Pack To The Future
1272 Words
The sun barely cracked over the jagged horizon, but the meeting grounds were already pulsing with restless energy. Dust swirled around our boots as we settled into our usual spots—me, Tally, Benji, and Boris—on the sun-warmed stone benches that circled the main clearing. The air smelled like sage and sweat and secrets.
“Why do I feel like I’m about to be drafted into something stupid?” Benji muttered beside me, picking at the stitching on his sleeve.
Tally snorted. “Because you probably are.”
Boris didn’t say a word, just sat stiffly on the edge of the bench like a soldier waiting for orders. His thigh brushed mine once. Then again. I didn’t move.
Alpha Cassian climbed the raised platform at the front, his voice cutting through the morning haze with that magnetic authority that made people sit straighter even if they didn’t want to. “As many of you know, a new alliance has been forged with the Blood Vale Pack.”
Low murmurs buzzed immediately—skepticism, curiosity, maybe even a little excitement. The Broken Rock Pack was wild territory—rugged wolves from the borderlands known more for their brute strength than their charm.
Cassian raised a hand. Silence fell like a curtain. “To honor this alliance, and to help integrate our people, we’re hosting a month-long tournament. Four challenges. One every week. Strength. Skill. Instinct. Strategy.”
Beside me, Tally sucked in a breath. “Oh, hell yes.”
Benji groaned. “Can I just break my leg now and skip the whole thing?”
Cassian continued. “Each winner will receive a prize purse. Their families will be granted higher status. And those who rise to the top will be eligible for mentorship positions, possibly even leadership tracks.”
Now the whispers grew louder. Cassian didn’t stop them this time.
“Is this like… fight to the death or fight to first blood?” Tally whispered dramatically.
“No one’s dying,” Boris said under his breath. “But don’t expect it to be easy.”
“And to make things interesting,” Cassian went on, “today, we welcome members of the Blood Vale Pack into our homes. Their students and families will be living among us for the next several weeks. Head of households, your assignments have been posted on the northern board. Please greet your guests with respect and hospitality.”
As if on cue, a line of shadowed figures appeared at the edge of the clearing, their silhouettes dark against the rising sun. They moved in slow, deliberate formation—men, women, teens, even younger kids.
The whispers turned into full-on murmurs now.
Tally leaned in, eyes sparkling. “Well, this just got interesting.”
My gaze scanned the approaching crowd, unease coiling in my stomach like a tightening knot. Something about this felt bigger than just a tournament or shared housing. Like the beginning of a test none of us had studied for.
And then, through the blur of new faces, one figure moved with a little more arrogance than the rest—taller, broader, his dark hair catching the sun just right. Koda.
And he was looking straight at me.
⸻
I didn’t wait for the crowd to finish gawking. The second Cassian dismissed us, I was gone—boots crunching over the dry dirt path, jaw tight, pulse still echoing from the moment Koda’s eyes met mine. I didn’t return the look. Didn’t slow down.
Let him stare.
By the time I reached our house, my muscles were buzzing from the heat and my own stubbornness. The house stood warm and familiar in the midday light, all sandstone curves and thick adobe walls. My parents were already on the porch, faces calm but alert in that way that meant they were trying not to let on how stressed they were.
“We’ve been assigned a family,” Mom said before I could ask. “The Greys. From Blood Vale.”
“Great,” I muttered, brushing past them. “Do I need to do the whole welcome speech or are they just moving in?”
Dad smiled faintly. “You’ll want to be polite. They’re in your year. Maddy Grey will be staying in your room.”
My feet stopped cold at the base of the stairs. “My room?”
“Temporary,” Mom said quickly. “We’ll add another bed.”
“Perfect,” I said, voice flat.
By the time the Greys arrived, I was already pushing furniture around with my sleeves rolled up and a half-hearted attitude. The parents looked tired—worn thin at the edges like leather stretched too far. Maddy walked in with her chin high, sleek black braid over one shoulder and a resting face that looked like she’d tasted something sour. Her sharp blue eyes met mine, unflinching.
“So,” I said, nodding toward the bed frame. “You want left side or right side?”
“Left,” she said. “Unless you snore. Then we’ll have to renegotiate.”
I blinked. Then grinned. “Noted.”
We worked in silence for a while, maneuvering her trunk into the corner and stacking her folded clothes on the shelves I cleared for her. The tension between us was sharp, but not mean. Just… territorial. Like two cats circling the same sunbeam.
Eventually, I asked, “So, why is your pack suddenly into alliances?”
She paused mid-fold. “You really don’t know?”
“I don’t really do politics.”
She snorted. “That makes two of us. But it’s because of the rogues. We’ve had too many breaches, too many disappearances. People injured, gone. Dead. And we’re not big enough to recover fast. We’re dying off.”
Something about the way she said it—quiet, plain—made my chest tighten.
“We need backup,” she added. “Even if it means sleeping in someone else’s house.”
I sat on my bed, twisting the ring on my finger. “So… you know who I am, then?”
“Millie Wild. The wolf-less girl.” She said it without cruelty. Just fact.
I sighed. “You sure you want to be seen talking to me? That label doesn’t exactly get you invites to the inner circle.”
Maddy shrugged. “I’ve never cared for the circle.”
I liked her even more.
Still, I tried to keep it casual as I leaned back and asked, “So what’s the deal with Koda?”
She looked over with one eyebrow arched. “Why?”
“No reason,” I lied.
“He’s the Alpha’s son. Next in line. That’s why he volunteered to come here first. To make an impression.”
“Ah,” I said, drawing out the syllable. “That explains the whole ‘I own the ground you walk on’ attitude.”
Maddy smirked. “You haven’t even seen the worst part.”
“There’s a worse part?”
“Her name’s Ari,” she said, with all the enthusiasm of someone discussing mold. “Long-time girlfriend. She’s got her claws in him and her eyes on his title. She’s got bite, Millie. If you get near him, she’ll come for you.”
I swallowed that little jolt of surprise. “Good to know.”
But later, as I watched the sun burn its path toward the horizon, I couldn’t stop replaying the look in Koda’s eyes when he saw me. And I wasn’t sure Ari—or anyone else—had ever made him look like that.
- Writer
