Finally Her Turn

Chapter 1: Marissa

Dawn always comes too early in the morning for my liking, especially after the nights I’m up late fighting with my dad. I would just ignore him, but I know better. If I do that, it won’t be long before he’s busting my bedroom door down and barging in to grab me up by the hair and teach me a lesson. I’ve learned that when he’s in the mood to fight, we fight. His rages don’t tend to die down until one of us is knocked out cold.

Fortunately, I’ve followed in his footsteps and become a New Horizon pack warrior. I’ve been training and building my strength for years, and though I may not be ranked or distinguished, I can hold my own in a fight now. He lost his job many years ago, and it’s been so long since he’s trained or worked out that he’s no longer as intimidating as he once was.

He may be stronger, but he’s almost never sober these days and I’m faster. Besides, I’ve been fighting against the same opponent for my entire life. I know all his weaknesses, and I know all the tells that precede his power moves. He hasn’t bested me in years.

Which is why it comes as no surprise when I open my bedroom door to head to the kitchen for breakfast and have to step over his unconscious form in the hallway, still in the spot where I left him.

Last night he was all worked up about me coming home late. He expects dinner on the table promptly at six or there will be hell to pay, and I wasn’t there to make him lunch either. Not that I could have done anything about it. I was just following my Alpha’s orders.

There was a rogue attack yesterday, and the Alpha summoned all the warriors. I wasn’t involved in the thick of the fighting, but my group had to patrol the perimeter and keep a look out for enemies trying to creep in while the Alpha was busy fighting back the hordes of rogues that were swarming our people on the other side of the territory.

Then after the fighting was finally over, the Alpha assigned me along with many others to extra guard duty to help reinforce some of the usual patrol groups. He wasn’t taking any chances of the rogues doubling around to come back for more. I had no issues at all with my assignments, and I even made sure to update my dad so he’d not be expecting me home.

That bastard! He’s just using you to get to me, my dad insisted, his angry mind-links blasting through my head when I was trying to pay attention to the Alpha’s instructions.

You’re going to listen to him and not your own father? I need you! He tried to insist a few seconds later, when I knew what he really meant was he was hungry and expected me to run home and fix his lunch for him. Or maybe he was out of booze and wanted me to stop and get him some more.

Of course I’m going to listen to him. He’s my Alpha, I tried arguing with him.

Oh I see. I forget that you’re just another one of his w****s, always spreading your legs hoping to win his favor. Well, it’s never going to happen, so you might as well come home.

That’s one of his favorite insults these days. I’ve been taking on a lot of extra shifts and assignments, but not because I want to impress the Alpha. I’m eager to jump on any chance I can find to get me away from my dad. He barely even leaves the house anymore, so anywhere that is not home is a good place to be.

If I had any friends left around the pack, I probably would have tried moving in with someone by now, but I don’t. He took care of that when he started spreading those rumors about me sleeping with other she-wolves’ mates. “Mate-stealer” is what people call me now. It couldn’t be further from the truth, but it did accomplish what he set out to do with it – forcing me to move back home.

He didn’t like when I jumped on the chance to move into the packhouse after I turned sixteen. It’s what a lot of unmated wolves do when they come of age because it gives them a chance to mingle and be close by whenever there are guests from other packs, increasing the odds of finding a mate. It’s also a good chance to be more independent without having to shoulder the responsibility of a house as a single person, and there are a lot of special opportunities for socialization for the packhouse residents.

After I moved into the dormitory wing and finally had a place to myself where I could sleep peacefully at night and not have to fight with anyone just to tend to my basic needs, I was living the best time of my life. My dad is banned from the packhouse, so all I had to do was block him from mind-linking me, and he couldn’t bother me anymore.

But then I started noticing all the stares and whispers pointed my way. People started talking about things they’d heard of me doing that I knew nothing about. They were mentioning me being involved with people I had never even met before. And finally, when an irate she-wolf approached me in the pack dining hall and poured her punch over my head, shrieking about how I stole her mate and ruined her life, I’d had enough.

I moved back home and started avoiding the packhouse at all costs, just like when I was younger. Other than for training and my assigned shifts, I never left the house. And for a while, my dad seemed to think it sufficient punishment just to give me smug looks and gloat at me, making snide comments and taunting me every now and then. It wasn’t so bad being back at first, at least compared to being the pack pariah.

He had somehow managed to convince enough people that I was responsible for a young wolf rejecting his fated mate, presumably the punch girl, and from there, the rumors just kind of escalated. I don’t know how many of them he started, or if people eventually just started assuming my involvement or making things up when it came to other people’s failed relationships, but my life around the pack was never quite the same after that.

And once my dad started shouting those same sorts of things in my head when I was supposed to be on duty, that was about all I could take of his telepathic ranting. I blocked him, knowing that he’d try to make me regret it when I got home.

He did manage to get a few good hits in. My ribs still ache a little, but I know I’ll be fine by lunchtime. This morning’s training is probably mostly going to be the Alpha talking about yesterday’s attacks and informing us of whatever extra security measures he’s decided on. It shouldn’t be too much of a strain for my tender ribs, but even if it is, I’ve had worse and made it through.

I make my way to the kitchen as quietly as I possibly can. I gave him a good, strong knock to the head the night before, but even so, the man tends to be resilient and pick himself back up at the worst times. I don’t feel like being late to training today. It would stain my perfect attendance record, and that’s pretty much the only thing I have going for me.

I grab a banana, an orange juice, and a couple protein bars, opting not to stick around banging pots and pans to make myself anything more than that. It will only risk waking the beast, and I’m already running short on time.

I exit the house as quietly as I can manage, gobbling down my breakfast on the jog over to the training grounds. A lot of the warriors are already gathered there when I arrive, many of them still talking about what happened yesterday. Apparently, the Alpha’s daughter, Aly, was wounded and one of her mates made an impressively heroic rescue before she could be stolen away by the rogue Alpha.

“The guy hasn’t even had a wolf for a whole week yet and he just ran in there like it was nothing, like he was born a wolf,” one of the male warriors gushes, obviously an admirer of the guy.

“Of course he did. That’s his mate, and that’s our future Alpha. I’d have done the same,” another guy claims.

“You didn’t see him though. Those silver weapons literally bounced off him. It was incredible,” the first guy goes on.

That’s why Alpha Kane was so insistent yesterday that we keep whatever we saw of Aly’s mates’ wolves to ourselves, not to be shared outside the pack. He doesn’t want it to get out that we have some new type of wolf in our pack now, and I guess one of her mates is a silver too.

But of course they’re rare, special wolves. If something good and extraordinary is going to happen around here, it’s going to happen to Aly. It’s not enough that she’s already the Alpha’s daughter, she was also blessed with the best luck in the world. People fawn over her and literally trip over themselves to get into her good graces, and she can convince practically anyone to do whatever she wants. Even in school, all the teachers loved her and waved rules aside for her left and right. So naturally, even the Moon Goddess shows her favor. It’s the story of her life.

Although I suppose I’m forgetting the part where she was wounded and almost kidnapped. But of course, at the last second, her amazing, incredible, heroic mate showed up and saved the day. If it were me, I’d be the rogue Alpha’s prisoner now, or worse, and no one would be coming for me.

And sadly, I’d almost welcome it. My dad is practically a rogue Alpha himself, except he’s one who hates everything about me. Maybe getting myself kidnapped by rogues is exactly what I need. Maybe I’d get lucky and the rogues would actually like me.

“Alright, settle down everybody,” Alpha Kane bellows out from up front. “I’m going to separate you all into new assignment groups, and each group is going to receive specific instructions for what will be expected of them for the foreseeable future. We’re going to be changing things up a bit.”

As expected. Attacks like the one that happened yesterday have a way of shaking everybody up, including the pack leadership. And I can’t say I blame them, though I will say that I think all our normal protocols and procedures are quite effective. The rogues that attacked never managed to breach our defenses. None got past the warriors. No civilians were hurt.

“As well as Alex, Caleb, Tasha, and Marissa,” I hear the Alpha say, and realize I wasn’t paying attention like I should have been.

But I catch sight of Tasha and Alex heading over to a small group gathering at the front, so I follow them since the Alpha just said I’m part of their group.

“There’s only twelve of us,” one of the younger guys already over there points out. “That’s a small group. Special assignment?”

“Special guard duty,” Devon answers him. I’ve worked with Devon before, so I actually know his name. He’s quiet and serious most of the time, and that’s what I like about him. No nonsense, no gossiping. Just work.

“You say that like you’re certain,” the younger guy responds.

“Fairly certain. Look around at who’s with us. None of us are mated, so nothing to distract us during a long-term assignment, and all of us either know the Alpha’s daughter or have trained with her and her mates before. We’re being sent with them to their school,” Devon declares. He’s as serious as he usually is, but I think he might also be a little upset.

He’s overlooking one thing though, or perhaps he’s enough older than Aly and me that he doesn’t even know about it. The Alpha’s daughter hates me. Anyone who went to school with us knows that, and I’m sure the Alpha does too. There’s no way he would send me with her.

“Oh, I hope you’re right,” another guy exclaims. He’s the same one who was gushing about the rare wolf before. No idea what his name is.

In fact, of the eleven people gathered with me, I only know Tasha, Alex, and Devon. The rest I’ve never worked with before, and working with people is the only way I learn names. I don’t exactly socialize.

If Devon is right, then things are about to get interesting for me. And even though Aly isn’t my favorite person, I’m feeling a little hopeful. I’ll gladly hang around her all day if it means I don’t have to go home to my dad every night. Well, maybe not gladly, but I’ll do it.

“Alright Group One, listen up,” Alpha Kane commands as he joins us. “I have a bit of a special task for you all. You’re all unmated, and there’s a reason for that. I’m sending you to Maine for about two months with my daughter and her mates.”

Looks like Devon was right, though I still can’t entirely wrap my head around how I ended up in this group.

Alpha Kane goes on explaining our assignment in more detail and I do my best to pay close attention, but it’s a challenge when my stomach is doing flip flops and my head has taken on a surreal, floaty feeling. I’m not sure if I’m dreaming or this is real life, and pretty much every possible emotion is coursing through me.

I’m excited, but nervous beyond belief. The dread is pretty prominent as I picture what I’m going to have to endure. Alpha Kane just gave me a front row seat to Aly’s charmed life with her perfect mates, and I’m not sure if I can stomach it. But on the other hand, the sleep will be nice.

And as the only other female warrior, Tasha and I will probably be roommates. She’s alright, though a bit dramatic and excitable sometimes, but maybe it will be nice to have a companion for once. She’s young, so maybe she hasn’t heard all the rumors yet.

Alpha Kane appoints Devon as our away commander, which is fine by me. I like Devon. Him being the one in charge is the best-case scenario. My only complaint is about the specific orders for Tasha and me. We’re assigned to accompany Aly anytime that she needs female guards, and he’s leaving that up to the discretion of Aly and her mates. That means she can literally snap her fingers and summon me to her side any time she wants, even when I’m off-duty or resting. I don’t love that.

“If there are no further questions, then I would advise you to return to your homes and start packing and saying your goodbyes,” Alpha Kane directs us. “We’ll meet out in front of the packhouse at ten, so you have only a few hours to get everything in order.”

I wonder if it would be worth it to just not bother with packing so I don’t have to go home and risk waking my dad in the process. He isn’t going to be happy about this news, and I could probably just grab some uniforms from my locker and buy the rest of what I need. It’s not worth risking a fight and being late to meet the Alpha. There’s nothing at home that I can’t live without, even if my dad gets angry and decides to destroy my room again.

And that’s what I end up doing. It cuts into my savings and that stings a bit, but it’s worth it. In a way, it feels like a fresh new start, though I know I’ll eventually have to come back home and face my dad again, and he isn’t going to be happy. But I’ll worry about tomorrow’s problems tomorrow. Today, I’m going to Maine.