April

"Welcome to the Wolf Moon Pack," Liam says beside me.

I am bewildered by the beauty in front of me. There are small houses in the middle of the trees, situated all over the mountain that this place is hidden in. The lights inside the houses are only adding to the beauty at this time. Small lanterns hang from trees to light up the path.

This pack looks a lot bigger than my father's. And definitely much more beautiful. The location inside the woodland mountains only adds to the beauty of this place. I'm sure the journey here must have been breathtaking as well.

Liam walks towards what I can only assume to be a whole town hidden inside the woods, and I walk beside him. There's a couple of feet's distance between us as we walk slightly uphill. He leads me through the small houses to reach a vast area of flat land at the end of which I see a gorgeous mansion. It looks very modern for a forest, with huge glass windows replacing its walls. He reaches the front door of the house and opens it, motioning for me to walk in.

"I called my father here so you can meet him," he informs as I walk inside and admire the hallway leading into a large room.

The interior of the house is just as modern, decorated with grey furniture, and tiny charming lights hanging from the ceiling at one corner. There is a giant window on the right wall and a staircase straight ahead. The stairs lead to a small foyer that is visible from down here and then disappears into a hallway on each side.

I'm starting to feel a little nervous about meeting Liam's father. I spot him sitting at one end of the giant couch placed in the middle of the room. He is reading something and immediately gets up as he sees us walk into the room. He doesn't look very old, thanks to his werewolf genes, but his eyes look tired. There are wrinkles around them with small dark circles underneath. His hair is slightly grey and he is wearing a white dress shirt with black slacks.

"Ah Liam, I've been waiting here for a while," he says calmly.

"Sorry. The drive took longer than expected," Liam replies, getting flustered.

"This is April," he says pointing towards me, "And April, this is my Dad."

His father looks at me and gives me a slight smile.

"It's very nice to meet you, Mr. Kingston," I say while returning a smile and walking towards him to shake his hand.

"It's Alpha Kingston," Liam growls behind me.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Alpha Kingston," I correct as I bring my hand forward.

He shakes it lightly and looks slightly confused. He has probably never met a werewolf who called him Mister instead of Alpha.

"Sorry, I've only ever lived in a pack for about two weeks of my life," I chuckle nervously.

"No worries, my dear. You may call me Robert," he says while flashing me a grin.

"Liam," he says seriously while turning towards him, "There's been an issue regarding some rogues. Beta Owen and Gamma David are waiting for you at my office. I think it's time you start dealing with pack matters since you will now be Alpha," he says while giving him a small smirk.

"Meanwhile I will stay here and give April some company," he says, smiling.

Liam nods and runs off. Robert sits back down on the couch while motioning for me to sit as well.

I sit down, facing him, with my knees facing his direction.

"So April, tell me about yourself," he says gently.

"Well, my name is April Jennings. I'm a doctor. I was in Lucas's class actually."

"Oh!" He says excitedly. "So you met Liam at the graduation, then?"

I guess Liam didn't tell his father when we met. Well, it makes sense. Why would he tell him after that encounter we had?

"Yes," I lie.

"So how come you've never lived in a pack?" He asks. I can tell his curiosity is piqued.

"Well, my mother is a human and I've lived with her most of my life. My parents separated before I was born. I only met my father when I turned eighteen and shifted for the first time," I shrug.

He looks slightly shocked but quickly hides it.

"Wow. A werewolf-human child. Very rare, indeed."

"I guess," I say while lifting my shoulders. "My father's pack wasn't very accepting of me so I left."

I wonder if Liam's pack might have the same issue with me as well. "I just hope your pack doesn't have a problem with that," I say nervously.

"Oh, don't you worry about that. They must have been very old-fashioned. Our pack is very accepting. In fact, we have a werewolf-human couple that lives with us as well. It's the only one we knew of so far, but meeting with you changes that."

I give him a big smile. "That's good to hear," I laugh.

"So what pack is your father from?" He asks.

"He was from the Blood Moon pack. He died a few years ago," I say trailing off.

"Oh. I'm very sorry to hear that," he empathises.

"Don't worry about it," I reply and try to lighten the conversation. "Liam told me he wasn't allowed to be Alpha without a mate. Isn't that a little old fashioned as well?" I ask with a laugh.

"It is, but it was for his own good."

I give him a questioning look, not understanding what he means.

"You see, being with your mate strengthens your wolf, both physically and emotionally. A quality that is absolutely necessary for an Alpha."

That kind of made sense, I guess.

"Alphas are naturally very... Intense. Being with a mate helps in tempering them," he explains.

"Oh," is all I manage to say.

"Well, you know plenty about me. Now tell me about Liam," I continue after a few moments of silence. No matter how hard I tried to start a conversation with him in the car, he just killed it with his moody responses. "He's not much of a talker. Is he always like this?"

"He wasn't always like this," Robert says gloomily. His face turns sad as he continues.

"Five years ago, we lost Liam's mother in a war against the Mutts. They were savage creatures that caused terror wherever they went. It was like they were stuck in their wolf and human form at the same time, resulting in wolves that walked on two legs, and their bodies, a mixture between human and wolf. You could say they were a less evolved kind of werewolf. We always thought they were extinct until they started attacking our packs. The war didn't last very long as they were unintelligent beasts but we lost a lot of lives."

"Liam's mother, my beautiful Elizabeth, was one of them." I can see his eyes turn sad as he talks about his mate.

"I lost myself for some time after she left us and Liam had to take over as Alpha. He was always so angry, lashing out at everyone. I suppose, he never really got the chance to deal with his mother's death. He didn't share his pain with anyone. He probably thought he had to be strong for me, and the pack."

"After about a year, I realised that Liam was turning ruthless and cruel, so I decided to step back in. Lizzy wouldn't have wanted that for him. I always hoped that once he found his mate, he would finally open up and allow himself to be happy."

I can see Robert's eyes are filling up with tears as he talks about his lost mate. I never understood the power of the mate bond but seeing Robert like this makes me realise how much he still loves her. It almost makes sense why Liam acts the way he does.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Robert," I say quietly.

He just nods and we sit in silence for a while.

"No matter," Robert says startling me, "You are here now and I'm sure we will all finally get to see a different side of Liam."

Well I don't know if that's going to happen since he clearly doesn't like me. I can understand some of what he is going through but that still doesn't mean I'm a big fan of his behaviour towards me. However, he did save my life and I owe it to him to give him a chance.

"I hope so," I say with a small smile.

Yelp. We're finally learning a little bit about Liam. What do you guys think?