The Silverclaw Chronicles: Where will Fear take You?

Jessica Margarette Blackblood

Chapter Two

Jessie

So I know that I shouldn't be, but I am super excited to have Amelia moving into the Pack house today. Don't get me wrong, I feel horrible that she lost her parents! I am just craving a true bestie and I feel like she could be the one. Being the Alpha and Luna's 2nd eldest child is not a bad thing, but I never really know who likes me for me and who only likes the status being my friend holds around here.

I know that I am lucky and I won't ever forget that. My problems are negligible compared to others, but it still would be nice to have someone to talk to more than I have now. My mother spends time every day teaching me how to run a pack, even though I clearly won't be running this one. That will be the job of my brother's mate if he ever finds her. I am not sure he really cares about finding her because, in truth, Aiden is a bit of a player if you ask me. He has had lots of dates with girls in our pack and surrounding ones. I am sure that he has even had some while he has been away training.

I look down at my phone again to check the time. It is dragging so slowly and I have done everything I can to the room for Amelia until they get here with her things. I want her to feel at home just like my mother has drilled into my head all these years, but it is more than that. I want to be her friend and help her heal some too. I have seen her at school over the last two years and only occasionally at pack events. She tends to stick to herself or with her parents, Emma and Felix. Now that they are gone, I don't want her to feel completely alone and I am kind of looking forward to feeling less alone myself.

I know...I know...I am the Alpha's daughter. I am Jessica Margarette Blackblood, a 16-year-old werewolf. I am popular at school and have parents and siblings, so I shouldn't feel alone, but I can't help how I feel. I am deep in my own thoughts when the door bursts open and Dad and Beta Keagon come in carrying a few boxes followed by a few Pack Warriors that have a few more. I am surprised to see Dad and Keagon helping, but I try not to let that show on my face as I turn around with a smile.

"Jessie, what are you doing in here?" Dad asks.

"I was just making sure all the basics are ready for her to move in, Dad." I reply and he gives me a smile of approval and a nod of his head.

The next person through the door is Mom and she has her arm lightly around Amelia's shoulders. She looks up and greets me with a smile.

"Amelia, you know our daughter, Jessie, right?" Mom says, motioning toward me.

Amelia nods her head, but doesn't say anything. I can see that she is having a really hard time and I want to help however I can. Dad and all of the other men put down the boxes they are carrying and go to leave.

"Amelia, we hope that you will make this room your own," Dad says. "We will let you ladies finish with the unpacking and setup."

"Thank you, Dear." Mom replies to him as he places a small kiss on the top of her head before he exits the room. "Alright girls, let's get everything put away and we can make a list of anything you may need before school starts."

We all jump into action, even Amelia, although she is still very quiet.

"She just buried her parents yesterday, Jessie. She is going to need some time." Mom links me and I just nod my head while continuing to work in a comfortable silence with Amelia and Mom.

After awhile, we only have a few things left and Mom decides to give us some girl time to finish things up on our own. I watch as she walks over to Amelia and, without a word, pulls her into a hug. Amelia seems a little taken back at first, but then relaxes into Mom's arms.

"I am going to go and check on dinner preparations and I will let you girls finish up." She states as she opens the door to go. "I would like to take all of you shopping sometime this week for the things we have on everyone's lists if that is alright?"

Amelia makes eye contact with her and I can see the hesitation in her eyes, but also the glassy appearance of tears that she is trying to keep from falling. She starts to nod, but then changes her mind.

"Thank you, Luna Micaela. I really appreciate all of this and..." She pauses before she finishes her thought. "I would like to go with you whenever you guys choose to go shopping."

Mom smiles warmly and nods her head before going and closing the door behind her. I want to say something, but am feeling at a loss for words all of the sudden which is weird for me. I am trying to figure out a way to break the ice when Amelia does it for me.

"Thank you for helping, Jessica." She starts. "I really like all of the things that you picked out for the room."

I turn quickly and reply, "You are welcome and please just call me Jessie or just about anything other than Jessica. It is way too much for me." I start laughing and she joins me.

"Alright, Jessie it is," Amelia states. "How did you know that I like black, grey, and white so much?"

Now it is my turn to laugh a little. "You almost always wear those colors to school, so it didn't take a genius." I reply.

"Fair enough," Amelia answers with an actual little grin and then turns back to finish unpacking her clothes into a dresser.

"Would you like to listen to some music while we work?" I ask hoping that we can continue to connect.

"Sure sounds good. I like just about anything so surprise me." She states, but it almost sounds like a challenge.

I pick up my phone and hook up to the Bluetooth speaker in her room before finding my "Angry girl" Collection and hitting play. As the music starts, Amelia turns to look at me over her shoulder with a smirk that told me I had done well. We both start singing and finish unpacking rather quickly, but keep enjoying the music and each others company. When we get the link from Mom about dinner being ready, we are both sing screaming "Good 4 U" by Olivia Rodrigo. We finish the song and then head down to dinner. I link arms with her as we walk down the stairs, partially because I just want to, but also because I can feel the eyes on her as we come into view and I want to try to shield her from some of it if I can.

. . .

Over the next few days, I spent time with Amelia and the other kids at the Pack house so that I can continue to help her feel more comfortable and socialize more. We currently have some other new families that have transferred to our pack and so there are other new teenagers to join us. We give tours of the Pack lands, play some games, and watch movies. There are five new teens that are hanging out with Amelia, myself, Jasmine, and Blake.

Jasmine is Gamma Thaddeus and Olivia's daughter. She is 17 with golden blonde hair like mine, but hers is cut in a stylish bob that looks amazing on her. She has dark brown eyes and is slightly taller than me. Her brother, Blake, is 16 and he is a good-looking male version of Jasmine. Then they have a little sister, Nina, who is only 8.

The new teens we are showing around all seem pretty nice. Their parents are all transfers from a smaller pack in the northern region, which was recently destroyed by a vampire attack. There were not many survivors, but they were all given the opportunity by the Elder Council to choose packs that they wanted to be considered for membership. Mom told me that we are fortunate that these four families chose to come to us. One of the families is a single mom and two kids, so Dad was not sure that they would be the best fit for us as he is always looking for more warriors to train. But as the Moon Goddess and fate would have it, when Pack Warrior Reagan entered to give him the morning report...sparks flew between Reagan and Miss Cordelia. He is her second chance mate and he is thrilled to find her as he had been looking for a long time. He is even taken with her two kids, Mandy and Missy, who are 16 and 8. I love the way that the Moon Goddess works. Her handy work is amazing to me!

So, as they are all becoming members of the pack, I get to help entertain them and now Amelia gets to do that too. Other than Mandy, the rest of the group is made up of Chris, a 15-year-old only child, Kyler, who is also 15 with 2 younger siblings, Vanessa, a 17-year-old, and Victor, her 16-year-old brother. They are a great group and we're all having fun. I have to say though that I couldn't help but notice the interest Victor has in Amelia. Of course, he couldn't help it because she is absolutely gorgeous. She has fair skin with black wavy hair halfway down her back, but the thing that is completely stunning are her bright, shiny blue eyes. I have never seen eyes like hers before. I can tell that Amelia doesn't think she is beautiful, but this is something else I am hoping to help her with. I will start with this more when we go shopping. While I am thinking about this, I see Victor out of the corner of my eye trying to get her attention. I decide to save him from himself.

"Are you all ready to go see what is for dinner and meet up with your families?" I ask the group.

"Is it that time already?" Mandy replies as she looks a little upset about the attention Victor is trying to give to Amelia.

"Sounds good to me," Amelia adds. "We probably need to see if they need any help with anything anyway and we don't want to bore you guys with that." As suspected, she was trying to get herself away from all of the drama before things got worse.

"Lead the way, ladies." Victor comments with a smirk directed toward Amelia as he moves up to follow wherever she is leading.

Amelia shakes her head just a little, but I could almost swear I saw a slight blush in her cheeks. "Right this way everyone," she says leading everyone to the dining hall and to their parents.

"We will leave you guys with your parents and see you all in a little while for dinner," I announce to all of them while I put my arm around Amelia's and Jasmine's as we start into the kitchen.

"We should all sit together for dinner," Victor states before we get too far away.

I am shocked and Jasmine beats me to respond. "We usually all sit with our families for dinner, but we can all do something after if you guys would like."

Victor steps closer with Kyler and Chris right by him. "That would be great," he replies, quickly sending a quick wink our way while the other guys have huge smiles on their faces.

"Okay. We will see you guys then." Blake finally speaks up. "Let's go, ladies," he adds as he motions for us to follow him into the kitchen.

We all walk into the kitchen and Jasmine and I are giggling while Amelia just shakes her head at us. Blake is being quiet and seems to be deep in thought about something.

"What is it, Blake?" Amelia asks.

"Huh?" he responds, coming out of his deep concentration. When he sees who spoke to him, I see the corner of his lips curl into a smile. Wow...he likes her too. "Oh nothing," he adds, gazing into her blue eyes.

"Ooookay you just seemed really deep in thought about something important." Amelia replies tilting her head a bit to try to avoid his stare.

"Really it's nothing. I was just surprised by the way Victor was so forward with you...," he says and then adds quickly, "all of you."

He is jealous, but trying not to make it sound so obvious. Too bad he is failing miserably. Jasmine and I make eye contact with each other and try to stifle our giggles.

"Come on you guys. Let's help get everything ready for dinner and go eat." I tell them all, trying to alleviate some of the awkwardness for poor Blake.

We all get busy and the rest of the night goes by smoothly, especially since Mom says we can't do anything after dinner because we are going shopping early the next day and the other kids have to finish their unpacking at their new homes.

. . .

Excited about a day of shopping with Mom, I wake up early and get ready. Before heading down to eat, I stop at Amelia's door expecting to have to wake her up, but to my surprise she answers completely ready to go.

"Good morning, Aims." I tell her trying out the nickname I like best for her. She gives me an odd look, so I add, "Is it okay for me to call you that? I think it really suits you."

She shakes her head with a small smile. "I guess that works, Jess." She replies, taking her own privileges with my name, but I love it and respond with a huge smile.

I take her arm in mine and we go down the stairs to meet Mom in the dining hall. As we enter the massive dining hall, it is really full with people starting their day already. I lead us over to Mom and my siblings, who are already grumbling about getting up so early. School starts in just a few days, so they will have to get used to rising early again soon anyway.

"Are we going?" Laura asks, never looking up from her cell phone screen.

"Yes, dear." Mom replies, pushing the cell phone down from Laura's face so that she has to look her in the eyes. "Are you in a hurry?"

"I just wanted to get back in time to go swimming. That's all!" Laura answers with an innocent smile.

"You mean you want to get back to spend time with Colton, right?" I say in a teasing tone to my sister, who gives me a glare.

Colton is Beta Keagon's 14-year-old son. Laura and he have always been close, but lately she has developed more than just a friendship for him. It is sweet, but I have to tease her or I am not doing my job as her big sister.

Before our situation can get more intense than just some teasing and a glare, Mom steps in to rush us all along. She gives me a slightly stern look for teasing my sister and ushers us all out to the waiting SUV. Our driver for the day is Calvin and we are also accompanied by Gregory, who get to take us to the mall and act as our bodyguards while we are away from the Pack lands. Luckily, neither one of them hover. They are very good at being close, but not being seen. It is kind of amazing how two huge guys like them can find ways to just blend into our surroundings, but they always do.

Since we have nothing to worry about other than shopping, I try to make amends with my little sister by including her in my and Aims' fun. The three of us make pretty short work of finding some new clothes to start off the school year. We each get some great looks and Aims even allows me to help her find some basic classics that she desperately needs to complete the looks in her closet. It is a really good thing that I helped her unpack so that I can make her round out her wardrobe just right. To fix things with Laura, Aims suggests that we help her find a new swimsuit to wear this afternoon. Laura loves the idea and it turns out that we all three find a new suit.

Mom is loving every minute of this. She adores it when she can have time with all of us getting along and just having fun. We help Nick and Anna both find some cute looks to start off their school year just right too. We are having a blast and Laura hasn't even complained about how long anything is taking. We eat lunch in the food court and then load back up into the SUV to go home.

Once we are back at the Pack house, I think we all surprise Mom by not rushing off in different directions. She, of course, helps the younger two get everything to their rooms and organized, but us older three girls all take off to Laura's room together. Aims and I help Laura put things away and even go over what she should wear on her first day. When she is all settled, we leave her to get her swimsuit on and plan to meet her at the pool. I give Aims a high five as we part to put our things away and get our suits on too.

"See you in five," I tell her as I skip down the hall to my room. Aims just shakes her head at me with a smile and goes into her room.

. . .

The next few days pass quickly and then it is the first day of school. I am always up early, but today I want to make sure to be an early riser just in case Aims needs any help getting ready. When I get to her room and find her awake, but not dressed, I am not shocked. The thing that surprises me is that she seems to be in a trance of some sort. Luckily, she snaps out of it quickly.

"What is taking you so long?" I ask her. "Do you want some help?" I add trying to see if I could help get her moving faster.

"Just out of it this morning, I guess. I will be ready in just a few minutes." Aims replies, quickly grabbing clothes from her closet and running into her bathroom.

She is back out within ten minutes and looks incredible. It is just not fair how effortlessly beautiful she is. She looks perfect in her white jean shorts with a navy bralette covered by a simple baby blue and white off her shoulder crop top. She has just the right amount of skin showing on her shoulder and her tummy. She has just a touch of makeup on that highlights her natural beauty and her hair is wavy down her back.

"You look great!!" I tell her, still not believing how easy she makes it look when I had worked for an hour at least to look like this. She smiles at me while she puts on her shoes. "I mean it, Aims. Look at yourself." I add, grabbing her arms and forcing her to look at herself in the full-length mirror because I can see that she still doesn't believe me. "Your dark hair makes me so jealous and those blue eyes are to die for!" I watch her face and can tell she still doesn't agree, but she tries to appease me.

"Alright...I will admit that I don't look totally tragic. Hopefully, I can get through the day without everyone giving me looks of pity and just blend in enough to survive it." She says and I let my smile falter just a bit as I try to figure out how I can convince her better.

I quickly turn her around to face me and give her my most serious facial expression before I start. "Aims, I know that life has sucked for you a lot. I am glad that you are here with us now, but I am really sorry for you losing your parents like that. I hope you know that if you ever want to just talk about anything, we can totally do that." Then I pull her into a big hug and she hugs me back.

"Okay let's get going," she says as she picks up her backpack and we head out of her room.

The house is super busy with all the preparations for my brother and Kyle coming home today. To try to avoid some of the chaos, we just grab breakfast in the kitchen and eat at the counter. From the look on Aims' face, I can see she is curious about the craziness today, so I decide to give her all the details.

"My brother and Kyle are coming home today for break," I explain rolling my eyes. Don't get me wrong...I love my brother, but it is ridiculous to celebrate every time he comes home for a visit. "I don't know why it has to be treated like a national holiday, but oh well. Seems unfair that they get a month's break while we have to go to school every day."

"Bitter much?" Aims replies with some sass and a giggle. It makes me smile to see her getting comfortable enough to throw me some sass like that until Addison enters the room.

"Of course she is," Addison says in her snide little voice. I swear she thinks just because she dated my brother and her father is Dad's Beta, that she can do whatever she wants around here.

"I am not bitter and you know that Addison!" I glare at her, but then I quickly try to compose myself and remember all of the things that Mom has taught me about rising above. "I'm not sure why you care so much that he is coming home when you are clearly not meant to be with him!" I add, not quite rising above the way that Mom would want me to as the tension in the room grows.

"Jessie, we better get going so that we are not late for school," Aims says quickly as I notice that she is trying not to laugh at Addy's angry red face.

I grab her arm and get us out of the kitchen quickly before things can get any worse. We are joined by my siblings and all head out to get into my car, but not before I see my brother talking with Dad on the stairs when he isn't even supposed to be home yet. It looks serious, but then Aiden's face changes completely as he sees all of us leaving. I wave to him, but don't have time to stop because we can't be late on the first day and I still have to drop the little ones off at their school. We all jump in my car and I start to drive away. I quickly glance in my rearview to see my brother's eyes following us as we drive away. Weird...Oh well, I can catch up with him after school and then...