A Wolf's Kiss

EPISODE 4: THE HOMECOMING

THE EXHAUSTED MUM got out of her car just as the school bus pulled up in front of her house. Ashley and Ashton were wrapped up like burritos in their snowsuits and raced towards her. The kids were required to have an emergency snowsuit by the school with the school’s logo on it, kind of like a PE uniform.

Dove felt relief wash over her as she saw her twins, but the relief was shortlived. As they drew nearer to her, she noticed their faces were flushed and their eyes were unusually bright.

“Mummy, my tummy hurt all day.” Ashton whimpered, his voice muffled by his scarf.

“Me too.” Ashley chipped in visibly shivering.

Dove wasn’t fazed by this—the twins usually fell sick together. Her heart raced as she collected the things she bought from her vehicle so she could let the twins into the house.

“We’re having catfish soup today. So cheer up.” She comforted her kids. Hearing that did cheer up the twins. They worked on their homework while their mother got to work.

***

Conri stood at the edge of the frozen lake, his breath misting in the frigid air as he gazed out across the lake into the forest. The Black Mansion loomed behind him, a massive structure of wood and stone. It had been five years since he had set foot in Silverlake, his hometown, and now that he was back, he was feeling both nervous and excited. This place was once the haven of his childhood—now he carries the weight of his responsibilities as the Alpha. He was glad to be back—he had kind of missed the weather.

The Blacks had returned to town, bringing with them high-ranking clan members. The journey from California in their private jet had been relaxing—a good way to get some shut-eye. It was important for them to return to Alaska because the pack had grown too large and their operations were too extensive to be managed from a single location.

The plan was to see the available houses in Silverlake and give them to the clan members before some other members who are under the leadership of those members are asked to migrate to Silverlake from California to work with their team leads.

The mansion was the only one of its kind for miles, a testament to the Shadowlake Clan’s power and influence. It was emplaced right by the Silver Lake, surrounded by trees and cabins here and there belonging to pack members.

The nearest human towns were far enough away from them, ensuring their privacy, yet close enough to blend in when necessary. Silverlake was a suburban community of werewolves, hidden in plain sight among humans who lived in surrounding towns. They used the remote town to their advantage. However, humans from close towns visit SilverLake often to shop at the supermarket owned by Ruby Black, Conri’s mother. They also came into the town for some of their other stores, businesses owned by other pack members. Silverlake was notoriously known for giant wolves, so people hardly ever went there unless they needed to. They feared the town and the spooky residents of it. To humans, wolves roamed freely in the town, on their streets, and in some of their houses, but they weren’t any normal wolves—they were werewolves, epsilons, stuck in their feral form, they were very aggressive, and they were hardly interested in being in packs, but the ShadowLake Clan, aka the Black Clan, were different. They made use of all ranks and gave everyone a place in their clan.

Conri inhaled deeply—the sharp scent of pine and snow filled his lungs. The cold didn’t bother—it was as much a part of him as the wolf that lay beneath his skin, waiting just below the surface.

His father, Alcide, had moved them away from this place five years ago after a particularly brutal winter had taken its toll on their pack. They migrated to California, where the weather was warmer, the days were longer, and the business opportunities were abundant, but this was home.

The return was not without purpose. The pack had unfinished business here, not just with the family company, Black Box Inc., the cybersecurity firm Conri ran alongside his father or Conri’s own venture, Blackwatch Protection Inc., a private security firm that was being constructed in the city, Aurora Bay, Alaska, a city filled with luxurious buildings and businesses, but for the land itself. They were back to sink their roots deeper into the Alaskan soil, establish their dominance, and protect it from potential invaders.

They had been getting reports of rival packs infiltrating the Silverlake Clan, invading homes, picking fights, and even stealing their homes. They had left their pack for too, and they needed their Alpha, Alcide Black.

Conri, although an Alpha, earned his position through blood and sacrifice. He had been reborn as a true alpha, the rarest of werewolves, when he laid down his life to save a member of his father’s pack. He had faced death and defeated it. That act of selflessness had transformed Conri—he had grown greatly into his power. He wasn’t just the son of his father, a primordial alpha, that at some point he would have had to take the alpha position from by killing him or waiting for him to get killed.