My Hidden Wolf

Chapter Nine

        I was distracted all through Art, my last lesson of the day. I couldn't stop going through what I remembered of my parents. Why had they left me? Didn't they want me? Did they not love me? Where had they gone? Why didn't they have more children after me? Or did they? And then there was the sudden appearance of William, another wolf, from another pack. He hadn't said which pack though. He seemed familiar in some way but I'd definitely never crossed paths with him before. I'd always kept to myself.

        Finally the bell rang to signal the end of the days lessons. I gathered up my stuff and headed to the library. William was already there waiting for me outside the door.

        "Come on, I can't help if you stay out here." I smiled gently leading him inside and to a table in the study area. We sat down and pulled out our Maths books and got to work. 

        I hadn't realised how long we'd been studying until William got a text, pulled out his phone and groaned.  

        "What's wrong?" I asked.

        "It's ten past four already. Dad will be wondering where I am."

        "It's ten past four?!" I asked panicked.

        "Yeah, why?"

        "I said I'd be home by four. Sam won't be happy. I've got to go."

        "I'll walk you out. He'll understand, don't worry."

        We walked outside. No one was around. Then I spotted it. The dark blue Audi, with a man leaning against it, arms folded, looking at me.

        "Sam." I whispered. I walked toward him, forgetting about William behind me, as he pushed away from his car and stalked towards me. "What are you doing here?"

        "You hadn't come back home yet. I was worried." He reached out for my hand. Wrapping his large hand around my smaller one he asked. "Who's he?"

        I glanced behind me to see William still standing there.

        "That's William, a friend. He's also a wolf. Sam, William. William, Sam." I introduced them to each other.

        William stepped forward, hand outstretched.

        "William Richardson, nice to meet you."

        Sam took his hand, a flicker of recognition crossing his face.

        "Samuel Carson, but you already knew that. Your the son of Thomas Richardson, the Alpha of the Vale pack, aren't you?"

        "Yes, I am. Don't worry I've already promised Emily that I won't tell my father about you two. How did the meeting go with him this morning?"

Sam P.O.V

        I felt slightly jealous seeing Emily with another man, but for some unknown reason I trusted William. I noticed that they had the same face shape but thought nothing more of it.

        "The meeting went well. Your father is hoping you'll be able to take over before long."

        "That's why he made me re-do my final year, and moved me to this school for my exams, away from my mate. Too much of a distraction he says."

        "I'm sure you'll manage. We'd best be going."

        "See you tomorrow Emily and thanks for the help."

        Emily and I watched as William walked away through the school gates, going in the opposite direction from our pack house and territory. The town was considered neutral since so many of the local packs children went to one of the the two primary schools or one of the two senior schools.

        "What help did you give him?"

        "Maths, he needed help with homework. He's only taking it because his dad insisted. He says he's more athletic than academic. You didn't have to pick me up, I really don't mind walking."

Emily P.O.V

        "I missed you Princess." He whispered sandwiching me between his body and his car. His hands pressed to my waist, holding me in place he gave me a soft peck on the lips. Then ducked his head to nuzzle my neck. His hands slid to my hips. I could feel him becoming aroused.

        "Sam, we're in the school parking lot." That seemed to calm him, bringing him back to his senses. We got in the car and were back at the house within ten minutes.

        Sam almost ran around the car to open my door. I took his offered hand and got out of the car. No one else was around. He tugged me to him, lips crashing against mine and exploring my neck. Someone cleared their throat loudly behind us. Sam froze. I looked over my shoulder to see a smirking Kyle leaning against the closed front door.

        "I'd prefer not to witness you devouring my sister dude." I felt Sam growl as he straightened up.

        "Fine, we'll go inside then."

        "You have paperwork to sign Sam, and Emily probably want to relax or has homework to do or something. I'm sure she doesn't want you mauling her every time your alone."

        I gave Kyle a grateful smile from behind Sam. He was right. I wanted to do my homework, have a quick shower to wash the day away and have an early night.

William P.O.V

        I took my time walking home. With no mother it wasn't always the happiest place for me. I knew my dad loved me, and he always made time for me if I needed him, but he could be rather hard on me at times.

        Walking up the driveway to the house I stopped for a moment to collect my thoughts. I wanted to ask my dad  about my mother. He wouldn't like it. He never spoke about her but all I knew was that they weren't mates and left him with my baby sister not yet born. I'd never asked anything about her before. I'd never even seen a picture of her. I'd never wanted to before, it didn't bother me that the other kids had mothers and I didn't because I knew my dad would do anything for me.

        I walked through the front door, closing it softly behind me. The house was eerily quiet. It was later than I thought. Everyone had gone home for the day. I made my way to the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water before heading to the back of the house towards dad's office. I knocked on the large, solid oak door.

        "Enter." His voice came through from the other side. I went in closing the door behind me.

        The room was fairly large with a nice view of the back garden, where I played as a child while dad worked. The walls were bare apart from a portrait of my grandparents behind his desk which hid the safe. My dad was sat at the intricately carved desk looking at some documents. He glanced up and met my eyes.

        "What's wrong son?" I din't say anything, nervously fiddling with my hands. "William?"

        "I'd like to know more about my mother."

        "Okay, take a seat." He put away the documents he'd been working on and leant back in his chair. "What's brought this on?"

        "I made a friend at the new school. We started talking and she told me that her mother abandoned her too. Not just her mother though, her father as well. She was only six. Her grandparents raised her. It got me wondering about my mother and why some people leave their children behind."

        "Poor girl. I can't tell you why some parents abandon their children but I will tell you about your mother." He took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. "As you know we weren't mates but we still had you, obviously. She was the only child of an Alpha from further north. He didn't want her running the pack, not a job for women he would say. Very old fashioned views. Anyway, it was well known that I hadn't met my mate and I needed an heir. The pressure to secure the packs future was mounting. Her father wrote to me with a marriage offer and a few days later after I'd already agreed, he dropped her off. Didn't even stay for the wedding. It was only a small, quick ceremony with my Beta and your grandparents present. Her father had forgotten to mention her age. She was only sixteen." He paused and took another deep breath. 

        "She was beautiful, but I didn't touch her on the wedding night. She had her own room and I made sure that there was no pressure on her. I wasn't her father and wanted her to feel safe around me. After a couple of months, one night she came in to my room and well... one thing led to another and you were conceived." I pulled a face which made him chuckle. "I know, I know, no one wants to think of their parents doing that. We were happy. Got to know each other. We were celebrating my twenty fourth birthday, she'd had her seventeenth a few months earlier, when she went into labor. It wasn't easy. You didn't want to come, stubborn little mite. Three days later you were born. Adorably, chubby little fella you were too." His eyes grew misty as he smiled, looking in to the garden. 

        "She didn't bond with you very well, struggled to feed you. She was different than before, traumatized I reckon. When you were six months old she seemed to come back to herself. She started talking about giving you a little brother or sister, so we started trying for another baby. Who was I to say no? Her father had controlled her entire life. Raised her to think that all women were good for was making babies and cooking." He let out a long sigh.

        "Your sister was conceived  quickly, without much trying. Your mother was ecstatic when we found out the baby was a girl. Said she would raise her to be a fierce, strong, independent woman and I agreed. But about six months through the pregnancy, around her eighteenth birthday she grew distant, spent less time with me and less time at the house. Spent less time with you as well. Then one day I woke up to find you cradled in my arms and a note on the nightstand. Here." He opened his top drawer and pulled out an old piece of paper. He handed it to me.

        "Read it, if you like." I took it with a shaky hand.

        "I think I will, but later, in my own time."

        "Take this too." He pulled out a photo album and held it out to me.

        "Thanks dad. I'd better go do my homework."

        "Remember to work hard this week and you can spend time with Cara this weekend."

        I nodded, got up and left the room. Grabbing my backpack from where I left it outside the door I went up to my room. Dropping my backpack on the floor next to my desk and gently placing the note and photo album on my nightstand, I let out a sigh and wiped away the few tears that escaped after leaving my dads office. I stripped down to my boxers and went into my en suite. I turned on the shower and looked at myself in the mirror. I looked a lot like my dad. Same green eyes, same hair, the main differences were that he was slightly taller than me and his face was rounder in shape.

        I jumped in the shower quickly then threw on some pyjama bottoms and sat down to tackle my homework.

        It took a couple of hours but I got most of my homework done. I went downstairs to grab something to eat. I found a saucepan of bolognese sauce simmering away on the hob. Dad must've been cooking.

        "Can you put the spaghetti on son?"

        "Sure dad."

        "Homework done?" He asked, walking in from the living room.

        "Yes dad."

        "You read it yet?"

        "Not yet, thought I'd eat something first." He hummed as he nodded. Silence fell between us. I got myself a glass of water and leant against the counter sipping it. Thinking of something to say. It was just the two of us in the house. None of the other pack members lived in the house anymore, not even dads Beta, Ian. He had his own family.

        "How'd the meeting with Samuel Carson go?" I asked, breaking the silence.

        "It went really well. He's a nice young man, but I didn't expect Steven's son to be anything but nice. The terms of the treaty forged with his grandfather remain the same. He's keen to maintain peace. As am I."

        "That's good. I don't want to see war break out. No one will benefit from war and this peace was herd to gain for grandpa's generation."

        "I see you have been learning about the pack. That's good. I'd like to retire in a couple of years. I don't mind if you and Cara are married or completed the mating process by then or not but you will need to know as much as you can about the history of all the packs in the immediate vicinity. Politics is a complicated business, even in peace. Possibly more so in times of peace, but I believe you can do it. It's in your blood. And Cara will make an excellent Luna one day. She's eighteen in a couple of weeks right?"

        "Thanks dad, your belief in me means a lot. Yeah, two weeks tomorrow is her birthday."

        "Got anything planned?" He waggled his eyebrows at me suggestively."

        "For the weekend after, yeah. We want to mate, or at least she wants me to mark her. Her mum and dad have given their blessing and we'll have finished our exams by then too."

        "Okay, just promise me you'll use protection if you do mate. You've got plenty of time to have children and learning the ropes of being Alpha will be stressful enough for you without adding having to raise a baby into the mix. I'll talk to her parents about her moving in then."

        "I know dad. Cara doesn't want kids yet anyway. Spaghetti's cooked, can I eat mine in my room?"

        "Go on then kiddo, sleep well Will."

        "Night dad. Thanks for the chat."

        "Anytime."