“I have school. Stop by after,” he called, and I nodded, heading for the treeline. I darted into the trees, heading home. Hoping my mother was calm enough to let me come back since it had been a few hours. Maybe she would at least let me stay, she didn’t seem keen on me going to Ace and Tyson’s place, so hopefully, she’d changed her mind. I felt the mindlink open up on the run home, Ace’s voice flitting through my head.
“I told you to be home before dark. Where are you, Lucy?”
“Heading home now. I am nearly at the packhouse.”
“Which side? I will meet you,” he said, and I could hear Atticus mumbling about me being out in the woods. I shook my head at his wolf as he slipped through the link.
“No, I am heading home, home. Back to mom’s,” I told him, and he went quiet.
“So, she let you back? That’s good then. I will be home tomorrow if you want to come over while everyone is at school and work,” he told me, and I nodded before realizing he couldn’t see me. I nearly ran into a tree, only just managing to stop before I hit a low-hanging branch.
“Yes, she has calmed down now,” I lied, ducking under the branch. I was also hopeful she had, and it was just the pregnancy hormones.
“Okay. Well, come see Tyson and me tomorrow. Please,” he said, and I agreed before cutting off the mindlink. Walking through the trees in the backyard, I could see my stepfather busily helping my mother in the kitchen. She had never been a good cook. The woman could burn water, but she always tried. I watched as Rayan sat up at the table with his plate, and my mother and stepfather joined him, and they looked like a picturesque family. They looked happy.
Pulling on the mindlink, I watched my brother shiver, still not used to it like I was.
“Bet you must be glad to spend time with Tyson and Ace. Mom burned dinner again. At least they can cook,” he said, feeling the link open. My heart sank at his words, my mother was obviously still pissed at me.
“Ah yeah, it’s great. How is mom?” I asked him, and I could see my stepfather watching him, realizing he was mindlinking someone. He no doubt knew it was me because, besides my mom and dad, he hardly used the link.
“She is still mad. You best just steer clear for a few days. Mom and dad had a huge fight after you left,” he told me. I sighed.Great, didn’t leave me many options then.
“Come see me at school tomorrow. I want to see you. You only just got here, and I can’t see you anymore,” he told me sadly. I suddenly felt guilty. I knew he was lonely in that house by himself, always followed around by Jacob. It was hard for him to make friends. Rayan didn’t trust easily, and he hated fake people, and a lot were. Some would do anything to be friends with the next Alpha King, and Rayan didn’t like that, didn’t like the attention.
“Meet me at the park across the road from the school. What time does Jacob pick you up?” I asked him.
“Three, but I can get out early.”
“How?”
“By ordering my teacher to let me out.” He laughed, and I rolled my eyes. Of course, he could. He had an Alpha aura even though he still hadn’t got his wolf yet.
“Okay, meet me at the park at twenty to three, and can you bring me some spare clothes?” I told him.
“Okay… and sis? I love you.”
“I love you too. Make sure you eat your dinner so you can have your dessert,” I told him before cutting off the link.Now what?I thought to myself. I couldn’t go to Tyson and Ace’s. I already told them I was at home. And I didn’t really feel like listening to Melana with Ace all night. Just thinking of that ground my gears. Walking back among the trees, I headed for the only place I could think of, the river. For the most part, it was safe there. The border patrol hardly manned it because there was a mountain on the other side. There was not much activity by the packhouse, whereas near Tyson and Ace’s territory across the river was Alpha Jamie’s pack, but I would be safe there.
It took me twenty minutes to walk to the river, gathering wood as I went.Just like camping, I thought to myself. Ace and Tyson used to take me camping as a kid, and I loved it. We would stay out in the woods for days, and that was the first time I ever ate rabbit. Tyson’s wolf caught it, and I was repulsed at the thought of eating the furry critter, but it didn’t actually taste bad. It tasted like any other meat just off a cute furry creature. But that just reminded me of another issue I would face while out here. I needed blood. I could go a day or two, but it would become uncomfortable if I went without it for too long. I couldn’t ask Rayan to grab any from the freezer. It would go yuck sitting in his bag all day.
I made a fire before flopping on the ground next to it and pulling my arms inside my jumper to keep warm. I stared at the stars littering the night sky. I used to play dot to dot with stars when I was a kid, trying to imagine joining them to make pictures. One thing about being out here was that it was peaceful. No one to judge me or look down on me. It was quiet, leaving me to my own thoughts, not that they were any less depressing.
Sometimes I actually missed the facility, at least, it was routine and predictable. No one expected anything of you there, they just let you rot in the cells. But I never had to worry about anything because we were all the same, all equally nothing. Here people expect you to be a certain way, act a certain way, and when you don’t meet those expectations, you are faced with nothing but disappointment and the judgment of others.
Chapter eleven
Thenextday,Ispent most of my time by the river. Looking at my phone, which was nearly dead, I saw it was nearly 2 PM, and I headed into the city to meet my little brother. I sat on the swings at the park. Staring over at the packed school. It was smaller than the boarding school I’d attended. Tall gates wrapped around the entire brick building. It had small buildings branching off it and a huge brick archway that led to the front gate. Flowers ran along the footpath out the front, and a small pedestrian crossing led to the park I was sitting in next to the school car park.
My eyes lit up when I saw my brother walking toward the exit. His blue backpack was tossed over one shoulder. I watched as he looked in both directions before crossing the road. He waved as he stepped onto the footpath on this side of the road.
“Hey, sis,” he called to me, and I hopped up. He rushed over and wrapped his arm around my waist. I inhaled his scent. I loved how he smelled of the forest. I let him go, sitting back on the swing, and he sat on the other before opening his bag and digging through it. He pulled out a plastic bag, handing it to me.
“I got you jeans and a turtleneck. There is also a jumper in there, a throw-over blanket and some underwear,” he said, scrunching his face up at having to touch my knickers. I looked at him, laughing. He was a good brother.
“I know you’re staying at the river. Your voice sounded close last night, but if I put a sleeping bag in there, mom would have noticed,” he murmured. I nodded when he pulled out his lunchbox.
He unwrapped his sandwich and handed it to me. “Thanks,” I told him, taking it from him and biting into it. It had peanut butter in it.