Back "Home"

"Wake up!" A voice says.

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!!" The bed I'm in begins to bounce and I cover my face with the pillow.

"Come on Alic!" She takes my pillow and hits me with it.

I sit up.

"Mornin' bro!" Ruby grins at me.

"Morning Ruby." I mumble.

"Get up it's time for breakfast!" She yells. Throwing my pillow at me she jumps off the bed and runs out the door.

I throw myself back onto the bed. I have a sister! A dad! Family! I grin ear to ear.

"Come on Alaric. Get down here!" Dad yells up to me.

"Coming!" I yell back.

I make my way downstairs remembering the way to the kitchen. When I walk in I see my dad cooking and Ruby sitting at the counter.

"Have a seat son." Dad says. I crawl up onto the seat beside Ruby.

"Here you go pups!" He says placing a plate in front of each of us.

"Wow!" I gasp seeing the amount of food. Dad laughs.

"Gotta replenish your energy after last night... eat up!" He says. Ruby is already chowing down on her plate and dad takes a plate and sits next to me. "Eat." He says pointing to my plate with his fork. I look at him then my plate. I pick up the fork and eat.

"Alright time for school you two." Dad says

"Come on daddy can't we stay home today....please?!?" Ruby begs.

"Not today baby." He says

"No fair! You kept me home after my first shift!" She says

"I had to you couldn't control yourself Ruby. Go get ready for school now." He says. Ruby rolls her eyes at him and runs off upstairs.

I start to collect the plates.

"Leave them." Dad says "come here I need to talk to you." I stop what I'm doing and walk over to him. "I talked to Alpha Lilly." My heart jumped she is the  one that will get me out of the foster care system. "Its going to take a little longer than I'd hoped."

"No... I don't want to leave!" I yell. He can't send me away already.

"I know little one... but you have to go back." I whimper at the thought. I don't want to go. "I'm sorry buddy. If I had my way you'd be in this house every night but... we can't risk humans coming after you on pack grounds... we have to make it legal by human standards so we will all be safe."

"I... I don't want to... I can't live with them when you are here... I can't know I have family and not be with them!" I begin to sob and he pulls me into him. I grip my dad's shirt crying. "Daddy!" I felt him tense up at the word. He picks me up.

"I know pup. This is killing me too." I look in his face and see tears in his eyes. He takes me up to the room I slept in... my room... and sets me down. "Get ready for school... you have to go back to those people after." I can see his jaw clench.

"But..." I start.

"Please don't Alaric." Dad says desperately and I stop. He walks out the door.

I put on the clothes and they fit perfectly. The Jean's are dark blue. A bright red tshirt with a black squiggly design and a grey zip up hoodie that's a little baggy. The clothes look new. The nicest I've ever had.

I walk down stairs sadness filling me. Who knows when or if I'll be back.

"What's with your hair!" Ruby laughs at me.

"What?" I ask putting my hands on my head.

"Did you even try to fix it?" She asks.

"Ruby! Wait for Alic outside" Dad scolds her "come on Alic let's get you sorted." He leads me into the bathroom, picks me up, and sets me on the counter.

"Brush first." He says as he runs it through my hair. "Then gel... just a little bit." He puts a little gel on his finger tips and rubs them together. He works it through my hair making it swoop to the side. "Have a look." I turn into the mirror. I look... good. Like every other kid.

"Thanks." I say I can't look at him not wanting to break down again.

"No problem Alic... love you buddy." He says. I walk away faster trying not to cry.

Beta Clay POV

I woke up early to contact Alpha Lilly. The news was not good.

"He's my son why can't I just claim him?" I ask her.

"You can't prove he's yours." She says

"I can." I respond.

"What you want to bring him up to the humans and say "he's mine because his wolf is grey!" How well do you think that would work Clay." I know she is right but I don't like what she is saying.

"He looks like me as a human too." I argue.

"Its not enough Clay they would want a DNA test." She tells me.

I know we can't give humans our DNA. It's a miracle they didn't find anything strange when he was in the hospital. I guess it's because he hadn't shifted yet.

"Ok what can we do?" I ask.

"Well you are in a different state than my pack. I don't have the pull there... I'm working on it Clay but... you have to send him back." She says

"No! I can't do that!" I yell through the phone.

"It can't look like you are kidnapping him... we have to do it by the book." She says. I suppress a growl. I know she is right.

"I'm gonna trust you Lilly... I don't like it but I trust you... if they hurt him again!"

"I know Clay I'm going as fast as I can." Lilly says.

Alic's POV

"Come on everyone else is already leaving!" Ruby shouts and grabs my hand pulling me after the group.

"Hay guys this is my little brother Alic!" Ruby says as we catch up. The whole group looks at me.

"Hey everybody." I say with a small wave.

Two boys came up that look identical. I see Ruby roll her eyes.

"Hey a Beta kid" the blue eyed one said. Both boys are tall with dark auburn hair. The only difference is their eyes. One has blue and the other green. "I'm Ti this is my brother Malak."

"The Alpha's boy's." Ruby says.

"Hi Ruby!"Malic says "nice to meet you Alic!" He seems nice.

"Where you been if you're Beta Clay's pup." Ti asks.

"Well..."I start not sure what to say.

"Leave him alone Ti!" Ruby yelled.

"Temper Temper Ruby... hate to have you miss more school for wolfing out." Ti says.

"Shut it Tiberius!" She yells and he laughs.

"Knock it off guys!" One of the teens leading us yells and Ti smirks.

We walk the rest of the way to school with little talking but no one stared this time. They just seem to accept me now. Maybe I can make some more friends here.

The school day drug on. I kept mind linking Ruby asking about the pack. They well I guss I should say we are the biggest pack in North America. Lilly's is second biggest. Alot of the teens live in the pack house. Families have houses. The Alphas have a house next to ours. They are in our pack for the school year  and in Lilly's for the summer. The twins are a year older than me and I'm probably going to be Beta to one of them. That one got me... what exactly does a Beta do? I'll have to ask Dad later.

I couldn't focus on schoolwork knowing I have to go back to my foster family tonight.

As I head to the bus Ruby stops me. "Alic... I'll miss you bro..." she hugs me "I can't wait till your home!" She said that like I'd never see her again and I want to cry.

"Bye Ruby... see ya tomorrow." I say and walk away.

"What not staying with your girlfriend tonight?" Scotty asks as we walk toward the house.

"She's not my girlfriend... shes my sister." I tell him.

"Yea right you don't have a family runt!" He says punching me in the ribs.

"I do now! They love me and are going to take me away!" I tell him.

"Keep telling yourself that shrimp." He says pushing me onto the steps.

"They are!" I say to myself.

I scramble up the steps and through the door my new jeans torn at the knee.

"You're back I see?" Poppa Jay says as I enter.

"Yes sir." I say. My wolf growls at me for showing him respect.

"Go help with dinner. I'm hungry and don't want my lovely wife doing all the work... that's what we got you for right?" Poppa Jay says.

"No! I'm not yours I won't do it!" I think it has to be my wolf I never stood up to poppa Jay before he came along. He storms over to me and pins me to the wall by my throat.

"What did you say boy?!" He hisses at me.

"I said NO!" I choke and bite down on his arm. I can taste his blood.

"Why did I do that?" I think running up to my room. I shut the door.

"Because he deserved it " my wolf says.

"You made everything worse! We just had to wait for Alpha Lilly to figure it out. Who knows where they will send us now!" I scold him.

"I'm not very patient... and I'm not sorry!" He says.

"You will be when they send us away somewhere the Alphas can't help us!" I say.

"Not if we run... they won't find us!" As my wolf says that I start to pack what little I have but am stopped by the sound of my door being locked from the outside.

"What's your big plan now?" I ask but I can feel him ignoring me.

Beta Clay POV

I'm still in a rather foul mood... I want my boy back. Ruby rambles about her baby brother and all the fun they will have. Her bright attitude almost makes me feel better about this... almost.

"How long before Alic can come home?" She asks at dinner. I've been asking the same question.

"I don't know... we have to wait." As I said that my phone rang.

"Hello." I say roughly as I answer the call.

"We may have a problem Clay." I hear Alpha Lilly say.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"Alic's foster father." I can't control the growl that comes from her calling someone else his father. "I know Clay just let me finish... he called in saying Alic is out of control. That they want him gone." She says.

"That's good we can just take him in then." I say.

"No it's not good... I don't know what he did but they want him institutionalized." Lilly says.

"No... they can't... we can stop them!" I yell.

"I'm trying to get false documents to transfer him to a nonexistent hospital in Virginia but it takes time." She explains.

"Thanks Lilly." I say to her and hang up.

"Is Alic ok?" My little girl asks.

"I dont know baby." Is all I can say. I walk away from her with a kiss on the head "bed time little wolf." She scampers off upstairs not arguing for once. I sit in his room taking in his scent and focusing so I can open the link at this great a distance.

"What did you do pup?" I ask.