13.

Farryn had been correct in assuming that making a show of no fear would delay any sort of attack. The two weeks after the dead deer had shown up had been quiet, there had been no reports of any strange sightings leading Farryn to believe the deer hadn’t been killed at the site it was found at but rather, it had been dropped there with someone staging the splattered blood to make it seem like a recent kill. Life was beginning to seem normal to Farryn. Her packmates rarely questioned her authority or her right to the title of Alpha anymore, despite her refusal to shift into the large white wolf.

She had learned that in situations where her emotions were strong the wolf was closer to slipping out. So she had constructed a new persona, one where it was hard for anything to slip through. The exception was Chandler. Ever since the shock that had passed between the two Farryn had become a bundle of nerves around the male, and he seemed to suddenly take every opportunity he could to be around her. Their previous skirmish over the title seemed to have been long forgotten, everyone was getting along well and there was no longer two sides to the pack of who supported who. His show of supporting her certainly helped.

“Farryn would you like to come hunting with me?” Farryn’s distracted gaze quickly found Chandlers as he threw her a lopsided grin. He knew she would not shift but still pestered her into situations where she almost felt guilty for it.

“Do I need to remind you what happened the last time you invited me out alone?” That handsome grin twitched into a frown for a split second before he shrugged his shoulders.

“You’re right, no one needs to see our strong Alpha crying like a pup.” He shot at her with a snort. The interaction between the pair had become so common that what would have once sounded hostile was now seen as nothing more than teasing.

Farryn shook her head with a half-smile and opened her mouth to respond when Ian quickly slide his arm around her shoulders. “Hate to break you two up but Farryn we need to talk.” Ian didn’t even bother looking in Chandler’s direction. While everyone else in the pack had gotten over what had happened in the past, Ian still held a grudge. Farryn rolled her shoulders to remove Ian’s arm as she motioned for him to follow her, waving farewell to Chandler who was rather quick to wave back.

“All due respect Farryn, but I feel like I need to remind you of the fact that he cannot be trusted,” Ian growled under his breath, his tone dropping as they passed a young group of wolves. Farryn brushed her fingers through her hair, it had begun to grow longer again, perhaps it was time to cut it.

“That is your opinion which you are entitled to. What did we need to talk about?” She had learned to be quick about changing the topics away from things she didn’t want to talk about. Most were unlikely to backtrack the conversations.

“It’s not actually me who needs to talk with you, it’s the twins. They are waiting at your home.” Farryn had caught the flicker of disappointment in Ian’s eyes when she changed the topic but she couldn’t concern herself with it at the moment.

“Thank you, Ian, why don’t you grab a few wolves and go check the Northern border? It’s been pretty quiet with the humans and I want to make sure it stays that way.” There was a moment of hesitation before Ian perked up a bit as he nodded. He was young and had never been placed in charge of a patrol before, Tony didn’t quite trust the rash young male yet.

As Farryn entered her home she could hear the padded sound of pacing in the adjacent room. Rather than waiting for her in her study, the twins had stopped in the living room. Amelia was sat on the couch with one leg crossed over the other while Emily paced in front of her sister.

“Sorry to make you two wait, what’s wrong?” She wasn’t one to jump to conclusions and had grown used to seeing Emily worked up over nothing. But it was Amelia’s tense shoulders that gave the stress away. Emily stopped pacing and looked to her sister, it seemed that whatever news she had, she didn’t want to be the one to deliver it.

“We received a message yesterday from a pack who is claiming we are encroaching on their territory. They claim the deer came from them, that it was our warning to get out. We didn’t tell you about it yesterday because we wanted to ensure it was real.” Emily kept her eyes on Amelia while Amelia relayed the message. Farryn frowned as she brushed her hair over her shoulder and took a seat in her leather recliner.

“There is no other pack for miles.” She responded in such a matter-of-fact tone that Amelia finally looked towards her, she looked like she had been crying.

“They are claiming to be from the Clear Oak Pack.” Farryn had just begun to rock herself when Amelia responded. Her fingers curled slowly into the leather, her nails ripping through as her gaze shifted to Emily who would not return it.

“Where are they?” Amelia swallowed hard as Farryn drew herself out of her chair and to her feet. Emily’s gaze rose but no further than Farryn’s chest. Neither responded.

“I said, where are they?!” As Farryn yelled Emily turned quickly, placing her body between her sister and Farryn as Amelia shrank back into the couch.

“We don’t know. They didn’t give us a location, please Alpha, calm down.” Farryn’s chest was beginning to rise and fall rapidly with each breath she took.

“Calm down? Calm down?! You’re telling me you two found out yesterday that someone from my pack is not only alive but was able to rebuild, and you want me to calm down.” Emily quickly lowered her gaze as the blue of her wolf began to bleed into her green iris’. Her whole body was shaking with fury and fear.

With a sharp exhale she moved to go past Emily, but the twin reached out and grabbed the back of Farryn’s sleeve in a feeble attempt to stop her. “Remove your hand from me, or I’ll remove your hand from your arm.” Emily didn’t hesitate as Farryn spat out her threat. The second she was released Farryn was out the door. Her packmates moved quickly out of her way as she ran down the street, not bothering to stop for the handful who called out to her in concern. There was only one place she could think about checking to see if this claim was true or not if it was then the figure she had seen through the trees when Chandler brought her home could have been a survivor.

The thought that at least one of her past packmates survived hurt more than she thought was possible. She had given up the hope of finding anyone and had instead settled into a new role with a new pack. She had abandoned her home and her family, just like she abandoned her sister. This left her with the wonder of whether or not Amelia and Emily were telling the truth about how long they had known. It had been two weeks since the deer had been found. If anyone had wanted to deliver a message they wouldn’t have waited that long, would they?

The wolf inside was begging her to stop, to slow down, and to think rationally but she couldn’t. She couldn’t see past the fact that she might have a packmate still alive. The wolf attempted to persuade her with logic, if the message had been truthful then that meant there was a new border set up and she had already passed it. She was now trespassing. But how could it be trespassing when the Clear Oak was her home? All she wanted was to go home and find this had all been some horrid nightmare that had been wolfsbane induced from a night out with friends.

Farryn’s steps slowed as the rubble remains came into sight, she couldn’t see anyone ahead but there were certainly several fresh scents in the area. Excitement bubbled up as she jogged forward, unaware of the silence that had fallen over the forest. The wolf tried to surge forward, tried to force her to pay attention, but her eyes had found the shape of someone sitting on the ground among the rubble. Farryn ducked under a low hanging tree branch and as she rose to her full height she drew in a deep breath. The smell seemed familiar, yet different at the same time.

The person she approached looked over their shoulder, it was a young girl with bright silver eyes. As a sly grin stretched across her lips that revealed sharp canines the breeze drew her wheat gold hair from her shoulder showing her pointed ear. Farryn froze and had just begun to turn around but it was too late. A large fist connected with her cheek, cracking her nose, as she collapsed to the ground. She grunted as she winced at the impact and was just about to roll over when a searing pain that drew a blood-curdling scream from her came from her thigh.

Farryn panted heavily as her tear-filled eyes gazed at the silver dagger buried to the hilt in her leg as the male standing above her scoffed. “This was no fun, she didn’t even put up a fight.” Farryn lifted a shaky hand towards the weapon.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” The girl who had been sitting several yards away was now seated behind the alpha and gently brushed a lock of Farryn’s hair back from her face and made an attempt to wipe the blood from her nose in what could have been a soothing manner.

“Not only is that going to hurt really bad, but all of that blood in your leg is being kept in thanks to that dagger. You won’t be able to heal yourself fast enough to close that wound up thanks to my friend here hitting your artery, and the silver of course.” The male huffed through his nose as he crossed his arms over his chest. He was rather slim despite the force with which he hit her but he had the same blonde hair and silver eyes, though his hair was cut much shorter making his ears much more prominent.

“You said this would be fun.” He complained, the young girl behind Farryn scowled at her companion.

“It would have been if you hadn’t hit her before she had seen you, you oaf.” Farryn’s gaze felt heavy, there was minimal blood loss but she felt ready to pass out.

“What do you want?” She snapped as she attempted to sit up. The small girl placed a firm hand on her shoulder and pinned her back down to the ground with ease as she grinned down at Farryn with the eyes of a predator.

“We don’t want much, just some fun, that’s all.” She giggled as she reached forward and wrapped her slim fingers around the handle of the dagger. “So how about we make a deal? Your life, or your packs?” The girl couldn’t help but break into a fit of laughter at her seemingly brilliant deal she concocted but the male didn’t see it that way.

“She’ll choose her own life, she was out here in about an hour ready to leave them, why save them?” The girl looked up sharply as her laughter came to a halt, the hand on the weapon seemed to be frozen.

“Fine then, beat my friend here in combat and we will both be your servants for as long as you wish.” Farryn’s brows furrowed in confusion.

“What? What is the point of all of this?! You don’t even know who I am, why would you offer something like that?” The girl looked back at the wolf she held pinned down and smiled at her once more.

“The point is that we are horribly bored, and you are the most fun we’ve had in ages. So, you’ll entertain us for a while or you’ll die. Either way, we get to have a bit of fun, and if my friend loses, well, I have a feeling there would be more fun to follow!” The girl leaned down until her nose was about to brush Farryn’s. “So do we have a deal?” Farryn let out a growl of frustration, her leg was trying to heal but with the silver in it, it wasn’t possible.

“Yes.” She hissed. At the single word, the girl withdrew the dagger from her leg with ease, grinning as she drew the flat side of the bloody blade along her tongue. “Don’t disappoint me!” She chirped as Farryn’s eyes rolled back as the blood rushed forward out of the wound. As much as she hated the thought of doing so, Farryn had no choice as she released her control and let the wolf take over.