C H A P T E R 2 - Sam.

"Where have you been? I almost sent Arthur out to look for you." 

When I opened the door to the house that we were staying in, I was instantly made aware of the fact that my father had been waiting for me to get back here. It was something that I hadn't really prepared for, but I assumed that it meant that my mother had been found, and that I was now the only one who had given them reason to worry. I took a deep breath as I stepped through the threshold, telling myself that none of this would be as bad as I was mentally preparing for. 

One thing that I could vouch for, was the fact that my father was a worrier. I said this, because he never had a moments worth of rest when it came to our family, and even when he could, he didn't take it. It was like he was always waiting for something to go wrong, for something bad to happen. My mother was an alcoholic, and having to look for her every night could be exhausting. And when you were in a new place, and you did not know where to go and look for her, it was even worse. 

My brother might be the one who gave him the least problems. Arthur was a sweetheart, and he always did as he was told. He trained, and he looked after our mother, and he did what any heir would do. After all, he needed to make sure that he was more than capable of claiming my father's title when such a time came. I was a female, and therefore, I would not be able to do that, despite the fact that I am the firstborn. These things did not work fairly, but it was the norm around here. Females went with their mates, and if you were an Alpha's daughter who suddenly found herself mated to a Delta, then you would have to accept that. 

"I've been looking for my mother - I thought that that was what I was supposed to be doing?." 

I turned to look at my father, and found that he looked as disheveled as he sounded. His hair was messy, and his clothes looked creased, like he had been sitting in a particular way for quite some time now. But he didn't look angry. He just looked like he had been wonderign whether or not he would need to go and look for his daughter. And I could not criticize him for that. 

"I thought that you would have been back ages ago. Arthur found her." 

I didn't know what he wanted to me say to that. Finding her was not a relief. There were times when I wanted nothing more than to not find her. I wanted to know what would happen if she did not come home one night, and that she didn't come back the day after, either. I wanted to know whether or not our lives would be more peaceful, or whether or not we would still find ourselves worrying in this manner. That night did not seem like it was going to be tonight, unfortunately. 

"That is good. If I had known that he had found her, then I would have came back sooner. But I didn't. So, I kept looking. I know how important it is to find her." 

He stared at me, and I noticed that the bags underneath his eyes had gotten significantly darker. He looked like he hadn't gotten sleep in days - and that was actually possible, because we had uprooted ourselves from our homes and driven halfway across the country to come here. And we had done it in a matter of days. It was no surprise that he looked as he did. 

"It seems that we have arrived here much sooner than the Alpha had predicted for, and he had not made any preparations for our arrival." 

The tone of my fathers' voice was bitter, and I knew that he was upset. It seemed like there had been a lot happening this evening that I hadn't been aware of. And there had been a lot happening that he hadn't even been aware of. But I had no interest in bothering him with the tales of my escapades this evening. He had enough on his mind, and I was starting to think that he was just waiting for me to get home so that he could talk to me about everything that he was feeling. 

My father was a good man. He did not put up any false pretenses, and you always knew where you stood with him. I can imagine that he had not gotten into the good books of our Alpha if we had gotten here earlier than we should have. 

"The fault lies with him, not with us. He should have known that we were aware of the fact that he did not have any Beta in command at this time, and that we had simply intended to come and make his life easier. Do not feel bad about it." 

I started to pull my shoes off, realising that this was going to be a long conversation. I needed to get comfortable if I was going to entertain him, despite the fact that it was the last thing that I wanted to do. If I had a choice, I would go and find a bathroom so that I would be able to take a bath and recover from my own escapades. I could already feel the tension between my legs, the result of a very thorough fucking. I could only hope that I would feel better after my bath, or else I would be in for a long day of discomfort. 

"I do not feel bad. Not entirely." 

He was telling the truth. I knew this, because when my father lied, he tended to look away, to avoid your gaze. It was almost like it was somehow better for him not to look into your eyes. I, on the other hand, made a point of keeping eye contact, especially when I was being untruthful. My father never questioned it, and it had never failed me when I had done it with other people. 

"Alright. That is good. I think that we should get to sleep - especially you. We've had a rough couple of days." 

I looked at him, noticing the sad pull to his features, and I wanted nothing more than to go up to him and give him a hug. But the two of us did not do that. It was an unspoken rule in our relationship - because I was not the kind of person who indulged in physical contact in the first place. It was not in my nature, but I was still able to notice when it would lighten a difficult situation. 

"Yes, we have had a long week. But I need to talk to you - there aren't enough rooms here for all of us." 

I looked at my father, and it was the first time that I found myself noticing the blankets and the pillow that had been placed on the sofa. I was no genius, but I felt like I knew what my father was going to say to me. And as much as I would have wanted to disagree with his suggestion, I knew that I  would not be able to. It wouldn't get me anywhere. 

"Arther will be sleeping in the room with your mother and I. I didn't think that you would want to do the same, so the couch is the next best thing. The Alpha will be living here with us - this is his house, after all - until our home is ready. As I said, he had not been prepared for us to come now, and that is why we will have to live here." 

I took a deep breath, forcing a smile onto my features as I looked at my father. Sleeping on the couch might not be what I was used to, but it was as close to a bed as I was going to get. Whether I liked it or not, I would need to deal with this, and keep myself from making all of this even more difficult to deal with for my father. He seemed like he had more than enough on his plate right now. I didn't need to add myself to the list as well. 

"The couch is still better than sleeping on the floor." 

And just like that, the relief flooded into his features. The frown on his face lightened, his shoulders slouching, and it dawned on me that he had been waiting for me to complain, to disagree with what he was saying. I didn't think that it was necessary for him to have been as worried as he was, but it was too late for me to do anything about it at this point in time. I just hoped that the couch was comfortable, or else I would have been bound to find myself complaining tomorrow. 

"Alright. Please just stay out of trouble. It is the only thing that I am asking from you." 

His features might have relaxed, but it seemed like he had not. He was still worried. And perhaps it was rightfully so, but I was not going to worry about it just yet. I would take note of his warning, but I was not going to shove myself into a shell just to make sure that I do not ruin his reputation before he has been able to establish it in the first place. 

"I cannot promise you anything." 

"I wasn't expecting you to. I know you better than that." 

And with those parting words, it seemed like he was satisfied with the route that our conversation had taken, because he turned around and started to make his way to up the staircase. I took it as the sign that he was going to go to sleep, but I found myself realising that I did not have any knowledge of the house around us. I did not know where I would need to go in order to find my suitcase, and I did not know where I would need to go in order to take a hot bath. I would be moving around here blind, and there was nothing that could be done about it. 

I had concluded that the best thing to do at this point in time, was to find out where my father had packed all of the suitcases - and ultimately, where he had packed mine. I knew that it would be easy to just go to him and ask him where everything was, but I didn't want to do that. I didn't want to go and bother him now that he had finally calmed down enough to relax. I knew better than to stir a pot that didn't need to be stirred. 

Once I had clean clothes, I would be able to find out where I needed to go in order to get myself clean. It was going to be a process, but I wasn't bothered by it. After all, I was by no means tired yet. If I was going to pass the time, till I got tired, what better way was there to do it, than to take a bath? It was the perfect solution. 

I could only hope that tomorrow would not be as long of a day as today, and that the fact that we were here would mean that things would finally start ironing themselves out. I did not think that I would be able to survive this place if we stil ended up facing the exact same problems that we had faced in our previous pack. We had left, because things had gotten too bad for us, and this opportunity had come at the perfect time. 

I hadn't looked the gift horse in the mouth at the time, but I was now starting to question whether or not we should have...