Chapter Four

Monday could not come fast enough for Alison. The night before had been absolute hell for the young Alpha because there were two new Elementals in the pack: Ember Crest and Lily Samuels. Ember was the second, and last, Wind Elemental and Lily was a Fire Elemental. Welcoming two new members into the group was a huge thing, but it also took forever and wasn't traditionally done the same day as the full moon, it usually took place the week leading up. Alison was already exhausted and the school year hadn't started yet.

The morning they were supposed to start school, Alison woke up around four in the morning, two and a half hours before her alarm was set to go off. Not able to get more sleep, but not wanting to start getting ready yet, she just laid in bed and looked up at the ceiling. Trying to go over everything she still had to do that day once school was over for the day. Taylor needed her down at the building site so she could decide on interior design and then she needed to put this month's patrols together. There was just so much that needed to be done.

She didn't realize how long she'd been thinking things over, but it had been long enough for her alarm to start going off. She reached over and shut it off before slowly starting to get out of her bed. She wasn't used to having a bed now that she was living with Meri. It was a nice replacement for the sleeping bag. Before she could fully stand up Skylar was bursting through her door. She jumped at the sudden noise, not used to having one of those either. Her sister had her hair up in a towel and was wearing a light grey robe around her body.

"Which one is better for the first day of school?" the energetic girl asked, holding up two outfits. The first one was a light grey dress with long sleeves. The second one was a blue top with smoky grey jeans that had slits over the knees. Alison looked back up at her sister, then back down to the two outfits.

"I don't know Sky...the shirt and jeans I guess," she mumbled in a groggy tone. Her sister frowned as she looked down at the two outfit choices she had in her hands, then back up at her twin.

"Nevermind, I'll just ask Tristan," she muttered as she left the room, closing the door behind her as she went. Alison just rolled her eyes and walked over towards the closet so that she could pick out her outfit for the day. She settled on a day blue flannel and a pair of white jeans. She always dressed in clothing that was comfortable and not fashionable. Skylar and her really were complete opposites of each other.

Once she was finished getting dressed, she ran a brush through her hair and then slipped into her converse before heading downstairs and into the kitchen. Meri's house was huge, there were more rooms than Alison ever thought necessary for one person. But then again, some of the other Elders lived in the house too, like Haven and a few others that she didn't know the names of. The light was already on when she entered the kitchen and her little brother was sitting at the island, eating a bowl of cereal.

He looked up the second she entered the room and nodded in greeting at her. She returned the gesture as she opened the fridge and pulled the orange juice out. Nothing about living with Meri was familiar to her. She wasn't used to having actual food in the fridge and pantry. She wasn't used to a door or a bed in her bedroom, and she really wasn't used to having working bathrooms. The most surprising to her though was the lack of chores and rules. She wasn't expected to clean the whole house before she could leave or be back home before the sun was down. It was a nice relaxation compared to living with her father.

"You alright Ali?" Tristan asked in a groggy voice. He'd picked up on how distracted his sister was the second she'd walked into the kitchen.

"I'm fine, just not used to...any of this," she answered, sending him a small smile.

"Okay, I just wanted to make sure," he replied, returning the smile.

"Hey, where's Sky? She came barging into my room asking about outfits, but apparently, I didn't give her the answer she wanted so she went to ask you," Alison asked as she poured herself some juice.

Tristan chuckled dryly as he took a bite of his cereal. There was a small pause before he answered so that he could swallow his food and Alison stood there, waiting patiently. "Skylar thinks she has to dress her best for everything. She won't be ready for another hour and I promise she won't be wearing either of the outfits that she showed us. You learn to deal with it," he answered.

It was Alison's turn to laugh. It didn't surprise her that her sister was that much of a diva. "Alright well, I'm going to head down to Kallum's house, get a ride to school from him. Tell Skylar to hurry up because class starts at eight-thirty sharp," she announced as she left the kitchen and headed towards the front door. She still couldn't get over how magnificent the whole house was, it was like a mini-mansion on both the inside and the outside.

She walked down the pathway until she reached the street. It was a walk to get to Kallum's house because they were so far away, but she was used to getting a ride with him to school. Sighing, she went to take a step, when a familiar truck pulled up and stopped in front of her. She smiled softly and hurried towards the passenger's side, hoping in. Kallum was in the driver's seat, a huge grin on his face. "Did you really think I'd let you walk to my house just for a ride to school?" he asked.

She shook her head and buckled her seatbelt before replying. "I just need to get my license already. I have a best friend who's trying to sell his jeep because he got this new truck that he thinks is better, even though it likes to break down every ten miles."

He scoffed as he pulled away from the house and towards the road that led towards the highway. "You know, the truck's been a great help so I don't really want to hear it, Ali. Besides, I thought you like this old truck anyways? You helped me pick it out after all," he remarked.

"I only helped you pick it out because you wouldn't shut up about wanting a truck and not a jeep," she retorted, sending him a knowing look.

"Well whatever, I've already sold the jeep to Jason, something about him needing a new vehicle," he announced.

"It's not for Ember, is it? She's only just turned fourteen, that's far too young for a new car," she inquired, looking over at him.

"Um...no I don't think it's for Ember, I think he's just sick of the small car he has," he answered, keeping his eyes on the road. Alison nodded and leaned back in her seat, settling them into a comfortable silence. She watched as the forest slowly trickled into houses and then stores as they grew closer to the city and the school.

As soon as they pulled into a parking space, Alison hurried out of the car and up towards the school. Kallum was hot on her trail. She pushed her way through the small number of students that were already at school until she reached the front office where she knew she could find her schedule for the first semester. She had to plan out her schedule so that everything fit together perfectly. She'd still be stressed beyond belief, but at least she'd be organized and stressed.

Kallum had always been confused about how she didn't explode, especially with everything she handled. She didn't let him in ever, because she thought it was her burden to take in all of the Alpha work and not his. But that didn't stop him from wanting to help, and he was done letting her think it was fine that she takes it all in herself. The second she returned from the office, holding two schedules in her hands, he grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her into a secluded area. "Kal?" she asked, looking up into his forest green eyes.

"You need to stop," he replied quickly, looking right back at her.

"What?" she asked. Confusion clouded her brain as she tried to think about what he was talking about. Her eyes inadvertently went down to the schedules in her hands. Had he meant she needed to stop getting his schedules for him too? She'd been doing it since moving back, it was habit by now.

"I need you to give me more responsibilities in the pack. I'm Alpha too, temporary or not. I am Alpha just like you, they're my pack as well. I'm sorry if that makes it seem controlling or harsh but Ali it's the truth. We're a team, we're in this together. You need to give me half the work so that you're not doing everything yourself, you can't keep going like this you'll be grey before you turn twenty at the rate you're going," he answered, tilting her head back up so she was looking at him again.

"Kal, if you get used to being Alpha and then I imprint on someone, you won't be Alpha anymore. It'll be too hard for you to just...step back. It'll be hard on the pack, it'll be hard on whoever I imprint on. It'll be hard on me. Just let me do what I'm doing now, okay? Please, it's all I ask and we know I don't ask for very much," she replied gently.

Kallum sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. He knew that she never asked for anything, she was always just too scared or too proud to ask for it. Maybe a mix of both. He understood why she didn't ask anyone for anything, so he knew he had to respect that. "Yeah, you're right. I just...I really hate seeing you like this is all Ali, so if you ever need anything you know I'm here and that's where I'm going to leave it," he finally said, looking back over at her.

"Thank you Kal," she whispered as she handed over his schedule before heading off to find her locker for the year. She was thankful that he didn't push the subject further or try and wear her down until she gave in to what he wanted. Though of course, she knew he'd never do that, not to her and not to anyone. He was the biggest gentlemen she'd ever met. He knew how to treat girls because he grew up with a lot of sisters but he was brought up correctly. She respected that he cared enough about her to try and take on some of her work, but she couldn't do that to him, not now and probably not ever. He didn't deserve that.

~~~

The second the bell rang for the end of the day, Alison was already out the door and heading for her locker so she could get her bag. The second she arrived at the locker, a familiar blonde was waiting for her. Skylar turned to face her, an unamused smirk on her face. "You couldn't wait five minutes for me to be finished this morning?" she asked as Alison got closer.

"Sorry Sky, I like to get here early on the first day," Alison replied as she reached forward and opened her locker. Skylar watched as her sister quickly stuffed everything into her backpack before slinging it over her shoulders and slamming the locker door shut.

"You in a hurry?" Skylar inquired as she stepped into pace with her sister. They were walking quickly down the now empty hallways, heading for the parking lot.

"I have too much to do today Sky. Make sure that when you get to Meri's, Tristan does his homework instead of going out with friends. He needs to pass junior year. Oh and also make sure you both do your chores, I'll do mine when I get home tonight before bed so don't worry about that. Don't wait up for me either, I don't know when I'll be home but it'll probably be really late," Alison replied as she quickened her pace.

They walked through the front doors of the school to see Kallum waiting in his truck. Alison flung her bag through the window first before prying the door open, ready to jump inside. "Ali, you can't keep overworking yourself," Skylar said as she put her hand onto the door, keeping it from closing.

"Sky, I'll be fine. Just do as I asked, please," she replied, looking back at her twin sister, who looked hesitant to do as asked. There was a small moment of silence before the young blonde nodded and carefully closed the front door. Alison watched Skylar's form grow smaller and smaller as Kallum drove away from the school. Once she was no longer visible, Alison turned her attention towards the road. "I need you to put together the border patrol for the next couple of months, at least through December," she announced quietly.

Kallum nodded but kept his mouth shut. He was too scared she'd change her mind if he said anything. Instead, he kept his focus on the road so that he didn't tell her how proud he was of her for finally accepting help. They drove the whole ride in silence, neither of them wanted to ruin the moment with useless words. Least of all Kallum. He was busy trying to figure out who to put into groups and how often in the week to have them do patrols. He knew that the leaders of each group would have to be one of the Betas, Omegas, or Alphas. He didn't want to stretch Alison anymore than she already was.

The second they pulled up into Kallum's driveway, the front door opened to reveal Andreia and Roze. Alison jumped out of the truck before it had even stopped moving, and hurried over towards them. "What's wrong? Why aren't you down at the construction site, waiting for us there?" she demanded.

"The smell is back, only it's spread out," Andreia replied, looking Alison over. The Alpha nodded her head, signaling for them to lead the way. Behind them, Kallum shut the truck off before hurrying after them. They entered into the trees and carefully walked down the worn path until they were a second away from a part of the forest that none of the pack had ever entered. It was so thick with trees and shrubbery that no sunlight could seek through, making it dangerous to enter.

Alison knelt towards a shrub that looked like it had been trampled on. She reached forward and grabbed one of the leaves between her fingers. She lifted her head and looked into, what they called, the Dark Forest. The wind picked up, hitting Alison with a strong scent of...blood. She jumped to her feet and spun around to face Kallum. Noticing her panic he stepped closer. "Blood, I smell fresh blood," she announced.

He turned his head to the side in confusion before tilting his head up and smelling the air. He picked up the familiar scent and snapped his head back towards Alison. "Call a meeting, the whole pack," he instructed. She nodded in response as he turned towards Roze. "Go get Meri, Skylar, and Tristan, they're too far away to hear the call and Meri needs to be here because she's Head Elder," he added. Roze didn't hesitate, she hurried off out of the woods to do as instructed.

Alison closed her eyes so that she could focus her thoughts on the rest of the pack. 'Emergency pack meeting at the sacred rocks. No time to waste. I repeat, emergency meeting at the sacred rocks.'

Once she'd finished calling the meeting, the three of them hurried back through the trees until they reached Kallum's truck. Alison jumped into the bed as they took off down towards the meeting area. The wind whipped through her hair as they sped down the road, as fast as the truck could go. As they pulled up towards the Sacred Rocks, the rest of the pack was already waiting.

Alison hopped out from the bed of the truck and started making her way up towards her spot on the rocks. She stood on the highest point so that she could look down at everyone below her, but still was able to hear everyone, and they could all hear her. Kallum was quick to join her, followed by their two Betas on the rock ledge below them, and their Omegas on the ledge below that. Once everyone had calmed down, she began to speak.

"On our border with the Dark Forest, our patrols picked up on a scent. Now I know, we always pick up on a random scent now and again, but this one...this one was way worse," she looked out at everyone in front of her. She spotted her siblings instantly, standing right next to Meri on the edge of the clearing. Skylar was looking right back at her.

"What's wrong with the new scent? How bad can it be for you to have called an emergency meeting?" one of their pack members called up. It had been Ember, Jason's younger sister and one of the two Wind Elementals.

Alison turned her attention back towards the matter at hand. "Yes, thank you, Ember. I went out and investigated myself, the only scent I could pick up on was a fresh scent of blood. Not animals either, most definitely human," she answered, looking over at Kallum. He nodded and stepped forward slightly.

"We're going to take every precaution necessary, but we're doubling up on our border patrols. If you get scheduled more than once for a border patrol then we're sorry, but we need to keep the pack safe, no matter the cost," he called out. This caused an uproar in the pack. It took a while for everyone to calm down so that Alison could continue the meeting.

"We know that it'll be hard, especially with school having just started. That's why we ask that if you're feeling overly stressed already or if you have a big test or project coming up, then you come to us and we'll work around it. Your education comes first, always to us, nothing is more important than that. However, if you have extracurricular activities, like football or theatre or even a job, we can also work around that but it'll be your responsibility to find someone to take over for you. We don't mean this to come off as rude or not caring, but we are a huge pack and education really is the only thing we're concerned with," she called out. This caused another uproar.

"What about this!" Kallum called out, making his voice project louder than the ones yelling back at them. Alison really did feel like a failure right now with how she was handling things, but she didn't know a better way. "How about if you have to work or if you're needed for football or whatever, just come to me and I'll take your shift for those days. Sound fair?" he asked. There were a few hushed whispers from below as they thought this over.

"I will too! Any shift that you can't make I'll cover. But remember that you can't do anything the day of a full moon, we can't risk our pack secret getting out to the world, it would be terrible," Alison added. This seemed to get them to all understand just how important the pack really was. They'd all grown up knowing what they had to do, but none of them really understood why it had to be done, some of them still didn't, but if their Alpha was warning them, then it must've been important.

"Okay, now that we're all on the same page, I'll be uploading the schedules weekly from now until the end of the year. If you want to know if you're scheduled I'll post it up at my house where everyone can see it," Kallum announced. Alison looked over at him and nodded slightly, he returned the gesture. They hadn't discussed where he'd post the schedule but she appreciated that he came up with that on the spot.

"Alright, meeting adjourned. Everyone go back to what you were doing, and don't forget we have a no-moon night coming up, it's one of our weakest nights so I expect everyone to take care and preserve their energies," Alison said. The pack nodded as they slowly started to disperse. Alison and Kallum watched them leave before she turned to face him. "Thank you Kal, I appreciate it," she whispered before she started to make her way down the Sacred Rocks.

It took her a few minutes to get down towards the construction site. The sun had already started to set, showing just how late in the day it actually was. The meeting took longer than she'd anticipated, mostly because of how long it takes to get down to the Scared Rocks. Going through the house plans wasn't even the last of her agenda today, she still had chores and homework when she got back home. She did a power walk down the wooden path until she got to the skeleton of a two-story house. The walls were up and there were holes where the windows and doors would go, but nothing else had been done yet. It had been maybe a month since the crew had started so it wasn't surprising that this was as far as they'd gotten.

"Alison, I wasn't sure you were going to make it," Taylor said as she walked out of the house and towards the young Alpha. Alison smiled softly as she looked around the surrounding area. Nothing but trees surrounded them, it was a beautiful sight. Alison enjoyed the privacy that trees could offer.

"It was on the list for today, I'm just glad you're still here. What did you want to show me? Kallum said it was important," Alison finally replied as she turned to face the girl.

"Right, follow me inside. It's not so much important as it's me just making sure it's how you're wanting it," she said, already leading the way into the house. Alison stepped in behind her and looked around in awe. They were standing in the entryway hall right now. On one side there was a door frame that led into what looked to be the master suite. On the other side was an archway leading into a bigger room that Alison guessed was the living room, and in front of them was the beginning of a staircase.

"I like it so far, this is the master?" Alison asked, pointing towards the room to their right. Taylor nodded before leading the way into the living room. The walls were lined with windows, or at least with the holes for windows. It would let in some natural lighting for sure. A fireplace sat at the corner of the shared wall with the front of the house. She could imagine how she'd decorate this room alone.

The kitchen was right off of the living room, giving off an open room look. It was spacious and you could definitely tell which room was which. "We put up a half wall but then decided to take it down because it just didn't feel right, however, there is this full wall right here because we're going to put the fridge and some cabinets against the wall. Other than that we kept it very open floor," Taylor explained as she led the way further into the room. Alison nodded as she followed after her. The kitchen was huge, but only because it also opened up into the dining room, which was perfect. There was another door frame that showed the backyard, which was nothing but a clearing surrounded by trees.

"We're not done out back yet, Ryan had this idea to do a pool back there, but then Roze said you'd need a garage so we're still figuring it out," Taylor said as she walked up behind the young girl.

"Garage could go in the front, not attached to the house but also not behind it. I'll show you where when we leave," Alison replied as she turned to face Taylor. She nodded in response before leading her back towards the entry hall. Alison noticed for the first time a small hallway next to the stairs where you could go down. "What's down there?" she inquired.

Taylor sighed as she turned to face Alison. "Alex thought he knew something about construction, despite never using a hammer in his life, and tried to make a hallway to the bathroom. Low and behold, only an animal can fit down that small gap, we tested it with River and Alex. Only River could get through, so now we have to go through and fix it by bringing the stairs in a little," she answered. Alison held in a small laugh by nodded and looking away.

"Sounds like him all right,' she finally managed to get out. Taylor just shook her head in response before going to head upstairs. Alison went to follow her, before stopping suddenly. Something about going up the stairs didn't sit right with her. "Mm, maybe I'll look up there when you guys finish the floors and walls out, that way I don't accidentally fall through," she whispered.

"That might be a good idea, Alex also helped up there too. Can't kick him off the site because he's Omega and so he has to supervise," she agreed. At this Alison finally, let out a small laugh that she quickly covered as a cough. Just imagining Alex trying to do construction work seemed funny for some reason.

"I'm sorry, I just can't imagine him doing any sort of construction work, it's just not who he is," she explained quickly. Taylor laughed too, much to the young Alpha's surprise. They were both laughing now, though not for very long before they both stopped.

"No you're right, it is a little funny. I just can't wait to see what it's going to be like when Justin comes up tomorrow to help, he hasn't had the chance yet because he's been busy. Ryan thinks he'll know what he's doing but who knows at this point," Taylor explained as she led the way out of the house. Alison was right behind her the whole way.

As soon as she stepped back outside, Alison headed right over towards where she thought the garage would be best. There was a small clearing between a few trees that they could build it in and hopefully not disturb any of the greenery. "This is the spot, it would be perfect for a small garage I think. That and it's still close to the house so I won't have to trudge too far to get inside during the winter," she announced.

"That's a great place for the garage actually, thanks, Alison. As soon as we finish the house you'll be the first to know. We're trying to get you moved in as soon as possible," Taylor replied as she looked Alison over.

"I appreciate it, Taylor. Keep up the good work, and tell Alex I said to stop trying to build big parts in the house. Let him paint or sand, something easy so that he doesn't hurt himself or others please," Alison instructed.

Taylor chuckled softly as she nodded. "Will do, maybe I'll have Ryan teach him how to properly build, but I'm not sure it'll help because he is kind of clumsy. We'll figure something out," she replied in a gentle tone. Alison nodded before she turned and made her way back towards Kallum's so that he could give her a ride home. It had been a long day and already the sun had fully depleted from the sky. One day down, far too many left to go.