by SJ Hayslett
"You sure?" He asked in his true Bostonian accent. Evony nodded and looked at the meter so that she could pay him. "Thank ya miss," he said when he saw what she included for a tip. Merv watched as the young girl approached the gate as he backed up enough so that he could turn around.
Without another thought, Evony waited, knowing that a wolf should be approaching her as soon as the cab was out of sight.
"What business do you have here?" Someone called out from the shadows but Evony didn't want to talk to a disembodied voice, so she remained silent until he came out of the trees that surrounded them. "Are you daft? I asked what business do you have here?"
"I've come to see Alpha Nelson, I've a request for student amnesty and for mercy." Evony assumed that the man before her was an enforcer. At least, he carried himself like the midlevel wolves back from her pack.
She assumed that he was mind-linking either his Alpha or the Beta because he just stared at her with his head cocked to the left.
"Can you shift?" He finally asked her, but she shook her head no, and held up her bags. "Wait here," he finally said before backing away from her and heading back into the woods. Evony didn't doubt that the wolf was going to be watching her while she waited for whatever or whoever to come for her.
She didn't need to wait long, a mere two minutes, before she heard an engine coming from the direction of the pack house. Evony waited until the big SUV came to a complete stop. A fairly handsome man sat in the driver's seat, his brown hair was windblown since he drove with the windows down, offered her a smile before climbing out of the vehicle.
"Hi, I'm Beta Garrett Williams. Let me help you with that." He opened the rear passenger side door and gently placed her bag on the back seat. "And you are?" He slammed the door, and then helped her up into the passenger seat. Why on earth would a wolf need a raised vehicle was beyond Evony's comprehension.
'Over-compensation much?' Evony chuckled but it did nothing to ease her wolf. Evony could practically feel her pacing in anticipation of something. She was overly excited, and she also didn't seem responsive to any of Evony's pleas to communicate with her. Evony just wanted to know what had her wolf so riled up, but it was giving her a headache.
When Evony buckled her seatbelt, she finally answered Garrett, "I really don't want to trouble you or your Alpha for long. I just wanted to hurry up and try to secure my amnesty if you don't mind." There was no way Evony wanted to give the Alpha a heads-up of who she was and she knew the moment she said her name to Beta Williams he would mind-link with the Alpha and he'd make his decision before he even met with her.
Garrett closed the door on the strange girl that showed up and all but demanded time with his best friend and alpha, Reed. "I really don't want to trouble you and your alpha for long. Meh blah meh meh blah," he mocked all the way back to the driver side of the truck.
"I don't sound like that. But in the future, if you're going to make fun of someone make sure the windows are up and they can't hear you." Evony looked straight at Garrett who had the decency to look repentant at his childish behavior.
However, Garrett's repentance was short lived when he looked back at Evony and said, "who said I didn't want you to hear?" Evony raised an eyebrow and waited for him to start the car. 'Okay,' Garrett thought to himself and his wolf, who found the exchange somewhat amusing.
Once Garrett had the SUV turned around to head back the pack house, Evony sat back in her seat, kept her eyes forward, and kept her mind focused on the task before her.
"So what school are you attending?" Garrett tried to make small talk on the short ride to the pack house. He wanted to find as much information about their mystery visitor for Reed, but he couldn't seem to get past her high-maintenance ways.
"Harvard," she simply said.
"Oh so you're a smart girl huh?"
"Are you always this obnoxious? Or only with us smart girls?" Evony smirked as Garrett floundered for something to say. He opened and closed his mouth like fish out of water several times, before deciding to just keep his mouth shut.
The Pack house wasn't as big as the one back home, but it was just as beautiful, maybe even more since it was a stone and log cabin that looked to be about three stories. There were two stone staircases attached to the house, the first being the walkway to the front door, and the second started on the side of the house, and seemed to go up and around the back. Evony really hoped that amnesty would be granted so that she could have a chance to explore the pack house at some point. It was just beyond gorgeous.
"If you think it's beautiful now, just wait until the winter comes. It's breathtaking," Garrett came up beside her and already had her bag in his hand. Evony was embarrassed that she got caught gawking at the pack home.
"I can imagine."
They walked in silence inside the house and Evony snuck glances left and right at her surroundings. She marveled at the frames that lined the wooden walls, most housing pictures it seemed of pack members.
"You'll wait here." Garrett had brought her to the pack meeting room. Evony took a look around and saw a podium that was in between two four-foot tables on a raised platform. There were burgundy and black chairs stacked against the walls. It look like a meeting hall, something Evony was not used to seeing in a pack home.
Garrett walked over to one of the stacks and pulled out a chair. Evony was about to accept the chair from him, when he rudely stepped in front of her, and sat down himself.
"Don't I get a chair? You're not a very good host if you don't offer a guest comfort before your own."
"Well that depends on your definition of guest, now wouldn't it? A guest implies someone that was invited, but seeing as you showed up here, uninvited mind you, that term wouldn't really apply to you. And let's not forget that you are on our territory without prior permission, so by all legalities, I can throw you in the dungeon as a rogue and go about my duties." Garrett smiled as he watched the young girl before him figure out how to respond.
His smile didn't last long since she quickly retorted.
"Fine. But I'm sure your momma raised a gentleman and you are not a gentleman."
"What are we in the 1700's, you're Jane Austen and I'm Mr. Darcy?"
"Are you an idiot? That doesn't even make sense."
"Who are you calling an idiot?"
"Obviously I'm calling you an idiot. What idiot doesn't know that Jane Austen was the author and Mr. Darcy was her character. What you should have said was, 'you're Elizabeth Bennet and I'm Mr. Darcy." Evony tried her best to lower her voice to resemble his and thought she nailed it.
That was until there was a booming laughter that came from the front of the room by the podium. "Alright that's enough." The intimidating man said when he hopped off the stage. Evony was aware that her wolf started preening herself at the first note of his voice.
"I'm a wolf, I don't have time to read Jane Austen and Sense and Sensibility." Garrett shot out real quick before walking towards the newcomer. As he drew closer to the man, Evony's wolf was excited beyond measure and was practically jumping at the bit to take control.
"Like I said, idiot. Try Pride and Prejudice, not Sense and Sen-"
"I SAID ENOUGH!" The man yelled with just enough alpha command behind his voice. "You two fight like children." Evony studied the man, this time acknowledging that he was Alpha Reed Nelson.
'Mate,' her wolf answered her unasked question.
'I have a mate? You know this means we can't marry Alex.' At least she hoped her father wouldn't be so cruel as to force her to marry someone when her mate was right here. And the Silver Fang pack would never need to worry about Blood Moon attacking them because there would be an alliance through the mate bond between her and Alpha Reed.
'I was never going to mate with Alex's wolf.' Evony's wolf had been very vocal on the matter and was threatening to detach herself from Evony if she went through the marriage. The thought of her wolf leaving her devastated Evony because it would mean that she'd never be able to shift again.
She'd always have the itch to do so, but never be able to run as a wolf again.
Evony watched as Garrett went to stand behind Alpha Reed, but her focus was mainly on her mate. He stood tall – much taller than her father, and possessed broad shoulders, she couldn't wait to curl up in his arms. His caramel skin had a little bit of a tan to it, but his complexion matched perfectly with his black, long and wavy hair. Alpha Reed's face was covered in a light scruff of facial hair. Evony couldn't tell if he had a scar in his left eyebrow, or if he purposely shaved a line through it, but it looked so sexy on him.
"Garrett said that you had some business with me. State it fast." Evony flinched at the harsh tone that Alpha Reed took with her. She stepped closer to him in the hopes that maybe he couldn't feel the mate pull, even though that made no sense. As an alpha, he should feel it stronger than what she was feeling. She handed him the paperwork that she had to file with the pack.
Evony held her breath as Alpha Reed looked over her paperwork.
"You're here for student amnesty? Why weren't they filed before you got here?" Alpha Reed's tone never softened and his eyes narrowed as he took her in.
"Umm, my father didn't want me to go to Harvard and I was desperate enough to go that I didn't want to risk anyone from my pack to find any correspondence between packs." Alpha Reed took another look at her paperwork before looking back at her.
"Garrett, go check on the doctor in the cells. He should be just about finished with the rogue down there." Garrett left without a word to Evony or to Alpha Reed. He simply nodded to the both of them before turning into the door where Alpha Reed materialized from before.
Once they were alone, Garrett walked over to the chair that Garrett had pulled down for himself.
"Sit," he said gruffly. Evony didn't know what to make of her mate but she was steadily becoming disappointed with the man before her. Maybe her wolf got it wrong and Alpha Reed was not her mate.
'He is. I don't know why he's this way with us,' her wolf gave answer to her thoughts.
"You're Evony Morris, daughter of Alpha Jermaine Morris. Taking you in could cause a war between your father and Alpha Daniels." Evony looked up at Alpha Reed in surprise at the mention of the Daniels name. "You didn't think I knew about your engagement?"
"It was not something I wanted. Alex is a sniveling little snot who isn't fit to be the omega of a pack. My wolf threatened to leave me when it came time to marry him." Briefly, she wondered if that was why he was so cold towards her, but even after she admitted that she refused to marry Alex, his demeanor never changed.
"Regardless, an engagement is in place and I'd be harboring a runaway from a fellow alpha."
"You know good and well that my father isn't your fellow anything. You're on a different level than he is, your whole pack is." Evony looked away as she felt the prickle of tears trying to slam their way forward from her eyes. "Look, if it comes down to it, tell them I'm a hostage and if they attempt war you'll kill me. Just please don't send me back there." Evony wasn't beyond pleading.
She knew that she crossed the point of no return when she left the airport on a plane that was not the one her father had wanted her on. If Alpha Reed didn't grant her amnesty, her options were limited. Option A was to go home to her father, but her punishment was an unknown. Considering her father already had her life planned out, he'd probably tell her college wasn't in the cards anymore and force the marriage to Alex sooner than agreed. There would be no negotiating available to her. Or, Option B, she could still attempt going to school at Harvard as a rogue, but she wouldn't have any protection if another wolf sniffed her out for whatever reason. However, being an unmated female, that wasn't an option either.
'But we have a mate,' her wolf growled.
'Well tell him, he's the one not acting like it.'
"Fine. I'll have someone process you out with the granted amnesty, with the promise that you won't leave the territory without permission. Seeing as you're my hostage. You are permitted to attend your school. Garrett will take you to your dorm. Now if you'll excuse me."
Without another word, Evony watched Alpha Reed, her mate walk away from her. 'Did he just reject me? I don't understand what just happened.' Evony asked but her wolf was too distraught to answer. What happened indeed?
Chapter 5
After taking Evony to her dorm, Garrett returned back to the pack house and found his best friend in his office. Garrett didn't bother with knocking on the door, just walked right in with his report.
"So you wanna tell me what happened?" Garrett asked of Reed when he sat on the couch in the alpha's office.
"What do you mean?" Reed didn't even bother to look up from whatever papers he was going over. Garrett took a look at his friend, who was looking tired from constant patrols. There had been an insurgence of rogues testing the perimeters of the pack. They were an annoyance to any given alpha, however, Alpha Reed took on the challenge of converting some of the rogues into valuable pack members, while other packs killed them on sight. Though there were some that needed to be dealt with; like the current rogue that was in the cells.
The rogue was caught trespassing and refused to leave when approached by some of the enforcers. Reed finally got him to submit long enough to be zip-tied and brought to the cells, but that was where his "cooperation" ended. Throughout every interrogation tactic that Reed and his other ranking wolves attempted, the rogue remained silent.
"That firecracker of a girl was in a foul mood while I drove her to her school. She said more words to me before meeting you."
"What's it to you?" Reed interjected.
"I don't know." Garrett sat forward with his arms resting on his knees. "She kind of reminded me of Elise you know? Before she lost her mate." Reed looked over at Garrett with a moment of pity for a second. His baby sister, Elise was someone that was always happy, without being obnoxious to anyone around her. She was just genuine. But she also refused to let anyone take her kindness for weakness. She was a spitfire who would playfully argue with her brother over every, and anything.
Her mate was from a different pack, but when he found out that Garrett was her only family left, he made the move to transfer to Blood Moon. However, there was an attack when he was making his way back to Elise. When news of his death made its way to Elise, she fell into a catatonic state and stayed that way for about two months. When she finally woke up, she shifted into her wolf and ran out into the woods, turning rogue.
Garrett still hopes that she's alive somewhere, but so many packs are against letting a rogue continue to exist that Reed had his doubts. She's the main reason why Garrett and Reed tried so hard in converting rogues into pack members. They had this need to give them a better chance at survival, in hopes that Elise can have a second chance at life as well.
"And don't think I didn't notice that you pulled two enforcers from patrols to follow us to her school...or that they haven't returned. So don't insult my intelligence. Who is she?" Garrett asked again.
Reed tapped the pen he was holding on the desk a couple of times before dropping it on the desk. "She's Alpha Morris' daughter, from Silver Fang. She's engaged to that little snot of a hopeful alpha, Alex Daniels. She's also a runaway, apparently the engagement was arranged without her consent. She desired to attend Harvard but it was considered out of the question for her father."
"How can wolves continue that practice? They ruin the balance of the goddess when they mess with mates like that." Garrett was angry, and rightfully so. His own mate was in such a marriage and was forced to reject him. The goddess blessed him with a second chance mate in Angela who was perfect for him.
Reed couldn't understand why anyone would want to reject someone that the goddess had blessed him or her with. Especially when the punishment that the goddess dealt was painful for the 'rejector.' Not only did the touch of who they chose disgust them, but they also felt the pain of their true mate when they were with someone else. It was only when their true mate marked another wolf as their second-
chance mate, did the pain ever stop. Of course, up until they met their mate, everything would be fine, but once they meet, and the rejection occurs, so does the punishment.
"Anyways, I told her that she was essentially going to be a hostage if I granted her the amnesty she wanted. Since her presence in our pack, even for Harvard, is likely to cause Morris and Daniels to declare war and put our pack in danger, I'm restricting her by placing guards on her patrol."
"Did you tell her that you already know that they were plotting against you anyways? Maybe she knows something and could tell us."
"You know the rules of amnesty don't allow us to speak on pack affairs. I don't need some witch from the council to be sent to mess with my mind."
"So that's it? You didn't say anything to scare her or something? 'Cause she really looked upset about something." Garrett pressed. He didn't know what was going on with Evony, or his friend and he wasn't sure how concerned he should be.
'You hurt our mate.' Reed sighed with relief and regret when his wolf finally spoke up since the moment he walked away from Evony. Reed's wolf had wanted to claim and mark her right then and there, but Reed was hesitant. Even now, when he thought about the first moment he saw her arguing with Garrett, he couldn't figure out why he wanted to hesitate in claiming her. One thing he did know for sure, he was not going to let her go back to Morris and Daniels without a fight.
"I'm sure she's just upset and scared about what's going to happen next. The gravity of her actions probably hit her like a ton of bricks. And don't forget, she just defied her father who also happens to be an alpha. You've met him, he's arrogant enough to think his wealth gives him the right to get whatever he wants."
"Right, he hates anyone making a fool out of him. Remember at the Alpha's Summit last year? That little scuffle he had with Alpha Thorne from the Stoneforest pack? He was like a spoiled brat after that."
