2.
The two girls exchanged a quick look, the one closest had released a scoff. Whatever the silent one had said wasn’t what the other wanted to hear. “You look like you are going to fall over if the wind blows just right. Who are you?” Farryn’s arms wrapped around herself slowly, the cool water was helping her fever, helping her mind clear.
“Farryn. Farryn Amari, formerly of the Clear Oak pack.” On instinct, Farryn lowered her head slightly in respect. The closest girl hmphed in discontent before moving back to her sisters’ side who finally spoke. “We are Amelia and Emily Taylor, of the Storm pack. You are trespassing on our territory.” Farryn’s brows twitched together in confusion as she lifted her head, that wasn’t right, this was just outside of her previous pack’s territory, there was no pack this close. Before she could open her mouth to correct the nice sister,the forest fell silent once more. The sisters looked quickly at each other.
“Emily you didn’t.”Amelia said. Emily nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders with an innocent smile. “He wanted to know if we found anyone.” She explained. Meanwile, Farryn only got more confused until a massive grey wolf emerged with several other large wolves, but not as large as the leader, following behind. The grey wolf drew his eyes to the twins first, seeming to assess if they were okay, then his eyes found Farryn.
Farryn’s blank stare met his hostile yet curious gaze. His fur was the color of a dark grey storm cloud while his eyes were the clear blue sky on a summer day. He sniffed a few times, the loud sound drawing Farryn from her observation before realizing he had come closer. His hostility faded but his curiosity was growing. Farryn took a few quick steps backward, surprising both herself and everyone else with her sudden nimbleness. “Perhaps she wasn’t lying after all.” Her eyes snapped to Emily quickly.
“Of course, I wasn’t lying!” Emily’s lip curled back as she growled a warning to the supposed intruder. One sharp bark from the large grey wolf in front of Farryn silenced Emily quickly and brought everyone’s attention to him. He was an alpha then, but… how could they all possibly be here? The humans had overrun her territory years ago. He turned quickly, motioning to the girls with his head before heading off. Amelia slowly approached Farryn, gathering her clothes from the edge of the water.
“Come with us.” Amelia extended a kind hand and an even kinder smile to Farryn, though it was clear Farryn didn’t have a choice in the matter at all. Farryn did hesitate however, eyes darting rapidly, the realization of the situation she was in finally began to settle in her fever riddled mind. Her hands had begun to shake until Amelia grabbed one with a gentle yet solid touch. “Don’t be afraid, our Alpha wants to talk to you himself but in a more comfortable setting and with more clothed people.” She chuckled gently, Emily stood at the edge of the water with her arms crossed, the distrust strikingly clear in her eyes.
“Oh…okay, then I can go, right? I didn’t realize I had entered someone else’s territory. I didn’t notice any scent markers.” The twins shared another exchange of looks that was beginning to worry Farryn more and more. Neither sister said another word as Amelia handed Farryn her clothes and pulled her in front the water. Amelia motioned for Emily to go, probably to fetch their clothes. Farryn’s stomach growled once more as they began to walk but hunger was now the furthest thing from her mind. I will not die. I refuse.
The walk to the pack’s home wasn’t too much further from the lake, Farryn actually would have stumbled across it at some point. It was a small town, houses all close together, it had a true pack mentality to it. The more Farryn looked around the more she realized she knew this town. She had always been told to steer clear of it, humans lived here. But watching the way Emily and Amelia walked here made her question her own memory. But her memory was the one thing still intact.
“We’re here.” Farryn blinked as she looked up at the large three-story house they had brought her to. It almost looked like a city hall building; it certainly could pass for one.
“Go on.” Emily pushed Farryn from behind, she hadn’t realized that Amelia had released her hand and had walked to the front door. Farryn’s face flushed as she straightened herself out and entered the house.
“Amelia, Emily, thank you both but you may go.” The twins froze to the spot and quickly lowered their head in respect, Farryn’s eyes followed the sound of the young yet authoritative voice to find a tall man standing in a nearby doorway. His build made it obvious he was the same dark gray wolf who had held her gaze earlier. His eyes seemed to take on the stormy look that his fur had, they were a dark chocolate brown color that arguably could have been black in the right lighting. He stood at 6’5, broad shoulders and short blonde hair that was shorter on the sides than the top. It was a hairstyle that Farryn had noticed was rather popular among human males. The male cleared his throat, those stormy eyes staring at her expectantly.
“What?” Farryn looked behind her to see if anyone was there to realize he truly was staring at her, his expression cracked for a moment to show surprise before he realized she hadn’t been listening. “I asked if you were hungry.” Farryn blinked once. What the hell kind of question was that? She was probably a week away from starving to death.
“Yeah…yeah I am… thank you um...” She trailed off, unsure of his name as he turned and began to lead the way into the house and into the dining room where a wide array of food was already waiting. Farryn’s knees shook slightly as the different smells reached her nose, she didn’t even hesitate to grab herself a seat and begin to eat without waiting to see if he would sit or give his name. Instead, he leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed, watching the starved female devour as much food as she possibly could until she was sated. After what seemed to be an hour Farryn finally began to slow down and eventually stop to lean back and take a deep breath.
The male couldn’t help but smirk, had she even been breathing while she was eating? “Your name was Farryn, right? Emily told me but there’s always a chance she could have misheard. She said that you came from the Clear Oak pack…” Farryn wiped her mouth with the back of her hand as the male finally took a seat at the head of the table which seemed instinctual to him.
“Yes. That is my name and that… was my pack.” She swallowed hard but forced herself to maintain eye contact. “They were wiped out four years ago, I am the sole survivor of the pack. I would however like to apologize for trespassing, I truly didn’t know. There was no pack territory here previously.”
This time it was his turn to take a deep breath. “I’m sorry to hear about your pack, we had heard the humans had eradicated some of our brothers, but we didn’t think they would get a whole pack.” He shook his head softly before lacing his fingers together “We are originally from a more northern area, it became extremely unsafe so we moved down south here, this town was rather run down with only a few humans here or there. We decided this would make a good home for us so… we took it.” Farryn frowned, this was how wars were started. This was why they were hunted in the first place. Because territorial alphas felt that it was okay to just take whatever they wanted.
“Apologies, I’m Chandler.” He gingerly offered his hand out to shake, Farryn observed the hand with another frown, what an odd alpha indeed. Her pack alpha was certainly not this open and kind. “Thank you for the kindness you have shown me Alpha Chandler, I’ll be on my way now and out of your territory as soon as possible.” Farryn grasped the table and pushed her chair back before Chandler reached out and grabbed her wrist to keep her from getting up. His eyes seemed to flash with another emotion, but he was good at covering it up quickly before it was readable.
“Yes, I have shown you great kindness that I most certainly did not need to do. In return, you can explain what you meant when you told Emily you wouldn’t shift for her to prove you aren’t human. I am still wondering about it myself.” Farryn made an attempt to pull her wrist away but his arm didn’t budge and neither did his hand. His eyes narrowed as his grip tightened, her jaw clenched as she resisted the urge to hiss in pain. “You’re hurting me.” She whispered. Farryn placed her free hand on his and tried to pry his fingers open.
“Even now, you show no signs of a wolf.” He growled before rising to his feet and pulling her up as well. “You beg and squirm like a human, you reek like a human, yet you claim to be one of us.” Now he was beginning to act like the kind of Alpha’s she was used to. The dominance and anger rolling off of him at the idea that she had been trying to trick him to save her own life sprung tears to her eyes for some reason.
“Alpha Chandler please, I swear on the Moon Goddess I’m not lying. I didn’t say I wouldn’t shift, I said I couldn’t so please, it hurts.” Mentioning the Moon Goddess seemed to bring a bit of hesitation to the Alpha but clarifying what she had told Emily certainly hadn’t helped. He growled once more before finally releasing her wrist. She took quick steps back just like at the lake with her wrist held against her chest.
“You aren’t going anywhere until you talk.” He commanded before stalking out of the room quickly, slamming the door shut behind him leaving Farryn in the dining room.