Amelia Stone was the daughter of the pack's Betas, Emitt and Beckett Stone. The product of two of some of the strongest members of the pack was exceptionally intelligent with a strength that wrestled an alpha's, and a beauty that challenged the witches. She was absolutely breathtaking and many men in the pack fell at her mercy of the deadly combo of beauty, brains and brass.
All except one of course.
"Why are you smiling? You look disgusting." Damon grumbles and Amelia's smile is instantaneously replaced with a snarl as she swivels her leg back, the heel of her foot crashing into Damon's stomach. I laugh at the sight of my brother falling with a pained cry while Amelia tossed her hair back as if it were child's play.
"So Feli," she continues ignoring Damon's curses upon her, "how was it? California?"
"Beautiful," I reply making her eyes light up. "Free and relaxed. Nobody bothered to look twice and everyone did their own thing. It was … really nice."
"I'm so jealous." She whines as she falls back, landing on Damon's stomach purposefully, making the boy let out a small 'oof'.
Amelia had never left the pack, not since she'd gotten here after being born outside of it. She'd spent her entire life confined within the small borders of our town, the outside world a complete mystery to her.
Since Amelia wasn't born here, she faced alot of bullshit to become Beta. Elders particularly were opposed it, and despite her father Emitt's death threats and Damon's actual acts on these threats, she still faced judgment.
In order to prove her loyalty and love for the pack, she'd never left. It was the only thing that seemed to sate the elders' preposterous needs, and she suffered as a result.
"We'll go when I become Alpha." Damon says making joy briefly fill her eyes. "If you can behave less like a mutt outside."
Damon's reflexes saved him to punch that crashed into his arm. He winces but quickly captured her in a headlock.
"Can you guys do this outside of my bedroom?" I question as Amelia lunges her elbow repeatedly into Damon's side until it loosened enough for her to escape.
Leave them! - Caspar hisses as he lays on the edge of the bed, his pupils dilated and his nails digging into my sheets in excitement.
Amelia rotated skillfully before wrapping her legs around Damon's arm and twisting. A grunt escaped his lips as his eyes glowed blue and he lifted her body with the arm she was latched around before slamming it to the floor. She grunted but held tight, he did it a few times before she let go and scrambled back from his grasp.
"Pause!" She exclaimed as he began to run to her. He immediately stopped and a victorious smirk took his lips. "We'll continue in five minutes."
"I'll still beat you," Damon assured her as he leads the way out my room, Amelia reluctantly following behind her best friend.
When the door closes, I sigh and strip myself before heading into my bathroom. The cold rush of water cascades down my body and I shiver in delight. My shower was large with water coming from above, successfully recreating the effect of a powerful shower of rainwater which I loved to run through.
I didn't rush through my shower, spending as long as I pleased before finally stepping out. I dried and dressed quickly before heading back to bed where Caspar laid on his side.
Can we go for a run? - He begs and I feel guilt prick me.
I went this morning. Sorry Caspar - I say sheepishly but he doesn't reply angrily. He knew that shifting beyond once a day left me in unfathomable pain that I didn't wish to suffer through any more than necessary.
It's okay, I'll go by myself. You need to eat - He replies firmly and I don't bother challenging him. Sometimes, Caspar acted as more of a parent than a friend or pet.
Once in the kitchen, Caspar leaves out the back and I quickly wipe the counters with a disinfectant spray. Goddess only knew what my parents did here after I left.
I decided to make pancakes. They were quick, easy and with enough bacon, filling. I cooked quickly and quietly, looking up with a smile when Peter walked in sleepily. I checked the time; it was almost twelve and he only just woke up.
"Late night?" I question and he nods in response while rubbing his eyes. He grabs his Lucky Charms box from the cabinet before pouring himself a generous amount in a bowl and adding milk.
I finished my food soon after and we headed to the back patio together. The silence was fine with me. I knew Peter wasn't a talker, most definitely not in the morning, so we ate in comfortable silence only interrputed by Peter's soft appreciative moans at the cereal, as well as small giggles. He didn't know he made little noises when he was lost in thought, but I wasn't going to be the one to tell him. So I left my brother to giggle, hum, groan and moan as we ate together.
My mind was wondering in curiosity. I was already bored with no plans for the day; no plans for the next few months if I was being honest, and unless Sam was prepared to entertain me all day long, which she wasn't, I needed to find something to do and quickly.
"Feli!" Dad screamed suddenly jolting me from my thoughts and seemingly Peter as well.
"Yes!" I yell back but was immediately met with silence.
"Yes!" I try again but of course, nothing came. I rolled my eyes and stood, giving Peter an appreciative smile at his sympathetic one.
I follow scents and heartbeats to my parents' study, entering with a little annoyance as they stood in wait. I couldn't help but raise a curious eyebrow when my eyes landed on Damon who was seated before them.
"You called." I offer as I look at all of them, a little worried.
"Yes. We would like your help on something, if you're willing to help." Julian says, clearly leaving me room to say no. I nod and he looks to his mate and then at Damon.
"There's been a lot of talk amongst the pack concerning the future." He starts as he leans against the large desk. "Concerning how we can grow and become bigger, stronger, better. And the people want to know who will be the ones leading them in the future."
"Me obviously." Damon scoffs making everyone grimace a little.
"Well yes, you are the next in line to be Alpha and Amelia to be Beta." He continues before looking to his mate, almost in need of aid.
"You are going to be Alpha by this time next year," Aiden starts making Damon smile, "if you can prove yourself." The smile fades.
"Prove myself?" He questions lowly, clearly hearing this for the first time.
"The pack is worried about your … violent tendencies." Julian continues, not faltering for a second at his son's building anger. "Not just the elders, it's everyone. The ranking members, the warriors … the people. They're afraid of you."
"Good." He growls and we all frown.
"No. Not good." Aiden says stepping in again. "It's never good when you're own people fear you."
This seems to silence Damon, resulting in reluctant nods, but dad doesn't let him off that easy.
"Listen here kid," He says standing before him, his voice forcing Damon to keep his gaze down, "if you want to lead these people, and lead them well, you need them to respect you, not fear you." He says sternly. "Fear is the greatest weapon and it'll lead to your destruction if your own people harvest it for you."
Silence echoes off the wall but nobody moves. Damon slowly raises his head with a small nod again, his eyes showing his reluctance to maintain the submissive state but he mumbles an apology and dad finally steps back, allowing us all to breathe a little easier. He looks to his mate to continue.
"As you know, the elders perform the ceremony to transfer the power to those next in line. We all know how they feel about Amelia." Julian continues making Damon's eyes flare. Only then did I realise the girl wasn't in the room despite her being in the house earlier. "And now with this, let's just say … it's not helping."
"If they as well as the rest of the pack have doubt in you as a leader, they won't do it." Julian explains calmly, but this seems to reignite the flame only just vanquished in Damon.
"Then we'll force them!" He snaps standing to his feet. "We'll force them to comply, and kill them if they refuse."
"No!" Julian booms back making Damon stiffen. Usually, he played good cop and Aiden played bad cop, but that wasn't the case today. "You do not force your own people to do something they don't wish to! You do not kill those of your own who challenge you in fear!" He grinds out as he looks down at Damon slightly. "The minute you do that, you're no longer an Alpha, and we're no better than the rogues."
My heart pulses at the word and Aiden catches it but I try to kill the rising emotions quickly. I re-focus my attention to Damon who grits his teeth but doesn't dare respond. His raging heart easy to hear as he clenched his fists angrily.
"So what do we do?" I ask, attempting to draw the attention away from my brother.
"We're going to play Top Model and reconstruct your image." Aiden says with a smirk that was a clear attempt at relieving some of the tension in the room. "You play nice, you help out in the pack, win people over and wala - they love you."
"So I pretend to be something I'm not." Damons grinds out making dad's smile falter.
"No." He sighs before squatting down to Damon's seat so that he could properly look at him. "Damon, I love you just the way you are. But you are extremely violent, and I know I played a large part in this."
"You did nothing wrong." Damon protests quickly but Aiden shakes his head with a laugh.
"I wanted you to be a great warrior, the best warrior." He corrects with a faint smile. "Since you were a baby I fed the darkest side of you in an attempt to make you stronger. So you'd be able to protect yourself the way I couldn't for myself." He says making Damon's shoulders relax slightly. "I failed to see that by encouraging this side of you, I've downplayed the importance of every other side." He says sadly and Damon's hardened features soften slightly. "You need to have a greater appreciation for life. It's not bad to kill those who deserve it- it's in our blood to do so. But killing those you despise or those who question you, isn't okay. Okay, kid?"
" … okay." He mumbles in quiet agreement. Dad smiles and ruffles his hair before standing once more.
"So you just need to play nice, and get to know your people. Learn what the love and what they hate, show them you care." Julian continues and Damon nod, now completely compliant. "Amelia will be doing the same. It'll help with the elder's perception on her."
"So where exactly do I fit into all this?" I question making their eyes snap to me.
"Well those two will need someone to supervise them. Monitor them, direct them, correct them. Someone to make them a little more humane." Dad explains with a smile.
"Who better than the most decent kid in the family?" Po finishes and Dad grimaces.
"My name isn't Peter." I deadpan and they laugh.
"Peter's too quiet, he won't correct them, and he'd definitely disappear when they're looking away." Julian explains and I nod a little in agreement. "The others are younger than them, we needed someone older; someone they listen to. Plus, the pack loves you."
What a load of bullshit. …
"And why should I play babysitter?" I question folding my arms at this strenuous task to come.
"Because you love me." Damon interjects and I just scoff, making him flip me off angrily.
"Because I'll let you explore beyond the border some days." Aiden fills in and silence falls over the room. It was no secret that I wanted to go beyond the borders, explore the valley and what the lands had to offer.
"Are you messing with me?" I question, feeling my body buzz in excitement.
"Once you go during the day, telling me or your dad the minute you're going th-"
"Don't joke about this!" I exclaim cutting him off as a wide smile takes my lips.
"I'm not!" He exclaims as he runs a frustrated hand through his hair. "You can go beyond pack borders."
This is going to be amazing.