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Twenty Six. Shadow

Kai wasn't at the pack meeting later that night. Now that everyone thought he was alpha he was excused. Lucky him. Claire sat close to me and we held hands. All week we've made sure to keep her close while in public. She tried to hold back her excitement but before we came in she asked me when we were all going to get together again.
"Have you asked Kai?" I asked and she shook her head.
"It's up to you, isn't it?" She grinned knowing I know was testing her. Good. Because if she was trying to seduce Kai behind my back; I would run her out of town. Out of respect for Kai. Because anyone else I would kill. Kai was mine. And mine only and anyone would tried to take him from me was as good as dead.
I sighed. My scent was bound to start stinking up the place with alpha pheromones so I guess we would have to include Claire this week. Might as well get it over with. "Fine, friday night there's a party. We all show up, show face and go back to my place. You can even spend the night if you want," I said as if I was giving her a treat. I knew she was doing us a big favor by agreeing to be used by us and keeping our secret and from how wet she always was around us, I knew she was dying to fuck it out. So Kai and I already talked it out and as a thank you to Claire and to show her our appreciation, we would take her on dates and give her mindblowing orgasms whenever we had to mingle bodies with her.
Since Kai and Claire had been full on in a 'I love you' relationship, jealously was alive inside of me. I didn't want to date Claire or have Kai date her. I hated that in the mornings my drive to school was nearly ruined as I would have to detour to her house to pick her up, ruining my alone time with Kai. Or sometimes she'd pick Kai up in the mornings from my house because she wanted to use her car that day. I hated how Kai told her I love you while they were together easily but has yet to tell me. I hated that I had to share him with her just to mix our scents and it choked me full of rage when this morning as I was talking to Theo more about what the alpha told him, I looked up and there in front of my face and the whole school he was shoving his tongue down her throat not caring what people thought or who saw. Unlike with me. And I was left wondering, would he ever kiss me like that in public? Would he ever let me claim his lips with mine in front of everyone, showing the world that we were together? Because so far the show we put on seemed as if we were just sharing Claire.
I hated it. I wanted everyone to at least know that Kai was mine also. He wasn't Claire's.
I had a thought, a dark evil thought. That at the party I would pull them both in the room and fuck them both and be very vocal about it so everyone at the party knew he belonged to me.
"But that's two whole days away," she whined next to me, rubbing her small hand down my thigh before I stopped her by covering her hand with mine. "Behave," I warned as I glared at her and her eyes instantly dropped as she bit her lip and nodded. Looking away, I frowned at myself. Displaying alpha characteristics while around pack members who could be watching was a big no-no. I didn't expect a beta like her to react like Kai did when I glared or even looked at him. I wondered if my alpha was already so strong that even a beta close to my age was willing to submit to me. And some part of me wanted to test it out.

When the meeting was over, I gave Claire my Jeep keys and told her to wait for me. She immediately agreed, taking them from me and giving me a kiss on the cheek before bouncing away.
I watched as the alpha lead a girl from my science class to the back. They were speaking so softly my wolf hearing wasn't picking up on it as everyone around me was chatting way too loudly. Waiting for them to round the corner as everyone else slowly started leaving, I stalked down the hallway after them. Something felt off and wrong at the way the girl looked at him with fear in her eyes.
"He's using again," I could hear the girl say to the alpha.
"Are you sure darling?"
"Yes, I found his meth stash. And he's been acting paranoid, keeps claiming me and mom are working against him. Hiding his drugs. He's really scarying me lately."
"Well have you?"
"Huh?"
"Have you been hiding his drugs?" The alphas reply had my eyebrows shooting to my hairline: what kind of crap reply is that?
"Um, no sir, he takes them all too fast is why he thinks that. Please you have to do something alpha, he's gonna hurt us, I just know it."

"Has he done anything violent recently?" The alphas tone was pissing me off as if he was being condescending.
"No but remember how he got last time-"
"Honey," the alpha sighed, "I've already talked to him. He told me how you were nearly caught shifting in front of a human cop last month when you went out joyriding with some of your human friends," the alphas tone turned dark. "So if this is about you trying to bring up mistakes your father has made in the past to cover up for your recent mistakes, I have to say, I'm very disappointed in you."
The girl sniffled and I wanted to go in there and rip him a new one. How had I been so blind all this time? Was this how the alpha has been running his pack all along? Gaslighting others, telling them to suck it up and keep secrets and not helping anyone who was supposed to be under his care? Allowing the adults to do whatever they wanted with their children even if that meant abuse?
It was as if I was seeing for the first time as if I was finally opening my eyes after so long of having them shut.
This pack was flawed. Deeply.
"No shifting for the rest of the year," the alpha spoke in a tone that I knew she, as his subordinate wouldn't be able to go against his word. Same as how Kai couldn't cum unless I allowed it. This poor girl wouldn't be able to shift, while living in a house with a crazed meth head.
Now I was going to have to add her to the growing list of kids I had to watch out for. Already I was driving by Theo's house every night to make sure his father wasn't killing him. And now i would have to do the same with this girl.
Did every family have a sick abusive dad? Were they all in on it? Did they feel as if they could do whatever they wanted after years of being around this alpha who didn't give a shit?
This pack was full of trash. And i couldn't wait to until Kai and I were long gone and I start my own pack. One where I would protect everyone and kill anyone who abused the other.

When I climbed into the Jeep with Claire I had to ask her.
"Claire, your family, how are they?"
"Good," she chirped as I started the car. I frowned after a pause and she gave no more information.
"Is your father a good person?"
"The best," she beamed when I looked over at her. "Im a daddy's girl for sure. Mom says he spoils me too much."
"He's never hurt you in any way?" I asked concerned, not liking the thought of her being abused along with what seemed like half the packs children.
Her eyes softened as she looked at me. "No never, my mom is also an angel. I'm very blessed." The ride back to her house was silent aside from music playing from my car speakers. "Thank you, for caring ," she gave me a quick hug before jumping out of my Jeep. "Tell Kai to ride with you tomorrow, I have a dental checkup in the morning."
"Call us if you need anything," I called back before driving home. Glad to hear that me and Kai would be alone tomorrow morning.
Kai. I just wanted to get to him already. I hated being away from him too long. Checking the time, I knew he should be back from his usual swim and run in the woods. We used to do that together but now so much was going on. I hated that I missed even that with him.
As I pulled up to my house, my heart dropped to my feet as I spotted my sisters car.
After our parents were murdered we had clung together tightly seeming to be unable to let ago for so long. But slowly it became as if we couldn't bare to look at each other anymore. As if everytime our eyes connected, everytime we had to talk, it all came back to that night of their murder and the beginning of our torture.
An alpha and five of his pack members had come to pick a bone with my dad for stealing away his girlfriend. Our mom had been with that man but he had became abusive and she ended up running away with our dad. And for years they could put it behind them.
Until one night they came knocking.
Our parents were dead in a blink of an eye. Throats cut out by the alphas claws. "Damn, i wanted to make it last, but seeing their fucking faces made me lose it," he'd commented.
And so he took his anger out on my sister and I. And the night would only start there. And never, ever end.
Because to this day, as our eyes connected, we were transported back to that night. A night that would live forever inside our minds. That only death would solve and put an end to.