Wild and Free

(Mason’s POV)

“You mean she reacted?” Kenzie asked, as the two of us drove home from our first day at the Human school.

I nodded, “She flinched but said that her friend shocked her.”

“Well did she?”

“I wasn’t looking at her friend.”

“Mason you know what this means?” she asked and I looked at her, “It means that the theory of static electricity is real! Holy shit this is revolutionary!”

I rolled my eyes, “I’m serious, there’s something not right about this girl.”

My twin played with the ring around her pointer finger that I gave her for our birthday, “So you think she’s a leech or something? Vampire scent is obnoxiously strong, I definitely would’ve caught it.”

“No not a leech but maybe another werewolf,” I shrugged, turning the car onto the long road that led to our new pack house.

We’d been staying there for two days and were getting quite comfortable with the conditions. Like my father had said, everything was new and the place was ginormous, bigger than we’d been used to. The Alpha suite was like it’s own apartment but my father spent most of his time with our Beta’s and the Donnelly pack’s old beta/old part time Alpha. There wasn’t really a term for that but his name was William so I’ll leave it at that. I guess it wasn’t really the Donnelly pack anymore.

Everyone had been so relieved when they’d been given the okay from my father to shift. We all were told where the best places to run were by William’s pack members. Needless to say we took off about two seconds after.

Bentley was glad to feel the fresh air on his coat. But the joy was cut short when we’d caught that scent again.

It was the most infuriating thing ever because it was a scent I could detect but not follow. It didn’t lead me anywhere. Sort of like when a person’s looking for their glasses and their in their hand or they’re wearing them. It’s right in front of me but I can’t find it.

So I just live with the misery that I’ll never find it.

“And I say again, I probably would’ve smelled them if there was another werewolf.” she said, inspecting her nails boredly.

“Not if she hasn’t been around a pack or shifted for a while.”

“Mason that just sounds ridiculous.”

“Kenz just trust me,” I said pleadingly.

She sighed but agreed, “Okay so what do you know about her? Why do you feel so uneasy about her? There has to be some kind of reason or evidence or I don’t know what to do to help you.”

“Well for starters her last name is Wilde,”

Her head snapped in my direction, “You’re kidding right?”

“Nope, our teacher addressed her this morning.”

“Wow,”

“Yeah,”

“But they’re all dead. All of the Wilde Alphas died, there’s no way that one of them would be alive or else they’d be ruling their pack.” she thought out loud, sounding just as confused as I felt.

The Wilde pack were the most powerful, famous pack in the country. They had the best territory with the best resources. Anyone that managed to become one of their allies was protected for life and feared almost as much as they were. But a couple years ago their entire Alpha family was kidnapped and tortured to death by some unknown rogue pack. Each of them, Alpha, Luna, heir, and two other children in the family all watched each other get killed right in front of them. It’s an awful story and one that every werewolf knows.

What was the most strange about the situation was the fact that no pack actually took credit for it. Werewolves are probably one of the most territorial creatures out there. We vie for power and leverage over the others. So when the top pack got taken down, especially in the way they did, it was a huge mystery as to why the executors did not identify themselves.

The rest of their pack sort of vanished after they got the news of what had happened to their leaders. The members were all the most skilled fighters and smartest known and if they joined your pack it was obvious. Those who didn’t rejoin packs are said to have hidden amongst the humans and live normally.

It’s been said that they had some of the most painful and rigorous training procedures to turn their members into warriors rather than just skilled fighters. They went to lengths of torturing each other to test their pain tolerance. I guess things like that might’ve come in handy in situations like their Alphas were in. Sadly that did not end as they probably thought.

“I have a few theories. One being that she survived but didn’t want to return to the pack. Maybe the threat of their enemies or whoever kidnapped her family scared her so she didn’t go back. And then two being that for some reason she isn’t allowed to come back. Or three being that she for some reason doesn’t know about her pack. Think about it. Maybe they are out there still, preparing to rise to power again. Maybe we could be in for it soon but we don’t know so maybe she doesn’t either. ”

Kenzie rolled her eyes, “Yeah and I have a theory. She’s just a normal human who just happens to have the same last name.”

“But did you see her hands though? Those scars on her palms? Don’t you think they could be from-”

“No buts brother,” she cut me off as we parked the car outside the pack house, “if no one can get a solid scent from her and she didn’t respond when you mindlinked her then it’s probably nothing, just another girl. Okay? Now drop this silly subject and try to enjoy this place. The house is awesome, the town seems nice, and the school will be fun. Come on, let’s go and get ready for dinner, we have the first Session room meeting today.”

I huffed but reluctantly followed her out of the car and inside.

People greeted us all the way in, knowing us as the Alpha’s children, even if they’d never met us. It was a little strange to say the least. We felt like celebrities but we hadn’t done anything to deserve it.

My sister and I left each other to go to our various rooms to change and work before dinner.

This was the first dinner that the Royal pack and the Donnelly pack would have together since we moved in. It was a pretty big deal, and after wards, the first Session would take place.

Sessions were very important meetings the were held at most once a week to discuss pack matters. It was usually where inventory, patrol rotations, and missions, if any, were worked out among the highest people in the pack. Today’s was an entire pack meeting, meaning everyone from both old packs would come together for the official meeting of their leaders and joining of the packs.

After about twenty minutes, I heard the bell chime, signalling the call for dinner. I sighed and put away the unnecessarily large amount of homework that I was attempting to complete, before changing and heading down to the dining hall.

I looked around and saw my Father and Kenzie, at their designated places at the head table. I made my way towards them, taking the empty spot on my father’s other side.

Everyone else took seats at the long banquet tables, set up for non authority figures. Honestly I’d sit with them if I could.

Once everyone was seated, William stood up from the other head table that sat his family.

“Attention, attention,” he called, his voice carrying over the chatter, and causing it to die down slowly.

“Thank you,” he smiled, nodding at everyone, “I’d like to thank all of you for being here tonight to welcome pack members new and old. Now, if you do not know of him already, I’d like to introduce you to your new Alpha, Alpha Pearce,”

Everyone clapped as William sat back down and my father rose.

“Thank you all, my family and pack have felt so welcomed the past few days and are eternally grateful for this chance that we get to change both of our packs for the better.” he boomed, his voice resonating all around the room. “While this situation is slightly unorthodox, William and I believe that this joining will make our pack more powerful, internally and externally. We have some of the most skilled fighters, leaders, and thinkers in this room and all over this territory that we are an unstoppable force. So I’d like to make this the official unification and creation of the new Royal pack. Now, enough about this and let’s all enjoy a glorious meal.”

The entire room was erupted in cheers and more gleeful applause. Instantly the air was filled with gleeful chatter as well as the sound of dishes and utensils clanking as people began to eat.

“So Mason, Mackenzie, how was the human school today?” Our father asked.

“It started off a little rocky because we accidentally took these girls seats in first period. They got in trouble for not being in them when we were, but I’m going to apologise tomorrow,” Kenzie explained.

I held back a scoff, “Necklace girl had every opportunity to tell us to move and so did her little blonde friend. I don’t see why you feel the need to apologize.”

“Necklace girl?” Kenz questioned, “Where’d that come from?”

“She rudely ran into me at that little diner in town on Saturday and caught her silly necklace on my sleeve.”

“You make it sound like she spit on you. I’m sure it was an accident,” she said, taking a sip of her water.

“I didn’t intend to but she just - something about her is not right.”

My father raised an eyebrow at me and looked at Kenzie for an answer, “What’s he talking about?”

She set down her glass, “Mason’s been getting some scent since we got here and he thinks that it’s from the same necklace girl. Her name is Auden Wilde-”

Our Father choked on his grilled chicken and looked around to see if anyone had heard Kenize.

“You’re not serious,” he whispered.

Kenzie nodded and smirked, “I am.”

“Did you get a scent or anything?”

“No, that’s what I was going to get to if you two would quit interrupting me!” she huffed, “I didn’t get any scent from her but I did some digging on her when we got home from school.” she pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and hand it to me, “It’s not much.”

I read the small contents aloud, “Auden Wilde, 18 years old, lived in White Chapel for a little more than two years, senior, honors student at WCHS. That’s it?”

My twin shrugged, “If you’re so interested maybe get one of our hackers to get more but that’s all I could find. It seems like everyone loves her here. But nothing gives any hint of her being connected to those Wildes.”

“What about the marks on her hands? The Wilde pack tortured each other for training right? So don’t you think they could be from that?”

Kenzie shrugged, “Scars can be from anything. Whether it be burns or just really deep scratches from a fall. It’s like a one in one hundred chance that they are from torture like that, even if she was in the Wilde pack. I don’t know anything about them doing that kind of training on their women.”

“There was one strange thing I noticed about her, and I’m not saying that it’s anything to support May’s claims,” Kenzie said. I looked at her curiously. “I hardly got anything from her in general.”

“What do you mean?”

Kenzie put her fork down, “I mean that I couldn’t catch her scent or hear her heartbeat. I couldn’t even see her future.” she whispered the last part, making my father’s face shadow with worry, as if this meant the girl was a threat.

One thing about Alphas was that each member of the family got a special ability. They were supposed to help while the family was in power, mostly to keep order and defend the pack if need be. Kenz and I were trained at a young age to use them. She got the ability to see the future.

It was a hard thing for her to control. Most of the time, visions would come at random times. But she’d come a long way from when they first developed. Back then the pressure from the head rush she’d get would make her pass out.

Mine was manipulation of objects. In some ways in was like telekinesis where I could move things with my mind, but I could also change the object itself. For example, you give me a random chunk of metal, I could make a cage, you gave me ice, I could make any shape. I could make an entire house out of raw materials with the right training.

My father always said that my ability was dangerous because, if I ever chose to, it could be lethal against people, which is why he makes me tell people that I only possess telekinesis. Nothing more. He could read minds which was sometimes an unnerving thing knowing that he always knew what I was thinking, however it wasn’t something that people feared him for. On the other hand, if people knew what else I could do, I would probably be the most feared Alpha in the country. Some people might think that was a good thing. Not me.

Kenzie was right, I hadn’t been able to hear Auden’s heartbeat either but I didn’t read too much into to. But knowing that my sister couldn’t use her ability on the girl made me even more suspicious of her.

“I just don’t get the scent thing,” I muttered, “I’m the only one that can catch it. It’s on and off but gets stronger around her.”

Suddenly my father broke out laughing. Kenzie and I traded a look of confusion.

“What?”

He stopped laughing and wiped away a fake tear. My father wasn’t the most humorous person ever, most of the time he was all business so this was very strange, even for us, his children.

“You haven’t stopped to think about what that could mean?” he asked like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Your mate, you blundering idiot.”

Kenzie burst out laughing too and I glared at her, “Wouldn’t I know for sure if that was what she was?”

My father smirked, “Later, definitely but not necessarily this early, not in a special case. You only met her what, twice?”

I nodded, “I refuse to believe that’s true. I would know.”

“Son,” Father addressed me, “I think sometimes you’re too serious and wrapped up in future Alpha drama to realize that you’re a werewolf just like the rest of us. Everything works the same for you as it did for me and will for everyone in this room.”

I tried to mask my expression but he was right.

Becoming Alpha after him was a lot of pressure, it was easy to forget about the normal werewolf and even just normal teenage things because of all that pressure.

“Okay fine,” I spat, “Maybe there is a microscopic chance that she is my mate. But if that’s true, if, then shouldn’t I feel more of an attraction to her? I mean what was it like for you?”

My father smiled lovingly but sadly at the memory of my mother, our Luna.

“For me I felt like I’d been slapped in the face,” he smiled, “I saw your mother across the room at some kind of party that my father had dragged me to. It was the cheesiest love at first sight thing ever.”

“See!” I pointed out, “Shouldn’t something like that have happened to me three days ago?”

He bobbed his head side to side, “Technically yes but like I said, special case.”

“Oh my god you people are ridiculous,” I said, rubbing my temple and shaking my head.

The two of them just sat there and laughed at me until the end bell rang, signalling the end of our meal and the end to that awful conversation.

~~AUTHOR’S NOTE~~

Comment, don’t hate, and read on!

~your Cheshire Cat loving friend