Changing Lines

6. First Day

Monday morning, the four teenagers that were heading to school with him were ready in their wolf form, carrying their leather packs in their mouths. They were earlier than they needed to be, but he would first meet with Hunter Jenkins to hand over the contract and with Alpha Ripley. They had agreed to meet at the pack house.

After that they would go to the school to be signed in. They’d already sent in their written essays to prove that they were on the same level as other high school students. Turned out the school was excited to meet them, since they seemed to be over qualified in some classes.

They set off on an easy pace, making good time on the run; better than he had expected. Why did the Midnight pack drive around in cars when they could run the distance in such a short time? Maybe they had done it in consideration of the non-wolf and the Hunter?

They were early for the meeting at the Midnight pack house. Lachlan had some trouble focusing as he stepped inside the pack house, there was this delectable smell that drew at his senses, but it wasn’t fresh, so he forced himself to focus. He could sense the curious gazes on them from the Midnight pack wolves that were present in the pack house; he did not trust them enough to let down his guard, yet.

They delivered the agreed contracts and spoke about the last few things, before they shifted back into their wolf forms and headed to the woods just outside of the school. They shifted and put on their clothes, not even having broken a sweat from the run. They walked into the school and to the office to retrieve their maps and other needed paperwork.

He occasionally caught that scent again, but again, it wasn’t fresh and they needed to make a good first impression, so he forced himself to stay focused on that, despite the fact that the scent kept him on edge.

Fawn had told them about this tiny creature that had tried to welcome her into school despite the large wolves guarding her like she was some kind of treasure. She told him she felt drawn to her. She had even invited them to lunch. But they had had to catch their lunch in the woods.

It was after lunch that he had walked into the corridors and the scent that had lingered everywhere that morning smacked him in the face with its fresh intensity. The carrier of the scent was close by. He’d allowed his eyes to search through the crowd of teenagers in the corridor, looking for the person that he needed to find urgently.

Then suddenly he was smacked in the face with a rush of cold water, soaking him to the bone. He turned his gaze in the direction it had come from and there stood a wide-eyed little creature gawking at him in complete shock, as if he had doused her in water.

But the moment their eyes met, he knew she was the one that carried the scent that had been haunting him all day; he also knew in that moment that he had found his mate. His possessive growl had slipped out instantly, but that had caused Midnight pack wolves to bar his way to her.

Why would they keep him from his mate? He pushed through the crowd, trying to reach his mate. He saw one of the wolves tell her to go to class and she obediently turned on her heel, but then slipped and landed on her cute little butt. Another wolf came past her, glanced at her on the floor, shook his head in clear amusement while he, too, rushed forward to bar his way.

His attention remained on the little creature that was helped to her feet and unceremoniously dragged away from him while he finally reached the barrier of wolves. He knew attacking them would ruin the alliance, but why were they keeping him from his mate? He was sure one of the laws was that he would not be kept from his mate; and here they were doing just that?

He managed to shove through the barrier before he set out after her, he could hear his own pack following at a slower pace. Fawn, his beta was attempting to smooth things over, without knowing what was really going on.

Lachlan rushed into the impressive library in time to see the wolf with her throwing her onto one of the tall book shelves. Was he insane? She could fall and hurt herself! She’d fallen on flat floors! He was hyper focused on her and rushed forward to stop her from getting hurt as she tried to crawl along the top of the shelves. But he froze when he suddenly hit an invisible barrier and it caused the shelf his mate was on to shudder and her to freeze.

He froze too, until she started gingerly crawling along the top of the shelf again; then he started pacing, his gaze focused on her, all but ignoring the wolf that seemed to have some kind of magic in him and was chanting away.

He saw her reach the end of the shelf and feared that she was about to fall, unthinking he stormed forward, only to hit the invisible barrier again. He watched in horror as she fell head first from the edge, but amazingly she slipped through the window, her tiny body going through the gap without a problem. Then he saw the wolf that had been amused at her catch her and carry her away like a pup under his arm.

He roared in anger; they were keeping his mate from him! He paced back and forth, glaring at the wolf that had stopped chanting, though the barrier still shimmered in front of him. “Do the laws not apply to us?” He growled angrily. “Are we not included in the laws the Hunters agreed with? If this is how alliances work then I would have no part of it.”

The guy seemed completely shocked at his exclamation, but said nothing, as if he was not sure how to answer. With that he spun round on his heel and stalked out of the library. His pack waited for him outside the door and they left the school.

He sent Fawn to deliver the message that if they were not given what was agreed upon, they would not be part of such an alliance and to call back their two warriors. He was livid; he would have his mate; she was his. They could not take her from him!

They had all signed the contract that gave them the right to find their mate. Why did they keep his from him? He was snapping his jaws in anger and anguish when they’d shifted and started the run back to their pack. The short run had not cooled his anger, so he continued on, running the borders of their pack, hoping to find a wendigo that was trying to encroach on their territory.

He was not so lucky and by the second time he had done a circuit of their territory, he finally stopped at the lake they were known for. It was now more like a marsh not far from the pack house; half dried up and overgrown. They had not used this water since the battle that they got their name from. The water had been declared impure with the wendigo that had perished there, turning the water to blood two generations ago.

He wanted to restore the health of this body of water, but they didn’t know how. He had read up on everything in their library, but found no answers. This lake was one of the reasons that he wanted new information to be available in their library. He’d seen the computers and cell phones the other students had and showed him, but he had no idea how those worked and they had no power to charge the items. They still lived without electricity and getting their water from a well.

He wanted their lives to be a little easier. But he guessed he had over reached in the hope that it would save his pack. Lachlan sighed and rested his brindle colored head on his paws. The warriors rarely shifted back from their wolves, even the hunters preferred their wolf forms. Perhaps that was the reason they were called savages. Other packs assumed because they spent the majority of their time in their animal form that they were just animals.

He sensed Fawn’s approach but did not raise his head from his paws; he was miserable. They kept his mate from him. Was he not allowed his Goddess chosen mate? Why did they agree to the terms if they had had no intention of keeping the terms they had undersigned?

‘The message was delivered to the young alpha; Alpha Ripley was unavailable. Young Alpha Aaron seemed confused and angry, especially when Reuben and William returned with me. Their warriors have been told to return to their pack. Want to tell me what this is about?’ She asked in mindlink while her wolf lay down next to his.

‘They kept her from me.’ He answered shortly.

‘Who did they keep from you?’ Her brown wolf blinked at him in confusion.

‘That tiny creature they dragged away; she’s my mate. They took her away from me. They broke the agreement that we are allowed to find our mates.’

There was a moment of silence. ‘So, I have a confession…’

He looked at her with interest. ‘I think my mate is also in that pack…’

He sighed heavily. This was a complete s**t show. He had tried to give his pack a chance at life, but the Midnight pack seemed intent on not keeping their side of the agreement. What were they going to do?

Finally, he gave a heavy sigh. He would have to go and discuss the day’s events with his father. He needed to know what had happened. He wasn’t looking forward to it, since his father did not take failure well and he had failed spectacularly.

‘I should inform my father of the changes.’ He admitted and came to his feet; he guessed he would find his father in the cave he chose to be ever since his mate’s death. Being in the pack house seemed to be torturing him, because Lachlan’s mother had decorated it with so much attention. And when he had moved out of the pack house the other wolves had naturally followed, leaving it unused for years.

No one seemed to want to live there anymore; it was a reminder of a time they had lost when his mother had died. She had brought life into the pack house and made it a home; when she had died during childbirth when his father had been wounded in a battle with the wendigo; it all went downhill from there.

Fawn came to her four paws and shook herself out, clearly intending to walk with him. He guessed she wanted to offer moral support. They walked in silence, intent on taking the shortest route through the overgrown front garden of the pack house.

But they both stopped short when they saw the future beta from Midnight standing there, waiting for them. ‘Did you inform our patrols about the breech of alliance?’ He asked her with confusion, but her silence made him glance over to Fawn.

She was staring at Camden with a pained expression. ‘What is the matter?’

‘Mate…’ She breathed through the mindlink.

Glancing between the two, he noticed that Camden seemed focused on her, but with an uncertain expression on his features. Did Fawn just say that he was her mate? What was he supposed to do, now? Did Camden hesitate to claim her because of his message that they were no longer allies?

Finally, he shifted to his human form, realizing that he would get no answers without asking the questions out loud to the beta of Midnight. He had just shifted into his human form, when the guy waved his hand as if shooing a fly and he glanced down to see that he was wearing shorts made of leaves. What the actual…?

Fawn had also shifted at his side and she gasped in surprise when she found herself dressed in an autumn colored leaf sundress. What exactly was this guy? Was he also a wood sprite, like his mother? He hadn’t thought about it before, but his scent proved he was not a wolf, and since his mother was a wood sprite, he could only honestly be a wood sprite, too.

“What are you doing here? Did I not make it clear that the breach of contract on your part severed the alliance? Your warriors have been informed to return to your lands.”

“I came to negotiate peace talks.” Camden answered, but his eyes remained focused on Fawn. “And to claim my mate.”