The Return
1325 Words
(Lara’s POV)
In the middle of my embarrassment, Emma stirred.
She opened her eyes slowly and said, “What are you doing?” like I was a toddler caught playing in a toilet.
Shocked, I jumped. “Emma! How are you feeling? Are you hurt anywhere?”
She tried to sit up.
“Wait, let me help you,” I said, rushing to her side.
She gave me those big, watery puppy eyes. I couldn’t hold back, I hugged her tight.
“I’m sorry,” tears rolling down. “I’m sorry for not protecting you. For being weak.”
She hugged me back, holding tight. “I’m sorry too… I’m so sorry.”
We cried like kids. It was dumb, messy, and healing all at once.
After the waterworks, we talked. I told her everything about the man who saved us, the contract, all of it.
“Did you tell your mom?” she asked, her voice low.
I shook my head. “No… I don’t know if she’s connected to him or not. I’ll let you know how it goes.”
Emma doesn’t live with her parents anymore, she has her own place near school. Her folks had moved away years ago.
After we were discharged, we headed to my house.
Mom was home, and she was packing.
“Are you going somewhere?” I asked. “Why are you packing?”
She didn’t even look up. “We can’t stay here anymore. We need to leave now before more hunters swarm us.”
Emma looked uncomfortable, clearly feeling like she was in the way. “Uh... I think I’ll get going—”
“No, Emma,” Mom cut in. “Stay. This place is dangerous for you, too. They know your face. You need to get out of here as well.”
Emma and I exchanged a look.
Together, we managed to calm her down, talk her out of fleeing right away.
“Fine,” Mom finally said. “But on one condition.”
My stomach dropped. “Okaaay… what’s the condition?”
“You have to come back to the pack.”
I blinked. “What? No way. Mmm-mmm. Not happening.”
Mom's tone sharpened. “Fine. Then we’re leaving town tonight.”
Emma quickly stepped in. “She’s just joking, Miss Williams! She’ll return to the pack. Right, Lara?”
She shot me a look. A silent just play along glare.
“At the end of the day,” Emma continued, “she needs to get stronger to protect herself. And me.”
I sighed. Defeated. “…Fine.”
Thanks to Emma, life slowly returned to normal. Or as normal as it gets for a werewolf girl with a soul-bonded mystery man, a best friend who took a harpoon for her, and a mother ready to flee the continent.
But Mom wasn’t wrong.
I was too weak. And there was so much I still didn’t understand, and there were too many unknowns. So… I made my decision. I returned to the pack. The full moon came, and so did the gathering.
They didn’t welcome me with open arms. No surprise, I was told I’d be put through a trial, the standard for rejoining, but first, I had to explain why I left in the first place. Only alphas were allowed in the trial, including, unfortunately, Harry.
I could feel the pressure of their presence, tense, heavy, but none of it compared to his presence… the man from that night.
My uncle, the grand alpha, began.
“Why did you leave the pack?” his voice boomed.
But before I could even speak, the other elder alphas jumped in like sharks.
Clara, the ever-predictable female alpha, sneered. “We all know why. It was because of a man.”
Drake scoffed. “Such a foolish child. Prove you’re strong enough to return.”
Then the old retired grand alpha, Torse, rasped in his ancient voice, “Why should we accept you? You already turned your back on us.”
Thank God I practiced this with Uncle Max, I didn’t say a word, I transformed into my true wolf form. Silence, total silence.
One of the younger alphas murmured, “She’s… a born alpha.”
Even though I wasn’t strong, I had their attention now. That was the first part of the trial, done.
They stepped aside to discuss. Just like Uncle Max said they would.
Then they gave the verdict.
“Since you are an alpha and wish to rejoin the pack,” Clara announced, “your second trial will be to form your own squad. A team of seven, including yourself.”
“And the third trial,” Drake added, “a mission… to hunt down a mutated unicorn. Deep in the Great Beyond.”
“You have two weeks,” said Torse. “Fail to form a squad… and you are forever banished.”
That last part wasn’t in my deal with Uncle Max.
I swallowed hard, but I nodded.
I had two weeks to form my team or I’d be permanently banished from the pack.
Yeah. That part? Definitely wasn’t in Uncle Max’s plan.
From the Great Beyond to banishment?
“Ha…haha… isn’t the Great Beyond a little too much for someone like me?” I laughed awkwardly. “Don’t you guys think so? Bit extreme?”
Uncle Max stepped in. “Elders, she’s right. What she did was wrong, sure, and she should be punished, but the Great Beyond and banishment? That’s excessive. She’s young. A newly awakened alpha. She just manifested her mystic art. Isn’t this a little... harsh?”
Torse coughed, “That’s why she has to go to the Great Beyond. If she dies out there, then that’s what she’s worth. And if she can’t even gather a group of seven, then she should find a hole and crawl in it. Let nature handle the rest.”
They turned, walking away.
“But she’s my—” Uncle Max started.
Clara spun around. “You think we don’t know she’s your niece? Give her a chance to prove herself like you did.”
That hit him right in the pride, and he went quiet. So... I accepted the mission. I had no choice. If I wanted to stay in the pack and grow stronger, I had to do this.
Step one: form a squad of seven. Easy, right? Wrong. The older members already belonged to squads. I tried bonding with the newer recruits, but it was like talking to brick walls. No one wanted to risk their necks in the Great Beyond with me
Days went by. Nothing. No one. So I tried looking outside the pack, maybe I’d find a wandering werewolf in the wild, but no luck there either. A full week passed, still, no members.
After class, I met up with Emma and told her everything.
She blinked. “A mutated unicorn? In the Great Beyond? Are they trying to kill you?”
“Maybe,” I sighed.
“Well,” she smirked, “I’ve been doing some thinking for you. Remember... you do have a guardian angel.”
“Huh?”
She leaned in, teasing. “You’re my wife and partner. Call me anytime. I’ll wait…” she mimicked his voice dramatically.
We both burst into laughter.
Later that night, alone with Emma, I stared at the moon and made up my mind.
“I’m gonna call him.”
She grinned. “Took you long enough.”
I closed my eyes and focused on the link, the bond from that night, and howled desperately. Imagine how I felt that day, and then, he appeared.
Like a ghost. Elegant, confident, and terrifyingly calm, but also stupidly handsome, dazzling, and breathtaking. I froze. Literally just stared at him as he walked toward me. Smooth and powerful.
Like he’d just stepped out of a dream and was about to wreck my whole reality.
- Writer
