Bring It On

**BLANCA**
"Oh dear," Cyrus says, patting my lap and squeezing my hands.
With a bite of my lip, I turn away to stare out the window. We're just getting into town and I can see the sign up ahead that says Main Street. I gasp in surprise as Max cuts left and we ride through the gates. My childhood home is on Main Street. It's the one street that leads to the packhouse, then circles toward Town Hall to come back out on the other side. As I count the houses on the left I catch sight of the Ceuran home and a wave of longing washes over me. It's changed. When I lived there it was white with blue shutters. Now, it's red with white shutters. I mean, *if* that is even the right one. I guess I *could* be mistaken, but I doubt it. It's the fourth house on the left. Always has been and always will be. The homes in this tract have maybe five feet of space between them and all have the same layout. There isn't any space for new housing. At least not on *this* street. Shifters don't move from home to home like humans do. As long as my parents are members of the Shadow Wolf Pack, that house will be their home.
Of course, it could always be stripped from them by the Alpha, if he had reason to do so.
"You know," Cyrus begins, pulling my attention from the window. "Up until five years ago, I was the overseer for all border scouts," Cyrus says with a grin. "Reanna was one of the best."
"Reanna was a border scout?" Max asks.
"Yes," I answer. "She was given the job when our parents forced us to the Rim. It was the only way she could take care of me."
"Your parents *put* you out?" Jared exclaims. "How old were you then?"
I grant him a sad smile. "Well, Reanna was fourteen and I was five." Both men startle at my answer. The only one who doesn't look surprised is Cyrus.
"Are you sure that's how it went? Maybe your sister just decided to run away and took you with her to punish your mom and dad?" Max grumbles.
"What? No way. They were tired of being shunned by their friends for having *two* Shiftless daughters. They were ashamed of us," I admit.
"Maybe your sister lied to you about it. Children as young as you were are incredibly gullible," Max offered.
I have the strangest urge to reach forward and yank his head back by his hair. "Alpha, I was there when they did it. I was five *years* old, not five months old. I was able to read, write, and speak English at that age," I say flatly, rolling my eyes. The memory of that day has always been one of my worst. Each time I revisit it, I end up sobbing my eyes out. "My sister and I begged and pleaded with them to let us stay," I confess, my throat going tight with pain. "They didn't."
"My father would never have allowed such a thing," Max assures me, disbelief clouding his gaze. "He would have forced them to leave with you."
"Oh really?" I snort, closing my arms around myself to keep from attacking him. "Your *father* is the one who hired Reanna to patrol the borders. At *fourteen*. She was *on* the borders. Protecting *you!*"
"No," Max argues confidently. "He couldn't have."
I have to laugh. His close minded pigheadedness is truly outrageous, being as I speak the truth. "Well, then I must be *confused* again," I say with mock sweetness.
"You *must* be," Max retorts.
"Hmm... I suppose your father doesn't throw children in dungeons either, does he?" I counter, my voice almost singlike. "And last night, my parents were probably only throwing rocks at me because they missed me so much. Maybe I should thank them for it," I spit, through clenched teeth.
As we glare at each other in the mirror, a horn honks somewhere on the street. Tires screeching and swerving around us.
"Shouldn't you be watching the road?" I quip.
Max chuckles humorlessly, ripping his eyes away from the mirror to focus back on the road. "I hope you enjoy your first day as a slave. Scrubbing toilets sound like fun?"
"I'll scrub a thousand toilets if it keeps me away from you," I hiss.
"I'll make a call. We don't have quite that many here, so I'll pimp you out to a few of the neighbors and you can do their toilets too," Max announces. "How does that sound?"
"Sounds like a chance to escape," I say haughtily, watching his jaw tick in the rearview mirror. "Bring it on."
"Well, well, well," Cyrus coos, eyeing the two of us with a knowing smile. "Thank the Goddess." His grin is so big that his cheeks are turning pink. He squeezes my shoulder and says, "Things will finally be right again."
"What was that?" Max clips out.
"Oh, my, my, my, my..." Cyrus whispers and I can't help but stare as he begins to laugh quietly and slap his leg. "This is *wonderful*!"
"What is wonderful, old man? What the hell are you talking about?" Max presses.
Cyrus grins, shaking his head. "It's a new day," he replies. "And a wonderful one at that," he adds, throwing me a wink. I can't help but arch a brow at his weirdness before I smile back. "The Goddess really does work in mysterious ways. However, this time, she has *truly* outdone herself."
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Max inquires as we pull up to town hall and Cyrus prepares to get out.
Cyrus sighs heavily and says directly to Max, "It means, when the Goddess gifts you something you shouldn't take it for granted. The moment that you do, she just might decide to take it back."
My face heats. *He knows. Elder Cyrus knows that Max and I are mates.* This is my fault and Max is going to *kill* me. *Why am so stupid? I shouldn't have been so casual with him.*
"Okay old man," Max says with a roll of his eyes. "I don't have any more time for your riddles this morning. Jared and I are due in the training field in less than an hour."
"Alpha," the elder hisses. "Allow me to do something about the horrible maltreatment this young girl received last night."
*Is he talking about me?* My eyes go wide as saucers.
"She is a slave. How can I allow anyone to be punished for the harm they do to a slave?" Max answers coldly.
A jolt of pain lashes through my chest at his words and I will it away, just like before. This time, I close my eyes before the tears are created and tell myself that he is going to regret this. The Moon Goddess paired us. And just like Cyrus says, she doesn't like it when you dishonor her wishes. *Good, Blanca. Now get angry. You deserve better than this!* Surprisingly, this new tactic seems to work. When I open my eyes again, I hope he can feel the fury behind my gaze.
He doesn't seem to, in fact there even appears to be a faint smile playing about his lips as he watches me in the mirror. As much as I hate him for it, a shiver of awareness rolls through me.
Cyrus shakes his head at him. "You should be ashamed of yourself, Max. Your mother would have made certain those people were punished. No matter who their target was."
Max tenses, losing his smile and turning away.
Cyrus pats my shoulder then heads for the steps. "We will speak of Reanna another time. I will come see you at the packhouse for dinner."
"Do you promise?" It's out before I can stop it.
Cyrus bows, making me giggle and then waves goodbye.
When Max peels away from the office, he doesn't say a word. It's obvious what Cyrus said about his mother is upsetting him, but honestly, maybe he needed it. *No. Strike that. He definitely needed it.*
"Jared," Max starts as we pull up to the three story cobblestone manor that I know is the packhouse. "Take the car and ride ahead to the training field. I'll head over when I've gotten Blanca settled in."
"Fine," Jared says. "But don't forget you have that meeting this morning."
Max nods. "I'm aware."
"Alright." Jared turns to me. "I hope to see you later, Blanca. If you have any trouble just send for me."
"Thank you," I reply with a wave.
"Hurry up and get out," Max snarls, holding the backdoor open for me.
"Yes Alpha," I hiss, angrily. Glaring just past him so that he can't punish me for it.
Max chuckles and slams the backdoor, choosing to simply stare down at me until Jared has driven away. A few omegas scattered around the lawn are gawking at me, but I don't pay them any attention.
"Follow me," Max grumbles, then takes off ahead of me and into the house.
He's walking so fast that I nearly have to run to catch up. Once we've stepped through the front doors and into the modestly decorated living room, reality sets in for me. There are more pack members gathered around a giant flatscreen on the farside of the room and each and every one of them stops watching t.v. just to scowl at me.
I hear the word *Shiftless* said numerous times, and then the word *killer* whispered between a few of the males near the stairs. None of them look pleased to see me. In fact some of them look downright murderous.
*I'm going to die after all. These people are going to kill me.*