𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 months since I had the vision of the alpha and four months since we arrived in Beacon Hills. 

We are now living in a nice apartment building in town but spend most of our time in an abandoned bank on the outskirts of Beacon Hills. I guess you could call it our lair of sorts.

Right after we arrived here, Kali and Ennis brought in three hostages. Two girls and a boy. They said they're in the alphas pack so we need them as leverage. 

    "Wren, you're not concentrating," Deucalion says from his position on the floor next to me. The marble flooring here is even more uncomfortable than the wooden flooring.

    "Yes I am," I disagree as I keep my eyes closed and let out a small breath.

    "I think you're forgetting I can hear your heartbeat." 

I sigh before opening my eyes. Stupid werewolf hearing.

    "I'm fourteen years old, turning fifteen soon and I've never even been to school before," I huff.

     "I thought Kali was tutoring you," Deucalion questions.

     "It's not the same! Kali always lashes out at me and she hardly has time to tutor me these days anyways," I complain. 

Kali has made it very clear that she doesn't like me and will continuously remind me of that fact by 'training' me in hand-to-hand combat. A.k.a her excuse to beat me up.

    "You want to go to high-school," Deucalion concludes. I nod a few times.

    "The new school year starts tomorrow… and I may have already signed up," I mumble the last part but Deucalion hears it anyway thanks to his werewolf hearing.

    "Ethan and Aidan will go as well. May as well have them keep an eye on you and the other werewolves while we're here," Deucalion says after a moment.

A small smile breaks across my face.

    "Now, back to meditating."

~~~

After a couple of hours, I manage to escape the tedious task of sitting still with a clear mind, as I head towards the vault.

For the past while, I've been sneaking down there as often as I can to bring the teens food. Looking both ways to make sure nobody is watching, I quickly open the vault door and step into the dimly lit room. 

I walk towards the hunched over figures in the corner of the room and kneel beside them, passing out a bottle of water and a couple of cold savoury pies that I managed to grab. 

The three teens barely acknowledge me as they tear into the food, demolishing it in moments.

Brushing off my jeans as I stand up, I start to leave the room but stop when I hear a small moan of pain. I quickly turn back around toward the teens to see the girl with wavy blonde hair clutching her stomach.

    "Hey, are you o…?"  I start to ask her in concern but am abruptly cut off as she jumps up, her chains falling loose and her eyes glowing dangerously.

She flicks out her claws as she starts to advance on me but I quickly take a few steps back.

Letting out a low growl, she launches herself at me, tackling me to the ground. I let out a cough as the air is pushed from my lungs by the impact of the fall.

    "Erika, stop!" The boy yells, pulling against his chains.

The girl, Erika, doesn't listen as she snarls again and slashes her claws at my neck. I quickly roll out of the way but not in time as she still manages to nick the side of my neck. I gasp at the stinging pain as I clutch my hand over the wound. 

Quickly scrambling to my feet, I back up as Erika growls again but stop when my back hits the cold marble wall. I'm trapped.

Erika raises her hand as I shut my eyes tightly. Of course I have to die trying to do something nice.

A loud snarl followed by a cry of pain causes me to snap open my eyes to see Erika lying on the ground, blood seeping from the large slash across her neck. Kali standing over her.

The boy yells out as his eyes glow and he struggles against his chain. Kali walks over to him and bangs his head against the wall, knocking him out, before turning to face me with an unimpressed look on her face. 

    "What are you doing in here?" She questions angrily as she retracts her claws and wipes off her bloody hands on her pants. 

    "I was just bringing them some food," I mumble as I stare at Erika's body with wide eyes, "how did you know I was in here?"

    "Werewolf hearing." Is her curt reply before her eyes trail to my bloodstained hands clasped over the small gash on the side of my neck.

    "Go get yourself cleaned up." Nodding, I eye Erika's body one last time before rushing out of the room and down the hall before entering the small bathroom that consists of only a vanity with a mirror and a toilet.

Reaching towards the mirror cabinet, I pull it open and find a small first aid kit stashed away along with a bottle of whiskey. 

Ignoring the alcohol, I grab the first aid kit and pull it open before taking out a few antiseptic wipes, gauze and medical tape.

Making quick work, I clean out the wound carefully before covering it with a small piece of gauze that I attach in place with the tape. Next, I grab the soap by the side of the sink and start to scrub my hands clean under the cold water of the tap, watching the water turn red before fading to pink and finally turning clear. 

I take in a deep breath as I stare at my reflection in the mirror flashes of Erika still passing through my mind.

If I hadn't snuck down there to give them extra food then she'd still be alive…

A few stray tears trail down my cheek before quickly getting wiped away as a knock sounds on the open door.

I whip around to see Ethan standing in the doorway, a concerned look on his face.

    "I heard what happened in the vault," he says as his gaze shifts to the bandage on the side of my neck.

    "Let me guess, werewolf hearing?" I question. Ethan lets out a light laugh.

    "No, Ennis told me. He also said you could probably do with some ice cream?" Ethan suggests. I quickly nod.

    "Ben & Jerry's?" Ethan questions. 

    "Of course!"

~~~

    "So, what is this I hear about us starting school tomorrow?" Ethan questions as he takes a bite of his strawberry and hazelnut ice cream. A weird combination, I know.

    "It's so that we can keep an eye on all the werewolves there," I explain as I finish off my chocolate fudge and cookie dough ice cream. Ethan quirks an eyebrow at that.

    "You just wanted to go to school, didn't you?" He says with a smirk.

    "Yeah," I grumble. Am I really that easy to read? 

    "Yes."

    "What?" I question as I stare at Ethan in confusion.

    "Yes, you really are that easy to read."

    "How did you…?" I trail off as Ethan simply laughs. Man, I'd be horrible at poker if I ever played.

    "You need to learn how to not wear your heart on your sleeve. You'd be terrible at poker." 

I let out a loud huff as I dramatically drop my head down onto the table causing another fit of laughter out of Ethan and a few stares from people at other tables.

We continue to talk for another while before Ethan's phone buzzes, alerting him to a message. He quickly pulls out his phone and glances at the screen.

    "What is it?" I question as I lick out the last few bites of fudge from the bowl, not caring about the looks that the people at the table next to us are sending me.

    "Someone managed to sneak into the bank and they found the prisoners. Kali needs us to come." I let out a sigh but stand up nonetheless as Ethan follows suit, leaving a tip on the table.

~~~

We arrive back at the bank to be greeted by Aidan and Kali who lead us into a storage room where a teen boy with light brown curly hair, the same age as the others, is chained up and blindfolded.

    "I called Deuc and he said to erase the kid's memories of finding the bank and his friends and then wait for him to get back with Ennis," Kali explains as we stand in front of the boy.

    "Why did you need us here to do that?" I question curiously.

    "In case you get any visions that could help us," Kali says. I frown slightly. I thought they'd know by now that I have literally no control over my abilities.

Without saying anymore, Kali walks over to the boy and pushes his head down before sticking her claws into the back of his neck. 

I wince and resist the urge to turn away as the boy writhes in pain with wide eyes. After another moment Kali finally pulls out her claws and retracts them, leaving the boy heaving for breath.

"Wren, keep an eye on him and clean his wounds so that he doesn't bleed out before Deuc and Ennis get back," Kali instructs me before leaving the room with Aidan and Ethan in tow.

I stand there for a moment before cautiously walking forward. I guess I'm still a bit untrusting after the whole Erika incident.

    "You don't have to be scared of me," the boy rasps out as I stand a few feet away from him still.

    "I'm just cautious," I mumble as I kneel next to him and gently lift up his shirt to reveal the three long and deep scratch marks, obviously Kali's work.

    "Is it bad?" He questions as he senses my hesitation. 

    "As long as you start healing soon you should be fine," I say as I grab a wet cloth from the bowl beside me and wring it out before carefully cleaning away the blood and dirt.

    "How'd I get here? Where even is here?" The boy questions, "The last thing I remember is walking through the outskirts of town for some reason and then…nothing."

    "Your memories were erased," I answer carefully, not giving much away but not knowing what the point really is if Deucalion is planning on killing him or locking him up anyways.

    "By an alpha…this is the alpha pack, isn't it?" I nod before remembering he can't see me.

    "Yeah, it is." I wet the cloth again before pressing it into a deeper part of the scratches, causing him to hiss in pain.

    "You don't smell like a werewolf, though," the boy continues talking.

    "That's because I'm not," I tell him. He turns his head slightly in confusion.

    "Why are you with them then?" He questions. I stay silent, not knowing how to respond as I finish cleaning his wound out as best as I can before putting away the rag.

    "Are they going to kill me?" The boy whispers so quietly that I almost don't hear him. Images of Erika flash through my mind causing me to take a shaky deep breath.

Am I really about to do what I think I'm going to do?

Standing up, I walk over to the corner of the room where there's a bunch of shelves with numerous supplies. Rummaging around for a moment, I grin as I pull out a pair of chain cutters.

Well that was convenient. 

Walking back over to him, I cut the chains loose.

    "What are you doing?" He questions as his chains fall to the ground. I quickly pull off his blindfold before he stands to his feet. 

    "Aidan, Ethan and Kali should be upstairs right now but they won't be for long so you have to hurry. The exit is just down the hall," I explain to him quickly.

    "W-why are you helping me?" The boy questions, his bright blue eyes gleaming with curiosity and confusion. I shrug.

    "It just feels like the right thing to do," I say, "Now, I need you to knock me out."

His face turns to an expression of bewilderment.

    "You want me to what?" He exclaims, staring at me as though I have 2 heads which wouldn't surprise me at this point.

    "You have to knock me out so that they don't know that I helped you." 

    "Thank you for helping me, and sorry about this," the boy says before pulling back his fist and hitting me in the side of the head.

My vision immediately starts to spin and I fall to the ground before everything goes black.