Hunted

Chapter 11: Making Friends

My dad came home from the pack office and found me sitting on the floor where I had been for…awhile. I had lost track of the time after I found the flower. The panic was slowly starting to settle but it wouldn’t settle completely.

“Emmry?!” My dad called out, he must have seen the plate that I had left from lunch and hadn’t touched. I had forgotten I had even made anything.

“I…I’m in here.” I didn’t realize how numb my feet had become from sitting awkwardly on the floor until I went to stand up.  I stumbled right into my dad as I tried to get myself together. “Sorry…” I mumbled straightening myself up.

“What’s wrong?” My dad looked at me and helped me gain my balance before pulling away.

“Nothing I just was sitting on the floor weird and my legs and feet went asleep that’s all…” I tried to give a reassuring smile that I’m sure looked fake. I walked over to my plate and picked it up and took it to the kitchen.

“You really expect me to believe that?”

There was a very high chance that the flower wasn’t the same thing I had received at the houses with my mom…it could be just a coincidence.

“I’m telling you the truth Dad. Okay? Uncle Luke came over. I’m taking the job.” I would do anything to change the subject. I needed more time to figure out if I was losing my mind or not.

“I heard, he came and told me. I’m glad you’re going to get out and start meeting the pack.” I could tell by his tone he wasn’t happy to change the subject but he wasn’t going to push me on it.

“I’m going to go hang out with Hope and have dinner with her and probably her friends.” I finished washing my plate and turned to look at him. He looked worried, and that made me feel terrible. It would make me feel worse if I got him all worked up over something that was absolutely nothing.

“Okay, don’t be late alright? I hear you have a early first day.” With a short nod my dad turned and went up the stairs to his home office. I couldn’t help but feel terrible.

Once I was finished I went to the back door, slipped my shoes on and was on my way. I was supposed to meet Hope and her friends at the diner right in the middle of “pack central” I think they have an actual name for it but to me it felt like a military base without the barbed wire and guns.

It was a 10 to 15 minute walk to get to the center.  It almost felt like another world when she went from the pack house to the town. The pack house felt like she was in a novel from the 1800's while the town felt like normal life. She noticed Hope standing with her mate Aaron and their friends Jackson and Delilah. Hope saw me first and was practically jumping up and down on the sidewalk.

“I was so worried you wouldn’t make it.” Hope really wanted to give me a hug she was gripping her forearm tightly. I gave her a smile and wave.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to cause you to worry. I’m guessing my dad talked to you.” I sighed and shook my head. If there was one downside to not being apart of the pack is not having the mind link. They all could talk to each other and pass messages back and forth. I was stuck just trying to guess what everyone was thinking. The only good thing about it was they couldn’t talk to me or hear what I was thinking.

“Yeah he’s kinda worried about you.” Hope gave her a look before sighing. “But we’re not going to sit her and just fret. We are here to have a good time plus you’ve never lived until you had a milkshake from here.” Just like that we were able to move on from my dad and quickly into the restaurant.

We didn’t even make it two feet before Hope was stopped and asked how her parents were and how her uncle was doing. That is until they noticed me and started trying to talk to me. Delilah quickly grabbed my hand and pulled me over to a booth in the corner. “Sorry guys were really hungry.”

I admired how easily they could talk to anyone. Jackson came shortly behind us and made sure no one came up. Once Hope and Aaron sat down a waitress came over and took our order.

“You’re going to love the food Emmry. It’s the best.” Delilah smiled.

“Is it really the best or are you biased because your dad’s the cook.” Jackson teased her poking her cheek. Delilah rolled her eyes at him and then stuck her tongue out.

“Does it actually matter as long as its true?!”

“I can’t argue with that logic.” Aaron chimed in laughing along with everyone.

I always fantasized what it would be like to have a group of friends to do this exact thing with. We could hang out..go see a movie…go swing on the swings even though we were way too old. Every time I tried it always ended up the same way. I never could get out the words and then someone would try to touch me in the most normal way possible and I would freak out. Or they somehow would get a peek at my stomach and completely freak out.

This time I really wanted it to work out. I assumed that Hope’s parents told her about my scars but she never once asked me about them. Maybe they didn’t tell her…maybe they kept it to themselves.

“I’m sure it will be fantastic.” I gave Delilah a small smile before looking out the window behind Aaron’s shoulder. I’d grew up living in the outskirts and edges of packs and rarely did my mom bring me with her to the pack’s towns. She always had me stay home or on the rare occasion I did get to go with her I’d always be stuck in the car. It was very fascinating to watch all the shifters going about their normal days without a care in the world.

I don’t know how long I was staring out the window but the next thing I know food was being put down on the table and everyone was digging in. They talked about how they had to start thinking about what job path they wanted to take in the pack.

“You’re lucky Hope you already know you’re going to be apart of pack management.” Delilah huffed and picked at her fries. “I have no idea what I want to do.”

“Well you could always be on the security team.” Jackson gave her a slight push and wink. “You’d get to spend your days with me.” I had forgotten that Jackson was apart of my Aunt’s security team. Their job was to patrol the borders and keep the pack safe from outsiders and rogues.

“I don’t think I’m exactly security material.” She laughed and wiggled her finger at him.

“What about you Aaron?” I asked quietly. I really didn’t know much about my cousin’s mate. He didn’t really talk much when I saw him.

“I’m with the pack financial department. My dad has been the pack accountant since..well since my grandpa stepped down.” Aaron shrugged and took a bite of his burger. He didn’t seem overly pleased with this option.

“Do you not want to?” Delilah asked him raising her eyebrows.

“It’s not that I don’t want to…it’s more..I don’t know. Can we just drop it?” Aaron gave us a look and so we didn’t bring it up again.

After we were done eating Hope and I said goodbye to the group and we went to the park. Everyone else wanted to head home for one reason or another but I wasn’t ready. I loved being outside, especially when it wasn’t too hot outside. I felt at home when I could feel the wind against my face and smell nature all around me.

“Are you excited to start working tomorrow?” Hope asked me. She was swinging next to me.

“I think so. My Uncle Luke is more excited though…and my dad.” I said. I was trying to stay positive about the situation.

“I’m kinda happy. I was starting to worry that you were just going to never meet anyone in the pack. It is a pretty big pack you know.” Hope laughed.

“So I’ve heard.” I sent her a look and then sighed. It was just about getting dark.

“We’ve been here for awhile.” I noted looking around. Everyone was getting into cars or walking away from the park. There had been a decent amount of shifters around and for some reason no one had bothered us this time. I had become suspicious that Hope had told them to stay back. She was really trying to look out for me and I appreciated that.

“Yeah your dad would like for you to come home.” Hope sighed and stood up.

“You know that is one of the reasons I’m very happy I can’t shift. This way I can ignore things I don’t like.” I laughed and got up as well.

“Yes but once they figure out why and help you shift you’ll be stuck just like the rest of us.” Hope teased and started heading towards the pack house.

“If I can shift you mean.” I said following behind her. It wasn’t a long walk back to the pack house. Hope came inside and said hi to my dad before heading home. Apparently before I had moved in Hope and her parents lived here with my Dad. I guess they had wanted to keep him company.

Now that I had come back they moved into a different house not too far away. It made me wonder why..it’s not like this house wasn’t big enough for everyone. I’d have to ask someone tomorrow.

I climbed into my bed and sighed. Tomorrow was going to be a trying day for me but I was going to do my best. I really didn’t want to let my Dad or Uncle Luke down. They really wanted me to grow and get better…and that’s what I wanted to…right?