Amelia;
Before we made it to the front door to Pipers house, it flew open. Crashing into the stone wall beside it. Tanya rushed out towards me and Piper, her hair was falling out of the loose bun on her head and her face drained of colour, it was clear to see she had absolutely no sleep the night previous, but the relief on her face when she saw her daughter was heart-warming. My brother followed close behind her and ran straight to Piper, pulling her into his arms as he breathed a large sigh of relief.
I stepped aside and watched as he covered Pipers face and head in kisses, before holding her out at arm's length and checking her over. The blood that had been scattered over her body was beginning to seep through the light denim jeans. Clearly, she was wounded.
We all scurried inside being sure not to draw any attention to ourselves but before I stepped into their house I turned around to see if I could see Arlo; but he wasn't anywhere in sight, I bit the inside of my cheek and turned back towards the front door, I wondered if he would be with us all shortly… after he found himself a new pair of jeans.
I followed Tanya and Piper into the living room whilst Eddie hurried into the kitchen to make Piper a drink; she looked exhausted and probably hadn't eaten or drunk anything since she had left the pub.
'Here lay down darling.' Tanya whispered helping Piper onto the sofa, pulling the throw from the back of the couch and draping it over her. I smiled and watched as she fussed over her daughter, plumping up the cushions, making sure Piper comfortable. Piper was so lucky to have a mother that loved her so much, it was something that I wanted so much. To be with my mum and to be held by her was one of my biggest wishes and yet it was one that would never come true.
I sat on the armchair opposite the settee and allowed my mind to wonder for a minute. How did this happen? Was this my blood that did that to her? And if so, how? How could my blood change hers and change what she could do? And how the hell did it help her shift in pure daylight and yet I couldn't even shift? I was broken out of my thoughts by the sounds of Tanya's voice, she had a lot of questions to ask and Piper didn't seem to want to talk, she looked like she wanted her bed.
'W…where did you go?'
She looked up at her mother and shrugged. 'This is the thing; I am not entirely sure where I went. All I know was that I ran and ran for miles. I could have been circling the woods or I could have gone further, I remember bits, it is slowly all coming back to me, b…but my head is kind of fuzzy.' She replied rubbing her eyes and staring into space as though she was racking her brain for the memories of her shift to come back.
'Okay… so you think you were in the woods, and is that the only place you remember being?' Tanya asked with concern and we all knew why she was worried, if Piper had gone in someone else's territory there would be a major problem. If she had stumbled into another pack's territory, they would instantly think that she was a threat. Especially if they could sense the abnormal blood that was in her system. I wasn't sure how much about that that Tanya knew, but I guess now wasn't the right time to talk about this.
Piper looked exhausted. Although she had shifted before, this time was completely different. Werewolves only change during the period of a full moon. Who knew what trauma and stress her unintentional shifting had done to her body? It is not natural for anyone to shift without a full moon let alone in daylight! And it isn't natural to lose your memory when you are in wolf form. So far, she hasn't been able to tell us much about what happened while she was away.
Piper would not have been in her right mind for a while so she could have done anything and as a pack; we could all be in trouble. So why wasn't Arlo concerned? I know he was confused by the whole thing and I know he was worried about Piper… but why didn't he send out his trackers to find her? Piper nodded and looked from her mother to me.
'I remember running for what seemed like minutes, and everything around me was passing by in a blur. I mean… I don't think I have ever moved so fast. And the adrenaline that rushed through me was like nothing I have ever felt before, not even on a natural shift, but it turned dark really quickly and then I realised I had been running around the woods for hours. I stopped to have a lay down, but I saw a blue glow out the corner of my eye, I haven't ever seen anything like it, it was beautiful and it sparkled a little under the moon; in all honesty… it looked like a tiny blue flame hovering in the darkness, but I didn't know what it was… I… I can't remember.' Her voice trailed off and she stared out of the window, as she seemingly got lost in her memories of the night.
Eddie walked into the living room with a tray of drinks for us all, he had made Piper a cup of tea and some toast and seemed rather proud of himself. My brother had never cooked a thing in his life, let alone picked up a kettle!
'Honey? What do you mean? Are you sure that there were… blue flames?' Tanya asked, sitting on the edge of the sofa, taking Pipers hand in hers and giving it a reassuring squeeze. Pipers gaze still stayed fixed on a spot on the wall, before she slowly turned back to face me.
'It… it was talking to me.' She paused for a moment and closed her eyes. 'No… not talking. It was… singing?' She added shaking her head. Piper kept her eyes locked on mine as though she were waiting for me to have the answer. But I didn't. If I was honest, I didn't have a clue what she was talking about. And I was starting to fear that my blood was slowly driving her insane.
'Wisp.' A deep voice came from behind me, causing me to flinch and spin around on the spot. The moment my eyes met those golden pools of amber I felt my insides melt to goo. I glanced down at Arlo's and noticed that he had gone back to his room and got clean jeans; that had all the buttons on, and a clean shirt. Was it wrong that a small part of me was sad about this? Arlo stepped closer to me and slipped his hand into mine. Before I had a chance to say anything, Piper whirled around to face us.
'Wisps' She cried excitedly, her hazel eyes widening. 'It was a Will-o'-wisp!'
'A wisp?' Tanya repeated looking from Arlo, to me and then back to her daughter. 'Piper; darling, are you sure you saw a will-o'-wisp? They are extremely rare and only show themselves if they are trying to communicate with someone. And that's usually something that witches deal with. They don't make themselves known to werewolves, a-and I don't know anyone who has ever actually seen one.'
'Mum it was a wisp!' Piper snapped angrily, her eyes narrowing at her mother as a low growl rumbled in her chest. We all gasped, the unbreakable bond between my best friend and her mother was something that everyone had envied. Piper would never speak to her mother this way… well, the old Piper wouldn't. What have I done?
'What is a wisp?' I asked, looking around the room before taking a sip of my tea.
'A wisp is a spirit that hasn't passed over yet. When someone passes away; depending on what sort of life they have led and depending on their actions the spirit either goes down to the realm of no return. Or they are welcomed with open arms to the heavens to live in the glory of their gods… ours being Selene. But a spirit who has led a good life of many great deeds has the choice to go to Selene's kingdom and live in enteral paradise… or the spirits that have unfinished business are left to live on in the realm between realms, waiting for the task that they had been sent to do. They appear in the form of wisps and try to give you a message, lead you to some place to show you something but again…they are very rare. And I don't think I have ever heard of them appearing to werewolves, especially while they are in wolf form.' Tanya explained. I looked at Piper as she eyed me anxiously, I was fascinated, and I wanted to know more, but there was still that part of me that felt that I was to blame for all of this. We needed to know more about my blood and what it did to people. I just hoped that Arlo wouldn't find out that this is to do with me. At least not yet. I don't think I could take it if he started looking at me like the freak that I was.
'I am so tired…I need to get some sleep, but would you guys mind if Amelia helps me up to my room?' Piper yawned stretching out her arms.
'Of course, I will run you a bath babe and then you can have a long sleep and talk to us about it all later.' Eddie smiled as he walked out of the living room. Tanya looked disappointed but nodded at Piper. 'Arlo, may I speak with you please?' I helped Piper to her feet just as Arlo crossed the room and took a seat beside my best friends' mother. We started making our way up the stairs when I could hear the pair of them talking, I couldn't make out the words that they were saying, they were whispering so low that even my wolf hearing struggled to pick up what they were discussing. I shook my head and turned all my attention to my best friend, who was surprisingly walking a lot better since getting back to the mansion grounds. I nudged her bedroom door open with my foot and closed it behind us, turning to Piper and offering a wry smile.
'Is everything okay?' I asked anxiously.
'Yeah I just wanted to talk you alone, I know what my mum is like and she will try to debunk my wisp sighting.' Piper groaned looking more than unimpressed over her mother's doubts.
'Well I believe you and I am curious to know what happened.' I smiled picking up a hairbrush to brush out the matted knots that had formed in her auburn hair.
'So, this wisp kept floating around me and it was whispering something, but the whispers were so soft and fast, that I couldn't work out what it was saying and then when I actually listened to it, I realised it was singing. Anyway, I followed it and it led me away from the woods and past an abandoned cottage; which I didn't even know existed but I stopped when it wanted me to follow it to Willow's creek' I carried on brushing through Pipers hair, becoming more and more intrigued.
'What is Willow's creek and why did you stop?' I asked.
'Willow's creek is a place where witches live and us werewolves and witches do not get on, we despise each other and if they ever saw me on their land they would curse me and to make things worse, the wisp wanted me to follow it to the castle where a really powerful witch and his grandson lives… I would be dead if I was seen.' Piper said glancing over her shoulder, she was checking to see if her mother or Eddie were listening in.
'I don't understand. How do you know all this about the witches and there being a man and his grandson living there? If none of us knew that this place was around here, then how do you know that?' I asked, not able to contain my confusion. Piper paused for a moment and tilted her head to the side as though she was trying to hear something that she didn't quite understand. Was she actually losing her mind? She cleared her throat and sat up straight, shrugging.
'It told me. That wisp. It was hard to make out a lot of what it was trying to tell me, but every now and again something would come through clearly. I remember it telling me that. And there was something else that it wanted me to do. But for the life of me I can't remember what it is.' Piper replied with a soft sigh. I bit my lip as hundreds of questions swirled in my head.
'So, you said that it was singing to you? Do you remember the words? Or perhaps the tune?' I asked hopefully. Piper opened her mouth to answer when her face fell.
'Sorry Lia. It's like it's there, right on the tip of my tongue, but for some reason, when I try and focus on it, it just escapes me.' She answered sadly. I offered a slight shrug and smiled.
'It's alright. It's not important. I just thought that if we knew the song, we might be able to work this all out together. But I am sure that when the time is right it will all come back to you.' I answered kindly, giving her shoulders a gentle, reassuring squeeze. I cleared my throat and glanced over my shoulder.
'So, wait a minute. I thought that they said that Wisps were good spirits? If witches are werewolves truly are at war like everyone says they are, then why would it lead you there?? Why would one lead you to a place that is dangerous for you?' I whispered looking at Pipers reflection in the mirror.
'I don't know; Lia… but this wisp… it wasn't bad, it was… I can't explain it… it made me feel at peace when it was with me and I didn't feel as though it wanted any harm to come to me and that's why I followed it. I stayed behind some tree's and looked around when it was clear of witches. It was showing me the castle, I still don't understand why… but I want you to help me work it out.'
I nodded my head in amazement, something amazing was happening to Piper, she was so lucky to see a wisp and if she needed my help to find out what it was trying to tell her then I was in, this was going to be astonishing. I could feel it. 'Lia… I need to speak to Arlo though…' Piper said with a panicked expression on her face.
'Okay… why are you getting worried about that… are you okay?' I asked concern filling my voice. Piper turned to look at me, her face said it all, she was in trouble. 'What?' I asked.
'So, when I was looking at the witches' castle, I heard someone talking to someone else, so I ran away, but in my panic, I ended up going into another packs territory. I saw the brown wolf that we have all been seeing on and off. And he growled at me, so I apologised and ran away but one of his mutts followed me, we got into a fight and he threatened to cause trouble for our pack.'
'Hold on… did you say the brown wolf?' I asked, a smirk filled my lips.
'Yeah… why are you smiling… this isn't funny; Lia.' Piper sulked scolding me.
'Pipe's we don't need to say anything to Arlo, I can talk to the brown wolf, he isn't as bad as I thought and if he wanted to hurt us before then he would have.'
'But we have never been in his territory before, he might be different this time, he looked furious.' Piper panicked standing up and walking to her bedroom window.
'Listen, have a bath, get some sleep. I will go and talk to him okay. But do not say a word to anyone. Especially Arlo. Let me worry about that when the time comes to it.' I said before pecking her on the cheek and heading back towards the door.
'Lia; please be careful.' Piper whispered.
'Hey, if my blood can turn you into a werewolf before a full moon, heal you and give you super strength and super speed, then imagine what I can do.' I grinned before walking out of the room. It was true, if my blood gave all these amazing new abilities to Piper, then surely, they would be even more incredible for me. The only problem was, I still couldn't shift.
I tiptoed down the carpeted stairs being careful to miss the squeaky stairs beneath me, I did not want Arlo or anyone to hear me leaving the house and I knew he would follow me. I jogged across the landing and quietly opened the front door. I was going to find the brown wolf; even if it meant going into his territory.
I closed the large iron gates behind me and Pretty girl before glancing back at the houses and mansion, Arlo hadn't followed me and I could breathe a sigh of relief, he would hit the roof if he knew what I was doing. Pretty girl walked by my side, nudging my face every now and then, I admired her beautiful eyes and smiled.
'You are such a beautiful girl.' I soothed rubbing my hand down her silvery grey hair. Before we knew it, we were walking past the abandoned little cottage that Piper had mentioned seeing, but this time smoke was coming out of the chimney. Someone must live there. But who? I was about to go and investigate when I heard the familiar tunes of the lullaby, I stopped in my tracks and looked around, the singing was much louder this time and I was sure it wasn't in my head. I looked at Pretty Girl whose ears were now pricked up.
'You can hear it, too can't you?' I whispered amazed; she was the only other thing that could hear what I could. I looked around again and noticed a Large Willow tree, I had never seen one as big as this, it was stunning. 'Come on; Pretty. We will wait here for him.' I said trying to distract myself from the alluring voice around me. I leant against the tree and closed my eyes; trying to relax myself and listen to the lullaby more intently. The words filled my ears.
When the Dark Moon meets its peak,
There's a brother who is your destiny
Hide, my child, safe and sound,
As in this brother, your destiny is found
In the Moonlight, she will show you,
All the questions, that were kept from you,
Go in search until she's found,
Resist the evil all around.
When the Dark Moon meets its peak,
There's a sister who is your destiny
Hide, my child, safe and sound,
As in this sister, your fate is found.
In the Darkness, he'll show you,
All the answers, that were kept from you,
Go in search until he's found,
Resist the liars all around.
Yes, you will speak to those who'll hear
And in your words a sadness flows
But can you brave what you most fear?
Can you face what the Dark Moon shows?
When the Dark Moon meets its peak,
There are the siblings, and their destiny
Come, my children, homeward bound
When all is lost, then all will be found.
I opened my eyes just as the lullaby stopped and looked at Pretty Girl, she was beginning to become anxious and started pacing up and down in front of me as though she was trying to protect me from something. This was the first time that I had ever heard the lullaby fully while being awake. And even though I had just heard the words it was as though my brain couldn't retain it.
'What is it girl?' I asked trying to calm her down, and then I heard him, I looked in the direction the rustling was coming from and stared trying to see him as he came out from behind the tree.
'I have been waiting for you.' I called walking in front of Pretty girl who was now snorting and her tail swishing from side to side in fast motions. She was nervous and I didn't blame her, after that time in the woods when he chased us, I thought he was dangerous and a threat to us too, but for some reason although he looked vicious; he wasn't and I just had a good feeling about him. 'It's okay girl, he won't hurt us.' I whispered looking back at her eyes which were more like a violet colour than the grey they were before. The wolf slowly stepped forward his green eyes darting from Pretty girl to me, he was as nervous of her as she was him. 'I am here because of what happened yesterday, the girl who accidently went into your territory.' I said.
'I know why you are here and consider it forgotten, but make sure it does not happen again.' He said his eyes falling to my leg, my eyes followed his gaze and I noticed a blood coming through my light blue jeans; I must have cut myself at some point. I thought, looking back up at him. 'Your friend, her blood… it is unusual; it smells similar to yours… is that why she can shift as and when she wants to?' he asked. I shook my head and sighed.
'Not as and when she wants to, but it did happen yesterday in broad daylight and not under a full moon.' I admitted. 'And yes, I think it's because of my blood.'
The wolf took a hesitant step towards me before looking up to make sure I was okay with him edging closer, I smiled and nodded. 'Interesting.' He mumbled under a deep growl after sniffing at the blood on my jeans. 'You are something special… but a mystery.' He continued. I raised my eyebrows and nodded in agreement.
'A mystery I am, but I want to find out why.'
'I am sure you do, and I hope that I would be able to help you do that. Amelia is it? I don't want you to ever be afraid of me, I will never hurt you or your friends… or your unicorn. You can always talk to me; I know when you are near so just wait under the Willow tree for me.' I smiled at his words, I knew he wasn't a bad werewolf and there was something familiar about him, he made me feel comfortable… something only a select few could do.
'Thank you so much.' I smiled looking down into his eyes and then I realised something. 'I don't even know your name?' He chuckled and then sat in front of me.
'It is William.' I nodded at him and looked around at Pretty Girl.
'Pretty girl; this is William and William; this is Pretty Girl.' I froze as the brown wolf's fur raised on his back and he sniffed the air.
'We have company.' He growled angrily. I turned to look in the direction he was facing; Arlo!
Arlo;
I stepped though the line of the tree and locked eyes with the familiar brown wolf. Anger surged through me as I turned my stare from him to her. How could she have been so reckless? She knew that there were killings happening and we still hadn't caught the culprit. At currently, the brown wolf was top of my suspect list! I glanced over to Pretty Girl who was eyeing me cautiously. She had always been so good with knowing when Amelia was in danger. So why wasn't she bothered now? I strolled forward, grabbing onto Amelia's arm and dragging her behind me. The brown wolf jumped back and lowered his ears to his head letting out a warning growl.
'Get back to the mansion. I will take care of this!' I snapped, my anger flowing with every word that I spoke. Amelia barged past me, with more strength then I knew she had and whirled around to face me. I turned my attention from the brown wolf to Amelia.
'What the fuck do you think you are doing?' She shouted; her face contorted with rage. The unknown wolf straightened itself up once more and slowly made its way to stand beside her. 'Who do you think you are? Coming out here and acting all threatening.'
'I am your fucking alpha Amelia. And I am only here to ensure that you are not in any danger. You know how reckless it is to just wander out into these woods alone!' I shouted, trying my hardest to get my anger under control. The wolf growled once more, and I turned my stare down to look at him.
'No, it's ok. I promise.' She said, glancing over her shoulder and looking to him. Was she communicating with this wolf? How is that even possible? Firstly, she was in human form, and secondly, he wasn't a part of our pack! I turned back to face her; the confusion clear on my face when the brown wolf stepped forward snapping its jaws. In that one action I knew that there was something going on here… Amelia wasn't in any danger from the wolf. He only started growling and snapping his jaws the moment that I came out. Was he… was he protecting her? That was very unusual. I could sense that he was clearly the alpha to another pack. So what did he want with Amelia? Wait… Those eyes. I knew those eyes. There was only one other person that had eyes as green as those. And she was stood beside the unknown werewolf.
A million thoughts rushed through my head as I tried to make sense of everything. She looked nothing like the rest of her family. She was always the odd one out. No one remembers Molly being pregnant. Her strained relationship between her, her "father" and "brothers". I stepped forward hesitantly once more and the wolf let out a low growl again. I stepped back holding my hands up in defence.
'I don't mean either of you any harm.' I said, keeping my voice low and calm as I slowly dropped down onto my knees. I closed my eyes and tried my hardest to call out to this wolf. To see if there was a way for me to communicate, but it was useless. I opened my eyes just as the wolf pushed his face into Amelia's hand, causing her to turn around to face him.
'Thank you so much William; I can assure you that I am safe. Go back to your pack. And I hope we get to speak again soon.' She paused and bent down, leaning in placing a gentle kiss on his muzzle. She gave the top of his head one last scratch before he turned and disappeared into the forest. Amelia stood staring after the wolf, and I could already tell that she was about to cry. I stepped forward and placed my hand on Amelia's arm.
'Lia… I-'
'Fuck you Arlo!' She shouted, pulling away from my touch and storming back towards the mansion, barging me out of her way once again. Pretty Girl cantered over to her, walking so close that they were touching. As much as her defiance angered me as an alpha, there was something about it that aroused me. Why did she have this effect on me? Anyone else acting in this way would have them on the verge of banishment from the pack. But there was something different about her. The fact that my alpha influence had no effect on her intrigued me more than I cared to admit. With a heavy sigh, I turned and slowly followed her back to the mansion, making sure that I gave her space.
Amelia;
Who the fuck did he think he was? He always treated me like a little fragile doll that needed protecting. But he was wrong. I didn't need his protection. I was capable of looking after myself. And there was something about William that just felt so… familiar. So natural. I bit back the growl of frustration that threatened to leave me and turned to look at Pretty Girl. She turned to look at me and gently nudged me with her nose; her way of letting me know that she would always be there for me. There was just so much that I didn't understand right now. And I had the feeling that William would be able to answer some of them. Or at the very least point me in the right direction to find those answers.
I could hear Arlo following slowly behind us. I know that I shouldn't have spoken to him that way in front of another alpha wolf, but I couldn't help it. Who knew what I could have learnt if Arlo hadn't of turned up? I shook my head and pushed on that much faster, just as we crossed the iron gates of the mansion grounds. Pretty Girl followed me all the way to my front door before galloping off back to her stables. I turned and glanced at Arlo once more as he stood staring at me from my front gate, I slammed the door shut before he had had a chance to say anything. I wasn't ready to talk to him. And I had nothing to say.
Arlo;
I knew that Amelia and Piper were hiding something from me. I was their alpha for fuck sake. I was supposed to be the one that knew everything. And to find out that it was my mother that had asked for me not to be told was just infuriating. Well, if no one was going to tell me anything then I was going to find out for myself. And after everything that I had seen in the woods, I knew there was something not right with Amelia. And I was going to find out what that was.
I waited until Benjamin's office lights went out, and I listened as he closed and locked the door before heading out and making his way home. As soon as I thought the coast was clear I crept from my concealment and quietly made my way over to his office.
I twisted the door handle and felt that it was locked; I know that I heard him lock it, but I was still hopeful! So, with a heavy sigh, I tightened my grip and twisted that much harder. I heard the lock snap and I slowly opened the door. The room was in darkness and I knew that I needed to make sure that I remained unseen. I pulled my phone from my pocket and turned on the torch. The light seemed overly bright in the darkness, but I was certain that it was just my paranoia getting the better of me. I hurried over to the computer and wiggled the mouse, watching as the screen sprang to life. The log in box flashed before me and I closed my eyes. What the hell was the password? I was certain that I knew, but I couldn't for the life of me think of it.
'Think god dammit!' I muttered angrily to myself, clenching my teeth and closing my eyes once more. My mother was the one that was in charge of the medical ward, so she would be the one that created the password. I stood up straight as a thought suddenly hit me. What are the most important things in her life? Me and my father. So let's start with that. Now I just had to hope that there wasn't a limit on how many tries you could have with the password.
I lost count of how many passwords I had tried, and to my relief there was no limit on the attempts. I had tried everything that I could think of. My birthday, my father's birthday. Our birthdays combined. Our names, forwards and backwards. After that I decided to try any word that came into my head. I knew that I should have been focusing but I was beginning to become disheartened. I was about to give up when I thought I would try one more thing. "Amelia-May Beth Hunt." I don't know why I would think it would be her full name, but hey, I remember she told me it once and my mother has always had a soft spot for her. I typed the name and hit enter, when to my surprise I was in!
I scanned across the screen, trying my hardest to work out what it was that I was looking at. Although I was pretty good with computers, this operating system was completely knowing to me.
I followed the links and searched through the files until I came to her name. I doubled clicked the folder and watched as her complete medical history appeared on the screen. I thought that the first time that she had come to the mansion was that day on her eighteenth birthday? But her medical records went all the way back to the day that she had been born. So, why didn't I remember her? Surely, I would have done. I would have been ten at the time, so… why are there no memories of that? I shook my head and scrolled to the bottom of the page, it was all here, the day that she was rushed in when I found her, the day that Lori put her in here and when she had her… I closed my eyes and I fought through the tears that threatened to fall. I knew that she wasn't destined to be mine, but, why did the thought of her losing that child destroy me?
I turned my attention to her personal details, all the standard doctor stuff that defines who we are… and everything looked normal. There was no explanation for why she couldn't shift and other than that her incredible speed healing fixed everything that was wrong with her before she needed treatment. I plucked my phone from the desk and snapped some photos of the screen before closing Amelia's medical files and scrolling through to Pipers. Maybe there was something here that would answer a few questions. I waited patiently as her file opened, seemingly taking forever, until it was there on the screen. My eyes scanned the page and I noticed something that was strange. There had been a change made to this file recently. I locked my eyes on the blood group. ABO positive… That was impossible. Werewolves all had O negative blood. It was a biological fact. And secondly, there was no such blood group as ABO positive. I snapped a few more picture of the screen, before tucking my phone back into my pocket and closing down the computer. I needed to make sure that there was no evidence that someone had been here. I turned and slowly made my way back to the door.
Then I felt it. Like a prickling sensation down the back of my neck. There was something that I was missing. I don't know how I knew; I just did. I sighed and turned back to scan the office when my eyes locked on a large filing cabinet on the other side of the room. It looked as though it needed a key to open it, but I had, had enough practice unlocking doors with my trusty pen knife when I was a kid. I hurried over and pulled my pocketknife from my hoody and carefully slid it into the lock. I jiggled it about for a few seconds until I heard the familiar click. I was in! I opened the drawer as carefully as I could, trying my hardest to make sure that it didn't squeal from the movement. I glanced into the open drawer and to my surprise it was empty. Except for one manilla folder, carefully placed on the bottom.
The sound of footsteps snapped me from my hesitation, and I grabbed the folder and tucked in into my hoody before pressing myself in the tight gap between the cabinet and the wall. The door to the office opened a little wider and the light from the hall flowed in, illuminating the office dramatically. I knew that I wouldn't get in trouble for being here. But if my mother found out that I had broken into hers and Benjamin's office she would go mad. Especially as I am stealing folders.
'H-Hello?' One of the nurses called, hesitantly stepping into the room, looking around cautiously. I held my breath and waited for her to leave, praying that she couldn't pick up my scent. She took another hesitant step into the room, when her pager clipped to her belt bleeped causing her to squeal. She grabbed for the small device and punched a few buttons before sighing, pulling the door closed behind her and rushing down the hall.
I stood in silence for a few more seconds, using my heightened hearing to hear the rhythmic beating of her heart disappear into one of the rooms and leave me alone once more. Without a second of hesitation, I dashed forward, tucking the manilla folder into my hoody and pulling my hood back over my head. Before following the quiet darkened halls back to my office.
I threw the door open before hurrying into the office and slamming the door behind me, rushing over to my desk and pulling my phone from my pocket once more, swiping at the screen. I pulled up the pictures of the medical files that I had snapped and sent them to the printer. I needed to be able to cover all angles at once. Something has happened to Amelia and Piper that day in the hospital, and I was going to find out whether people wanted me to know or not. I paced back and forth across the room as I waited for the documents to print before snatching them up from the paper tray and dropping down into my desk chair and spreading the papers out across the smooth surface.
I knew that something had to have changed Pipers blood type, but the last statement on her medical record that she was kept in overnight for severe wolfsbane poisoning. There were Elites out there that were powerless against that drug. And from these readings, Piper had a hell of a lot of it in her system. Could that have been what had, had this effect on her blood? But that doesn't sound right. Wolfsbane kills our kind. That is what we are always taught, and I have seen the effects of the poisoning myself. I continued reading over the documents, switching from Piper to Amelia, back to Piper… but there was nothing that seemed to give the answers!
I let out a low growl of frustration and turned away from my desk closing my eyes. I needed a second to think over everything that I had just read. There had to be something there that shed a little light onto all of this. It was as though the answers were right in front of me, but just out of my reach. I turned back to the papers and scanned over them again but, it seemed that the harder I stared at the pages before me, the less I noticed. The less I understood. It was as though every word on the papers were merging into one. With a heavy sigh I dropped my head into my hands and scrubbed my eyes angrily. Why wasn't any of this making sense? I was the alpha of this pack, yet I seemed to be one of the only ones that didn't have a clue what was going on! I slammed my palms onto my desk and rose from the chair heading towards the door when something fell to the floor, dropping the contents from within.
I glanced over my shoulder and remembered the manilla folder. How had I even forgotten about that? I had risked so much to get it, and then it was as though it completely slipped my mind. I reached for the folder when I noticed two names written on the paper sticking out from within. Amelia and Pipers! I pulled the pages from the wallet and placed them on the desk as I scanned over them.
'T-this is impossible. What does all this mean?' I muttered to myself, as my eyes darted back and forth. The words that I was reading were barely registering in my brain. None of this was possible. But at the same time… it now all made perfect sense. Of course!
Amelia;
I sat on my sofa staring down at the envelopes with all my friend's names on them. I had written a letter for each of the people that I loved the most in this place, because I was too much of a coward to tell them goodbye to their faces. This was it. Tonight was the night that I was leaving. I hadn't given myself enough time to think it through fully. But I knew that the longer I remained here, the harder that it was going to be when the time came to leave.
My time here with the pack had been eventful to say the least, and I couldn't wait to get away. However… part of me would die the moment I left here. But I knew that that was what I was going to have to do. I felt the familiar burn of unshed tears sting my eyes and tried my hardest to get my emotions in check. Once I left this place, I would become a Deviant. So I needed to toughen the fuck up and prepare myself for the outside world. A knocking at my front door had me snapping from my deep thoughts and before I had a chance to get my brain to catch up with my actions, I was already opening the door. I blinked in surprise and took in the tall, dark handsome figure stood before me. Ethan.
'Hey beautiful. How are you getting-' Ethan started, stepping around me into the house and noticing the letters that were neatly laid out on my glass coffee table. 'What is this?' he asked, he tone full of hurt.
'Ethan, I…' I paused and followed his line of sight and realised that he had found his letter. I closed my eyes as a single tear escaped and rolled down my cheek. 'Look, I wanted to tell you all. I wanted to be the brave one that could pretend that I didn't give a shit and walk away from this place forever. But… I can't.'
'Lia… I am coming with you.' Ethan replied, stepping forward and tilted my head up to meet his eyes. 'I told you that I would do anything for you. And I meant it. I will relinquish my place in this pack, and we can leave together.'
'What? No! Ethan, I am not letting you become a Deviant because of me. You have a place in this pack. Your family are well respected. Think of the effect that it will have on them if their only son leaves? Especially if their only son leaves to become a fucking Deviant! And what about Hannah? You can't leave your girlfriend! It's not happening!' I scolded, stepping out of his reach and folding my arms across my chest.
'What? Lia… this is not up for discussion. I am coming with you and I ended thing with Hannah.'
'And why the hell would you do that Ethan?' I retorted.
'Because… I am in love with you Amelia. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. And if that means that we live on the run as Deviants then so be it.' I sucked in a gasp as his words hit me like a ton of bricks. 'I mean it Amelia. I love you. And to prove it…' He paused as he dropped down onto one knee pulling a ring from his pocket. 'Amelia-May Hunt. Will you marry-'
'Ethan… stop!' I whispered, closing my eyes as dread filled my chest. 'Get up. Don't do this.' I said, trying my hardest to keep my voice strong.
'But…'
'Just listen to me. The reason that you cannot come with me is because…'
'Because you are in love with Arlo.' He answered for me. I paused. That was not the answer that I was going to give. But at the same time, I knew it was true. Even though I knew it wasn't a question I nodded anyway.
'But that's not to say that I don't love you. I do. Just… not in the same way. You have a special place in my heart Ethan. And I don't think that there is anyone else that I could ask to do this for me.' I paused as a single tear rolled down his cheek. I wiped it away with my thumb and pushed myself up onto tip toes, kissing his cheek lightly. 'I need you to stay here and make sure that Piper, Matt and Eddie are safe, and you are going to need to be the one the deliver these letters for me.' I pulled away from him and gathered the envelopes up into my hands and gave them to him. We stood in since as he flicked through them all.
'Lia, there are letters here for half the pack…' He paused for a second longer then nodded. 'I will do it.' He turned back towards my front door and glanced over his shoulder one last time. 'But I will not be the one delivering this one.' He placed an envelope of the desk by my front door, propping it up on the lamp. 'I think that you need to talk to him. You need to be the one to give this letter to Arlo.' He pulled the door open and a flurry of cold air billowed in around us.
'Ethan… I…' I stepped forward reaching out to him but faltered. I glanced back at me once more with tear filled eyes.
'You are the only woman that I have ever loved Lia. And I am pretty sure that I will never love anyone as much as I love you. I hope that you are happy wherever this journey takes you. And… above all else… stay safe. I love you.' He jogged back to the open door and pulled me in for one final kiss. It was full of passion, love, hurt and finality. Ethan pulled back without meeting my eyes, turned and disappeared into the darkness leaving me broken and alone in my house. I pushed the front door closed and dropped back against it, allowing all my hurt and sadness to leave me in a rush. I could have got Ethan to come with me. But I couldn't do that to him. He deserved better. He was going to find better. The tears rolled freely, pooling on my chin before dripping down onto my bare leg. I'm not sure how long I had been sat there crying, time had seemed to lose all meaning. It could have been minutes; it could have been hours. But I knew that Ethan was right. Arlo deserved more than a letter telling him that I was gone. I would go and speak to him face to face. It was the least that I could do. I pulled open the door once more and rushed out into the cool night air. I was still in my vest top and short, short pyjamas, but I didn't care. I ran barefoot up the path towards the mansion.