AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When he flopped down in the chair of what used to be his father's home office, the phone started ringing.Here we go, he thought, and for the next few hours, he answered worried phone calls and emails from the pack members. He still had his usual paperwork to do for the day-to-day running of the town, so, when Madox walked in, he didn’t even notice.
“You look exhausted,” Madox said, causing Spencer’s head to shoot up in surprise.
“Man, you scared the crap out of me. I didn’t even hear you come in. And yes, I am exhausted. It's been a day, I tell you.” He let out a long breath and closed his eyes.
“You talked to Adria?” Madox asked.
“Yes, and before you ask, it didn’t go well. She knows everything now, and, of course, she freaked out. Which isn't surprising. I would have, too. The only problem now is that she wants to stay. I just don’t know if that’s the best idea.” He shrugged his shoulders, looking at his Beta for a little help.
“Wow, well, I can see why she wants to stay. I’d want some revenge on the person who killed my mother, but, with it being her father… That’s a tough one. I honestly think you should let her decide on this one.” It wasn’t exactly what he wanted to hear, but he always took his Beta’s opinion into consideration.
“I just don’t know. What if she falters? Thinks that she can change his mind as her mother did? I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to her that I could have prevented.”
“There’s always strength in numbers. Remember that. Maybe him seeing her will throw him off. He might not be expecting that. Could work out to our advantage,” he suggested.
“I’m not using her as bait, Madox.” Spencer shook his head. That wasn’t an option in his mind.
“I didn’t mean it that way,” he replied sheepishly.
“I’m going to see her tomorrow and see how she is. Hopefully, she has a change of mind. I’m hoping her aunt can help convince her to return to where she was before. I hope she’ll be safer, and I’ll have more peace of mind. Anyway, tell me what's going on,” Spencer said, needing the distraction. Even more, he needed to dive into work and concentrate on the pack, not just Adria.
Madox told him that the meeting was set and ready to go for the day after tomorrow. They had to wait for a couple of council members to return from gathering information from other packs. Spencer was thankful that they had no real rival packs. Theirs was a very peaceful one and kept to themselves for the most part, so talking to other packs, keeping open lines of communication, was easier for them. The fact that they were all fighting a common enemy helped as well. This was something that affected all packs the same. It threatened every pack’s way of life. Anyone who was able to stop the hunter would give every pack peace of mind that they could all still live as they always had, minding their own business and enjoying their lives in peace.
“I wish I knew why her father thinks the way he does. Where did he get the ideas he has about us?” Spencer thought out loud, not expecting an answer.
“Well, as far as I know, he had a run-in with the White Winter pack when he was a child,” Madox told him.
Spencer raised his brows in surprise, he hadn’t heard of that pack in years. The White Winter pack comprised of a few rouge wolves kicked out of their packs for various reasons. Mostly, it was because of too much aggression and thinking that they were superior to humans.
They had been recruited by a nut job named Barlow, who believed he was the next great Alpha that would rule all the other packs. He was the human version of a delusional cult leader. He had heard stories about how they would raid small towns and kill innocent people for no real reason that made any sense. It was rumored that they were going for world domination, that they wanted to enslave humans and have them live in fear for their lives. Eventually, the Alphas of all the other packs got together and took the whole pack down, but lots of damage had been done. Humans started telling stories of how werewolves were real and had a lust for death and blood. It turned into books and movies. Humans never really believed it to be true, but just in case, shifter wolves had to be much more careful. They couldn’t take the chance of being found out. Lots of people feared what they didn’t understand, and, if they didn’t understand something, they usually wanted to destroy it.
“I guess his town was attacked, and he watched his parents get ripped apart right in front of him. He was the only survivor. When he tried to tell them it was wolves, they just saw it as the trauma of a child trying to comprehend what he just witnessed. He was put in an institution for crazy people and basically forgotten. But he kept at it and never changed his story, no matter what medication they tried him on. So, when he was older, finally, someone believed him,” Madox said.
“And that was another hunter. That’s how he was justified in his beliefs, he had others that agreed with him, finally,”Spencer finished nodding his head. “Makes sense on why he takes out the Alphas. He probably thinks the pack can’t run without one, not that the Beta would take over.” No human ever really understood how a pack worked; the movies did them no justice.
Spencer was saddened by the thought of anyone having to deal with that rouge pack and what they did. The horror stories he heard bits and pieces of were more than he could comprehend. The way they killed, to make sure the victim suffered as much as possible. Having families watch each other get slaughtered one by one. Some even made sure the children were killed first. They had no qualms about wiping out generations in one swoop.
His father had been one of the Alphas out of a pack of twenty who went and took them down. He had been gone for a few days and had come back hurt, but thankfully, not severely. It was one of his first official duties when he took over the pack. Spencer’s thoughts went back to Adria. She had come from a long line of drama that she didn’t even know about. He hoped that when he went to see her, she would have made up her mind to leave. He didn’t want her to suffer any more than she already had.
Chapter 5 - Adria
Adria woke up in a panic from her nightmare. In her dream, she was at a little cottage in the woods with a red tin roof and faded blue shutters. The house was surrounded by a dense, thick forest; she couldn’t see anything beyond the first set of trees.
But she knew she was home, safe, and loved. The sun was shining brightly in the sky as she was in a small garden with her mother that was filled with purple and yellow flowers. They were picking what they wanted to go on the kitchen table for the evening. Her mother sang softly as her father watched protectively from the porch.
Adria could feel the warmth of the breeze, hear the birds chirping as they flew overhead, she could smell the sweetness of the flowers. As they gathered the flowers, the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck stood up as she heard a low growl coming from the woods behind them. Adria looked around, but couldn’t see anything. Her mother kept singing and picking flowers, seeming oblivious to what was happening. Her father jumped up and frantically yelled at them to get inside. Adria felt her father's fear as she got up and headed to the cottage, but her mother's words stopped her.
“It’s okay, my dear; there’s nothing to be afraid of.” Her mother sounded so calm, so sure, as her father waved his hands wildly for them to get inside. Adria looked between her parents, confused. Her father's look of anger and fear was the complete opposite of her mother's calm and happiness.
When she dragged her gaze past her father, through the trees, she saw the golden-yellow eyes of the wolf first. They shone so brightly; Adria wasn’t sure if they were even real. Then she saw its soft gray fur rustle in the breeze as it slowly emergedfrom the darkness of the trees. Her father urged them both to enter, but her mother never moved. Adria didn’t know what to do. She stood between her parents, confused and scared, tears starting to well up in her eyes.
“Get in the house. Now!” her father commanded. Her mother quietly walked by her, dropping the flowers they had been collecting. She watched them fall slowly to the ground, forgotten instantly.
“It’s okay. Don’t be afraid.” Adria tried to call her to stop, saying that daddy wouldn’t understand and that he would hate them. But her mouth stayed closed, her legs wouldn’t move. She watched in horror as her mother shifted into a wolf and stood in front of her father. His shriek of horror echoed in her head.
When Adria saw him pull out the knife, she finally found her voice and yelled at him to stop. Her father slowly turned to her and said, “This is how it has to be.” He plunged the knife into her mother’s back. Adria screamed, clamping her hands over her ears, and fell to her knees. Then she was awake, sweating and shaking. It was so vivid and seemed real, even though she knew it wasn’t. Adria rubbed her hands over her face, wishing for the nightmare to fade from her mind.
Still trying to shake the nightmare from her mind as she got out of bed, she headed to the bathroom to splash some cold water on her face. Thankfully, she could smell the cinnamon French toast wafting up from the kitchen.
