If Only

Chapter 2

Katrina's POV

The next morning when I wake up, I get downstairs to make breakfast for everyone. Once I enter the kitchen, all the servants’ conversations stop, and people turn away from me, but not before giving me a look of disgust. Basically, I'm no better than dirt. I'm just someone who can't be kicked out of the pack because they need me to do work.

I let out a sigh before I take out the ingredients for brownies and cookies. After I'm done baking, I start heading up to my room when I hear the Justin and his father talking in the study.

"I finally got alpha Harris to agree to come here!" Alpha Landis exclaims. I don't know why, but once he says Harris's name, I get chills and my wolf starts acting weird.

"I'm sure once he sees how good I am at running this pack, he will form an alliance with us." Justin responds, and I can just imagine the arrogant smirk on his face. I don't think that will be the case though because Justin has no clue what he's doing. That's actually why he had to leave for all those years. He had to go to another pack to train how to be an alpha since he almost destroyed our pack the first time Alpha Landis gave him control.

"I'm sure he will, son. Don't mess this up, this is our one, and only, chance to show the world what we are capable of."

I quickly leave before they realize that I was listening to them. They got alpha Harris to come here? Wow, I wonder how much convincing that took, but I'm not surprised. Alpha Landis is obsessed with power, and so is Justin.

I can feel my wolf pacing in my head, and she seems really bothered by something.

"Haley, are you ok?" I ask her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Can we go for a run soon?"

"Sure," I say before I change into something more comfortable. After that, I open my window, and I reach out to the tree that's right near my window. Once I make it to the ground, I quickly make sure no one is looking before I sprint into the forest.

Technically, I'm not allowed to go for runs, but it's fine as long as I don't get caught.

Once I'm far enough, I quickly shift into my wolf. My wolf is a very light cream color with small patches of light brown near my paws.

I start running around as fast as I can, dodging fallen tree branches and rocks. But suddenly, I bump into a hard chest.

I raise my head and see an angry Justin glaring at me. I quickly shift back.

I'm a dead wolf.

"What are you doing?"

"Um," I say trying to think of an excuse, "I want to go to town to get some more food, but I got lost so I never made it to the stores." By the look on his face, I know he doesn't believe me, and I also know that I'm about to get a beating.

"You have 5 minutes to tell me the truth."

"Why does it matter to you?" I say before thinking.

He clenches his jaw and his eyes are starting to turn darker.

"Just tell me!" he says through clenched teeth.

"It doesn't really mat-" I start before I'm cut off

"YOU WERE WITH A GUY WEREN'T YOU? YOU LITTLE SLU*!" he screams before punching me in the face. I fall to the ground, holding my cheek. I was able to move out of the way so it wasn't a direct hit, but I can feel the left side of my face start to swell.

"I wasn't with a guy! I was trying to go to the mall!" I repeat frantically, while trying to move away from him.

"SHUT UP! I SHOULD HAVE KILLED YOU WHEN I HAD THE CHANCE!" he yells before he goes to start hitting me again. My wolf whimpers in my head as she tries to comfort me. I curl up into a ball and wait for my death with my eyes closed. I've never been afraid of death, but now that it's staring me right in the face I couldn't be more terrified.

I continue to wait for his next hit, but nothing happens. I count to ten in my head before I slowly open my eyes. I see Leo holding back a furious looking Justin and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

"Alpha Justin, please stop." my brother says as he moves himself between Justin and me to protect me even further.

"WHY SHOULD I? YOUR LITTLE SLU* OF A SISTER THINKS SHE CAN GO AND SLEEP AROUND WITH OTHER MEN!" I can hear Leo answering Justin, but I can't understand any of the words he is saying. They all mesh together until all I can hear is an annoying buzzing ringing in my ears.

My eyes start closing on their own accord and my body starts to feel really heavy. I guess that punch did more damage than I thought it did.

I struggle to stay awake for a few minutes before I realize that it's pointless, and I submit to the darkness.

Harris's POV

I don't know why, but as the week has been going by, my wolf has been getting more and more restless. I stand stiffly off to the side since I don't have any family members. My betas wife, and mate, sees this, and she immediately pulls me into their family hug.

"Thank you, Susan. I really need that," I admit. Ever since Alex, my beta, has met Susan, she has always tried to make sure that I was never excluded from family matters.

"Don't even mention it." she says to me with a warm smile. I give her a small smile in return before I start heading towards the van that I'm going to be in.

"Now y'all better be on your best behaviors for uncle Gordon while we're gone. Are we clear?" she asks her 2 children.

"Of course mom!" the twins, Natalie and Ana say together.

I chuckle before telling everyone to head to their cars so we can get on the road. My third in command, Gordon, will be watching the pack while Alex and I are gone.

I really hope this trip isn't a waste of my time. I've heard about the leadership at Atlas Fall, and I don't believe for one second that they will be able to get me to agree to an alliance with them.

I also hope that I will be able to figure out why my wolf has been so crazy recently.

Once we arrive at the Atlas Fall pack, I immediately spot the old Alpha, and the new one. Well technically the new one isn't that new; he had taken over the alpha position when he was 20, like most alphas, but apparently he was terrible, so his dad had him go to another pack to learn how to become a better Alpha.

I guess after 4 years of him training in his neighboring pack was enough because he has officially taken over the alpha position again.

"Hello Alpha Harris! It's nice to see you again." I only nod my head in recognition before I start looking around. My pack members do the same, scanning the area for anything dangerous.

I take a deep breath, and I smell the most amazing scent that I have ever smelled. My wolf starts going crazy, and saying one thing over and over.

Mate.

Even though I can smell her scent, it's faint, so that means that she hasn't been here for a while, so I guess I'm just going to have to wait to meet her.

"Are you ok, alpha? You look more tense than you usually do." Alex says through our mindlink.

"My mate is here." I can tell everyone in my pack has heard what I said because of the looks of surprise and joy on their faces.

Everyone congratulates me through our pack link, before we turn our attention back to the Alphas of the Atlas Fall pack.

A few of their pack members come over to take our luggage and show us where we will be staying. The old Alpha starts going on and on about how great our stay will be and how happy he is that I agreed to come down here.

I'm too busy looking for any signs of my mate, but other than the faint trail of her scent, I can't locate her.