In Reach?

Mira's POV

I open the tap for the bath to fill up. I’m not going to even attempt to shower, hop around on one foot and risk slipping. We already know I bruise easily. And I’m a sucker for a claw foot bathtub. I never grew up with money, and seeing the luxury these people have, I’m going to make the most of it while I can.

After finally being able to wash myself and my hair, I feel like a normal person again. Even my wounds look better. The cut on my hand looks like just a thin line, and my ankle feels a whole lot better. I can put more weight on it now. No more hopping for me. Yay.

They have everything here. Extra toothbrushes, even a hairbrush and some hair ties. But I leave my wet, wavy hair loose so it can air dry. It’s like they want you to make yourself at home. I wonder what they want from us. My inner voice questions. Where did they even get the women’s clothes from? As far as I can tell I haven’t seen a single woman here since I got here. Did I waltz into an all-male camp? Oh gosh, please don’t let me be up for grabs as some breeder. Shit! I know now that they didn’t kidnap me but found me. But that doesn’t mean that they’re not dangerous. They’re men that turn into wolves for goodness sake, they have a dungeon and live in the middle of nowhere.

I try to smooth out the dress he had set out for me. It’s a loose, cute, a-line dress with ruffles reaching my mid-thighs. It has thin straps tied into ribbons on the shoulder and the teal green colour make my hazel eyes stand out. It must be someone’s, because they look worn and not quite my size. With my soft features and my wavy brown hair flowing over my shoulders, I almost look like a teenager. So deceptive, my days as an innocent kid are long gone.

It’s time I get out of here and find out what they want from me. Because there is no way, I’m being forced to do some degrading crap like scrub floors or become a punching bag, without me giving a fight. I’ve already been through crap like that and I ain’t going back.

I open the door and step out, but the room is empty. Okay…. Do I stay or do I go out? Because the last time I found myself in a room alone here, and walked out, I was attacked. Four men against one woman. Talk about unfair.

So I wait. If there is one thing I’ve learned, is that you shouldn’t provoke your enemy. Maybe last time was a warning from them. Wait. Are they training me like a dog? But I should stay. So, I get on the bed and lay down. I should try and gather my thoughts and analyse my situation. The world is tough and a fragile girl like me hasn’t survived this long on pure luck. I’ve had to fight my way through things before, physically and preferably mentally. There’s only one thing that will get me through this. I’ll just have to hold onto the thought of him. He made me strong, he taught me to be a fighter, and I would hate to disappoint him.

“Alex”, I say in a whisper.

But something suddenly pops into my head. Not an image, but a sound. It’s an angry voice, Alex’s voice. But I can’t make out what he’s saying. Is this a memory? I try to think harder about it, but my mind is still blank. Like it’s dark and cold. It’s too exhausting trying to push this memory through, I just lay there and stare up at the ceiling. And then another thought comes to mind. This whole thing of werewolves. Those story books of my grandmother had such amazing stories, and many of them were about wolves. It mentioned how wolves were creatures of the moon, and how they travelled in packs, and how the Alpha was in charge, and how th……………Wait. Bro called Dimples ‘Alpha’. So is he like the ‘Alpha’ of the people,……wolves here? So, it’s not his name?

I try to remember what else the books mentioned about Alphas, but I can’t think straight. I know they lead the pack; they are the strongest; they have command over the others, whatever that means. Is it like mind control or something? But at this point nothing is impossible. I remember something about ‘Luna’……something about the moon………the 'moon goddess'. That’s it! They see the moon as their goddess, that’s why they howl at it on full moons. Or something like that.

My breath hitches as a wave of memories come rushing back to me. Spells. There were spells in one of the books. Like magic? I remember reading through them, but I can’t remember what I actually read.

Things are coming back to me in phases and random chunks. I know that I got the books after my grandmother died. They were among her things, old, dusty, tied up and packed in the back of her cupboard. They looked like old books, on mythical and supernatural ‘creatures’. It did strike me as odd for her to have such things, but then again, I figured she was probably like me, -a lover of fantasy. Not to mention, I barely knew the woman or of her existence before she died.

I got quite devoted into reading them. It was like reading stories, fairy tales. And, when I got to the book with weird incantations and lists of...... ‘ingredients’, I got even more curious. I even opted myself to do one of the ‘spells’ a few nights before my memory went all foggy. Oh great. Is that what happened? Is that how I got here?

But that doesn’t make sense, why would it only do something days after. I'm not even sure if I really understood what the spells were for, but I just wanted to try one of the more serious looking ones. But nothing happened the night I did it. I followed everything the book said. I got a nice, open spot in the forest to sit down and set up; I laid out the candles in a circle surrounding me; I got my hair drenched in water; and even nicked the palm of my hand for some blood. I made sure I was surrounded with all the elements, earth, air, fire and water, with a personal touch of my blood.

I felt ridiculous at the time, expecting it not to work and rather end with me just walking away with an on-coming cold. But I was curious. And I was a little bit disappointed when I sat there chanting random words and nothing ended up happening. But that was almost a week before things got all crazy. So, it couldn’t have been that. It must be something else.

Lying on the bed, I hear the door click and look up. To my surprise and relief, a young and cheery girl comes in, making her way to me with a huge smile on her face. Kind of creepy. But I’m happy to finally see someone of the female race. She looks a year or two younger than me, but still in her early twenties.

“Hi, I’m Katy”. She gives a quick wave.

“Hi….” I say awkwardly, not really understanding the situation.

“The Alpha asked me to bring you to his office”. She curls her hand gently as if telling me to move along. But the smile on her face is weirdly too nice.

“Uhm, okay.” He said he wanted to talk this out, and he is being way more hospitable. So, I scooch down to the bottom of the bed to get off. But she takes my hand in hers before I’m even standing properly on my own and drags me to the door. I try not to put too much weight on my hurt ankle, but with her speed it looks like I'm trying to tiptoe at a quick pace.

“I’m so excited that you’re here. Are you here to join the pack as well?” She continues talking with that bright smile of hers I can’t help but smile as well.

“Join?” I can’t help but ask. Am I seriously being initiated into a cult?

“I don’t know the details yet, but you are quite the talk of the place right now. Showing up out of nowhere. And now meeting with the Alpha. You must be a rogue.”

There is that word again, -‘rogue’. My steps start to get heavy and she has difficulty pulling me along. She looks back at me with a considerate look on her face.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure they only want to talk. I was also a rogue a few years back. I was young at the time, and I learned how to take care of myself. But one day I accidentally trespassed onto their territory and got a few people injured, but the Alpha then made me an offer to join his pack as an omega.”

She’s saying all of this with a content smile on her face. I can’t help but wonder back to my grandma’s books, when she mentioned the word ‘omega’. That’s another position in a wolf pack, but I can’t really remember for what.

“What’s an omega?” I say plainly.

She looks at me with scrunched brows. But they smoothen out. “Don’t worry. I also didn’t know much about pack life before I came here. So, let me give you the quick details.” She opens her left hand, palm up, and a raised pointed finger of her right hand, like she’s going to do some counting.

“There’s the Alpha,” she point to her pinkie, “he’s the one in charge. Then there’s the Beta, he’s second in command. Noah, you should have seen him. He’s always around the Alpha.” Oh, that’s probably ‘Bro’, I try to put the name to the face. “Then there’s the Gamma, he’s third in command. He’s name is Theo and he does internal security. Then there’s the Head Warrior, the name pretty much says it. He’s one of the guys that always walks around shirtless, oh, and his name is Mason.” I can’t help but notice the eyeroll she gives when she refers to this Mason guy walking around shirtless. It sounds like my dear ‘Swimfan’ from the stretchy pants crew, but I’m not sure if it’s him though. “Then there’s the Delta, Liz. She’s in charge of border patrol”. I give an impressed look at the final mention of a woman in charge of one of the positions. "And then you have the omegas. They are like the ordinary folk around here. I guess you can say,we're at the bottom of the food chain". She seems almost sad saying that last part. "

I’m so thankful to this cheery encyclopaedia, -Katy, for clearing all this up to me. At least now I have an idea of what the hierarchy looks like. But I still don’t know Dimples’ name.

“What’s the Alpha’s name?”

She brings us to a stop. She almost has a mischievous look, like she’s a child about to reveal where the secret stash of cookies is. “Nobody actually calls him on his name, especially not in front of others, but…..” She looks around and then leans into me, whispering into my ear, “he’s name is Liam Greyson”.

She pulls back with a giggle and a blush on her cheeks. We continue down the hall to wherever it is she’s leading me.

‘Liam’. I can’t help but mouth the name as I say it in my head. What an intoxicating and dangerous name. Just mouthing the ‘L’ had already made me slightly lick my upper lip, which got me blushing as well. I’m excited and worried to know what saying his name out loud will do to me.

“We’re here.” She looks at me with another big smile and gives gentle but quick knocks on the door we stopped in front of.

“Come in.” A firm response comes through. My body gets all numb, like jelly, at hearing his voice. Is it excitement, fear, concern? I don’t know, but it’s working on my nerves. Nerves. That’s it. I’m just nervous.

Katy motions her crossed fingers in front of my face, giving me a silent wish. I like her. Her childlike innocence makes it too hard for her to devise malice like hateful adults. She walks away and there I stand, in front of a door blocking me from him. Will I open it? Do I want to open it, to him?