The Transfer

Liam grabbed my hand and pulled me out the house. He shut the front door behind him and then smiled at me as he pulled me down the steps of the front porch and onto the dirt. He gave me a look that told me he was trying.

"Come on. I bet I could beat you," Liam winked at me playfully. I stared at him for a moment with my tired and puffy eyes. My head was heavy and my eyelids were weighed down.

Crying all night had its disadvantages.

I stretched my arms lazily and pulled my hair into a ponytail. I knew that I couldn't avoid this.

Liam thought a run would be good for me, but I wasn't in the mood. I knew that I had to get straight back to my training, and back to my normal routine, but I felt terrible. I had a weight on my shoulders that was keeping me from standing tall.

"Sugar—"

"Why 'sugar'?" I asked him. Cutting him off surprised him, but a small smile appeared on his face as he looked me up and down.

He had always called me sugar. It was his thing. Sure, he called me other names too, but sugar was always his main go-to option. It must've meant something to him.

"How about I tell you after this run?" Liam playfully suggested. I looked at the trail he was moving towards and then sighed and nodded.

He was trying. I appreciated it. I really did need to get back into routine.

My father was gone. He was dead. I knew that and there wasn’t anything that I could do to change it. I had to work on the more important things. I had to do what he would've wanted me to do.

I also had to find out how in the hell those damn rogues got into the pack and took down my father.

My brothers told me that they had stabbed him with a knife covered in silver. It explains how my father wasn't able to fight back against them; he would've been too weak. But it didn't make sense how the rogues got into the territory unnoticed in the first place.

Liam and I ran alongside each other. Whenever I began to drop back, Liam would reach out to me and touch the small of my back, pushing me forwards a little. He didn't let me slow or fall behind. "Are you going to go to your training today? Alfie said it was okay if you didn't,” Liam asked me when we finished our run and came to a stop. I shrugged at him. I knew I should go to training, but I also knew that everyone would pity me.

No one wanted to spar with the girl who's Dad just died.

No one wanted to spar with me anyway. After what Henry had told everyone about my supposed attempt to attack him, there were more than a few people who despised me.

"I think I might skip today and start tomorrow. I'm kind of sore,” I told him softly as I rubbed my arm. Liam nodded and smiled at me, grabbing my wrist and tugging me towards him.

I hit his chest gently and looked up at him. He stared down into my eyes, and I felt like he could see straight through me. My whole world had been flipped upside down and I barely had a clue on what to do.

"You think it'll get easier soon?" I whispered to him. Liam brought his hand up to my face where he moved some hair away from my face. He pursed his lips together and nodded.

"Soon, sugar. Soon,” Liam told me gently. He leaned forwards and kissed my forehead, sending soft tingles all over my face and neck. He was incredible

"You gonna tell me about that nickname or what?" I asked him to change the subject. Liam laughed softly and nodded. He opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off.

By Lucas.

"Ew, can't you two get a room or something? The whole pack doesn't need to see you both frolicking with each other," Lucas said with a fake scowl. I turned to face him as Liam wrapped his arm around my waist.

Lucas shot us both a wide grin. He was being followed by Lila and Brayleigh. I hadn't seen Brayleigh since I returned. I got back last night and headed straight to my room.

"Girl, you look like shit," Brayleigh told me as she hugged me. I smiled as I hugged her back. She giggled a little and patted my back gently.

"Feel like it too," I told her as I pulled away. I tucked some hair behind my ears, looking at them all. They had all tried talking to me while I was in Terialta, but I hadn't been in the mood.

I knew I had to somehow get over my father's death. I had to avenge him and figure out the truth to his murder.

I needed to talk to Nicolas. He was my partner in crime. I had to talk to my brothers, they would have to know something.

"You skipping training today?" Lila asked me. She sent me a sincere smile and I nodded at her.

"Just for today thought. Tomorrow, I think I'll feel like beating Lucas’ ass," I said jokingly with a smile as I looked to my brother. He laughed at me and nudged my arm.

"Wait and see. I'll have your neck in my mouth. You'll be begging for me to let you go," Lucas said. Liam stilled from next to me.

"If I even remotely see her neck anywhere near your mouth, I'll tear out your fangs,” Liam threatened him. I smiled weakly as I leaned into him. His chest rumbled.

"You can try, brother. You'd have to catch me first," Lucas chanted. Liam growled and rolled his eyes at his brother, but a smile made its way to his lips anyway.

"Lovely to see you two won't ever change. Lucas always about to get his ass kicked," Brayleigh nodded. Lucas scoffed.

"I wouldn't be always getting my ass kicked if those two could lock the damn door,” Lucas muttered out. Liam took a step towards him, but I held him back. I shot Lucas a warning look. He shot back a cheeky grin.

"Alright, well we have training. We'll come see you after," Lila said to me. I nodded at her as the three turned and walked away. Liam led me back to my cabin.

"Aren't you busy with work or something?" I asked Liam. It was weird that he had been with me all morning. Usually he would've been called away.

"I told Henry to go screw himself if he thought I would be working today. You're my number one priority,” Liam told me. I nodded at him as we walked.

"Can you tell me about the nickname now?" I asked him as we reached my porch. Liam and I stood together, facing each other as we stood outside my front door. I could smell the breakfast that Ezra and Jenny were cooking.

Liam smiled at me and nodded. He took my hands and held them gently in his.

"When I first got back from my business trip, the day I first met you, the scent hit my nose almost immediately. At first, it was like roses, which was a little strange, because roses aren't usually that strong of a smell. But it filled my nose; overwhelmed me. I almost fell the hell over,” Liam told me. I smiled at him and nodded. I remembered falling down the stairs of the porch and Ezra catching me. Liam's eyes wandered all over my face. He studied my eyes, my lips, my nose. He looked me all over and I loved the passion in his eyes.

"But then it got even better. I smelt lavender, daisies. Then, the closer I got, you started to smell sweet. Like the seaweed by the ocean, and then like cinnamon. It was so sweet, I was practically drooling. But when I first found you, the other smells went away and you invaded my nose with almond milk and honey. It was so sweet, so damn overwhelming. That's why I call you “sugar’, because you smell sweet," Liam explained to me. My whole heart melted with passion for my male. My beast whined and clawed at the ground of my mind.

She had never felt so fond of someone before. The way he talked about me and the way he looked at me made me feel like the most important girl in the world. I felt wanted and valued.

It was the best feeling.

"That's so... sweet," I said, no pun intended. Liam chuckled a little as I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled his lips down to meet mine.

Liam's lips were soft and sweet. His mouth was warm against mine and it sent chills down my spine. I hadn't kissed him in so long that it felt like I was doing it for the first time all over again

But his lips weren't strangers. No, they were much too familiar.

I pulled away first and looked at Liam wholeheartedly. He smiled at me and kissed my lips again before he pushed open the door and pulled me into the cabin

Liam and I sat at the dining table whilst Ezra and Jenny cooked. They were both humming tunes to each other whilst they buzzed around the kitchen. Jenny winked at me when I took my seat.

I rolled my eyes at her playfulness. I tucked my chair in and sat back. Liam sat beside me, his hand on my knee.

"Are you up for a conversation about your father?" Liam asked me cautiously. He was careful and I could tell he was somewhat stressed about the question he had just asked

The room became a little more tense. He was the first person to bring my father up in a while. It felt strange. To talk about him when he was dead.

"Uh, sure," I hesitated to answer, but I knew it had to be done. The conversation about my father was unavoidable. I nodded my head at Liam as a second form of reassurance. He looked at me a little unsurely.

"Are you sure?" He questioned. I hesitated again.

Did I want to talk about him? What was he going to say? Was he going to ask me about his death or about something to do with the rogues? I absolutely knew that I didn't want to talk about my feelings towards his death.

"Yeah," I nodded at him finally. Liam nodded back and sucked in a deep breath to ready himself for the conversation.

Ezra and Jenny went quiet in the kitchen. They didn't stop moving around, but they were listening. I felt a little nervous to speak about it, but I knew I had to. It was inevitable that I would have to eventually.

"Terialta is the pack with the tightest security on the state. How did rogues get so far into the territory unnoticed and take down the Alpha?" Liam asked me. I ran my tongue over my teeth anxiously as my mind began to race again.

"Beckett said that they had some sort of silver coated knife with them, and that they stabbed him. It would explain why he was so weak and unable to fight back,” I told him first. It was the only part about the attack that made sense.

"Fair enough, but why would they go after the Alpha? It was a suicide mission. They knew for sure that they weren't going to get away with it alive or in one piece,” Ezra asked from the kitchen. I looked up at him, noticing the confusion and definite concern.

He wanted to know things just as much as I did. He'd lost someone too.

"And how did they get into the pack unnoticed? To get into Terialta, we had to pass security checks with three different guards. They would have been seen," Liam asked as he shook his head. I bit my bottom lip as I thought.

It was impossible for the rogues to have passed through without being spotted. The patrols would have seen them. So how did they pass?

"Again, there was no scent of them to follow. No one knew which direction they came in through,” I said, shaking my head. Liam stared at me intensely before I sighed out loud and rubbed my forehead.

There was only one obvious answer.

"Obviously it was an inside job. There are traitors, inside Terialta."