"There is always room in the heart for one more friend."
~Unknown

Elsa

I waited until the newcomer was nearly upon me before whirling around to face them. A black shadow towered over me, and I reflexively kicked out. Whoever it was didn't expect my reaction because my foot connected with their stomach with no resistance, sending them flying back at least ten feet.

"See? This is what we get for coming to check up on a crying girl. She kicks me in the gut," a boy groaned, slowly pushing himself into a sitting position.

"You startled her!" a girl argued, emerging from the trees behind him.

"You told me that if I announced myself any sooner, we might scare her off!"

"We didn't mean to tower over her like a creeper before saying something," a different girl argued, appearing on his left. One had black hair, the other one strawberry blonde. Both were shorter than me by a few inches. The black-haired girl gave me a gentle smile and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Bad day," I replied cautiously, standing up. "Might I ask what you're doing in the middle of nowhere?"

"We were following you. I'm Mia Olden. This is Clara McBride," she motioned at the red-head next to her. "And the guy in distress Jace Underwood. Who are you?"

"I'm not in distress!" Jace retorted, standing up and brushing the snow off himself.

"I'm Elsa. You didn't answer my question about what you're doing out here?"

"We followed you when you went streaking past us. We would've lost you had we not kind of wandered around and heard you crying," Clara explained shyly. "Sorry we scared you."

"But I wasn't-"

"We know. We're like you, to clarify. We're from Idaho. These two weren't meant to be together because Jace was betrothed to the alpha of our pack, and he refused, so they ran off, and I came with them because these two need someone to watch out for them," Mia said with a smirk. "I was beta. So was Jace. Clara was omega."

"My original plan was to come out looking for you, so I'm glad you found me," I told them. "We found two others, and they told us about you. I don't know where you're heading, but we have a pack, albeit a small one. We have food, shelter, water, and extra rooms too."

"You had me at food," Jace answered.

"By the way, you have mascara running down your face. I have makeup wipes if you'd like one," Mia offered.

"That'd be great. Thank you. Sorry you three came upon me like this." I wiped away from underneath my eyes as best I could without a mirror, but I must've been failing because Mia offered to get it for me. "Also, why do you have makeup wipes so readily available?"

"We were planning this runaway for a while. I came prepared," said Mia, stuffing the used makeup wipe in her backpack when she finished. "There, good as new. No one will know it happened."

Afterward, the four of us shifted into wolves, setting off at a trot towards my place. Upon arriving, I found Spencer, Finn, Killian, Emma, and Rey in the living room. They were chatting, and Spencer looked even more stressed out than usual, but I acted as normal as I possibly could by announcing, "We have some new friends. Everyone, this is Mia, Clara, and Jace. They're the wolves Dylan and Lydia were telling us about. Are you three hungry?"

"Starved," Jace admitted.

"We ate two hours ago," Mia pointed out.

"Yeah, and I'm twice your size. A third of Peter Cottontail isn't going to cut it for me."

I laughed. "Follow me. We have leftovers in the fridge."

"Where are you guys from?" Spencer queried.

"Idaho. We were telling Elsa here that Jace was supposed to marry the alpha of our pack, but he and Clara were in love, so they ran off, and I joined to make sure they didn't do anything stupid. Where are you guys from?"

"Colorado. Pack feud. Rey, Emma, Ellie, and Spencer from one pack, Finn, Killian, and I from another. The two upstairs are from a pack allied to the Starks. Let's just say our packs didn't like that we were getting along so well, and we wouldn't be here if we hadn't run away," I explained, purposefully avoiding mentioning Spencer and I were a couple because, to be honest, I had no idea what we were. Not anymore, at least.

Mia paled. "There are Starks here?"

My boyfriend raised his hand. "I'm Spencer Stark."

Jace choked on his food as I said, "And I'm Elsa Laroche. Sorry, we've been gone from our packs for a bit, so we forget the power a name has, especially our surnames. Who was your family allied with?"

The three of them visibly relaxed at my words, and it was Jace who answered, "The Laroches."

"Welcome to the pack, brother," Killian said, clapping him on the back.

"Hey Elsa, why were you gone so long?" Finn asked. "I heard you leave hours ago."

"I went for a walk first. I needed some air. Ironically, they found me," I explained before my new pack mates told my (ex?) boyfriend they'd found me crying my eyes out. Didn't need that getting out...

"She was pretty distracted, though, not to mention she did hear me approaching her, and she proceeded to kick me in the gut. Thanks for that," Jace said sarcastically, although his smile insisted he was only joking with me.

I smiled. "How else was I supposed to react to someone looming over me? Although I'm sorry if I hurt you."

"I have a brother who has done much worse, trust me. You're fine."

"Good. Okay, here's your food," I said, placing the Tupperware in front of them, then suggesting to the rest of the pack, "Guys, why don't you show our newcomers to their rooms while I clean up down here?"

"You four go help them. I'll stay down here," Spencer said. Our pack mates nodded, surprisingly not giving a fight. After thanking us profusely, Jace, Clara, and Mia- meals in hand- followed Rey, Killian, Emma, Ellie, and Finn up the stairs. Once they were out of earshot, Spencer questioned softly, "Do you need help?"

"No, it's okay. Go get ready for bed. I'll be up later," I insisted.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Does that mean we're better?"

"No. Look, I'll act like everything's fine, and I'll do my part to make sure this pack runs smoothly because we owe it to everyone here to take care of them, especially Finn and Rey since we dragged them into this. But I think it best we take a break for now until we get us figured out."

Spencer grimaced. "Since when do breaks ever result in people getting back together? You and I both know breaks are just a nice way to say we're not going to make it, so let's say we're going to try again later and then never do."

"Because I don't want to break up with you! But our relationship these past few months has been awful. You give me the cold shoulder, you push me away when I'm probably the best candidate to understand what you're going through because Rey might be you're second, Finn might be mine, but they didn't leave because they were in love with someone from another pack. They don't feel how we do; they don't understand the conflict we have about staying loyal to our packs and loyal to ourselves. I get it, Spencer, I do, but I'm tired of you taking your frustration out on me. I'm tired of it, and I'm done with it. So like I said, until we get us figured out, we need a break. That will let us focus on the pack, which is probably the one thing we can agree on at the moment. Now go upstairs and get ready for bed. I'll be up shortly." Spencer stared at me, hurt filling his eyes.

To ensure I didn't cave into his puppy-dog expression, I turned around to carry dirty dishes to the sink. My actions caused Spencer to heed my words, even if he did so reluctantly. I heard him shuffling about in our room. I waited until all the noise in the house had ceased because I wanted to avoid talking to anyone.

Turning off the lights in the kitchen, I went upstairs, where I quietly grabbed some pajamas out of the drawer and then went into the bathroom to take a shower. It felt good to be in the steaming hot water after being in the freezing cold earlier. Once finished, I stepped out and threw on my clothes, dried my hair, and snuck quietly back downstairs. I curled up underneath a blanket on the couch and turned on the TV, settling in for the night.

About two hours in, Spencer came sleepily shuffling into the living room. He cocked his head when he realized I was on the couch. "Are you coming up?"

"Yeah, I'm not tired right now. I didn't want to wake you. I'll be up in a bit."

Spencer nodded and disappeared upstairs again. I lay my head on the pillow next to me, continuing to watch TV with no intentions of joining him anytime soon.