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“Eric?” Victor asked eagerly, his face lighting up.
I shook my head. Eric had up and left in the middle of the night recently—out of the blue—which was weird because he’d seemed pretty happy about being invited to stay on in Dublin for good with the main pack. Victor’s reaction surprised me though. They had never been close. I didn’t think he’d care if Eric were around or not.
“Well, everybody else is here,” Victor said. “So enough with the bullshit excuses.”
“I’m sorry.” The apology was automatic.
“It’s not the first time,” Mara said wryly. “Your head is in the clouds. Make yourself useful.”
She said it harshly, but she meant it kindly. There wasn’t enough room for all of us to stay when we reached eighteen, and only the useful, well-adjusted werewolves would get to stick around to help with rehabilitating lost kids like Mara and me or the traumatised werewolves who had lived wild. The rest of us would be sent to a new compound in Europe run by the alpha’s son. Mara was sure I wouldn’t last out there—not without my guardians to protect me.
“Forget about it,” Victor said brusquely. “I’ll ask Dom for a lift and get the food myself.” He shook his freshly-shaved head and left.
Mara looked me over. I was a foot taller than her, but I felt about two inches tall when she looked at me like that. “What am I going to do with you, Dorian?”
I rubbed my arms, feeling itchy under her gaze. “Stop.”
She growled softly.
“Please.”
“Come on then,” she said with a sigh. “Let’s go face the music.”
“Nah.” I shrugged. “Think I’ll just be alone for a bit.”
“You’re part of the pack,” she persisted. “And this is pack day. You have to be there. Don’t you dare let anyone forget you exist.”
I followed her in case my absence was noticed. Victor and Dom were already pulling out of the driveway.
We took a shortcut by my house to the clearing where all of the back gardens had been joined together. A couple of teenagers threw paper cups at me as I passed them. I kept my head down. One cup hit Mara’s knee. She instantly whirled around and bared her teeth, throwing a serious amount of aggression and dominance behind the gesture. Nobody dared do anything but lower their gazes. I breathed a sigh of relief. A challenge would just draw the alpha’s ire.
The alpha had rented a projector so we could watch a film outside together. Dozens of pack members of different ages and races were already stretched out on blankets, relaxing, waiting for the early evening to turn dark. Many of them were human—mostly parents or siblings of werewolves who had been welcomed by the alpha—but the families tended to stick together. They were less likely to need special care and far more likely to be trusted to live in town.
Most of the higher pack members had taken their places first, and the only spaces left were way off to the far side.
Mara shot one last glare at the group then gestured for me to follow her. I observed the people we passed, noting most of them were too busy casting wary glances at Mara to notice me.
“Mara, over here!” her older roommate Alex called out, using her fingers to comb her light brown hair into a high ponytail. Her nose was crooked from an old injury, her skin covered in numerous scars. Only some of them were self-inflicted. She’d mostly stopped trying to hurt herself once Mara moved in with her.
Alex literally kicked a younger pack member off the corner of her blanket, snatching her bag closer to her as though anyone would even think about stealing it. Mara could be aggressive, but Alex was on another level, always ready to fight first, think later.
She constantly talked about travelling, taking Mara to see the world, but I doubted she’d ever be ready to leave the alpha’s care. His will helped all of us cope with pain and bad memories and even madness. He was so steady and reliable that he handled a large, problematic pack with seeming ease, but sometimes I caught flashes of pain, grimaces that told a different story.
Mara squeezed herself onto the smaller space on the blanket. Despite both females being dominant, Mara was able to view Alex’s problems as a vulnerability that needed protecting while Alex saw Mara as a younger sibling who needed guidance. Which kept both of them safe from each other.
Alex fixed her gaze on me, her nostrils flaring. I kept walking. Alex was hard to be around, and I wasn’t in the mood to be tormented by her throughout the entire film. I spotted my guardians coming out of our house with blankets, but they were so loved up that I didn’t want to be the third wheel. I’d find another spot.
Most of us were living on the Evans land temporarily, and as I was the weakest competition, that made me a target. The alpha had forbidden minors from trying to rank themselves, but nobody batted an eye at a little “friendly” practice, so I moved warily through the group.
I spotted a permanent pack member sitting alone and decided he was the safest bet. Ryan wasn’t dominant, and he didn’t need to torment me to feel better. As part of the alpha’s inner circle, his loyalty to him was guaranteed, while many of the people stretched out on the grass complained too often for me to feel entirely comfortable around them.
Ryan’s week-old beard looked more silver than ginger, but his amber eyes were still young and alert. He met my gaze. I looked away out of habit.
“Mind if I sit?” I asked, scuffing my feet on the grass.
He slid across the bench. “Plenty of space, lad.”
When I sat, I worked up the courage to look at him. “Thanks.”
