Chapter Four

Carter dropped us back at his house around forty minutes later, and after saying goodbye, we were back in my Dad's car.

"So what else did Ray say?" Henry demanded, as soon as the doors were shut.

I sighed as I pulled away from the kerb. "I already told you... Ray got a call, he called a pack meeting and sent me to collect you. I don't know anything else. If I did, then I would tell you."

I glanced over at him briefly, to see his mouth set in a thin line. I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Henry had this idea that, since he was almost eighteen, he should be given more responsibility in the pack. The problem? He also did not want to give up anything in his normal life either. I bit my tongue from pointing out to him that, had he been at headquarters and not at yet another high school party, Ray may have included both of us in the meeting.

Thankfully, the Barton home was only a couple of streets over. I don't think I could have lasted any longer trapped with Henry in such a small space. First of all, even though he had only been at the party a couple of hours, he had clearly more than made up for it judging by the smell of alcohol that clung to him. And, having never been to (or, come to think of it, invited to) any such events, I had never been faced with the delight that is Henry Barton when he was tipsy. He was apparently extremely irritable, and not much for conversation.

I breathed a small sigh of relief as we pulled up outside his home, but he didn't reach straight for the door handle. Instead, his gaze fixed straight ahead through the windshield for a few seconds before he spoke. "I'm sorry."

I glanced at him sharply. "What for?"

"Being a jackass to you... and Carter." He sighed. "I just wish Ray would let me be involved more, you know? He pulls me away from my life, from my friends, from..." he trailed off then, and I felt the ache in my gut.

"Sophia?" I finished for him.

He didn't confirm or deny it, but he continued speaking. "I just want to be involved more with the pack. I hate the idea of my Dad going out there, when I am stronger, and faster than him. And he has got Cady to think about."

"We don't know if there is really anything wrong though." I reasoned, although the fact that Ray sent me to collect Henry suggested there was something serious going on; either it was an excuse to get me out of the way so they could talk without me overhearing, or he genuinely was concerned about Henry being out. Or both. Either way, it suggested that there was something that Ray was worried about. "Besides, you know your Dad would never sit at home and let you go out on pack duty. He would prefer you and Cady to both be here with your Mom, if he had to choose between himself and you."

He sighed again, heavier this time, and then shook his head as if that force his emotions from his mind. The ache in my gut grew stronger at that. Sure, we still spend time together on runs and that was great. But without the pack? I couldn't help but think that there would be no me and Henry at all. We used to talk all the time, about anything or nothing, sharing our deepest secrets with each other, but that stopped a while ago. So when I got these little glimpses of him, and the relationship we used to have... I wanted to cling to them so tight that I risked suffocating us both.

"Anyway," He said, drawing the attention back away from him and snapping the lip firmly closed on the conversation. "You and Johnson? I didn't think you guys hung out any more."

I rolled my eyes. "We don't really, I just thought he might have been with you, since you were not answering your cell phone. Remind me again why your parents even pay for your bill?"

He chuckled lightly. "Sorry about that, I was busy talking to some of the girls, and Sophia..." He trailed off, and I cursed myself, suddenly realising I had actually rolled my eyes rather than just doing it in my head. "You really don't like Sophia very much, do you?" He asked.

"It's not that, it's just..." Now it was my turn to trail off, as I noticed his raised eyebrow. "Okay, it is that. I just think you can do better, that's all. She is so superficial and you are so..."

"What?" He prompted, a small smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth. My breath caught slightly, and I felt my cheeks heat from sitting so close to him, him looking into my eyes with such intensity. His mood seemed to have flipped so quickly from grouchy to playful, and I couldn't think of a single word to say, I was so thrown by it.

Perfect. That's what I wanted to say... what I wanted to scream, actually. I wanted to yell at him that he was perfect, and that I had been in love with him for as long as I could remember, and that his eyes, that were so dark brown they were almost pure black, set my heart racing. I wanted to say that I loved it when he grew just that thin layer of stubble over his face; enough to make him look ruggedly sexy, but not so much that he looks like Tom Hanks in Cast Away, like he tried last year. I wanted to tell him that his scent was so intoxicating to me that I found it hard to focus on anything else when we were together. But mostly? Mostly, I wanted to tell him how much I missed him, and his friendship.

What I actually said? What I actually said was the most ridiculous thing I had ever said in my life. "Good at sports and... and running... and stuff."

The smirk fell from his face, and was replaced with something that, for a second, looked almost like... disappointment? He quickly recovered, though, and a normal, friendly smile replaced it. "Thank you." He laughed, "It's good to know that I have sports and running going for me. Of course, you did beat me on that hunt earlier though, so I am not sure how true that is."

"So you finally admit it!" I laughed, playfully smacking him in the arm, trying my best to appear at least half as awkward as I was feeling inside.

"Yeah..." He chuckled. "Guess I had more to drink than I thought! Come on, let's get inside."

*

Mrs Barton made us both hot chocolate whilst Henry interrogated her for more information. Considering the first she heard about it was from us, she had nothing further to add, which only brought back the moody Henry from the car journey. Apparently playful Henry had once again withdrawn, and who knew when I would see him again.

At around midnight, all three of us tensed, hearing a car approaching. It stopped outside, and minutes later my Dad and Dan walked into the kitchen. They both froze, seeing three pairs of eyes trained on them intently, waiting for information.

"Dad, what's going on?" Henry demanded, before Dan had even had a chance to take his coat off.

Dan paused, but only momentarily, before continuing on. "Nothing really, son. The pack are just going to have some visitors soon."

I glanced over at my Dad, who was standing with his hands shoved into the front pockets of his jeans. He wouldn't meet my gaze, and when the weight of it got too much, he suddenly excused himself to go to the bathroom. There was definitely something going on that neither of them wanted to tell us.

"What visitors?" Henry demanded, and Dan sighed as he hung his coat up on the hook on the back of the door.

"Some delegates from the Canadian pack are going to be coming to town." He explained. "They will be here in a few days, and Ray has ordered a curfew for all pack members under the age of twenty one." He turned back then, his hand instantly going up to silence Henry, who had opened his mouth to protest. "We do not know these people, Henry, and we do not fully understand what they want. It is a precaution. You can still go to school, and play basketball. It just means that the cheerleaders will have to be without their eye candy at parties for a little while. And judging by the smell of you, you had a good last hurrah."

Henry glanced over at me then, probably expecting me to jump in and argue about the unfairness of it all along with him. Truth be told, though? It made no difference to me if this curfew lasted for the rest of the school year. Plus, it might mean I got to spend more time alone with Henry, since he would be away from his entourage.

I did have one question though, and I directed it at my Dad, who was coming back into the kitchen now, after leaving Dan to deliver the bad news.

"Can we still run?" I asked. The look on my Dad's face gave me the answer before his mouth did; he knew how much I enjoyed those times with Henry, even if I never admitted it. Plus, even though he never admitted it, I think he was always worried about the fact I had no friends my own age and only hung around with the pack, so he always encouraged me and Henry running on our own.

"Not without pack supervision." He said, and then shot me a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, cub."

I nodded, and glanced again at Henry. His look told me that he wasn't buying this any more than I was. There was absolutely no way that Ray had ordered a curfew, and only supervised runs, just because the Canadian pack was paying a visit. And what reason would they even have to make a visit across the border and down to us in Maine?

Later, on the drive home, Dad was trying to make idle conversation. Another tell tale sign that he was hiding something, and trying to distract me so that I didn't ask questions. It was his best tactic when I was a kid; get me talking about the latest Harry Potter film, that he definitely was not interested in, proven by the fact that Sierra had had to take me, Henry and Carter to see every single movie. But, when I was totally engrossed explaining every scene of the movie to him, I didn't notice that we were pulling up at the doctors, or the dentist, or anywhere else from the nightmares of children. Sometimes I still let him think it worked, but not tonight.

Once we were safely in the house with the front door locked, I spun on him. "What is really going on Dad?" I demanded. "Ray gets an unexpected call, demands an immediate pack meeting and sends me out to bring Henry home. When we get home, we are told that, just because some Canadian guys are coming, we now can't have any independence at all. Who are these mystery Canadians?"

Dad potters around the kitchen, picking things up from one counter and placing them back down on another, trying to appear busy. He doesn't answer straight away, but I stand, arms crossed defiantly, waiting for a response. Finally, the tension seems to get too much for him and he sighs. He places both palms flat on the counter and leans on them, as if for support.

"They are coming to discuss an alliance."

I raised my eyebrow, "An alliance? For what?"

"Maddie, I know you want to be involved, but this is way above you. I don't really know myself what is going on. But Ray... he's concerned. He wants to keep everyone safe, and this is what he has ordered. As your Alpha, you must obey him." Finally, he turns to look at me, "And as your father, I am asking you, please do as I say. I can't risk anything happening to you."

I studied his face for a few moments longer, looking for any more signs of him being dishonest. I didn't find any. He really didn't know any more, but he was clearly spooked. Dad was Ray's right hand man, and didn't spook easily. So I nodded, grudgingly, before heading to bed.

*

I was woken to the sound of a door closing. It was dark, but the moonlight hit my window and cast some light, despite the curtains being drawn. It was enough though; a werewolf only needed a small ray of light to be able to see.

I glanced down at my phone, which was plugged in charging on my night stand. The clock told me it was just after 3AM. Dad mustn't be able to sleep again.

I locked my phone again and rolled over, closing my eyes to drift off back to sleep again, when I heard a voice. I focused, tuning in my sense of hearing so that I could listen to the voices, which my ears had tracked down the hall and to the den.

"-worse than I made out." I heard Ray's voice, muffled, from him trying to keep it low. They assumed I was asleep, so they were careless enough to have the conversation inside. I stayed as still as possible so as not to alert them. "I didn't want to panic anyone, not until I had more information."

"What's going on, Ray?" My Dad asked.

Ray started speaking again then, but his words were cut off by the sound of a car driving by outside. I caught bits of it though, and I felt my blood run cold.

Rogues. Man eaters. Bodies.

There were rogue werewolves hunting humans. And they were heading our way.