33

Emma

"So, how's our new member fairing with everything?" Gaven asked around a bite of food.

I rolled my eyes. "She's doing well. She's no longer in public school, for obvious reason, and is in online schooling. She's still trying to get used to everything at my place. But other than that, she's doing well."

"It was real nice of your dad to help change her appearance." Kester said. "Maybe one day she can be her real self again and not hiding from the world. Now can you tell me why she had to do this?"

I shook my head. "When she's ready to tell you, she will. Of course, I want her to be comfortable with my home life before I show her the pack. I don't want the girl to be hit with everything all at once. Besides, once you two do start hitting it off, you have to tell her."

Kester sighed heavily. "I know I do... It'll be hard. Real hard."

"Not as hard as you'd think." Gaven pointed out.

"This isn't like you and Emily!" Kester growled at Gaven. "This is completely different! You two have been together for almost a year! I just met Kathrine! There is no way I'd be able to keep this from her for so long!"

"Jeez, chill dude." Gaven shook his head. "I was trying to give some advice, but I guess I won't now."

"No, wait please!" Kester grabbed his arm. "You gotta tell me now! You're mates with a human! You gotta tell me so I know what to do!"

"No, it's too late now." The bell to end lunch rang. "Maybe later."

"Gaven, not fair!" Kester whined as we packed our things up. "Please, man! You have to tell me! I need to know now! Please!"

"Maybe later." Gaven started walking and Kester ran after him. I rolled my eyes and followed after them.

"Not cool, man!" Kester complained the whole way to class about how unfair Gaven was being and that he should just tell him what to do. I simply shook my head at the pair and sighed.

I suddenly remembered something. "Hey, Gaven."

"Yeah?" We stopped before my class.

"I know it's not my business, but..." I bit my lip and glanced around a bit for people eavesdropping on us. "Do we... have an official Luna yet?"

"Of course we do!" He crossed his arms. "Emily and I mated when we were in the clearing and I told her-" He cut himself off.

"Gaven?" Kester waved a hand in front of his face. "Hello? You in there?"

"I never got the chance to..." He barely whispered. "The Rogues had attacked before I had the chance to."

"Well, you might wanna fix that." I said just before I went into the class. I glanced around and did an internal happy dance when I saw Soran's old seat still empty.

I sat at my desk and got my things out. I couldn't believe Soran had been gone for so long. Is he going crazy not seeing me? Talking to me? I hope not. I don't want to deal with him. Yeah, I might have agreed to be his Luna in the future, but things could change...

"Ah, welcome back, Mr. Sentres." My blood froze in my veins. No... I kept my head down. This is a dream this is a dream this is a dream this is a dream this is a dream this is a-

"We have a new seating chart." No... please no... "You're to be sitting next to Miss Kutcher.

God fucking damn it!!! I buried my face in my things for the class, begging for this to be some cruel joke; that it wasn't real. I'm asleep. Yeah, that's it. I fell asleep before class started and this is all a bad dream. Yeah! That's it! I just have to pinch my arm to wake up!

I began pinching my arm as I heard someone sit beside me. Nope, still asleep. I pinched myself again.

Nope.

Okay, ouch. That hurt. I looked at my arm to see two swollen indents from my finger nails and another bloody one, the most recent one I made.

Damn it, I'm not dreaming. This is all real. Soran is back and I have to deal with all this bullshit again.

Terrific. I licked up the blood on my arm and kept it hidden as it healed. I kept my eyes off Soran as the lesson went on. I never acknowledged him. I pretended he wasn't even there. I know it seems a bit rude to ignore him like this, but I was having a good time without him and his antics.

Something nudged my elbow. I glanced down and saw a note between our arms.

Meet me in the back of the parking lot after school.

As if... Well, maybe it'll be important. I do want to know why he's here and not with his pack. As I've said before, he can't be gone for so long, otherwise things won't transition smoothly when the day comes for him to take the title of Alpha.

I gave a small nod and the note disappeared. I focused back on the lesson.

Please let the rest of the day drag on so I won't have to talk with him...

~~~~

I sat on the curb of the back parking lot as I waited for Soran. The lot had emptied quickly except for a few dozen cars, possibly for clubs or sports. I sighed and checked my phone for the time.

A text suddenly came in from Kathrine.

Kathy: When will you be back? You were supposed to be home fifteen minutes ago.

Me: I had to stay after. I had to talk with someone about a project. I bit my lip as I waited for her reply.

My phone chimed a few minutes later. Oh, ok. Let my know when you're on your way

Me: Will do I sighed and covered my eyes. If Soran isn't here in the next five minutes, I'm leaving. I know Kathrine worries about me, I can tell by the way she acts. It's probably because she thinks something's up with my family, or maybe she thinks her ex knows who I am and will hurt me so he can get to her.

Well, if that bastard ever does cross my path, he will surely die a vicious death. Of course, I won't do it. I'll be in Wolf form and-

Damn it! I smacked my forehead. Idiot... I can't kill a human... It'll go against everything I was ever taught... I'll be forced to go Rogue as punishment...

What if I severely maim him? Would that be okay? I'll just have to make sure I don't hit too many vital organs and see that he gets to a hospital as fast as possible. Ugh... but scum like him shouldn't even live!

Unless I can get him to come at me with the intent to kill me, I can claim self defense! That'll work! Then it won't count against me and I'll still be part of my pack!

Now, how will I get that to work?

"Sorry I'm late," I looked up to see Soran before me. How did I not hear him approach? "Had to gather all the work I missed from the teachers, not that I'll do it. In any case, I needed to speak with you about the future."

I stood and sighed. "Alright, what about it?"

"I know you want to wait until after you graduate," He started off with. "That's in two years. That's a long time for us to wait for our Luna to take over. I respect your wishes, but this needs to be said. Emma, our pack needs its Luna."

"It also needs its Alpha." I said, cutting off his next words. "The pack will suffer without you there, even if you aren't Alpha yet. If you're gone for long periods of time, the transition won't go smoothly for the pack when you do become Alpha. It'll be bumpy and hard to accept for a long while. You can't be gone. You need to stay with your pack."

Soran took a deep breath before he spoke again. "I know. My father told me almost the exact same thing before I came back. He said I could stay another month, but after that, I couldn't come back. I had to stay with the pack."

"And," I raised an eyebrow at him. "He said this was completely up to you, but since you will be the Luna, he recommends that you visit a few times to adept with our life style, that way it won't be hard for you, either. In pretty much every case, the Alpha and his Luna are pretty much in the same area or state, so it's easy for them to get close. But since we're a whole state apart, it's more difficult for us."

I nodded slowly at that. "It makes sense. I'll consider it. But for right now, I have to get home. I have a friend that I'm taking care of and she's getting worried."

Soran tipped his head a bit. "I understand. See you tomorrow." With that, he turned away and began walking to who knows where he stays when he's here.

I shook my head at him and pulled my phone out to let Kathrine know I was on my way back.

~~~~

"Emma, look at this," I flopped onto my bed beside Kathrine to see what she wanted me to look at. It was a missing person's report with Kathrine's alter ego. We glanced at each other and opened the article to read it. It basically explained how she had been in an accident and was taken to the hospital and hasn't been seen since.

"Do you..." She gulped. "Do you think my ex did this?"

I bit my lip as I took her laptop and scrolled through the article. "I don't know. I mean, it's possible, but maybe it's not. Did you tell your mom what you were up to since the accident?"

She nodded. "The first day I got my phone. I told her sort of what happened and she said it was all okay with her."

"Oh boy..." I let out a deep sigh. "Then it might have been him. You might want to skip your meet-up with your friends until we get this straightened out. Just leave it to me, okay?"

"I trust you." We locked eyes. Fear filled them and she appeared to be on the verge of tears. "Please set this right."

"I will." I gave her a quick hug and got up to find my dad in the pack house. He's in some sort of meeting with Gaven, for who knows what, but he should be done now.

"Where's my dad?" I asked as I stepped into the house. People pointed up the stairs and I nodded in thanks. I went up a couple flights of stairs and found the meeting room. I knocked and stepped in.

"Dad, I need you." I stated as he and Gaven looked up from a stack of papers.

"Emma?" He stood. "What's wrong? I'm kind of busy."

I raised an eyebrow. "With what?" I paced over to them and glanced at the top page. "A... treaty with Soran's pack?"

"Yes," I looked at Gaven. "I was having your dad look at it before I send it over to Soran. My dad already looked, but I needed one more person to look at it."

"Then why not ask me?" I asked as I placed my hands on my hips.

"Because you might have completely disagreed with it." He replied.

"True, but I could have still looked over it to make sure it was right." I pouted and quickly shook my head. "Anyway, that's not the point. Dad, you and I need to run up to the station to find Burns."

"Why?" He asked.

"Because I need to get something straightened out." I explained. "It has something to do with Kathrine."

He instantly became serious. "Alright, let's go. Gaven, I'll look over the rest of that later."

"Alright," My dad and I left the room after that and went right for his car. I didn't even have time to buckle before he was speeding away from the pack house and on the road. We made it to the police station before we even knew it.

I quickly went inside. "Is Chief Burns here?" I asked the woman at the desk.

"Oh, hello." She glanced up, a bit startle from my sudden appearance. "Yes, he's in his office. It's down the hall and-"

"Thanks," I jogged off to his office, knowing exactly where it was. My dad was right behind me. I slid to a stop at his door, knocked twice, then went right in.

"Chief, we need to speak with you." I shut the door and locked it once we were inside.

He looked at us over his glasses and set some papers down. "Asher and Emma Kutcher. To what do I owe the occasion?"

"It's about the missing persons report on Kathrine." I stood in front of his desk, placing my hands on the sleek wood.

He went a couple pages down in his stack. "Ah, yes. Submitted by a man by the name of Drake Collins. Have you found her?"

My fingers dug into the desk. "Did he happen to say what his relation with Kathrine was?"

"He said something about being her boyfriend, but-"

"Chief Burns, just drop the act!" I snapped at him. "I'm being completely serious! You need to drop the missing persons report! Kathrine is in danger!"

"What do you mean?" He sat forward in his chair, taking his glasses off.

"I mean, that guy who claims to be her boyfriend is actually out to hurt her." I explained. "Before she got into the accident, he gave her a black eye. She was able to get away. We now have her in our care until we can do something about him!"

"Why didn't you come to me sooner?" He asked as he turned to his computer. "That was made about twenty-four hours ago. It's all over the state! I may be the chief of pack records, but even I need time to do half of the things you guys ask!"

"I didn't see it until today." I tried to stay calm. "So, can you call the man hunt off or not? Can you take the report down? Call her found and with friends? Something? Anything!"

"Emma, please." He held up a hand and turned back to me. "I'm faxing the information to the main office. Basically I'll tell them she wasn't missing and was with friends and forgot to check in. I explained that she's safe."

I let out a deep sigh of relief. "And when will that be posted?"

"Later today." He said as he put his glasses back on. "So long as the fax gets through before the news crews for the area prepare their skits for the next broadcast. It should reach them in about an hour or so."

"What about her ex?" I asked. "What are we gonna do about Drake?"

"Find me proof he's hurt her, and we'll take action." He stated firmly. "I can't go on your word alone. It has to be from her mouth. I know you don't want her in public though, am I right?"

I nodded. "I don't want to take the chance of something happening."

"Understandable." He placed his stack of papers down and  looked me in my eyes. "If what you say is true, we'll find him and take him in. We'll try and make sure he never sees her again.

"Thanks, Chief." We stood and shook hands before we left his office.

"Feel better now that that's off your chest?" Dad asked as we got in the car.

"Much." I relaxed into the seat and pulled my phone out. "She should feel better when I tell her the good news." I texted her the brief story of what happened and smiled when she sent five smiling emojis.

"You do realize that if they don't prosecute him, Kathrine would still have to defend herself?" Dad asked as we drove from town.

My smile fell. "What do you mean?"

"Well, if he isn't charged with abuse, we could get a restraining order, but paper only does so much." He explained. "Do you think we should have Rorie and Joel teach her how to protect herself?"

I nodded vigorously. "Yes! Get them on the phone!"

"You have his number." I quickly pulled my phone out and called Rorie.

He answered on the first ring. "Well, this is a shock. Hello, Emma."

"I need a favor." I said. "A big favor to help keep someone's life safe."