Chapter Five

Lillian

I quickly turn and run toward the houses. My steps falter as I realize the voice I’m hearing has to be the monster in the woods. Didn’t he say I was his a bit ago?

Honestly, though I heard them, I thought maybe the wind played a trick on me, but now that it has settled in and I heard him again, now I’m not so sure.

My musings are interrupted as I hear another howl in the distance, with several others following behind it.

“I’ll have to think about it later,” I mumble under my breath.

I dash through between houses as my mind thinks about the words spoken to me. They are haunting, but I don’t know what to do with them. I can’t share them with anyone until I know exactly what it means. If I were to reveal that the monster is real and is speaking to me, it will only add to the hatred.

And I can’t risk them doing something to my grandmother.

As I come closer to where the pack is gathered, I’m taken aback by what I see. I come to a stop near the edge of where they are and peer between the others. Nigel kneels next to someone, cradling their head in his lap with his back facing me.

I move closer, pushing my way toward the front. “What is going on?”

Someone in the crowd answers, “It’s none of your business, outcast.”

I cut my eyes and see it is one of the betas, so I just roll my eyes and look at Nigel’s back.

Ophelia turns around, flicking her long dark hair over her shoulder. “You. What are you doing here? This is a pack event and you aren’t welcome.”

“I heard the call and came to see if I could help.”

With a swift toss of her hair, she turns toward Corbin as she tries to soothe him. I’ve never seen him so upset, but right as I’m about to turn away and give up, I feel something telling me that I need to stay.

I close the gap between myself and the body, my heart thundering in my chest. As I peer around the alpha, my jaw almost hits the ground when I see the body on the ground.

Nigel cries out, his voice echoing in the clearing. “Not my mate. You can’t leave me. Fight for me, please.”

My eyes roam over her body as blood streams out of a wound from her stomach. It’s a slash from a set of very large claws. Even with her clothes, I can see the flesh around them.

Alana’s condition is very poor, and it appears as though she’s about to face death.

“Call her, dad. Make her stay with us. Use your alpha abilities and keep her here. We just need a few more minutes until the healer returns,” Corbin says as panic consumes his voice.

His distress is clear and for a moment, I can’t help but feel bad for him. But then my gaze returns to Nigel.

He turns with a growl directed at Corbin. “Don’t you think I’m trying? I can’t get her to anchor to me.”

I bite my lip as I realize what they are trying to do. Even though the alpha’s pull can sometimes be enough to pull a pack member back from death, she is slipping out of his grasp. It makes me wonder if it has to do with his glowing orange eyes. His influence isn’t strong enough to keep her from leaving.

Let me help her.

My wolf comes as close to the surface as she can. I want to refuse. Why should I help those that have done me so horribly? I shouldn’t help them. They get what they get and they deserve it.

Despite my strong urge to refuse, she presses forward and takes control. I fall to my knees right next to Nigel, causing the crowd to gasp.

“Her eyes are red,” someone whispers.

“What is that I’m feeling?” Another calls out.

My jaw aches as my teeth lengthen. Claws appear on my fingertips and my skin ripples with white fur. This is the first time I have ever seen her.

“What are you doing?” Nigel asks as his head turns to the side.

I growl between clenched teeth as I answer the challenge in his voice with one of my own. “Saving her.”

The alpha call I emit reverberates through the air with a force that is like an explosion. I’m taken aback by how strong it comes out.

A few seconds pass by and right as I feel my body giving out, I can feel Alana latching onto me. She slowly comes back from the depths of death and then opens her eyes.

Nigel is shocked when he looks down at her.

I finally let go of the power and fall slightly from exhaustion.

“Thank you, my love,” she says as he looks up at him with love in her gaze.

The healer finally arrives and pushes through the crowd. He kneels down, carefully placing his bag and other supplies right next to him. Once he sees she’s alive and her wounds starting to heal, the poor man scoffs. “Her color has returned, and she seems to be healing as expected. What in the world happened here while I was gone?”

Nigel abruptly stands when he hears the healer’s words, but his back is facing me so I can’t see his face. All I can see is the bristles of short hair standing on his neck and the black shirt they disappear beneath. His hands are out to his side, near the pockets of his pants, tightly clenched. Then he turns to look at me over his shoulder.

It’s then I know that I’m in deep trouble.

“The alpha call worked on her,” he says, his voice barely a whisper.

But it’s what he’s not saying that grabs my attention. He means my alpha call, not his. The rest of the pack believe it’s his and, well, he didn’t lie to them. An alpha call brought her back, but it wasn’t his.

I glance down to check on the healer, only for his gaze to be locked on me. He’s already put everything together and realizes what I have done. It’s not like the pack doesn’t know who I am.

They’re well aware that I’m the granddaughter of the old alpha, which means I should have been an alpha.

I grit my teeth together as I look around. Their gazes are all slowly moving to me, but I don’t want their attention.

I promised grandmother I’d never show what powers I have, yet I have shown something I didn’t even know I possessed and right in front of the entire pack. Things are about to hit and I’m not prepared.

Whispers stir behind me as others discuss what they have witnessed. Corbin is talking to Ophelia, though I don’t see them behind me.

“Did you see her?” He asks. “She is an alpha.”

My heart drops to my stomach as I realize he’s figured it out. This isn’t good.

I look down one last time before I bolt to make sure that Alana is fine, then I slowly rise from the ground, still in my half shifted form. Without thinking, I break through the crowd and run straight for my house.

At the door, I grip the knob tightly, my long claws clicking against the metal. I swing it open and hurry inside before slamming the door closed behind me with a loud thud.

I lean against the door as I raise my clawed hand to gaze at what I’m becoming. “What have I done? I should have never saved her. Now they’re going to know that I’m a hidden alpha. This isn’t what I wanted.”

That’s not who we are. We are an alpha and we take care of those in our care.

“An alpha?” I ask with a scoff. “You have to be kidding me. Why would I be an alpha to them when they have followed along with Nigel and how he treats me? If I make one wrong move, they’d hurt my grandmother, who is my only family left. You aren’t in your right mind.”

My wolf recedes into the depths of my mind, and I instantly regret my words.

“I really shouldn’t have said that.”

For a second, I pant for breath and try to focus on shifting back. Instantly, the claws disappear and I feel something odd as my teeth return to normal. I reach up, patting my face with my fingertips before I breathe a sigh of relief.

In a way, I miss the form already, but I can’t run around like that all the time.

I lean away from the door as I reach for the strings of my cloak at my neck before it hits me that I don’t have my basket.

“Where have I left it?”

A loud thud catches my attention outside the front door. I jump in surprise as I whirl on my heel. After waiting for a few minutes, no one knocks again nor do they call out to ask if I’m home. Slowly, I creep to the door and slowly open it, only to find my basket sitting on the mat.

I scan my surroundings as I extend my arm and grasp the handle. When I pull it inside, I see a white piece of paper attached to the handle.

“Well, this isn’t weird at all. Who would bring my basket and leave a note?”

I take one last look outside before slowly closing the door with the basket on my other arm. As I turn around, I head straight for the small circular table in my dining room. It’s rarely used, so it’s bare except for the scant bit of dust on top.

I look down at the rough cord used to tie the piece of paper onto the basket, deciding if I should even bother opening it. It’s not like people leave me sweet letters. Most hate me just because of my family, which is Nigel’s fault.

As I reach for the cord to pull it loose, my hand trembles with anticipation.

Once it’s in both hands, I gradually unfold it and see what is written inside, but I don’t understand a single thing I see. The handwriting is so small that it is almost impossible to recognize. I examine the paper carefully again as I attempt to decipher the contents inside. Eventually, I let out a deep sigh of frustration and gently place it down on the table.

“Whose writing is this horrible that I can’t even read it?”

My wolf seems intrigued and quietly rises to the surface. As soon as my gaze lands on the note again, everything becomes clear.

Lillian,

Meet me at the edge of the woods directly behind your house in the morning.

Corbin

My eyes widen as I read the note again. “He wants to meet me at the edge of the woods? Why would he want that?”

As if on cue, a flood of thoughts bombard me. I realize that now that he has seen my alpha side, he probably wants more from me. But what more could he want?

He already treats me horribly. I can’t even go outside on a day off without him harassing me from the porch. His comments are rude and he’s as good as a pig.

I scrunch my face in frustration before grabbing the note and balling it up in my hands. “Well, I will just teach you.”

I toss the ball into the nearby garbage can with a sigh.

If he thinks I’ll simply go meet him in the woods, then he has lost his mind. My eyes dart toward the trash again, but I know that I can’t do this. Meeting him is absurd.

But what if he is worse if I don’t?

Before I can explore that thought fully, an odd feeling comes over me, sending shivers down my spine. I look around my house, but nothing seems amiss. But then I have an urge to look out the window.

I walk toward the window, leaving the basket on the table. Of course, I don’t expect anything to be out there when I look, but I have to calm this feeling that is rushing over me.

As I look through the glass, examining the woods ahead, everything seems to be normal. Then something moves within my line of sight. At first, I can’t make it out and think that my eyes are playing tricks on me.

A monstrous shadow comes into view without glowing red eyes peering out of the brush. The creature stares at me unblinkingly and never moves from its spot for several seconds.

I hold my breath as I continue looking at the set of eyes peering back at me.

Your time is coming.

I jump from the intrusion and blink rapidly to regain my composure. “What just happened?”

When I look through the window again to see if he is still there, all I see is darkness.