Ilayda

Soni was laying in the middle of the garden letting the nice breeze blow through her fur while I was listening to the wind tell me all of the packs secrets when all of a sudden the back door burst open and my father comes running out in a panic making her jump. 

“Ila! Soni!” He shouts.

Something about the fear in his voice sends shivers down my spine. Soni darts over to him and he ushers us inside. He quickly locks the door behind him before kneeling down and throwing his arms around us. I can feel him shaking as he grips her fur. 

“Henry honey let her shift she’s right here she’s okay” I hear the soothing voice of my mom say. She’s also crouched down next to him and their smells of Earl gray and Chamomile tea mix together created a calming effect. She helps him up and leads him out so I can shift. “Baby we’ll be in the living room.” 

Quickly shifting I put on my clothes from earlier and race out. Something is horribly wrong for my parents to be acting like this.

"Ila I don’t like this. Something’s not right." Soni is running circles in my mind worried.

"I know Soni I know," I murmer to her. 

I walk over and sit on the sofa, Leo waddles over to me and I pull him into my lap breathing in his scent. Looking up at my dad as I watch him as he sits in his recliner his head in his hands, my mom perched in his lap rubbing his shoulders. “Dad?” I gently call out to him. 

He looks up at me and breathes out shakily. “As you know Kane and Cynthia’s ceremony is in a few days. The Grey Lake Pack… have been invited.” My Dad pauses, “As well as the Shadow Land Pack ” My mom freezes and she looks at my father in horror. My face starts to pale and my vision is spotty. The Shadow pack was the only pack that outranked the Grey Lake Pack in numbers and power. They were the most powerful pack in the United States with a spine chilling reputation to match. Their Alpha was known to be a ruthless wolf whose abilities seemed otherworldly. People say one of their ancestors sold themselves to the devil many years ago and that is why they have so much power. “The Grey Lake Pack had to be invited to ensure our pack would stay on neutral grounds due to their close proximity. We can’t risk becoming their enemy, and the Shadow Land is always invited. For some reason they have decided to attend this ceremony, out of all the invitations they decide on this one." Dad's voice breaks and his knuckles are white clenching his fists, small amounts of blood pooling from his palms where his claws have retracted. The Shadow Land pack always snubbed invitations; it is rare to see them outside of their borders for anything, even an Alpha ceremony. I look at my father and see the pain and fear in his eyes. Putting Leo down I walk over and kneel in front of him grabbing his hands and gently prying them open to unclench them. Reaching over into the coffee table to grab our soothing balm and some muslin to wrap around his hands. 

“It’s gonna be okay Dad” letting out a long breath, appling the balm to his hands. “I won’t shift, I’ll stay inside” I feel my dad trembling.

“As the daughter of the pack doctor and because your mom is the Beta's sister, you have to be at the ceremony Pumpkin,” His voice catches at the end.

Nodding I focus on tending to his hands to keep my voice from breaking, “it’s been years, we left when I was 4. My horns were too small. There is no way they will recognize me. Plus you told them I died on the journey here many years ago. I’ll hide my ears it’s going to be okay.” Standing up I sit on his other side and let him hold me tight.

“The alpha said he would do everything he could to make sure” his voice trailed off, “We’re going to say Ranae is your mother, your aunt Mia is going to make an extra strong glamour that’ll change your eye color to match moms.” His eyes can’t shake the anxiety and I can tell he’s trying to reassure himself. 

Breathing deeply “we’ll make it work dad, it’s only a few days”. His hold on me tightens, the fear evident in his presence. The three of us sit like that for a while as Leo plays on the floor with his blocks, ignorant to events that just unfolded around him.