Discovering Me

Freedom

After the trial, I was escorted back into the waiting room where my cuffs were removed and I was released back to the custody of my parents. Freedom never felt so good. Alpha Donnie and Beta Charles had some additional instructions. They wanted to go over them with me before I could leave.

“Lexi. You got very lucky this time. There have been a few trials we have seen that didn’t have such an outcome. We don’t want to have to do this again. I compelled you and can sense you were being honest with me so that's why I could advocate for you without hesitation, but this is a situation that can not happen ever again. The young alpha was unwavering with his statement and it really caused some doubt. I think it will be best for you to refrain from traveling to different packs for the rest of your time here. Understood?“ Alpha Donnie instructed.

“Yes, Alpha.” I agreed.

“I think we will keep here within the pack Alpha, only traveling out to go to school” My mother stated. My heart hurting because I can feel her disappointment in me.

“Yes and on top of that. NO Boys!” my dad added. He doesn't have to worry about that one.

“ I think that would be great,” Alpha Donnie agreed.

“Okay.” I said, not having the energy to consider disagreeing.

****

The car ride home was quiet. I don’t think either of my parents knew what to say and I was thankful for that. I just sat with my head against the window watching the cars and trees we passed by, not wanting to talk about anything.

When we pulled into the driveway, I silently walked into the house, took a very long shower, put on my favorite pajamas and went to bed. I tried reaching out to Sierra again but still got no response. That was enough to bring the tears back. I cried and cried hoping that sedatives didn’t cause me to lose her.

My mom came in at luch time rubbing my head, trying to get me to eat, but I had no appetite. I didn't want to move. Tia and Janet stopped by too, trying to get me to engage with them, but I still didn’t have the energy to say anything. They eventually left, trying to encourage me, saying they know I’ll get through this. I missed my sassy furry best friend and I can’t feel her. I kept trying to reach out to her until, eventually, sleep consumed me.

****

That evening, I woke up smelling the food my mom left on my bedside table. I didn’t have the energy still, but now I know I need to eat to get my strength back.

“Girl, I know you were not contemplating missing out on mom’s meatloaf”, Sierra says in a weak voice.

“Is that my sassy best friend?” I excitedly asked.

“Well, I hope no one else is in here talking to you. Go see if mom made her creamy mashed potatoes.” She asked.

That was the motivation I needed. It feels so good to hear her voice again. I went over to the plate my mom left and saw she had made her delicious meatloaf, creamy mashed potatoes and green beans. I don’t know if it’s Sierra finally waking up or the hunger finally consuming me, but I quickly ate that plate of food and had to leave my room for a second helping.

“It’s good to see you’re finally up, sis. I was starting to worry about you.” My younger brother said as I walked into the kitchen. He wrapped his arms around me and gave me a hug.

“Hey, EJ.” I said, squeezing him tight. I didn't think I'd see this greedy boy again. Speaking of... “Please tell me you didn’t eat all the food.”

He laughed before shaking his head and pointing at the food on the stove. “No mom made an extra large amount of food saying you didn’t eat all day.”

“I ate a protein bar this morning one of the guards brought me.” I told him as I went to make another plate of food.

“That’s a snack. It’s not food. But seriously, what was it like being put in the dungeon? Was it scary? Did they hurt you?” he asked, being his curious self.

“It was... terrifying.” I answered, stopping what I was doing, thinking back about everything that happened.

“Did they beat you and strap you down with silver? Is that where all the marks on you came from?” he asks, which causes me to look down and notice my pajama shorts do show all the bruising on my ankles and legs and my tank top shows the bruises on my arms, chest and neck.

“That’s enough of the questions, son. Your sister has been through a lot, as you can see. She finally got her appetite back, so let her eat. Grab her plate before it falls.” my dad directed. He walked into the kitchen pulling me into his arms, cups my face, and kissed my forehead. I can see his eyes were watering up as he started to rock me in his arms and hum a healing song like he use to when I was little and got hurt.

“Sorry dad. I was just wondering what she went through to have all those bruises still. Our wolves usually help us heal fast. If this is the remnant, it must have been really bad.” EJ says as he sets my plate down on the table so he can join our hug.

“Just let it go EJ,” dad says more sternly, wrapping him in his arms around him as well.

“I just got Sierra back.” I said in a low voice as a single tear fell. “They suppressed my wolf and you know how easily I bruise being so fair skinned. It was so horrible. I never felt so violated. I hope the marks will be gone by morning.” I said, twirling EJ’s curly hair in my fingers. Dad finishes the healing song and squeezes us tight one last time before walking to the fridge to grab a beer and walking out of the kitchen.

“I’m sorry but this all sucks sis." He says, now singularly wrapping his arm around me. "The only good thing from all of this is the cake Janet made for you.”

“I'm okay now. Everything will be okay,” I affirmed to both him and myself while laying my head on his shoulder. Then it hit me “Wait, did you leave me any of MY cake?” I said, poking his belly. Anyone that knows this boy knows he likes to eat.

“What kind of brother do you take me for?” he asks as he’s trying to dodge my poke attacks.

“A greedy one,” I said, laughing. It really feels good to finally be able to laugh again.

Who would have thought one weekend would change my whole life?

The next morning, I'm startled again to hear a voice that doesn't belong to this house. I immediately flashed back to my cell and was about to cry out until I recognized the voice.

I am definitely not a morning person and absolutely dreaded the wakeup mindlink from Alpha Donnie reminding me I needed to report to warrior training in the morning before school. I will have a new routine from now until it’s time for me to leave for the academy. Arriving no later than five o’clock in the morning? That's even too early for the birds. It should be too early for the wolves too, right?

Tia was excited to see me at the training grounds and insisted that I keep up with her long legs on running the initial 3 miles. Sierra loves running, but not me. Normally, if you see me running, you need to run too because something is chasing me. Even so, I push through, remembering the faster I keep going the faster I'll be done.

“You did good keeping up with me. You're not used to working out and, as a hybrid, I didn’t think you’d be able to keep up.” Tia says with a smile, not even looking like she was breaking a sweat. I did have trouble but won't tell her. It had nothing to do with me being a hybrid. I'm just way out of shape. Plus, she's so much taller than I am. She probably didn't have to use as much energy. One of her steps is like two of mine.

“Did I have much of a choice? Seriously. Everytime I fell back you went behind me to push me to keep going.” I say, panting for breath.

“That’s what friends are for,” she says, winking.

"I think I need new friends." I said under my breath, downing my water, and causing her to start laughing.

“Alright. The break is over! Let’s break up into skill level groups and start a rotation.” Gamma Wilson walks to the front and instructs us. I have no idea what my skill level is. I’ve only done self-defense classes before, so I walked over to the beginners' group where I saw a friendly face. Mr. Francis, Tia’s dad, is in charge of this group. He is so sweet and nice to us, but I've been told he is a ruthless beast in battle. Growing up, he said it's his job to protect us pups and those that can't fight for themselves, so he takes his job seriously. I hope he's the nice, sweet uncle as a trainer.

“Okay, let's start with some basics. Since it’s an even number, I want you to pair up. One of you holds the pads, the other practices the kick punch combo I’m going to show.” He instructs.

This seems easy enough. It looks like a dance. I can do that. I’ve taken different forms of dancing lessons since I was 4 can't be to hard to convert the steps right. Swing, kick, hop right, hop left, hop right. Block high, block low, hop left, hop right, hop left. I think I got this.

****

The two hours actually went by pretty fast after I got a rhythm going in my head. Today's training wasn't so bad. Even the cool down laps weren’t horrible. I'm just so ready to go with Tia for a quick breakfast at the packhouse before showering for school.

“Look who decided to finally get up in time for breakfast” Tia says, pointing at a groggy looking Janet walking into the packhouse dining hall.

“I’d much rather be able to sleep in but when you told me Lexi was up and out I had to come see for myself.” Janet says, walking up to us.

“Yes, it’s part of my conditioning. I have to train so as not to be “an embarrassment” when I get shipped off to the academy.” I reply as I walked up to get my pancakes, bacon and fruit bowl for breakfast.

“So is it okay to ask what really happened? Or is it too soon? I can’t imagine you flipping out like that. You seemed cool when you left us, just maybe a little sad.” Janet asks, concerned.

“You don’t have to answer if it’s too much.” Tia said protectively.

“Well, I don’t want to go into too much detail but I promise I didn’t just attack her. I tried to walk away numerous times but she wouldn’t let me go. I just wanted to go someplace quiet to gather my thoughts. She attacked me first and I just held her down to stop her. I wasn’t threatening her, I was warning her.” I said, looking down at my food knowing how crazy it sounded.

“See I told you! I can’t stand that b***h or her asshole mate. I really hope my mate won't be from there. After how they did you not even listening to your side. They spent time with you. They should have known you wouldn't just do something like that. You looked really bad at the trial, Lexi, like you were really hurt.” Janet says in anger, fuming.

“I didn’t believe it either. No offense, but I mean Lexi just spent an hour dancing on the training field. There’s no way she would try to attack someone. I didn't see how you looked after the fight, only at the trial, but you looked like you got the crap beat out of you. While she was well manicured, not a hair out of place or a scratch on her,” Tia said, upset.

“First off, I wasn’t dancing, I was doing the steps I was instructed to do.." I paused thinking about that night"... and those marks weren’t all from her... My wolf was suppressed when I got locked in the dungeon, so I bruised easily when I was getting... tossed around.” I explained the best I could, trying hard not to cry thinking about that night.

“Wait! They put their hands on you? I promise we were trying to help you. We didn’t know what was going on when we were kicked out of the party. We asked where you were. They told us you were being "dealt with" and to leave. We grabbed your things and came straight here to tell Alpha Donnie what happened. I was so scared for you,” Janet said with tears building up in her eyes. Sounds like that night was terrifying for us all.

“I’m okay. I'm going to be alright” I affirmed again this time to myself and my friends, reaching across the table to grab their hands. “I just need to do what I'm told to stay below the radar until I leave.”

"You say that like you're never coming back. You are coming back, right?" Tia asked, now more concerned.

"Yes, I plan on coming back unless I meet my mate and he is from some far away pack. Even then, I'm sure I'll come visit." I replied.

“Yeah, you better come back. What if your mate ended up being the Alpha King or something and you gotta throw those psychos in the dungeon and suppress their wolves? That would be the ultimate payback”, Janet says.

“Like that would ever happen.” I said, laughing. “Me with an Alpha King.”

“Well, this morning you showed you had the dance moves to impress him. Heck, my partner was so busy watching you I took him down easily”, Tia says jokingly.

“Well that’s some teamwork I guess,” Janet says, laughing.

“Was my fighting really that bad? Guess I should practice more.You saw how skilled the trainers are at the assembly. That's a school that typically only lets in the top candidates.” I asked, now concerned.

“I don’t think he was looking to see you fight. Someone said something about a new pretty face and you had him captivated for sometime when your booty was moving and ta-ta's jiggled when you did the cha cha chah. Don’t worry, I’ll help you train if you want, so you’ll be pretty that can dance and be deadly, like your girl here. Who knows, maybe you’ll invent a new dance combat.” Tia says, joking. I can't help but shake my head laughing.

We finished breakfast and went home for a quick shower and change of clothes before school. The school day went normal for the most part. The only difference was when I reported to work at the pack daycare after school and was informed I was no longer able to work there. I guess they don't want anyone with a 'criminal record' working around kids. I wonder what I'll be assigned to next.