Wild and Free

(Mason’s POV)

I’d never been very good at explaining things. It just wasn’t something that came naturally to me. And it was strange because my sister had always done it so fluidly. Sure I lie and act and anyone would believe me, but when it came to explaining, and telling the truth, it was always better if someone else took the lead.

Once I’d come back from Auden’s house I went straight to the infirmary to see my sister.

When I got there I saw her in one of the beds lined up along the wall. She’d been well taken care of, not that I’d ever doubted it. The gash on her forehead was patched, but likely healing and the cut on her lip was now only a dark red mark. The bruise on her head was still evident but not as severe as before so that was a good sign.

The only thing that really terrified me was her reaction. Kenzie could get a little scary when she was mad.

“You told her what?!” Kenzie screamed, making me wince. I shushed her, taking into account some of the nurses and a stray sleeping pack member a few beds away, all of which knew nothing about the past couple of hours.

“She blackmailed me! I didn’t have any other choice,” I explained.

My sister rolled her usually brown eyes that were identical to mine, “Auden is not the kind of person to do that.”

“That’s what I thought too. She said she didn’t want to but she hated the idea of possibly being in danger without knowing the truth behind it,” I said. “So she said that if I didn’t give her some answers that she’d tell someone and try to find some herself.”

“I get where she’s coming from,” she agreed. “I think we have to. We can’t have her going off and telling the whole town.”

I’d told Kenzie everything that had happened after she left and everything that Auden had said at her apartment while we were alone.

“I can’t believe she told you,” Kenzie breathed, looking at the end of her bed, shocked.

“You knew? About her parents and her house?”

She nodded, “I knew about her being on her own and that Cassie helped her get an apartment when she moved here but I’ve never been there. You should consider yourself lucky that she brought you,” she paused and looked at me. “Why did she?”

“Well like I said, those wolves battered me pretty good,” I pulled up the hem of my shirt to show her the bandages. “Auden brought me back there and helped me patch up.”

“And she doesn’t know that there won’t even be a scar tomorrow? Oh god what are we going to do?” she said, rubbing her down her face. “Is she okay at least? And Cassie?”

“Cassie wasn’t hurt, just really shaken up but Riley was able to calm her down, though I have no idea how,” I informed her. “But one of the guys choked Auden. I was held back and they made me make a deal with them before they let her go. She’s got some bruises on her neck which, I guess if you’re feeling up for it, you’ll see tomorrow…”

She was silent for a second, processing what I’d said.

“Is this all really worth it though?” I asked and she looked at me with confusion. “I mean, say we don’t tell her anything and she goes off and spills about everything she saw. Who realistically would believe her? Werewolves? To any normal human that would be laughed at.”

“You’ve got a point but she’s my friend, I’m not just going to live out the rest of my school year with her hating me because I’m keeping a secret from her. Especially right after she almost got killed.”

This time I rolled my eyes, “You can’t be serious. We don’t even have to be there! Going to human school is a choice, I did it because you did. If we really wanted to, we could stay home like all of the others. We’ve done it for years what difference would it make now?”

“The difference is that I like it there!” she argued. “I liked being taught by different teachers. I like getting up and leaving the room every once in a while instead of sitting in the same spot all day. I like seeing people that I haven’t known since I was a pup. And I like my friends! It’s not something I can just throw away as easily as you can.”

“Kenz, we’ve been here for less than a month, how attached can you have gotten in that time?”

“When they’re good people you don’t have to have known them for long, you can just tell,” she said quietly. “And I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I can see thte freaking future! I’ve seen parts of my life with these girls and I know I can’t just ignore those possibilities because you’re scared of getting in trouble. I trust these girls. Just look at you. I mean, you’ve known RIley and Greyson for years.”

“Exactly, years,”

“But have you spent time with anyone else? I bet you don’t even know most of the names of the people our age in our pack, whether they’ve been with us since the beginning or not,” she went on. “When you found the friends you needed and trusted, no one else really mattered. There are tons of people our age in the pack but you only spend time with then they way real friends do.”

I knit my brows, confused, “I don’t understand. Back in Arlington you had tons of friends. What changed?”

She sighed and played with dressings on the cot she laid on, “I don’t know. Maybe they did. Maybe I did. But it doesn’t matter. Those people might have been nice to hang around but I haven’t felt like I actually belonged with anyone in forever. And now that I’ve started to, I’m not going to throw that away just because it’s against the rules.”

I snapped my fingers, “But that’s exactly it! It is against the rules. I’m going to be Alpha one day. I don’t know if I can risk that for some girl.”

My sister looked at me with disappointment, “Some girl? Don’t forget that she tried to help you. She let you into her life, telling you the one secret she’s kept from an entire town for two years. That has to count for something in your book.”

I struggled to meet her gaze, feeling like she could shatter the ground beneath me if I did.

“And if it doesn’t?” I asked.

She sighed, “Then I guess you’re not the Alpha I thought you were.”

~*~

My sister’s words had hit me hard. I found myself unable to fall asleep, thinking about them.

Had it really been so easy for me to forget about people? To leave them behind as if they meant nothing.

It made me think back to everyplace we’d traveled, to every person I’d ever possibly connected with. Most of the time, since we’d been taught from home, we didn’t see many people out age, but when we did, it wasn’t hard to like them. I mean, who didn’t like the unexpected and the mysterious.

I remembered one town we’d gone to for a short while on a meeting with one of our pack allies.

Flashback

When we’d first arrived I wandered around the town for a while, just as I’d done when we came to White Chapel. I was minding my own business when I heard a big crash coming from a random shop with a garage door. I ran to the noise to find a guy around my age who was staring down at a rack of pieces of metal that had fallen into a heap on the ground.

“Are you okay?” I’d asked him.

He looked at me, startled. At the time I was about seventeen and he looked to be about the same. A mop of blonde hair covered his head and he had car grease smeared on his face. His dark green eyes burned with anger and stress.

“Oh yeah totally fine except for the fact that the universe fucking hates me!” he said, throwing his hands in the air in frustration.

I looked at him quizzically.

“Yeah yeah, I’m okay,” he mumbled, bending down to pick up the big pieces of metal.

I debated for a second before deciding to help him. It was weird to remember because now, I probably wouldn’t have even stopped.

He glanced over at me while I lifted the heavy iron shelf back into its place against the wall with a grunt.

“I haven’t seen you around,” he observed, picking up a few random car parts. “Are you new?”

Putting down a scrap of a broken car bumper on the third shelf, “Sort of, I’m just passing through for a couple weeks. We’re probably not staying.”

“Who’s we?”

“My- um -family,” I lied.

“You don’t sound so sure,” He chuckled. “It’s the same with me. My step father owns this place,” he gestured to the mechanic shop we stood in, “and he forces me to work here.”

“So I take it you don’t enjoy it?” I asked, grabbing another piece, as did he.

He shook his head and scoffed, “Are you kidding? This place is haunted or something. Everything I do gets messed up. My step father banned me from actually working on the cars because there were too many accidents.” he put the last word int air quotes. “Yet I still manage to screw things up,” he added, tossing a small scrap onto the metal rack with a clang.

“And you don’t quit because?”

We both brushed the dirt off our hands standing back up.

“Yeah, wouldn’t that be amazing,” He muttered. “So you and your family aren’t staying? Why not?”

I shrugged, “Like I said, we might be staying, nothing is really ever set in stone in my family. We’re meeting some people in the city and if all goes well then hopefully we can stay.”

He shot me a lopsided smirk, “You make it sound like it’s life or death,” he joked.

“You never know,” I muttered.

“Either way,” he finished. “Well, I’m an idiot, thanks for your help with that in there,” he gestured to the shelf again. “I’m Elliot by the way. Elliot Gardener. Nice to meet you,” he introduced, holding his hand out to shake, the other shoved in his pocket.

It was an uncharacteristically proper greeting for humans, especially at the time.

I took hold of it and nodded, “Mason Royal. It was nice to meet you too, but I have to get back.”

“I’ll see you around,” He said with a wave which I half returned as I turned around to leave, muttering a quiet, “Maybe,” to myself.

Flashback over

I hadn’t thought about Elliot in years. We ended up staying in that town for a couple weeks and I’d become pretty close with him. But as always, pack duties came first. One day the two of us were skipping stones in the stream nearby for fun, and the next I was leaving a note in his shop to tell him I was sorry.

He never knew why I left, which was probably what made me feel the worst.

But would it really have been worth it? Telling him even though I knew I’d be leaving?

I guess that was what Mackenzie was trying to get me to decide. Though I suppose the circumstance were different now that we were in a town we’d been staying in. and because the girl was one that had pretty much saved my life.

Both Auden and Cassie seem like people that could be trusted. Auden, she kept secrets of her own, most definitely. And her friend seemed to keep those secrets too. Nothing about that was really what made me nervous.

What did was the fact that having them around might look suspicious to anyone from my pack and I couldn’t have that. If anyone, even one single member, thought anything about me was off, that would mean that they wouldn’t trust their future Alpha. I could not let that happen. And breaking the rules would.

It made me wonder if it would be worth calling her bluff. Would Auden really spill if we didn’t tell her the truth about us? I wasn’t completely sure I wanted to test that theory out.

Which made doing the opposite all that more unnerving.

~~AUTHOR’S NOTE~~

I love Elliot he has such a relatable personality. Anyway the next chapter will be romance drama oooooo I know I know whatever and the chapter after that will be a lot of the characters explaining.

As always comment, don’t hate, and read on!

~your Cheshire Cat loving friend