Aryan-Arriving at school the next day, I was already ready for it to be over. I almost called out of school just so I could start investigating what I found last night. There were a few Packs I was going to check out. I knew I couldn’t do much with the local Packs, but I could at least drive by them.I thought about going to the Packs to pretend I was looking for a new Pack, but it likely wasn’t a good idea to start with a local pack. The other Packs I could look at, were a bit of a drive, which meant it was better to wait until the weekend. There was one Pack in the area that I could go to since they were open to the public as a tourist spot.At the very least I could look around and possibly find out something. I doubt that I would find much, especially since if they were open to the public, they likely took extra care in hiding things. When school was over for the day, I debated whether it was a good idea to go alone.“Are you okay?” Connor’s voice pulled me from my mental debate,
Kierian-“Are we just going to stalk her now?” Liam held the paper he received from the girl at the entrance, with her number on it.“You aren’t even interested in that girl, why did you take her number?” I asked, ignoring his question.“Because I think it is funny. Maybe I will call her, maybe I won’t.” Liam shrugged as he stuffed the paper in his pocket. “Don’t try to dodge my question though. Why are we following Aryan, but not letting her know?”“I just want to make sure she isn’t in any danger.”“Oh please, even I know that isn’t the reason. Ever since Connor came into the picture, you have been asking me and Sylvie to spy on her. You don’t care about anything we report unless we say something about Connor and her talking. Admit it, you are jealous.” Liam laughed as he bumped my shoulder with his fist.“Do that again and I will cut your hand off.” I glared at him.“Oh, so touchy.” Liam feigned a look of horror on his face before laughing more.If it weren’t for the fact that he w
Kierian-“That is Aryan when she was little.” I grabbed the phone from Liam while placing the car in the park and taking my foot off the brake pedal.“Which one?” Liam leaned over the middle console to look as well.“In the middle.” I zoomed into the picture, ignoring all of the other faces that were in pictures on the board.“I wonder why she is on it.” Liam reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded-up piece of paper. “I also found this. This is a list of kids that have been kidnapped, which dates back nearly a hundred years. There are a few names that don’t have dates or places on it. There was one with just an initial, which I am assuming is Aryan.”Taking the paper from him, I placed the phone on my knee. “I recognize some of these. About five years ago my father figured out that the kidnappings were being done by werewolves and not humans. He figured that out because some kids were being taken in the same way, that came from werewolf Packs. They were able to kidnap a kid ri
Kierian-“I would ask why you called me here, but I think I already know. It is about Aryan, isn’t it?”Connor was wearing sunglasses, so I couldn’t see the look he was giving me, but I was sure he was glaring. His expression was unreadable, but I didn’t care if he was mad at me or not. If it weren’t for Aryan’s safety, I would send him away as well. Also, unlike with Brianna, I had nothing against him to convince him to leave.Clenching my fist behind my back, I wanted to hit him in the face for putting his hands on Aryan. Liam warned me before Connor arrived, that if I didn’t keep my calm, I wouldn’t be able to convince Connor to help us. Right now, Connor might be the only one that can protect her.“It does.” I nodded as I stepped aside to let Connor into the house.“I think I will stay outside.” Connor looked around for a moment before returning his attention to me. “It might be safer out here, as opposed to going inside where you might kill me and stash my body.”The idea did sou
Aryan-I couldn’t believe what I was about to do. Since I went to Kierian’s, I have been pacing my room for the past few days. While I was supposed to focus on discovering what happened to my Pack, I was too wrapped up in thinking about Kierian. Everything was messed up.I thought I could give him time or whatever he needed. If I was being honest with myself, going to his house the other day to confront him for following me was just an excuse. Knowing he had followed me, I thought he might still care.Of course, I could have handled myself better, but I wanted to see his reaction. His aloof behavior was enough to get me not to make it worse for me. Now, I was standing behind the bleachers at the football field, trying to build up enough courage to make a fool of myself.Maybe what I needed to make things right with him was to create a grand gesture. I could be wrong, but I had to try. If it didn’t work, I would know there is no hope for reconciliation.“You know, the longer you stand
Kierian-From the moment that Aryan stepped out onto the field, I had been stunned. I didn’t know what she would do or why, but I hadn’t even realized she was there until she stood beside Sylvie. Typically, I could sense her, but not tonight.It was like she wasn’t her. There was something different about her, especially her scent. I hadn’t been able to figure it out. When she started talking, I had to focus on what she was saying, as I was distracted with figuring out why she was suddenly different.Only after she started explaining what happened to her was I able to hear her. As she talked, I wanted to go to her, to comfort her, but I had been too immersed to move. The more she spoke, the more I felt like an idiot for my behavior.I didn’t know what to say, to do, how to react, nothing. As I watched her run off the field, it was like my entire body had become as frozen as she described in her recollection of watching her family die. If I had experienced what she did, I would have li
Aryan-I knew I should turn around, but it was too late. I was almost to my destination. Since crossing the state line, I have had a bad feeling. I couldn’t describe it, other than that. All the way to the pit of my stomach, something was urging me to turn around.On the plus side, I have almost forgotten about how I made a fool of myself, once again. Almost. This was at least giving me something else to think about. Turning down the road that would take me closer to the Pack that I was going to, I checked the time on my stereo to see that it was just after eight in the morning.On the drive here, I already set up a hotel for two nights, just in case I couldn’t find what I was looking for, in one night. Seeing a gas station, I realized I should stop to get a few things and a charger since my phone was dead. I am sure my Godparents were freaking out, so I needed to check-in.Pulling off the road, I parked the car at the gas pump so I could also top up my fuel. Turning off the car, I gr
Kierian-I almost didn’t slam on my brakes when I drove into the parking lot of the hotel. Tires screeched as I stopped just a mere foot away from a woman holding a child in her arms. As I got out of the car, the scent of burnt rubber filled the air.I didn’t even ask questions as I felt the beast inside of me come alive. My body began to crack and stretch as I shifted into my Lycan form. The fear on the faces of the crowd in the parking lot satisfied me, but not fully.I sensed that Connor, Sylvie, and Liam also followed my lead and shifted into their Lycan form. My body vibrated as I let out a deep growl that was enough to cause the car alarm to go off. Taking a step forward I lunged out to grab the closest one to me, but he backed out of my reach.“Fall back!” Another man shouted and soon everyone started running away.I wanted to chase them, but something else caught my attention. The strong aroma of lilacs and blood was coming from the room that Aryan’s car was parked in front of
Aryan-Filled with raw and intense power, I could suddenly move again. Without hesitation, I kicked open the locker door. It felt like I was being swarmed with a tornado of wind. My hair blew wildly around me as I rushed toward Charlie.Instead of going straight for him, I moved past him slightly. Charlie’s eyes widened as I grabbed his wrist and twisted. I heard his bone snap as Kierian fell from his grasp. Without pausing, I wrapped my arms around Kierian and moved him to the far end of the hall.It wasn’t until I placed Kierian on the ground that I realized I had shifted into my Lycan form without realizing it. Just like the day at the hospital when I saved everyone, I touched my hand to Kierian’s chest to transfer my energy to him. He gasped as his eyes widened, and he jolted upright.Hearing something crackle behind me, I twisted around to see Charlie transforming into a beast I had never seen before. It was like he was part werewolf and something else entirely. His eyes were red
Aryan-“Are you okay?” Kierian was instantly at my side when I reached the basement.I struggled to remain upright, but I could feel my injuries already starting to heal. “I am fine. We need to figure out a different way to take him out. If you hadn’t seen, I couldn’t match his speed. His movements were too fast for me to get a single hit in.”“It might help if you shift into Lycan form.” Kierian suggested.“I tried, but he was relentless in his attacks.” I sagged onto a chair that Slater pushed toward me.“You haven’t been a Lycan for long, so it is understandable if you can’t shift in an instant whenever you want. We worked on things but never practiced shifting when under attack.” Slater stepped beside Kierian as he spoke.“I could shift down here and go up, but there isn’t a large enough passage. Maybe if I come out of hiding but stay distant from him, I could shift before attacking?” I looked between Kierian and Slater.“It could work, but…” Slater began.“You can’t risk exposing
Aryan- I tried not to think about Maize and Dexter for the rest of the weekend. I quickly realized my mistake the next day when we heard they had taken my warning and packed quickly. They left the house, and there were no signs of them anywhere. I know I shouldn’t have warned them. Slater made me realize I was likely in shock and had not thought things through. The Alpha King assured me they wouldn’t get away, but that didn’t make me feel better. I just hoped I didn’t make any mistakes when meeting Charlie today. The weekend had gone by in a blur, but I now had to focus. Standing outside, where Charlie was supposed to meet his son, I was extremely nervous. Kierian didn’t like the idea of me going alone, but I felt it was the only way to get Charlie to fall into our trap. He still didn’t like it, but I agreed to let him be close by just in case. Staying out of sight, I kept glancing at my phone to check the time. A few minutes before the agreed-upon time, I saw Charlie had arrived.
Aryan-Looking at the open folder, tears formed in my eyes as I saw a letter addressed to me from my father. Blinking away the tears, I picked up the first paper with shaky hands. It took a while for my eyes to focus, but I began to read aloud when they did.“My lovely daughter Aryan, I know this might come as a surprise to you, seeing as I failed to keep everyone safe. I know you thought highly of me and believed I could take on the world, but I am not a superhero. Since you are reading this, it means I failed to stop the evil that has been brewing for years. My most trusted Beta, Charlie, has betrayed me. I thought I could give him the benefit of the doubt when I started noticing things, but as it turned out, I was wrong. I didn’t realize how bad he was until it was too late. Your mother was also aware of this, but now that you are reading this, I know she didn’t survive. I hope that you can take care of your brother for us.”I stopped reading for a moment as I let out a strangled s
Aryan-While we waited for the witches to arrive, I worked on getting everyone set up. The girl, who hadn’t been subjected to being in wolf form, was known as Maddie. She was surprisingly very mature for her age. She helped find things for everyone since she was the one who knew her Pack the most.By the time we found a place for everyone, I was surprised to find out that the majority of her Pack were teachers, doctors, business owners, and so forth. Now, all we had to do was turn them back into humans. It was a good start.With people who could help rebuild the Pack, it made my life a little less complicated. The witches were due to arrive the following morning. We still had a few days before we needed to worry about Charlie. With an entire weekend, I wasn’t sure what to do.For the most part, the school was prepared for the final battle. All the teachers and students had finished reviewing everything, and Slater ran us through everything before we left. Slater said he would come by
Aryan-The following day, we skipped school to go to the Pack, where the Lycans disappeared. We weren’t sure how long we would need to deal with the situation. We didn’t know if it would be another situation, like when we were in Louisiana.It wasn’t a long drive, as it only took us an hour and a half to arrive. We didn’t know what to expect when we arrived, but this hadn’t been it. It looked like we pulled into a ghost town. The buildings looked like they were barely standing. Most had been burned, while a few looked like they had partially bulldozed.Only a few buildings remained, but even they looked like they had seen better days. Kierian stopped the car in the middle of the road, but no one got out. This time, we were in a large SUV since there were five of us, and we didn’t see the point in taking two vehicles.If not for the fact that we could sense others, we would have thought we had come to the wrong place. I also sensed the presence of another Lycan, but it was faint. Looki
Aryan- Over the next few days, we went through special training with Slater. Everyone, including the teachers, worked together to learn about the underground bunker until we all knew it by heart. We learned where every entrance was, including the hidden ones. I was surprised when one of the locations was inside my locker. Everyone was given a communication device and a suit to wear, which we were required to always wear just in case there was an attack. We didn’t think Charlie would show up yet since we didn’t know where he was. I still had to figure out a way to get him to come here. After school, me, Kierian, Connor, Liam, and Sylvie tried to learn more about the Pack that Connor and I visited. It took us a few days, but we managed to locate the Alpha that oversaw the Pack. He was a few years older than we were, so at least we thought it would be easy to talk with him. His name was Aaron, and he seemed nice. I wasn’t sure why he turned his Pack into a tourist spot, but that wasn’
Aryan-Once the students and teachers were in the auditorium, Kierian started telling the students what was going on. I was amazed at how flawless he was as he spoke. It was like he spent months practicing. With how his presence filled the room, I knew he was going to be an excellent leader.Unlike me, he didn’t stumble with his words. He got straight to the point. Everyone sitting in the auditorium was giving him their full attention. None of them blinked as he spoke or attempted to interrupt him. They looked eager even as they waited for him to finish.Everything I had told the teachers, he basically said the same, except in fewer words and with more confidence. When every student agreed to go through the testing to be able to help, I didn’t know why I was surprised. No one asked questions or doubted him, but that goes to show he was a well-respected future Alpha.From the front row of seats, Mr. Slater motioned for me to go to the exit door, that was left of the stage. We met by th
Aryan-Monday morning, I was a mess. I was fairly sure I had dark bags under my eyes that developed an hour after school started. I was nervous, and my fingernails have looked better, but I chewed them off as I kept circling the conference room, where the meeting would be held.Yesterday, I had everything planned out about what I would say to the teachers, but now it was like my mind was blank. I was rethinking my plan to get them involved. The only teacher I knew was on my side, was Mr. Slater, but that was a given.He was the only teacher that had arrived. While he sat in one of the many chairs around the oval table, I circled around the room. Kierian, Connor, Liam, and Sylvie sat in chairs along the wall, appearing to be completely confident.“You are going to burn a hole in the rug if you keep doing what you are doing.” Slater chuckled.“Easy for you to say, all of you look like this is just another Monday. You aren’t the ones about to ask innocent people to join you on a possible