nickolai and I exploring today while Tank does whatever the hell he wants to do. This is how it always is, though, the never-ending life of the Alpha babysitter. “Nickolai, you don’t have to call dibs on the things you are buying. You just pay for them and they are yours.” I remind him. He doesn’t pay me any mind. As he walks through the crowd the following something, no, someone. His eyes are glued in front of him as he eases around people, gently pushing past them. How sweet of him to care. I, however, do not, so I square my shoulders and walk straight ahead, knocking into person after person, feeling an odd sense of satisfaction. Am I looking for a fight? Bet your ass I am. I want to punch someone, feel the crunch of their jaw under my fists. I groan internally. This is what he does to me. He makes me hate the wo
I pull my zipper hoodie back on, toss the hood up over my dark hair as I walk through the door to the restaurant. Nickolai has decided he wants to treat us all to dinner, considering it’s really his father’s money and all expenses are already covered. We amuse him. Tank is sitting at the table grinning from ear to ear, chatting with Nickolai who has very clearly already started drinking. The moment I’m in Nickolai’s sight, he beams at me, though he says nothing.“Well, look who is back from his hours-long run,” Tank says, raising a beer to me.“Should you be drinking so much?” I ask, raising a brow to Nickolai.“Ah, come on. Let the boy drink his beer. He is going to be Alpha soon enough and he won’t be allowed to have any real fun,” Tank jokes.Nickolai frowns at Tank. Though he is excited to be taking over the helm of his father, he is
She moves to the kitchen, closer to where I am, and I hear her silent sobs. She tries to keep them quiet as she grabs the tea kettle and fills it with water, sticking it on the stove to heat. Then she crosses to the shelf that used to be a pantry, the door now missing, and she grabs a glass container with herbs in it. She then pulls out her phone and dials a number, anxiously chewing on her nails. “Freesa,” she says with a relieved sigh. “It’s Wren. He is really bad again.” Her words are laced with worry and I imagine her eyes are glistening with tears as she leans on the counter with her back facing me. Her head droops forward as she nods solemnly. “Yeah, no, I know that. I just. I really think you should come see him.” She pauses again, before straightening up again. “You did?” She sounds surprised. “Lovesickness? What the hell is that?” I frown. It’s not an illness I have ever heard of before; I mean, outside of the human world, making jokes about it. “I’m sorry. It sounds li
~Wren~ After walking dad to his bed and giving him the medication I swiped from the pharmacy for his pain, I finally stalk to my room and drop onto my bed. Today has sucked, yet been strangely good at the same time. There is nothing quite like feeling at the top of the world, only to crawl back home to the depths of despair. It’s getting harder and harder to escape the harsh reality that if I don’t figure out a way to free my mother from her servitude at the packhouse soon, Dad will die. And as much as it’s not my fault, it will happen because I failed him. I look at the fancy clothes that Lacy lent me. I feel like such a fraud. None of this is me. The flirting and dressing up, yeah it’s fun to put on a mask and pretend for a little while, but the second I remember why I’m doing what I’m doing, I’m bogged down by the guilt my genuine smile brings me. If my father can’t be happy, then I don’t have a right to it either. Shit, no one in the outliers is privy to happiness, not unles
“You look exhausted,” Sebastion says to me, his eyes straight forward as we walk through the park in the city. Nickolai is flitting from vendor to vendor, looking back to check on me now and again as he suspiciously buys everything he can, including a few floral items. Maybe I am mistaken and maybe they are for his mother or perhaps he has a sister? Who am I to assume these gifts are for me? Yet the gleam in his eye and the smirk on his lips pull me back to that thought process. I look over now at Sebastion, who is watching me curiously, and I realize he had spoken. “Oh, uh. Thanks?” I say, not sure if he is being rude or observant. He laughs and my heart flutters at the sound as I watch him, inspecting every part of his face. His dark eyes glimmer and shine, full of mirth. And the lines around his lips hint to me that maybe he does more smiling than he lets on. For the first time since meeting him, he seems relaxed, and it looks fucking glorious on him. He gives me a strange loo
I should feel guilty about kissing Nickolai to steal from him, but I can’t find myself hating the kiss as I step back from him. It was a sweet kiss. It was gentle and telling, not at all wanting. Nickolai is a gentle alpha. He has an air about him that just pulls you in like a magnet. He gazes down at me as he tugs on a piece of my loose hair, a ghost of a smile on his lips. “Uh…” I say, chuckling nervously. “What was that about?” “Oh,” his face falls suddenly and my chest feels weird at his disappointment. “I thought… you weren’t going to kiss me. Were you?” He asks, looking deflated. It’s a look I can’t stand. I don’t really understand how I feel about Nickolai. I like him. He is sexy and adorable at the same time and I want to like him but something feels like it's missing. But maybe it’s my apprehension because I know I’m lying to him? Or maybe it’s the pulling in my heart telling me not to let my walls down for him. It’s not a feeling I can put my finger on, not yet anyway, s
~Sebastian~ Nickolai, Tank, and I wait patiently outside the packhouse–if you could call it a house. This place is more like a mini fortress preparing for war. We had to come through two checkpoints to get here and here we wait, six minutes past our meeting time. I lean against the post on the front steps of the large white mansion while Nickolai sighs heavily, checking his watch once more. “Be still, Nickolai” I mutter. “Easy for you to say! You’re a brute with no actual emotions.” I quirk a brow with mild amusement. He is nervous and I can see why. This is important. We want to leave a good impression on Alpha Alden, even if he is leaving a bad one on us. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that.” he groans in frustration. “It’s fine. You didn’t hurt my tender feelings,” I joke. Nickolai leans on the post opposite me while Tank stands at the bottom of the steps looking around, no doubt feeling anxious the more we wait. From a protection standpoint, the longer we wait for such a meeting
~Wren~In ideal circumstances, Alden would have left on time to show the boys the pack lands. But the word ideal and Alden don’t play well together, so here I am, fifteen minutes later, cursing the asshole who has zero concepts of time. It’s not surprising that he is self-absorbed and can’t be bothered to do things with a time constraint. That would mean admitting that the world doesn’t spin around him like he is earth’s axis.The sun is closing in on its highest point of the day and where I am usually one for hiding in the shadows, today I am flat against the top of the wall. Which sucks for me because sweat mingles with the cotton of my shirt and I have no doubt that it looks like I was just involved in a wet t-shirt contest. I was overly excited about the mission, for obvious reasons, so I have been in place for close to an hour now. My patience is now near nonexistence.A feminine loud