Chapter 17: Family (Pt 2/2)

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"I know, I'm sorry."

"Just let me know from now on, okay."

"Got it," I say.

"Hey, Ryder." Mist walks into the room. She has a phone to her ear. Correction—my phone to her ear.

"Why do you have my phone?" I ask Mist.

"Uh, it rang and I answered it? I think you should come and take it," she says, holding it out.

I take the phone and head into the hallway.

"Hello?"

"Ryder, I've found myself in a little bit of a pickle," Hunt says to me.

"What the hell did you do now?" I complain.

"I'm in need of assistance."

"Yeah, and what am I going to tell my parents? They don't know you are being forgiven and you and Mist are going to date?"

"Sneak out."

"I can't, I kinda just told my parents about, ya know, being a werewolf, and my mom kinda went off a little because she was aware of my sneaking out and I'm not allowed to leave unless I tell her where I'm going."

"What part of sneaking out do you not understand? You sneak out. Which means they don't know you left!"

"Yeah, and what happens when they do find out I left?"

"Okay, I get it, but I'm kinda running out of time here so can you make an exception this one time?" he whisper-yells into the phone.

"Okay, just tell me where you are, and I'll try my best to get there."

He gives me a rough location of where he is, and I hang up. I turn around to try and find my way out of the house, but I see my mom standing a few feet from me. She is giving me her mom look again.

"Uh, I ummm," I mumble.

"Is this normal for you? The constant sneaking out and lying?" she asks me.

"I want to say no."

"Am I doing something wrong?"

"No, Mom, no. You're amazing. It's just, life for someone like me is not the same as for other people. Life's more difficult."

"Who was on the phone?" she asks.

"You want the truth or a lie?"

"Assume I always want the truth." She crosses her arms.

"It was Hunt," I say, bracing myself for an explosion.

"Hunt?" she yells.

There it is.

"Mom, I wish I could sit you down and explain everything to you right now, but he really needs my help right now. So, can you please let me go?" I ask.

"He's the werewolf friend you were helping, isn't he?"

"Yes, and I can explain that, but just not right now. Please, please I need to go," I beg her.

"Alright, just come home in one piece, okay?" She starts to cry.

"I promise I'll get home okay." I bolt out the door to go save Hunt's ass. This feels like a regular thing now.

***

I come to a sudden stop. I sniff the air around me. It smells familiar. I can't quite place it though. I hear voices nearby. I pick up on Hunt's voice and follow it.

I walk into a clearing, and a large white mansion stands before me. I reorganize it as Daniels pack house. "Dammit, Hunt what are you doing here?" I complain to myself.

"Hey, you can't be here," a voice shouts at me.

I turn to see who has yelled and I am tackled to the ground. A big black wolf growls over me.

"Hey, hi, I know we haven't met. I'm Ryder, and I'm an old friend of Beta Daniel, so if you'd lead me to him, that'd be great." I offer a friendly smile.

He continues to growl.

"Levy, it's alright, he's a friend," Daniel calls out.

I glance over to see where he's coming from. I see him walking down the steps of the mansion.

Levy gazes over at him and reluctantly lets me go.

"Thank you," I say to Daniel.

"Any time, but I do have to ask what you are doing here?" Daniel says.

"Have you seen Hunt? He called me and said he needed my help and I heard his voice around here, but I can't seem to find him. Any chance you've seen him?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Levy has shifted back into his human form and is giving me a distasteful glare.

"Sorry, I have not." He notices Levy's dislike for me. "Don't mind him, he's just not a fan of outsiders."

"Yeah, I kinda got that feeling."

"Is the dumbass you're looking for about your height, dark hair, kinda looks like a douche?" Levy asks.

"Yeah, you seen him?"

"Alpha caught him poking around. He took him to his office," Levy answers blandly.

"Thanks," I say.

"I'll take you there," Daniel offers.

Silence falls over us as Daniel guides me to Hunt.

"Why do you stick up for this Hunt?" Daniel breaks the silence.

"He's not as bad as he seems. He's actually a decent guy. Trouble just has a tendency of finding him quite easily."

"Sort of like you used to be?" Daniel asks.

"I guess, yeah."

"Why did you turn down my offer to join the pack?" he asks.

"I really don't know, Daniel, but I'm glad I didn't because I wouldn't have ended up with the family I have now, and I can't imagine my life without them."

"They really do mean a lot to you, don't they?"

"Yeah, they do. So, what's the deal with Levy?"

He laughs. "He belonged to a small pack and it was destroyed by a group of rogues. There were only a few survivors. Levy was just a small child. He somehow wandered his way through the woods and stumbled upon our pack. Alpha found him and took him in and called him his own."

"How come I've never met him before?"

"He's actually quite shy, he's a lot better than he used to be. He would just hide in his dad's office or in his room. Didn't spend too much time outside of those places until recently," Daniel informs me.

"He didn't seem too shy about trying to take me down," I grumble.

He laughs again. "Like I said, he's not a fan of outsiders. He's very protective of this pack. He'll make a good alpha."

"Alpha doesn't have any of his own kids, does he?" I ask.

"No, but he treats Levy like blood and as far as he's concerned, he is."

Daniel stops at a set of large fancy wooden doors. I can hear banter inside. Daniel pushes them open.

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