Chapter 2
Math went by fast, with just a couple of worksheets to follow through, we weren't even assigned any homework.
"Hey, wait for me." Looking back, I see Liv hastily collecting her work.
"Why don't you eat lunch with me and my friends?"
"Umm." It was very generous of her, but I kind of wanted to explore around. Liv's face lost emotion when she saw me stalling.
I was always more of a people pleaser. "I would love to," I smiled. And just like that, Liv's face brightened as she grabbed my arm dragging me towards her locker.
"So, you should totally get ready with us for tonight." She said while stuffing books into her already packed locker.
"I mean, everyone is going to be there, so you need to look nice." A second after she said that Liv sharply turned towards me. "Not that you don't look nice right now, I just mean that tonight is a formal kind of thing- you know. Since we are meeting a whole new pack and are-"
"Liv," I interrupted her rambling.
"I get what you're saying and thank you very much for the offer but I need to help my mom and sister get ready so I should probably stay with them."
I had never met someone so friendly and extroverted like her before, she's known me for barely an hour and is already inviting me out. Perhaps that was normal behavior and I'm just the weird introvert.
She shut her locker and began walking.
"Oh right, yeah that makes sense." She murmured but waited for me to catch up to her pace. "But I will see you there, right?"
"Yes!" She smiled a great big smile. I envied her confidence, how she could just strike up a conversation and make friends so easily. I was appreciative that she had approached me, if not I probably would be out of the loop from pack matters.
"Come and meet my friends!" Liv hauled me past the cafeteria doors and along the path towards a table in the center of the room. The room was big, with the left border containing a counter with lots of food set out buffet style. I assumed it was a pay what it weighs kind of ordeal.
Once we reached the table, I saw two boys sitting down engaged in a heated discussion. One was a blonde with hazel eyes that held a certain mischievous spark in them.
The other boy was facing away so all I could see was the brown curls on his head.
"Tom, Jason, meet my new friend Rosalina!" Now facing the two boys, they gave no attention towards us as they kept speaking quietly.
"Tom! Jason!" She yelled louder, but to her dismay, she got no reaction.
Reaching over she slapped both boys on their head.
"Ow!" They yelled in unison.
"What was that for?" The brunette asked while rubbing his head.
"Oh please, you guys are pack warriors, as if a little slap on the head would hurt." Liv laughed at the boys as they denied ever being hurt in the first place.
"Anyhow, meet my new friend Rosalina!"
"Rose." I correct but still gave the boys a friendly wave and smile.
"Oh, hello there, I'm Tom," the blonde spoke, "and this is my lover, Jason." He winked at the brown curly-headed boy next to him.
"We are not lovers!" Jason shrieked. His voice caught some attention as some students nearby turned to look.
"He denies it, but I know he wants it," Tom says casually, teasing Jason even more by licking his lips while staring into his eyes.
"What, no I don't. You have a girlfriend, Tom." Jason spoke more quietly this time.
I couldn't help but laugh at the bickering two.
"You guys act like an old married couple"
"We do not!" They both denied it.
"Oh, I said that too loudly, didn't I?"
"Yes, yes you did," Tom answered nodding his head, giving me a playful dirty look.
"So, what were you guys talking about?" Liv asks.
Jason gave Tom a slight look before glancing back to Liv. "We're not supposed to tell anyone."
"Oh, come on Jason, who would we tell? You two are my besties, and Rose is a loner so-"
"Hey!" I pout at Liv. She just rolls her eyes at me and laughs.
"Okay fine." Tom agrees.
"Well, as we all know tonight, we will be introduced to another pack and we are supposed to be acquired by them."
"Yes..." Liv encourages.
"Well, something happened this morning. Something bad," Tom said.
"What?"
"Alpha Sam's pack has been under attack.
"Wait what? When? By whom?" Liv asked out loud, panic clear in her eyes.
"Alpha Sam is the Alpha of the pack we are supposed to join, by the way," Liv fills me in.
"It occurred this morning at dawn, completely out of the blue."
"By rogues?" Liv's voice was drenched in curiosity with a hint of fear.
"Oh, we wish. But it appears to be much worse than a rouge attack."
"What can be worse than a rogue attack?" I ask.
"How about Alpha Wilder Gellar coming to take your territory and your pack? Forcing an entire pack to join him or be killed by him."
My whole body froze at that thought.
Alpha Wilder- one of the strictest, sinful Alphas out there. He kills for joy; takes territories he doesn't even need and destroys packs just for the hell of it. He is one scary man, and even if I am lucky to have never seen him in person, if he attacked Alpha Sam's Pack then he must be nearby.
"You've got to be joking. He will destroy anyone and everyone! If Alpha Sam's pack was targeted then we are next," Liv began to shake as fear consumed her thoughts.
"He is going to kill us all; I won't be any use to them. I suck at fighting," she whispered, her eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights.
"Liv, calm down. That is not true, and there's more." We waited for Liv to control her breathing a little before the boys continued.
"He gave Alpha Sam and Alpha Jake a proposition; He wants all our territory and for the two packs to join his, with Wilder being the Alpha of course. Everyone else will just be an average pack member."
"That doesn't seem fair. All the Betas, Alphas, and warriors worked hard for their positions. It's not right for them to be downgraded just at the whim of a monster," Liv shared her distraught feelings and once again began to shake, this time due to anger.
"Well, what are you going to do about it? Make a petition to overrule Alpha Wilder? Ha! Good luck with that. The guy's a bastard. He will kill you without a second thought," Tom spoke truthfully.
"So, I'm guessing both Alphas accepted," I state.
The boys both nodded unhappily.
"Well on the bright side if we stay out of his way, we will still be alive." Jason tried to cheer the table up, but the mood was already too low to fix now.
"Yeah, alive but prisoners. I bet he would kill us just for breathing his air. Who knows how he treats his own pack members, I bet they get whipped for looking at him a second too long," Liv spoke with her face in her hands, groaning in discomfort.
The bell then rang, signaling that classes were about to start. All this worrying had drained our appetites, our lunches remained uneaten.
"Just forget about this and go back to class. You shouldn't even know any of this," Jason says.
Liv gave him a look that meant 'are you freaking kidding me'.
"There's no way I'm going back to class with all this crap going on," Liv says sternly, crossing her arms. She was breathing deeply, attempting to calm down her nerves.
"Well, you can't-" Suddenly Jason's features went blank. He must be talking through mind link.
"Never mind. The whole pack needs to meet outside of the packhouse. Now."
I couldn't help but feel concerned at the urgency in his tone. It was the middle of the day, people were at school and work, the request of dropping everything to meet right away was a big one.
"What happened?" I question.
Jason's eyes met mine. They were cold, his ocean orbs glazed with anger. However, for a moment, just one millisecond, I saw something else. For just a moment, I saw a glimmer of fear flash in the warrior's eyes before going back to the solid icy look he had.
"Come on." Jason urges.
They all began walking out towards the exit. I could see everyone else in the school hurriedly extracting themselves from the building as well.
"Wait, I need to pick up my little sister." The trio look back at me.
"She is 12 so she should be at Thornton Middle School."
"We'll pick her up on the way." Jason turned back towards the parking lot, his pace quickening.
It was then I realized how very lucky I was to have met the three, without them I would have no ride and no information. Funny how life is sometimes.
We reached the middle school and I saw all the kids outside, teachers attempting to control the crowd.
"Sophia!" I screamed seeing her brown waves. "Sophia, come over here!" She finally noticed and came running towards me.
"What's going on?" my sister looked terrified. Her breaths were deep and short, her hands gripped tightly into fists.
"It's okay Soph. Come on, there's an important pack meeting right now." I moved over in the back seat, giving her enough room to sit.
"But we're not even officially a part of the pack yet and who are they?" She directed her last question towards Tom, Jason, and Liv.
"They're my new friends. Don't worry about that right now, everything will be okay." I tried my best to sound calm, the last thing I needed was to have Soph going into a panic.
"What's going on? Are we in danger? Should I have brought my taser?" Her questions were starting to annoy me. I was already on edge with my own unanswered questions, I couldn't even begin to answer hers.
"Stop with all the questions Soph. We will see when we get there." She immediately shut up, looking away.
Feeling somewhat guilty, I ask in a softer tone, "Did you make any friends?"
10 minutes that felt like hours later, we finally reached the packhouse. People were packed everywhere. The Silver Heart Pack had about 100 people, of all ages and ranks. From the looks of the crowds standing by the front steps of the house, it looked like every member was there.
The house was a fair-sized mansion but I doubted it could fit all one hundred residents inside. It was more of a meeting ground than a residency.
"Gather around please." The loud voice came from Alpha Jake. "There's something very important that needs to be announced." As the Alpha began explaining, I suddenly remembered my mother.
Where is she? Is she safe? There was no way I could contact her now. I scanned the rows of people standing around and couldn't find my mother who I last remembered wearing a red blazer and her brown hair into a ponytail.
Focusing back onto Alpha Jake, I see a pained expression form on his face, "I am very sorry, but there was nothing I could do."
The sadness appeared all around. People began to shout and yell, not liking the situation. The screams became louder and louder, making me cower back to cover my ears. Some people were even crying.
"Enough!" An unfamiliar booming voice screamed. The deep voice affected everyone, as they all hushed until the silence was all that was left. His voice was stern and ran shivers down my spine.