Abducted

~Chapter 9 ~

“What is going on in here!” My mom yelled. I was startled awake. I rubbed my neck in confusion. Where was I? Why was I so sore? So many questions ran through my head. The others mumbled and grumbled as they woke up to.

“Well! Who is going to explain?” My mom continued to yell. I opened my eyes and looked around my room. Xander was still passed out in my bed. Wait, why was Xander in my bed? I was on the floor leaning against my loveseat with Madison and Ben. No wonder I was so sore. I slept on the floor all night.

“I’m still waiting for an answer! Someone had better explain!” My mom yelled.

“What is all the yelling about?” I heard my dad out in the hall. He looked past my mom and saw Xander in my bed. “Why is there a boy in your bed young lady!!” My dad demanded. Xander finally started to wake up.

“Mom, dad, it’s not what you think.” Ben answered. “We were just hanging out and must have fallen asleep.”

“Benjamin and Alyssa, you both know very well that co-ed sleepovers are not permitted in this house!” My mom yelled. “Both of you get up and go home!” She commanded. When none of us moved she added, “Now!”

Xander and Madison both got up quickly. Madison grabbed her bag from beside the couch and they both crept out of my room. I heard the front door open and close a couple minutes later.

“What were you thinking?” My dad yelled, as he tried to keep his wolf under control. “Maggie could have come in and seen you.”

“Dad, we were only sleeping. Like Ben said. We were hanging out last night watching movies. We must have fallen asleep. Nothing other than that happened.” I answered.

“You’re both grounded. No friends over for three weeks. Straight home after school and work. You’re not permitted out of the house. Even to go to the packhouse.”

“That’s not fair dad! We weren’t doing anything!” I argued.

“Do you want to make it four weeks?” He threatened. I backed down. I knew better than to argue with my dad.

“And You!” My dad said and pointed at Ben. “You are going to be downstairs at the kitchen table in five minutes. Your mother has been worried sick with your behaviour. I’m done making excuses for you at work. You are going to explain yourself!” He commanded. Ben hung his head. My dad put his arm around my mom’s shoulders and took her out of the room.

“Well, I guess I have to face them now. What am I going to tell them?” Ben asked me.

“Why tell them anything? Let them think you shifted last weekend.” I answered.

“Then how do I explain locking myself in my room for a week?” Ben asked.

“No idea. I get why you did it, but don’t know how you will explain it. They won’t understand it anyway. You could always tell them you found your mate and got rejected. That will shut down their questions at least.” I suggested.

“I can’t tell them that. Of all things, I can’t say that.”

“You could always be honest with them and tell them you didn’t shift. Then you could demand answers. But I don’t think they’ll necessarily give them to you willingly.” I told him.

“I guess I’ll just go down and see what happens.” Ben said in a resigned tone as he got up and left the room. I went to shower while Ben talked with our parents. When I got back to my room, Maggie was on my bed.

“Hey kiddo, what are you doing in here?” I asked her. She ran up and gave me a hug.

“Mom and dad are yelling at Ben downstairs. I don’t want to be down there. I could still hear them yelling from my room too.” She told me.

“Ok, well you can hang out in here with me for a bit then. How does that sound?”

“Can you braid my hair?” She asked me.

“Sure, I can do that!” Maggie clapped her hands and went to my makeup table and got my brush and some elastics.

“Can you do two braids?” She asked. I nodded and got started brushing her hair out. As I finished braiding her hair, I could hear doors slamming downstairs. Then loud footsteps came up the stairs.

“You can’t take my door!” Ben yelled.

“You should have thought about that before you locked yourself in your room and wouldn’t come out. Now you refuse to explain why? Well, you have lost the privilege of having a door until further notice!” My dad yelled back and removed Ben’s door. Ben hung his head and went into his room.

“Come on Maggie, let’s go downstairs and get some breakfast.” I suggested. I held out my hand for her and she took it. We went downstairs together.

My mom was in the kitchen sitting at the table with her head in her hands.

“Are you crying mama?” Maggie asked.

“No, sweet girl. I’m ok. Your hair looks pretty today.” My mom replied.

“Alyssa did it for me. She’s the bestest big sister in the world.” I smiled at her reply. She was happy pretty much all the time. I grabbed an apple, a bottle of water and a granola bar and went back up to my room. Maggie was talking my mom’s ear off about something that had happened yesterday at school. I knew Maggie would keep her busy.

I spent the next couple hours tidying up my room. Ben had left it a disaster with his research. There were dirty dishes, papers, and books everywhere. I organized his stuff as best as I could and put it in a box. I took the dirty dishes down to the kitchen and put them in the dishwasher. Then we back upstairs, showered and did my homework.

* * * * *

Later that afternoon my homework was done, and I was getting bored sitting in my room. I decided that grounded or not, I was going up to the packhouse. I opened my window and was about to climb out when I saw my parents in the backyard playing with Maggie. Perfect. I could leave through the front door instead. I left my window unlocked for when I came home later.

“Ah, Alyssa, there you are. We were just asking Stefanie if you would be coming by today.” Luna Cassia said when I walked into the common room at the packhouse. She came up and gave me a hug.

“Here I am.” I said. “Where is everyone?” I asked.

“They’re all out back by the fire pit. I think they’re planning a bonfire again tonight.” Luna Cassia told me.

“Ok, I’ll go join them.” I said and waved goodbye as I walked out the back door. As I approached the fire pit, I could see Alex, Brett, Charles, Alexis, Amanda and Stefanie were there and so were The Six. Ben, Xander and Madison were missing from my group of friends.

“Ah, see there she is!” Henry announced. “I knew Alyssa would show up here eventually. She can’t resist being in the center of things.” I ignored Henry same as I normally did and went and sat beside Alexis.

“What did I walk into?” I whispered to her. She leaned in and whispered back,

“The Six think we are keeping secrets from them. They are trying to figure them all out.”

“Oh, is that all?” I snorted and said sarcastically.

“What’s so funny Alyssa, finally figure out that you’re a terrible person?” Kelsey snapped at me. I did not respond to her. “Where’s your no-good brother at? He too ashamed to show his face?” She kept pushing my buttons and waited for me to snap.

“Come on babe, don’t be like that.” Kelsey’s mate Michael said. “It’s not like he would tell her if he was hiding something that important.”

“What are you asshats talking about?” Alex asked The Six. “You’ve been out here for hours asking us ridiculous questions. You’ve had your fun, leave us alone!”

“Awe, are you going to cry now?” Henry taunted. The Six laughed.

“Can we please do something else now?” Serena whined. “I’m tired of wasting my weekend on these losers.” She stood up and started to walk away. Her mate Stefan got up and started to follow her.

“Babe, come on. Come back. Don’t just leave.” He said as he chased her away from the fire pit. The rest of The Six followed them and left.

“Finally! I didn’t think they would ever leave.” Alexis said.

“I know right? What is their problem? What was with all the questions?” Charles asked to no one in particular.

“Let’s get the fire stacked and ready to light. It will start getting dark soon.” Brett said to the guys. Amanda and Stefanie came and sat with Alexis and me.

“I do have a secret.” Alexis said. “One I’ve been keeping for months. One I’ve been told I’m not allowed to tell anyone, but I have to tell you guys. It’s killing me to keep it a secret.”

“Well, spill it!” Stefanie said.

“You have to promise you won’t tell anyone! Your dad ordered my silence about this, but I don’t feel compelled to follow the order.” She started. “I guess I have more than one secret then.” Alexis stopped talking and looked at all of us.

“I promise!” Stefanie, Amanda, and I all said in unison. Alexis leaned in toward us, took a deep breath and quietly said,

“I shifted back in February.” I froze. That was impossible. Alexis was only sixteen. The only way for her to shift early would be if her mate had already shifted and was nearby. We had learned that as children. Unless she was not actually sixteen but eighteen instead. “Did you hear me?” She asked when none of us replied.

“Yes. We heard. There are so many questions!” I looked at her and said, completely at a loss.

“For me too. But not many answers. All I know is it happened. I woke up scared, naked, and alone in the forest. Then I was kept in the isolation wing of the hospital for a few days while they ran tests. Then I was forbidden to say anything to anyone by the Alpha. But I don’t feel compelled to follow the order as I already mentioned. It has been terrible keeping the secret from everyone. I feel like I’m on an island all alone.” Alexis said with tears in her eyes.

“Well, it does explain why you’ve been keeping to yourself for the last few months. And why you were missing from school that week.” Amanda said.

“Is that the whole secret?” Stefanie asked.

“No, there’s more.” Alexis continued. “I can feel that my mate is close by.”

“How do you know?” Amanda asked. “What else can you feel?”

“Well, like I said. I feel like my mate is close by. But they don’t know about me yet, or at least I don’t think they do. There is only one other person who has shifted recently.” Alexis paused and looked at me. “I’m fairly certain my mate is not Ben, although I do feel a pull toward him for some reason. I’m just so confused by all of this. If my mate hasn’t turned yet, how could I have? It just doesn’t make sense.” She sobbed as she finished talking.

“You’re right. It doesn’t. We will have to do some digging to find out as much as we can without alerting anyone that we are digging.” I told her.

“Are you sure your mate is not Ben?” Stefanie asked. “Have you even seen him since last weekend?”

“It’s not Ben. I’m sure it’s not him.” Alexis confirmed. “I’m so glad I told all of you so that I’m not dealing with this all alone now. But you can’t tell anyone else.” She pleaded. “I don’t know who we can trust yet.”

“Don’t worry, we already promised we wouldn’t say anything. Are you going to tell the guys?” Stefanie asked. “And what about Madison?”

“I’ll probably tell Madison. Not sure about the guys yet. It’s so weird having my wolf when no one else does.” Alexis said.

“So, tell us more about your wolf.” Amanda requested.

“What do you want to know?” Alexis asked.

“Everything!” Amanda squealed. “What’s her name? What does she look like? How big is she? How fast can she run? What’s it like having another person in your head? Does she take control of you? Can we meet her?” Questions spilled out of her mouth so fast it was hard to keep up.

“Whoa, slow down with the questions Amanda, let her answer some before you keep going.” I said as I laughed.

“Well, to start off, her name is Onyx. She has dark grey fur with a white patch that goes from her stomach all the way up under her chin.” She drew a line with her hand to show us how far the white patch went.

“Her eyes are purple. I’m not sure how she compares size wise with other wolves since I’ve never seen another one while in wolf form. I think she is small for a wolf though just as a guess. She loves to run. She is super fast. I’m still not used to having another voice in my head. But it is kind of nice at the same time. She asks a lot of questions that don’t make sense to me. She hasn’t just taken control of me yet. But she knows it’s important for her to stay hidden, at least for now. Did I get them all?” Alexis finally stopped answering questions.

“Almost! Can we meet her?” Amanda asked excitedly.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea. What if other people notice?” Alexis asked in return.

“I don’t think there is much chance of that happening. It’s really only us and the guys here right now and they’re busy at the fire.” I said.

“Ok, hold on. I’ll see if she will let you meet her.” Alexis got really quiet and still for about a minute and then closed her eyes. When they opened again, they were a brilliant shade of purple.

“Hello.” Onyx said to us. “I am Onyx. What are your names?” She asked.

“I am Stefanie.” Stef said and waved.

“I’m Amanda.” Amanda said with a smile and held out her hand for Onyx to shake. Onyx shook her hand with confidence.

“I’m Alyssa.” I said and nodded my head at her in greeting.

“Hello, it is nice to finally meet you.” She paused, “Luna.” Onyx said as she looked directly at me. I was stunned and my jaw dropped. What did she just say?!?!