In Over Her Head

Chapter Four: An Explanation

      The car ride back to the packhouse was unbearably quiet. Karissa was surprised when she stepped out of the house to find not only one car, but two were waiting on them. Not to mention that she was pratically dragged and placed in the passanger side of the car that Grayson himself was driving. She could feel Marissa shooting daggers at her as she got into the car. Marissa had done her hair up and slid into a tight pink mini skirt and a white top that hung dangerously low leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination. It was pretty surprising to see that Grayson wasn't the least bit affected by Marissa's effort. Mallory must have done a number on him, she tought to herself while she looked out the window.

    Living on the outskirt of the pack's town was peaceful at times but it was always a pain to navigate. Tree limbs were scattered about and every once in a while, one would fall on the path and it would take a few days for anyone to come out and clear it up. Not owning a car meant Karissa had to walk to and from the town to pick up necessities and work at the pack house. Karissa's favorite part about all of it is on nights like tonight, the stars shown bright through the trees and she could close her eyes and pretend she was free from this pack and its members. But with the things that bring her peace at times, came the bad memories that plagued her. 

        SPLASH.                                                                                                                                                        

    Karissa promised herself that she wouldn't let her sister or any of the other pack members see her cry as the bucket they dumped on her was dropped beside her. She lowered her head as the mud dripped from her long hair and ran down the bridge of her nose. Her dress was soaked and she looked at her ruined book.                                                                                                                                             

     "Hey look! The parent killer is going to cry. It's a shame you have to be related to her at all Marissa."    

   Karissa looked up with pleading eyes at her sister, but all she got was a look of disgust. It had been months since she had decided to wear something nice, and the one time she did, Marissa had to ruin it. The dress had belonged to their mother and it was the last thing that she owned. Their parents had been killed by a bunch of rogues when they were little kids. Karissa had been playing by the creek when they were attacked. She had been rescued and dragged away by her aunt just in time, but not fast enough to see both of her parents get killed. Marissa had been spending the night at their aunt and uncle's and it was a surprise to see just how fast she reached her.                                                                                 

       Since then her sister never forgave her for the incident and honestly, Karissa never blamed her. Their aunt and uncle tried to fill the house with love and light, but they couldn't help but listen to the cries from each of the girls bedrooms at night. Once they were brought here, Marissa told everyone this elaborate story about how she led the rogues to their parents and was the reason why they were dead. There were many pack members that shrugged it off as a girl struggling to cope with the loss of her parents, but for the kids their age it was a different story altogether.                                                                                           

    "I love how she even tried to dress up today. As if anyone would ever find her pretty. Maybe she shouldn't have killed our parents."                                                                                                                       

    "Hey, are you alright over there?"                                                                                                                 

    "Hmm?" Karissa looked at Grayson from the corner of her eye and and pondered why it even mattered to him whether or not she was okay. It was rather odd that he was being nice to her and it put her on edge. It was highly unusual for them to be moving into the packhouse. With the festivities going on, the in house servants and maids were up to their teeth with work and preperations. Maybe thats why they were going? Karissa watched as the whites in Grayson's knuckles appeared as his grip on the steering wheel tightened. His eyes seemed to dart two and fro as if he was searching for something. Karissa tensed up and he let out a little growl of annoyance. The last time she had seen him like this was when he had found out that his Beta Richard had slept with the girl he had been seeing at the time. 

    Karissa had been scrubbing the hallway outside the Alpha's office when a loud crash was heard. Servants nor maids were allowed to step foot inside the office until it was empty and she tried her best not to pay any attention to whatever was going on in there, but they were so loud that she was surprised no one had come rushing upstairs to see what the rucus was about. Next thing she knew, Richard came flying out of the room. His back hit the wall with a thud, causing the windows to shake a little and he went scurrying with his tail between his legs...no pun intended, just in time to have a book barely miss hitting his head.  A really pissed of Grayson had stepped out of the room and he yelled after him what a h** his friend was. A laugh escaped her lips causing Grayson to whirl around and Karissa tried her best to cover her smile with her hands but it was too late. Grayson balled his hand into a fist and he struck her hard before leaving her to continue scrubbing the floor with tears streaming down her cheeks. 

    "Yeah, I'm okay."                                                                               

     They pulled up to the packhouse and saw almost every light on in the building. Grayson cut the engine and made his way around to her side of the car and swung open the passanger door for her to get out.  No matter how many times Karissa saw the pack house, she was always blown away by how massive it was. He shut the door behind her and grabbed a hold of her hand, leading her up the stairs and through the doors. They main hall was brightly lit with chandeliers and branched off into three other hallways. The one to the right led to the kitchen, dining hall, library, wine room and eventually outside to the pack's training grounds. The left hallway led to the servant's quarters, downstairs to the cellars where rogues were kept, and then at the end of that hall was a spiral staircase that led to the higher pack members bedrooms. The third floor is where the Alpha's office was located and then the Alpha's chambers. They headed across the hall and into the town hall. It seemed like every pack memeber was there and Karissa had to crane her neck just to see. The crowd parted as Grayson led them to the front and Karissa felt the heat rise in her cheeks. It felt like all eyes were on her and it wasn't until they reached the very front did he let go of her hand. She looked up just in time to make eye contact with Mallory and by the look in her eyes, it seemed clear that she was plotting her revenge.                                                                                                            

    Karissa looked around the room and spotted her coworkers. She made her way over to them and they talked while they waited for the Alpha and Luna to appear. The noise in the hall was enough to make anyone have a headache. Karissa was surprised that anyone could manage to hear. The air tonight was humid and Karissa watched throught the massive glass doors as fireflies danced around the fountain that was in the middle of the gardens. From here, the skies were clear and she had the perfect view of the stars. She distracted herself until the murmuring came to a cease as the Alpha an Luna walked into the room. Alpha Matthews was looking paler than usual and the Luna was shaking her head. Whatever news that had to share was not going to be good.                                     

     "Good evening everyone! I am terribly sorry to bother you this late at night but I have received some frightful news from my son that there has been rogues scented in our borders. Not only that, but they attacked a few of our soldiers that had been patroling the west boarder. " People began to murmur amongst each other before the Alpha cleared his throat and continued, "...Worry not however. We are going to up the guards and continue the plans for our festivites. As you all know, our boy's 20th birthday is fairly soon and instead of having the party a week out, our beloved Luna has agreed to have it tomorrow. We look forward to celebrating with each and everyone of you in hopes that we find our boy's beloved Luna!"                                                                   

    The crowd let out a cheer before slowly dispursing. She spotted her sister's eyes were glued to where Richard stood and Karissa couldn't help but let out a groan. She couldn't help but shoot him the bird before grabbing her bags and headed towards where the staff slept. Knowing how the Alpha and Luna thought of her compared to my sister, she knew there would be no way they were going to let her sleep in any of the spare bedrooms upstairs.  Looking over her shoulder as she reached the doors however, Karissa couldn't help but notice Grayson watching her every move. If she didn't play her cards right, she was going to be in a whole lot of trouble.                            

Marissa's Pov:

       One would be stupid not to notice how Grayson had been watching her sister tonight. How he could have any type of attraction to her, one could only guess. Marissa had a crush on Grayson for a long as she could remember. She was honestly surprised when she opened her door to find him standing there. She tried to flirt with him but he didn't seemed interested at all. The first thing that popped out of his mouth was where her sister was and if Karissa was safe. Why does it matter if she is safe or not? After listening to his quick explanation, Marissa had ran upstairs and threw open her sister's door. Having her dull sister being noticed over her annoyed her and she immediately started to blame her sister as to why she opened the door dressed the way she was. Marissa knew deep down it wasn't Karissa's fault but she didn't care. This whole entire time, she tried her best to put herself out there. It was way to easy to get Richard's attention. He was a horn dog and a quick screw. It got her to the social class that she wanted to be. It was a shame that Grayson was now with someone as shallow as Mallory.                                                    

     Its not like you are any better, she thought to herself.  Look how you treat your sister.                  

    Marissa never meant to take things as far as she did with Karissa. She had always been jealous of her. Even though she is currently hated by most of the people her age, Karissa still had something about her that seemed to draw people's gazes towards her. And the funny thing is is she didn't even know it. Even now, Grayson watched Karissa as she walked towards what she could only assume to be where the servants quarters were with a frown on his face. He was completely oblivious to a seething Mallory and that brought a smile to Marissa's face. So yeah, she was a b***h to her sister, but Mallory was one of the most annoying she wolves in this pack. She passed herself around harder than anyone she had ever had the displeasure of meeting. She'll have to give her sister a congratulations the next time she saw her, but for now, she tugged on her hot pink mini skirt and winked at Richard who now seemed to be eyeing her up and down. Moon Goddess, she loved this pack. And by time tomorrow at Grayson's birthday party she hoped to find her destined mate.