Outliers

She was powerful, not because she wasn’t scared but because she went on so strongly, despite the fear.

- Atticus

“Okay, so the kitchen is through here,” Adriel gestured dramatically, stepping into a large open plan diner-kitchen. At the far end of the room, atop a large white patterned rug sat a wooden table big enough to seat at least twelve people with ease. And there was more seating available around the white island countertop in the centre of the kitchen. “Usually for the cooking rota, we pair people up so it’s not as bad - plus it stops us getting food poisoning as not everyone can cook that well. I’ll probably be buddied up with you first off so I can give you a better orientation in here and show you where we keep everything. Want one?” He asked as he opened up the refrigerator, a glass water bottle in his hand.

“Uh, yeah, thanks.” I was still looking around the kitchen, at the plants on the windowsill that looked to be growing some small vegetables, the bare neutral walls, the warm, rich wooden floorboards. There wasn’t much in terms of décor but there were some photo’s, I noticed, stuck to the refrigerator door. I would definitely explore the entire house without Adriel at some point, so I could take everything in properly.

He’d returned to the office, not long after Alpha Harris had kicked him out, to take me on a tour of the house. I was just thankful I hadn’t had to spend more time with Harris by myself.

“We all have our own collection of reusable bottles,” He explained, handing me the chilled water, “though there’re some spares kept in here sometimes. Harris is a real stickler for being as green as possible, well we all are, for obvious reasons. I’m sure we can get you one on our next outing.”

“Oh, I actually have my own packed in my bag somewhere.” Jack had bought it for me during one of our road trips to one of the mating rotations when I was eighteen. We had always travelled together back then when he was still searching for Amy.

“Look at that,” he beamed, nudging my shoulder with his elbow. “You’re already fitting in. Now come on, I’ll show you the lounge.”

“You have a lounge?” Adriel was already walking ahead of me out of the kitchen and down the corridor we had just come from, and from over his shoulder, he shot me a strange look.

“Why wouldn’t we?”

“Aren’t the main pack houses used more as official buildings than a home? Idaho has the room we use for meetings, a couple of conference rooms, spare bedrooms, and then a private section of the house for the Alpha family.”

“Here, our main house is where most of the pack live unless they specifically request otherwise - which some do - but it’s where all the inner pack live. The only wolves we house separately are the trainees. We believe it’s better for us all to live together to strengthen bonds and so we’re all available for emergencies.”

“Emergencies?” I raised an eyebrow. He had come to a stop outside of a set of closed double wooden doors.

“Yeah, pack disputes and stuff, situations where us big bad enforces need to intervene,” Adriel grinned, flexing his muscles. He winked at me and moved to open the door, nodding for me to step in first. “Anyway, in here, we can chill for a bit and I’ll introduce you to some people before I show you to your room and you can unpack.”

It was a small cosy looking room with a large grey rug that covered the floorboards almost entirely. There was a leather couch, an armchair, and a humongous window seat that faced a dense coverage of trees. A couple of familiar faces already occupied the lounge.

“I thought trainees didn’t stay in the main pack house?” I asked, eyeing Nero, who looked right at home curled up in the large leather armchair. “Good to see you again.”

On the floor across from him, sat on the rug, were Sandra and the other male I had yet to be introduced to. Much like Sandra, he fixed me with his dark eyes and seemed to assess me. His figure dwarfed the small female next to him, the muscles in his arms and legs visible and intimidating. He looked like a male who never slept and spent his every hour training.

I resisted the urge to shuffle on my feet under his intense scrutiny. First impressions were important. I couldn’t seem weak.

“They don’t, but Nero’s my nephew, and my sister would skin me alive if I made him stay in the dorms and not with me,” Adriel explained with a shudder. Nero shot me another one of his boyish grins.

“Ah,” I mused, “Nepotism is a powerful bitch.”

“First my age, now my family,” Nero muttered with an eye roll, his grin dropping from his face instantly. “Nothing I do ever satisfies you.” He spoke with such serious irritation, I honestly thought my joke had offended him for a second, until I noticed the sly curl of his lips.

“You’re an fool,” I dared to tease.

“I aim to please.” He feigned a bow from where he sat, one of his hands rolling in a flourished show.

“I definitely see the family resemblance between you two.” I eyed both Nero and Adriel with amusement. They looked nothing alike, but from their tendency to crack jokes, they may as well have been the same person.

“I could ask you the same question, though,” Nero said, brushing back one of his curls. “What brings you to the Alpha’s den?”

“I’m not a trainee,” I answered simply with a shrug, shooting Nero a strange look at his incredibly weird choice of words.

“So, you want to join the official pack? Not what I expected from an Omega.” Sandra spoke up, drawing my attention to where she sat on the floor, leant back on her forearms, her legs spread out with her ankles crossed. Although I towered above her from where I stood, she seemed perfectly at ease and content with where she sat, eyeing me up as if she couldn’t wait to fight me.

“You don’t allow Omega’s in your pack?”

“Alpha Harris doesn’t turn anyone away for their status. Omega’s just rarely apply. They’re not ones to go out on their own and put themselves in difficult situations,” Adriel spoke up for her, brushing past me to claim a seat on the couch. He patted the worn leather, beckoning me to sit with him. I noted that he didn’t correct Sandra on my Omega status.

“Difficult?”

“Training here is hard,” the man next to Sandra stated. His voice was deep, and sounded as deadly as his appearance. A vicious-looking scar that sliced through his left eyebrow and down his cheek, marring his dark skin. “It’s rigorous and it will push you to your limits time and time again. If you’re not used to excessive training, you’re going to struggle at first. It wouldn’t be the first time someone gave up when it got too hard.”

“Well, I came here because the training in Idaho wasn’t enough.” Again, I didn’t elaborate, didn’t explain why it wasn’t enough. The thought of telling these experienced trainers I had only ever sparred with two wolves, Jack and his late father, was embarrassing.

“Emily won’t be starting her training with you until her probationary period is up,” Adriel huffed. “You know this, stop trying to scare her off.”

“Wait, what?” I asked incredulously, my attention now locked onto Adriel. “I can’t train for an entire month?”

“Not with any of the pack members or trainees. It’s standard practice.”

“That’s bullshit! Does Nero have to wait a month?” Nero, wide eyed at my sudden volume, wisely didn’t speak up.

“He’s not joining the pack. He’s just a trainee. It’s different for them. Right now, you’re not a part of any pack; you’ve left your old one but you’re not officially in ours. If anything goes wrong in training, if a fight gets out of hand, our laws won’t protect you. This is more for your sake than anyone else’s.”

“I’ve trained every morning for the past seven years except for the past few days, and now I have to wait a month sitting on my ass?” I was infinitely thankful that Alpha Harris wasn’t in the room to witness my outburst or the challenging scowl I directed towards the Beta.

“Why couldn’t you train for the past few days?” Nero cut in, drawing my irritation away from his uncle. I exhaled deeply, forcing the tension in my body to dissipate.

“The Alpha Meetings start so ridiculously early,” I rolled my eyes, “and require so much paperwork I could barely find the time. Even then, I made sure I only missed the first day.”

“Wait,” Nero spoke up, raising his hands. “Hold up, you were at the Alpha Meetings? I know you said you came from them with Adriel and Alpha Harris, but I didn’t realise you were at them. What were you doing?”

“Well,” I sighed a little, eyeing the three wolves who had their entire focus on me. “I was acting Female Alpha for Idaho.”

“You were sleeping with Alpha Athan and then you requested a transferral for here?” Sandra interjected with excitement, suddenly seeming more awake. Even Nero sat up in his chair.

“I wasn’t sleeping with him!” My cheeks flamed hot.

“Please,” Nero exclaimed. “Everyone knows that’s what the acting Alpha position means. Tell us everything.”

“That is not what that means. Anyway,” I waved over at Sandra and Lorcan, who’s previously stiff and serious demeanours had all but entirely melted away. No longer were they wolves of the infamous deadly enforcers, but two wolves eager for apparent gossip. “What happened to your whole intimidation tactic?”

“This is far more interesting,” Sandra confessed with a deadly serious tone, the glee practically shining in her eyes.

“I wasn’t sleeping with him.”

“You did seem awfully close,” Adriel chimed in with a grin.

“Adriel,” I glowered. He held up his hands defensively.

“Relax,” he laughed. “I’m just joking.”

***

“Okay, so this is your bedroom.” Adriel didn’t enter as he held open the door and allowed me to step inside. I was at the far end of the hall, right next to the staircase that led to the top floor where Alpha Harris’ bedroom and office were. The room was slightly smaller than my old one in Idaho, but the size didn’t matter to me. I only ever used my bedroom to sleep in.

The walls were white, the wooden floor bare and the bedsheets a plain grey. The single bed was pushed up against the wall in the back left corner of the room, untouched, with a tall window taking up much of the wall next to it, that would let in tons of light in on a morning. It looked as if no one had lived here before.

There was just enough space for a small wardrobe tucked away into an alcove along the right wall, with three long white shelves covering the remaining two-thirds of the wall.

My bags were already waiting for me inside the room, sitting on the floor at the foot of my bed. I had mainly only packed clothes. There was no way I could fill the room or the shelves. I hadn’t bothered to bring any books or decorations with me.

“So, there’s one bathroom on this floor and another downstairs, though most rooms here have en suites, so you won’t be fighting for a shower.”

“Okay, thanks,” I murmured, my focus on the view out of my window that faced the training grounds. I could see a couple of male wolves warming up, about to start.

“They were just joking back there, you know,” Adriel assured me. Perhaps he thought I was being quiet because Nero and Sandra’s jokes had offended me. “I know they seem pretty serious all the time, but that’s just how they are around new people, especially Lorcan; he’s our Head Trainer if you hadn’t guessed. Once your month probationary is lifted, it’ll be Sandra and him training you.”

“Sandra will train me as well?” I had no hope of becoming a hunter. If I couldn’t shift, I couldn’t hunt and I would be no use to the group. I would slow them down and be too noticeable.

“While you won’t be able to accompany them on hunts, you’ll learn valuable skills from Sandra. She trains the entire pack in hunting, even the wolves that aren’t hunters. It requires more time and effort, which is why other packs don’t do it, but being a small pack, we have the liberty of focussing more time on the trainees. There’s a reason other packs come to us to train. We’ve been around since the first packs formed.” Adriel’s chest puffed out as he spoke. There was no doubt about the love and pride he held for this pack. “Anyway, I’ll leave you to get unpacked.”

Shortly after Adriel had left me to myself, I had unpacked nearly everything within only ten minutes. All my clothes were hung up and put away in the wardrobe. Despite having spent most of the day travelling, I was exhausted, and though it was only six pm, I was already contemplating sleep. That is until a sharp knock on my closed door stopped me.

I already knew who was at the door. I could recognise the Alpha’s scent anywhere. The stronger the wolf, the more dominant the scent, and Alpha Harris’ was easily identifiable.

“Yes?” I murmured softly, knowing that he could hear me. I was already buried under the bedsheets, sat against my headboard.

“Do you usually go to bed this early?” He asked with a raised brow as he entered my room, having to duck under the doorway because of his impressive height. He didn’t step too far inside, though, lingering by the entrance and leaning against the wall.

“Didn’t sleep well last night. I thought I’d get an early night tonight.” He knew as much, having heard me pathetically crying in the middle of the night. I hoped he wouldn’t ever bring it up.

“Right,” he nodded to himself, glancing around the room at the still bare walls and shelves. The only belongings of mine that were still visible were my large green toiletries bag that rested on my windowsill. “I assume you’ll be up early tomorrow. I’ll meet you outside your door at six.”

“What for?” His eyes met mine, too dark to be considered brown, framed by thick dark eyebrows. I had never felt the pull of the Alpha command, never cowered under their unnerving stares, but here under his gaze I felt exposed. I pulled at the bedsheets, drawing them closer to my chest.

“Your training with me. We’re going to start right away. I want to spend the week assessing your fitness and your reflexes.”

“Adriel said I wasn’t allowed to train for a month.”

“You’re not allowed to train with the pack for a month. You can still train with me.” The most well trained Alpha that existed, an Alpha built to keep all other Alpha’s in line.

“I look forward to it.”

The answering smile that Harris threw my way was vicious, and I knew without a doubt that whatever awaited me tomorrow morning would be brutal.