CHAPTER 2

After River basically pulled himself away from me and left, I thought I'd better message mum to let her know I was staying the night. Surprisingly, she never made too much of a fuss. To be fair, I was twenty-two and her sway over me had slowly deteriorated in the last couple of years. But I guess she too knew that River would keep me safe while relishing in the fact that I'd know how to take care of myself if anything ever happened.

My mother was in the army when I was growing up. So she was big on self defence and protecting ourselves. My sister and I stayed with mum's younger sister, Aunt Xari, while she would be on a tour.

‘Bad ass bitch' ran in our family genes because Xari was also a skilled fighter.

Between the two of them, Celeste and I learned how to fight from a young age. We had training three times a week after school with my aunt and although I mastered the basics, it was clear the natural instinct had skipped a generation. I was good, but I didn't have the drive or passion that seemed to come alive in them. When they fought, there was a glint in their eyes that truly showed their ardour. It was pretty magical to behold, especially as a young girl with such strong female role models in my life.

It wasn't princesses like Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella I dreamed of being, it was Pocahontas and Mulan—the warriors.

We moved around a lot because of mum's work and Xari followed to ensure we always had someone familiar in our life. That was until mum got injured one year and was suddenly discharged. Her leg was almost severed off in an ambush. Luckily she walked out of there with just a scar and a bit of a limp. I was twelve and our whole life changed after that. We moved one final time and settled in upstate New York. And no, not the well-known, extravagant city you see on TV. The suburbs. Basically the forest. But I loved it—if not just because it was stable for the first time.

The forest became my home. The perfect little town on the edge of a perfect forest, dating the perfect guy. A life of bliss.

Xari kind of disappeared after that. I guess she finally had the freedom to live her life without two little girls basically hanging off her leg at all times. Mum still trained us for a bit, as well as she could given her ailment, but eventually I lost interest. You know, in those teen angst years where you despise anything your parents want for you. I took up a boxing class at the local gym instead to keep my fitness levels up—and to give myself that outlet I had become accustomed to.

My dad passed away when I was really young, like four or five, a couple of years after Celeste was born. I didn't remember much of him, and it hurt mum too much to ever delve into it with us. She had a secret box of pictures though, which I often snuck into. He was handsome, with soft, kind eyes—the same hazel shade as mine. I was one of those weird mixes with so many different ethnicities in my bloodline that no one could pinpoint what I was just from looking at me. But I kinda loved the mystery.

All in all, I looked more like mum, although the height probably played into that; standing at a whopping five foot one with light caramel coloured skin and long ebony hair that was somewhere between being wavy and straight. Dissimilarly, mum"s skin was definitely more of a golden brown and her eyes were a dark chocolate. I loved the fact that I had something of my dad"s—even though I was most definitely a mama"s girl.

I couldn't imagine what life would be like if I still had a dad. The thought seemed so foreign to me. My existence was based on females and after we finally settled, I cherished the attention and time we got from mum.

Weirdly enough, I still didn't have many female friends except for Skylar, one of River's wolf soldiers.

Even so, for once in my life I had stability. Upstate New York and our tiny town of Saint Claire gave me the perfect little community existence that I craved as a child.

That was when I met him—the gorgeous specimen I got to call my boyfriend.

He wouldn't be back for another few hours. That was usually what would happen when he had pack business to tend to. A part of me always felt a bit sad that for some reason they didn't share more of it with me—like they didn't trust me enough, even after all we had been through and the years I'd spent exposed to it all. I knew he was a wolf before he even turned; when he was only sixteen and afraid of what it all meant for him. I kept his secret close to my heart and guarded it like it was my own.

Actually, I guarded it better than my own because let's be honest, if it was mine I'd want to share it with mum and Celeste at the very least.

But for him, I didn't tell a soul. I took comfort in the fact that his pack had accepted me as their own, meaning I didn't have to pretend like I didn't know wolf shifters existed. It was all out in the open amongst the people I spent the most time with, making not telling my family a whole lot easier. Although, I did somewhat live two lives because of it.

River's dad was not in the picture either. Something that bonded us growing up. He was killed by another pack a few months before Riv turned nineteen. The poor boy, who wore his heart on his sleeve, had to take over the position of alpha when he'd only ever shifted for the first time just months before. Once again, I didn't know the specifics of his dad's death—only that it shook the pack. But Riv stepped up and he'd been the most caring, thoughtful and selfless leader ever since, one that his pack absolutely adored.

I wondered what the pack would be doing now. Usually one of them would stay behind to watch over me, so I thought I'd better head downstairs to see which lucky one would have to stay behind tonight to babysit the fragile human.

The expanse of the cabin lounge was empty when I descended the large maple staircase. It was dark outside now and through the floor to ceiling windows it was clear the sun had set. Often, when things were quiet in the pack, we'd hang out with Zander, Axel and Sky in here. Usually watching movies, playing games or cooking—the wolves loved to eat. So I wandered to the kitchen and sure enough I was welcomed by Skylar who threw her hands around me tightly. "VEEEEE!!!" she exclaimed. "It's just me and you tonight, girly."

Chuckling, I hugged her back. I was glad it was her and not Zander tonight, I couldn't be bothered braving the lovable oaf. Axel, on the other hand, was always so chill to be around. But Skylar—'Sky'—was my favourite. She was always so bubbly and had the most contagious gummy smile that was so large it showed off all her sparkling teeth. She was one of those effortlessly breathtaking females with her lusciously tousled, naturally highlighted mousy brown hair and soft sky blue eyes—just like her namesake. She hardly wore any makeup and preferred to be ‘au naturel' like the free spirited wolf she was.

It was hard to ever catch her not smiling, and she definitely brought the energy to the group. But in the rare instances she was serious, like when she was talking pack strategy, her strong bushy eyebrows and defined features made her intimidating and you knew not to fuck with her.

She looked the complete opposite now in a white tee, grey track pants and a red flannel chucked on top. Her wild hair was in a messy bun as she plated up some dishes of pasta. Her eyes shone at the food in her hand and as she walked back to me she handed me a bowl before proceeding to plonk herself on the couch.

"What are we watching tonight?" she asked excitedly while spooning a large amount of spaghetti into her mouth.

"Vampire Diaries?" I suggested.

She swallowed and let out a loud laugh. "I'm going to pretend it's not offensive that you love the vampire shows more than any werewolf show, only because I'm just as obsessed." This was our fourth time watching it through. It was safe to say we were a little obsessed. I just loved anything supernatural though, especially after I found out I could relate to them more than I ever imagined. The powerless, feeble, insubstantial human who fell in love with the mysterious, charming supernatural. Just call me Elena Gilbert. Even though she annoyed the fuck out of me most of the time.