Chapter 4: A New Frined

Chapter 4: A New Friend

James Ashwood

Ugh, my face hurts from this fake ass smile I have plastered on it. These types of gatherings are the worst. If I have one more Alpha squeeze my hand as hard as they can while shaking it, I’m going to punch them in the face. Then after they have tried to break my hand, they throw their kids at Rylie and me.

The males all try and befriend you in the oddest or most offensive ways. Like yeah, I get it. You’re an Alpha heir so am I. No, I don’t want to watch you degrade your pack and yourself. Dad always says an Alpha’s duty is to serve the pack; the pack doesn’t serve the Alpha. I guess not everyone is taught that. They’re not all like that, but enough of them that it makes me tense up as soon as they open their mouths.

 The cringe waiting to vomit out is exhausting. Rylie and I are used to weeding out the freaks and finding a few guys that we don’t mind being around. Currently, the only one we like is this heir Han Yang-rae. He speaks pretty good English, and he’s kind of become our interpreter and cultural guide. The goddess only knows we need all the help we can get to keep the rank-diggers away.

Yeah, the females can be just as bad. No, maybe worse. At least the guys want to get to know you on some level. The females see you as two things money and rank. It doesn’t matter who I am at my core. It’s what I can do for them. I could be the biggest jerk, and most of them wouldn’t care, which is sad.  I guess it’s part of our animal side that wants to mate with the strongest to have strong offspring. Having an unhuman animal side can be a double-edged sword when it comes to common sense and pure instinct.

Some of the females are chill and just want to be friends because they would rather wait for their fated mate than deal with a political-mating. There is a glint of disappointment once they realize I’m not their mate, but it goes away quickly, and they run off to find their friends.

Too often, political-mates end up hating each other because a true mate bond cannot be faked. Honestly, the offspring of political mates are weak. The more it happens it never fails. You see a pack taken over by a new Alpha after a few generations. I still don’t get why some do it. Once you finish marking a mate, you end the possibility of finding your true mate. I think those what-ifs destroy the forced mate bonds. I can’t say that for all chosen mates, some end up happy, but it’s usually when one or both have lost their fated mate. Gideon was lucky to get a second chance, mate. They are rare. They would have never known if Amelie hadn’t completed the rejection ritual. It’s crazy how tragedy can birth an opportunity for happiness. Maybe the tragedy of this gathering can end and bring me a small amount of happiness.

Rylie nudged me in the ribs with his elbow. “Oww, what the hell.” I scowl at him.

“Seriously, fix your face. You were spacing out, and the look on your face said I will murder everyone here.” He whispers so only I can hear him.

“Well, we both hate these things, so I guess my feelings were on my face,” I whispered.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been jealous of babies and kids before until now.” Rylie huffs.

“I know our nieces and nephews got to leave because it was past their bedtime, but we have to stay here and,” Han Yong-rae started walking back toward us, so I cut myself off. “Hey, Han Yong-rae.”

Han Yong-rae smiled as he casually walked over to use. Out of all the Alpha heirs, I would say he was the most laid back. The guy looked like one of those K-pop ideals more than the other heirs, who all seemed to dress like they took a page out of the same delinquent handbook. They really were trying way too hard to look tuff, but they looked more like cheap gangsters out of a TV drama. Hag Yong-rae just turned 17 and started his Alpha training. Hopefully, he won’t start acting like these other heirs and will stay true to himself.

“Do you guys want to get out of here? I know a way.” Han Yong-rae spoke low so no one else could hear.

“You would be our hero if you could sneak us out of here.” Rylie rolled his head back and sighed. “Our dads and brother-in-law are keeping an eye on us.” Rylie nodded his head in the direction of our tormentors.

“Yeah, if another female rubs herself on me, I’m going to lose it, but I just have to grit my teeth and deal.” I huff out a sigh.

“They’re going to be distracted for a while. Since all the kids left, my dad and the other Alphas will break out the hard stuff. Give it ten minutes, and we can sneak out through the back.” Han gave a head nod in the direction of the side door, wanting us to watch.

Sure enough, the Alphas from this area start bringing out bottles and bottles of alcohol. Now it takes a lot to get a werewolf drunk, and by the looks of what’s being poured, that’s their goal. The three of us accept our glasses with a court nod. After about the third toast, the room was lively enough for us to slip out the door connected to the kitchen. Then down a back hallway that leads to a loading dock. Thus far, as long as we didn’t alert our Dads or Gideon, we were scot-free.

“There’s a pathway to the forest right this way. If we don’t go too far, no one will realize we are missing. We can hang out around the entrance to the forest.” Han Yong-rae was pretty reliable, I must say. We followed him to the edge of the forest. The fresh mountain air cooling our faces from our nerves escape.

“I feel like I can finally breathe!” I stretch my arms above my head. My eyes are fixed on the forest in front of me.

“Yeah, I was about to go nuts.” Rylie takes a deep breath of the mountain air. “Man, it feels good out here.” He stretches his arms out to his side and then above his head.

“My pack is on the other side of this mountain. We come here often for meetings. I learn about this escape route from one of the servers. I’ve used it ever since.” Yong-rae leans up against a tree.

“Your dad doesn’t care?” I am speaking to Yong-rae, but I can’t seem to turn away from the forest. I feel like something is pulling me. Telling me to go, to run. I feel Rafe pushing as well.

“What is it? Do you see something?” Rylie follows my gaze but turns to look at me with confusion in his eyes.

“It’s nothing, probably a rabbit or something.” I lie. I shake my head and lean up against a tree as well. I am fighting the urge to shift and run. My head is turned toward my friends, but my eyes keep looking into the woods, calling me.

“The forest on this side of the mountain is said to be haunted.” Yong-rae looks up at the dimming sky. His expression was unchanging. Rylie and I look at him with furrowed brows.

“Haunted! Seriously.” Rylie whispers while his eyes dart back and forth at the dense underbrush. Humans may be on the fence about ghosts and spirits, but we knew better. They were all too real.

“It’s not well, and I guess not anymore… never really was. It’s hard to explain.” Yong-rae sighed and kicked the dirt at his feet.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I felt like I needed to know. Maybe that’s why I felt like I was being pulled into the forest.

“It’s an old ghost story made by the humans, but it was never a ghost in this forest but a Gumiho.” Yong-rae face tensed up with the word Gumiho.

“What is a Gumiho?” Rylie asked.

“It’s a nine-tailed fox god, in this case, a goddess. They are minor gods of the forest. They roam the earth for thousands of years before ascending to the heaven.” Yong-rea crossed his arms in front of him and slumped down the tree a bit.

“Why would the humans make a ghost story up about them?” If it was a god, how would people not know? I didn’t get it.

“A Gumiho kills with a kiss. They appear as a beautiful woman and lure their victims in, and once they kiss, they draw out all of their life source into a fox marble. They gain all that person’s knowledge and energy. They have done that for thousands of years. All people know is that some go in and some don’t come out.” Yong-rae looked out into the forest with sad eyes.

“Do you know the Gumiho or something?” I swallow hard.

“No, I never meet her. She was gone shortly before I was born, but the humans still think a ghost steals souls in the forest.” Yong-rae smiles at us, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. They are oddly sad, considering he has never met the fox before.  

“How did she choose her victims?” Rylie straightened his shoulders, trying not to act like the story wasn’t getting to him, but I could tell it was.

“I don’t know. I can only guess it had something to do with the forest since they are a forest god.” Yong-rea stands up and brushes the dirt off his pants.

I am standing on the edge of the forest, still just staring. Yong-rea’s story somehow made my desire to take a step into the woods even stronger. What was it that was pulling me? He said the Gumiho was gone, so what is it? Why?

“Yong-rea, did the Gumiho ever go after werewolves?” I look at Yong-rea from the corner of my eye. He looks startled for a moment but quickly conceals his expression.

“No, she never went after werewolves.” I see Yong-rae’s jaw clench.

“We need to go. It doesn’t matter what’s in there. The goddess calls us to move.” Rafe is pushing forward to get me to shift. This is not like him. He’s calm and calculating. Impulsiveness is not in his nature.

I turn to Rylie and Yong-rea. “I need to go on a run.”

“What? What are you talking about? You’re going to get us busted!” Rylie grabs my arm before I can take another step.

“No, I need to go.” I shake him off and start to unbutton my shirt. I really just want to shift, but coming back with no clothes would be a problem.

“Damnit, James. Seriously? Fine, I’m coming with you. If I go back without you, I’m as good as dead.” Rylie starts taking off his shirt too.

“I don’t think this is a good idea.” Yong-rea keeps looking behind him at the resort in a panic.

“You coming or staying?” I ask. “I’m going no matter if you two come or not.” I toss my pants over a branch.

“I’m so dead.” Yong-rea takes off his clothes as quickly as possible since Rylie, and I are almost finished.

As soon as I’m naked, I shift. Rafe shakes out his grey fur, and we look deep into the forest with his large dark eyes. The forest is still, only the rustle and scurry of small wildlife. The pull is stronger than before. Something is close. I can feel it, but what? I look up the mountain. It’s dark, and I can’t make out anything. I just know I need to get up there now.

I take off, and I pay no attention to the other two tailing me. It doesn’t matter if they are with me or not. I need to know what this is. What is out here I need to find so badly?