Amber Silverblood: Silverpack

Chapter Ten

"No! Absolutely not!"

"Mom, seriously," I groaned, falling backwards onto the couch. "I—"

"Don't you 'Mom, seriously,' me, young lady," she snapped, walking around the couch to wag her finger in my face. She's lucky she was my mom, or I might not have resisted the wolfish urge to bite her finger off. "You are not leaving this house."

I threw my hands up in the air. "I can't believe you're doing this again!" I yelled back. "Because it worked out so well last time, right?"

"This isn't up for discussion, Amber," she said, stamping her foot for emphasis. "You're not going anywhere. Nobody is!"

Stifling a yawn, I sat up and glared at her through dark-ringed eyes. I hadn't slept a wink last night. As brave as I was trying to act around my mom, I was just as terrified as she was. Maybe even more so. Still, this whole situation had helped me realize that there was one thing me and my wolf side could agree on wholeheartedly: even if Becky was out prowling the woods around Stark's cabin, neither of us wanted to stay cooped up inside. I may not be an alpha, or even a particularly dominant wolf, but I wasn't going to let an oversized hyena take control of my life.

"Good thing it's not your decision, then," I growled, and turned toward the door just as Stark opened it and stepped inside. "Stark's the alpha around here, not you. He gets to decide whether we're confined to the pack house or not."

"And I know he'll make the right decision," Mom snapped, folding her arms as well and tapping her foot on the expensive living room rug. "I know he won't make my daughter and a helpless little girl leave the house when there's that- that monster hunting them!"

Stark looked back and forth between me and my mother, tossing his gloves on the floor and rubbing his hands together to warm them. He looked even more tired than I was, which wasn't surprising. Against both my and Mom's protests, he had gone right back out after dropping me off at the cabin. He'd stopped back a few hours later to warm up, and explained that he was putting up some security measures around his property. He admittedly didn't know much about Becky, so he could only guess at her weaknesses, but hopefully they would be enough to keep her out. I wasn't so sure. I'd once seen the world's largest man hit her with a sledgehammer that could have totaled a bus, and it had barely staggered her. Whatever Stark had done in the woods, I doubted it could stop her if she really wanted to get here.

"Turn on the TV," he grunted, throwing his coat on the floor with his gloves and sitting down in his favorite recliner.

"Turn on..." my mom stammered. "Stark, we're talking about something important!"

"Just do it!" he snapped, his lack of sleep stealing away his usual excessive amount of tolerance.

I reached to grab the remote before Mom did, and turned on the TV. Stark was my alpha, after all, not hers. If he gave an order, someone who was actually in his pack should carry it out. The TV came to life, and a Tom and Jerry rerun appeared on the screen.

Stark growled in irritation. "Turn it to the news, Amber."

I did as he asked, and we all fell silent as the morning's headlines flashed past us. Someone in Florida had adopted a two headed dog, something I might have found interesting if more pressing matters hadn't been weighing on my mind. Stark didn't seem to be paying any attention to that, though. His eyes were on the bar of scrolling text on the bottom of the screen.

Mom and I realized what he was thinking at the same time.

"Whoa, really?" I asked.

"No!" Mom yelled.