Chapter 2

Layla

The pack house is huge, a monstrosity. It screamed money, a high maintenance lawn surrounding the mansion. Blood Moon pack owned many businesses all over the United States and Canada which funded this lavish lifestyle. Alpha Victor believed in giving back to the society and Blood Moon pack has numerous educational institutions and hospitals to its name. A lot of the institutions were built as a joint venture between the Blood Moon pack and the Fitzgerald Enterprise. The Fitzgerald Enterprise is owned by Robert Fitzgerald, who was Alpha Victor and Dad's friend from their university days. The Fitzgeralds are a part of the Blood Moon pack but had lived away from the pack territory for a few years now due to Robert's numerous business ventures, leaving their seventeen-year-old son in Corcine Valley for his education in the pack school.

Dad was unloading our luggage while mom ran over to hug Luna Daisy. Alpha Victor's voice boomed "Long time huh, James". "Couldn't wait to get back to the pack Vic". My dad and Alpha Victor do their 'bro hug'. Alpha Victor looks over to me and there is a sparkle in his eyes. Josh, Rose and me moved our luggage to the smaller, but still larger than our previous Villa in front of the pack house, while our parents were catching up with the Alpha and Luna. The beta always lived in close proximity to the Alpha, that was the way of our world. We would be living in the pack house most of the time as Alpha Victor insisted on it and could not be persuaded otherwise. The Villa in front was just a "private getaway", as phrased by Alpha Victor, for the kids when they needed some space away from all the crowd. Me and Rose were excited about a house all for ourselves and decided to keep our luggage in the Villa.

"Take that damn mask off now, will you. There is nobody around" Rose pulled on the strings of my mask. I bat her hands away and scowl. The black cloth masks that covered my nose and mouth have been my friends ever since the time I remember. It all started after suspicions that my illness was caused due to a pollen allergy and I had to use the mask to fend off any unwanted particle in the air that might potentially be my death. Now that I was fully recovered, the mask was pretty unnecessary. But years of hiding under it had made me withdraw deeper into my shell and social anxiety combined with a need to hide away from the world had me still wearing it outside the safe confines of family and home. I am fifteen and technically, all female werewolves shift at fifteen. I had my first shift during the full moon after my fourteenth birthday but nobody knows that yet. If my parents, especially mom, find out that I'm a fully grown werewolf and not the pale and sickly child that I once was, they'd start the search for my mate and then everything that I have carefully built over these years would crumble apart. I refuse to be tied down by the rules of our society that binds me for life to this valley.

As Rose had said, there was no one around but my strong senses had picked up a scent and whoever it was, was approaching rapidly. A familiar scent hit me. Pine wood and forest.