Chapter Two

The next morning, Alison was the first one awake. The sun was just barely up when she pried her eyes open and sat up off of the floor. It was normal for her to be up before the sun, regardless of if she had school or not. She was naturally a morning person. Skylar, on the other hand, was not. She was still sprawled out on the ground, her blonde locks were in a dishevel around her face and her mouth was wide open while she snored. Alison was careful to step around her so she wasn't disturbed.

Tristan was leaned against the window, his face was up against the glass. He didn't look as peaceful as Skylar did, in fact, he looked really uncomfortable. Alison quickly moved over towards him and lifted the closest thing she could find over him. It just happened to be the worn-out jean jacket that she loved more than anything and had planned on wearing that day. She sighed and headed towards the door so that her siblings could sleep in peace and she could get some chores done before their father woke up. If she got everything done now, then she'd have time to go to Kallum's and potentially to town to get groceries.

As she walked into the living room, she stopped dead on her feet. Laying on the worn-out couch, was her father. He was snoring loudly and there were beer bottles littered all around him. The couch had a new burn on it, probably from a cigarette, though you could hardly tell it was new because the couch was covered in them. She shook her head and looked down. She had not been prepared for him to be out here this early. Her only guess was that he'd fallen asleep watching television at some point late in the night, or early that morning.

Taking a deep breath, she slowly continued on her way through the kitchen and into the small laundry area. She carefully lifted the lid to the washing machine and poured the detergent inside before stuffing a load inside and starting it up. There was a loud whirring sound as it started up. Alison turned on her heel and made her way into the kitchen, where she had a few dishes to do before she had to mop and sweep the floors. When she entered the kitchen, Skylar was standing there in her pajamas, her hair pulled up into a messy bun. "Morning. What's for breakfast?" she mumbled groggily, looking up at her twin sister.

"We'll go to Kallum's in a bit, just let me finish these chores," Alison replied in a quiet tone.

"Anything I can do to help?" she inquired, stifling a yawn.

Alison pondered on the question for a moment while she scanned over the kitchen. Her eyes finally landed back on Skylar as she answered. "Yeah, do the dishes while I get started on the floors, then we can head out."

Skylar nodded and got started on what she'd been instructed to do. Both girls worked diligently on their chores, trying to get them done as quickly as possible. Alison had a meeting with the others at noon and she still had some work to do for the community they were building. There was a long day ahead of her. She only did the floors halfway so that she could get done quicker. The second the mop and broom were back in the cupboard, the washing machine buzzed, signaling that it was done. She hurried and stuffed everything into the dryer, before hurrying to get dressed for the day.

She settled on a light blue top, blue jeans, and her worn-out converse sneakers that had definitely seen better days. Once she was finished getting dressed, she walked over and shook Tristan awake. His eyes stirred before opening. There was a brief moment of grogginess while he tried to realize where he was before it all passed. "Where's Sky?" he grumbled as he sat up and stretched.

"Right here Tris, can I get dressed now?" a soft voice came from behind them.

They both turned around to see Skylar leaning against the door frame, her arms crossed over her chest. "Yeah, but hurry please, I have a meeting at noon, and then Kallum and I have Alpha work we have to go over, and then there's registration up at the school that we can't miss," Alison answered.

Skylar nodded and walked over towards her bag, where she then proceeded to take ages to find an outfit. Alison could slowly feel her anger rise inside of her, but she tried to hold it down. Skylar was always the more girly out of the two. She always took more time on her outfits and makeup, trying to outshine her look from last time. Alison leaned against the wall, tapping her foot impatiently while watching her sister do eyeliner. From beside her, Tristan joined her at the wall. "You look like mom right now," he joked, nudging her shoulder lightly. A smile tugged at her lips as she rested her head against his shoulder.

"Sky if you don't hurry the hell up, I'm leaving you here," she finally threatened. Skylar let out an exasperated sigh as she closed her eyeliner and set it to the side before tugging her boots on and leaving the room. Alison and Tristan were right behind her. Normally Alison rode her bicycle to Kallum's because he lived a few blocks away from them, but today she stuck to walking because she had Skylar and Tristan with her. Of course, the whole walk there, Skylar complained about how her boots were killing her, and by the look of the four-inch heels on them, Alison understood why. She didn't understand how her sister could wear those and walk at the same time, they looked painful.

When they reached Kallum's front door, Alison gently tapped against the worn-out wooden door and stood back while waiting. A second later, the front door swung open to reveal Clarissa Moon. She was wearing an apron, that was coated in flour. That was the first thing Alison noticed. The second was how tired she looked today. "Everything alright Mrs. Moon?" Alison inquired softly. The older woman simply nodded her head in response before ushering all of them inside of the house.

Upon entering, Bomb ran up and sat down right directly in Alison's path to the dining room. The young girl smiled softly as she knelt and ran her fingers through his thick coat. In return, he gave her a few puppy kisses, before running off into a different room. "I think he likes you more," Kallum teased as he walked into the room.

Alison glanced up at him as she stood up, her smile growing bigger. "Well, that's probably because I found him and brought him here, he bonded to me if you remember correctly," she replied, causing him to laugh lightly.

"Fair point. Alright Ali we have a lot of work to get to before signing up for school, so let's get to work," he announced, pulling a chair out for her. She rolled her eyes playfully as she sat down in the chair. Kallum quickly sat back down in his own chair and pulled out a binder marked in small, neat, cursive writing: Pack Community. Alison held in a groan and pulled the binder towards her before flipping it open. "What the hell is this anyway? I don't know what half of this means," she mumbled after a second of reading. Kallum peered over at the binder and furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Uh...I think it's asking the kind of...houses you--we want?" he offered, though it came out as a question.

"I'm just trying to bring something to the pack that we haven't had yet. I'm trying to bring us all together as one, instead of living apart, and this is what I get...a bunch of confusing jobs that I don't understand because I'm not an architect," she mumbled under her breath. She felt a hand rest on her shoulder that made her look back, startled. Her eyes landed on Clarissa, who was reading the binder over her shoulder carefully.

"What I wouldn't give to live in a Victorian-style house," she heard the woman mumble under her breath.

"What's the difference between all of them? What's wrong with the houses we live in now Mrs. Moon?" Alison inquired suddenly. Clarissa sighed and sat down at the table, across from the young Alpha. There was a very long moment of silence and Alison thought for a second that she would just drop it altogether and go back to doing what she'd been doing just seconds prior. It wasn't a difficult question she thought, it was rather an easy one that she needed to be answered if she was going to bring this pack together. Finally, Clarissa found the right words and started explaining the differences between houses.

"They're all different, both in styles and sizes. You don't want to do cookie-cutter houses, that's where all of the houses are the same throughout the community, it's boring and doesn't really help the community express themselves through their houses. The bigger the house, the bigger the family and vice versa. We would've done wonders with a Victorian-style house because of all the stories it has, as well as the room numbers, we had a big family. But other families, like Roze's or Andreia's, would've only needed a simple cottage or craftsmen because they're smaller and are only for a small family."

Alison took all of that in for a second as she looked back down at her binder. "So...big families need bigger houses, small families need smaller houses?" she finally asked, looking back up at the woman.

Clarissa nodded and smiled lightly. "That's correct. We live in trailers, they're not really something you'd want for a family but they can be cheap and so that's why so many people live in them, but they're not ideal," she answered.

Alison nodded and looked over at Kallum. "Alright, new mission, I want you to have Jason go out and take a toll on how many people are in each family, that way we can adjust to each with what they need. After that's done then we can come back to this and go about this properly. Now then, where are the others? The meeting starts at noon, but they're normally here earlier for Mrs. Moon's breakfast," she announced.

Kallum chuckled lightly and pulled the binder back towards him. "They'll be here shortly, you still have to go through and design your house, she needs to know the style and the number of rooms, sooner rather than later Ali," he replied. Alison made a face at him at the same time that Clarissa took the binder from her son and flipped it to the correct page.

"Here honey, this might be the perfect house style for you. Plenty of rooms and it's your style," she said as she slid the book over towards Alison. The young girl looked down at the page and saw that she'd turned it towards the Tudors. It actually did kind of looked like something she'd like, but she knew she wanted a two-story house so that she had enough rooms for her, Skylar, Tristan, and then an office and guest bedroom. She didn't plan on having more than two kids anyways, and besides Tristan and Skylar would move out eventually when they found their mates so she didn't need that many rooms, but she definitely wanted an upstairs.

She sighed and flipped a page, turning towards the French Country houses. "I think I like this one better, it's got what I'm wanting," she replied.

Clarissa smiled lightly and nodded her head. "Just like your mother you are, that's a good pick," she stated softly. Alison nodded and slid the book back towards Kallum, who quickly made a note of it on his own slip of paper.

"Alright, I'll get this to Meri," he announced right as the front door burst open. Roze and Andreia were the first ones in the room, followed quickly by Jason and Alexander. Both Alphas glanced up in confusion as to why they were in such a hurry.

Being the main one in charge of the others, Andreia walked forward and over towards the table where both Kallum and Alison were waiting for her to explain. The others stayed still in the door frame, watching her intently. There was a long silence while she attempted to catch her breath. Andreia finally glanced up and stepped forward while she talked. "We have a perimeter breach Ali."

Both of the Alpha's shared glances, before looking back at the young girl. "What kind of breach Andreia? Like a human or another Elemental?" Alison asked as she slowly rose from her seat at the table.

"No, I'm not sure what it is. We've never picked up a scent like this before, but it's not human and it's not one of our own. We need you to come down and declare it," she answered. Alison nodded, already heading towards the front door. It was Clarissa who stopped her in her place.

"What about registration? It starts in thirty minutes and closes around three, that's not very long for us to get there and register," The elderly woman announced.

Alison felt a low growl escape as she spun around to face her. "Dammit, alright fine we all need to register, though I'm hoping all of you took care of it last week. We'll deal with registration and then we'll head off towards this new scent. It's not going anywhere, we're not expecting a storm for a few more days," she announced, looking around everyone in the room. Andreia nodded and hurried out of the small house, Roze, Jason, and Alexander right behind her.

"Ali, do you want me to stay back, I could maybe go down and--"

"No!" Alison cut her sister off harshly, shocking even herself. She was far too riled up right now. "No, I need you down at the school for registration," she added in a forced, soft, tone. Skylar nodded and hurried out of the house, dragging their brother with her. Alison went to step with them, but Kallum was quick to stop her by placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. She stopped and slowly turned around to face him.

"Are you okay?" he asked in a gentle tone.

She smiled softly and nodded. "Yeah, I just...there's so much that needs to get done today Kal. Registration, Alpha work, and now this. I just...it's a lot and I just need it not to be," she answered quietly so that only he could hear.

"I get it, I do. You're not in this alone Ali, you appointed me temporary Alpha until you find your imprint, so I'm here to help. You just have to let me in. You have to let me help, otherwise, you're gonna be drowning for a long time," he replied, before turning and leaving the house. Alison stood there for a second, letting his words sink in. She knew he was right, she knew that he just wanted to help in any way possible, but she also knew that he couldn't get too attached to the work. All of this was just so hard for her, especially when high school was added to it. At least she was in her last year of high school, then she'd be able to solely focus on one thing over the other.

She shook the thoughts away, for now, and followed her siblings outside. Skylar was leaned up against a car and Tristan was beside her. She didn't recognize the car they were in front of but figured it had to be the one they'd arrived in. "Ready to go?" Skylar asked as she twirled the car keys on her right index finger. Alison looked the car over more carefully. It was a silver Chevrolet Spark with tinted windows, so Alison couldn't see the interior of the car.

"Who's car is this Sky?" she finally asked, drawing her attention back up, towards her sister.

Skylar rolled her crystal, blue, eyes as she popped open the front door. "It's mine, it was a birthday present for my--sorry our--sixteenth birthday," she explained, already hopping inside. Alison nodded as she walked around to the other side and climbed into the passenger seat. The inside of the car was very clean and the leather seats were a dark color that felt very hot as soon as Alison's skin touched it.

There wasn't any scrap of trash in the vehicle and it smelled strongly of vanilla. That was Skylar's signature smell, her perfume smelled the same, so it only made sense for her car to smell the same. However, Alison did not like the smell, in fact, it made her a little nauseated, so as soon as she entered the car it was only natural for her to instantly gag and cover her nose as quickly as possible. "Sorry, here," Skylar said quickly as she rolled the windows down, letting in some fresh air for her sister to breathe.

Tristan climbed into the back and scoffed lightly. "Still hate the smell of vanilla I see," he mumbled under his breath as he got situated in his seat. Skylar and Alison shared a look before rolling their eyes and buckling their seatbelts. As soon as the car roared to life, the sound of Cyndi Lauper's hit song, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", filled the entire car at full volume. Tristan shot forward, already reaching for the radio to shut it off, but Skylar was quick to smack his hand away.

"Don't you dare!" she threatened loudly over the music as she turned it higher up. Alison laughed lightly as she put her foot up onto the dashboard. This was how she always sat in Kallum's car when they went places, so it had just come naturally to her. Skylar put the car into reverse and quickly backed out of the driveway while singing the words to the song as they went. Alison sat with her head back in the seat, listening to her sister's voice and feeling the gentle breeze kiss her cheeks gently as they drove slowly down the street.

As they neared the highway, the wind picked up and was blowing Alison's hair all around, but she didn't mind. She was too busy listening to her sister's voice. She'd almost forgotten just how amazing her sister could sing. They used to come up with their own songs when they were younger before everything changed. They'd written this one song, though it was more of a poem actually, Skylar had named it Bonded. It was Alison's favorite memory, they'd spent all afternoon writing it, but now she just couldn't remember how it went.

She glanced over at her singer, who was currently singing along to a Hailee Steinfield song that had come on the playlist after the first one. Before she could realize what was happening, Alison found her hand shutting the music off so she could ask her sister a question. Skylar eventually trailed off and cast a glance over at Alison, before looking back towards the road. "What did you do that for?" she demanded.

"Do you remember that stupid song we came up with when we were kids?" Alison replied gently.

Skylar scoffed as she racked her brain for the memory, but nothing came. "Sorry, doesn't ring a bell. Why are you thinking about the past? You've got a pack to run," she said, she was a little annoyed that her music had been cut off.

"I don't know, it's stupid, sorry Sky," she sighed as she quickly turned the music back up to full speed. Maybe later it would come to her, but right now it just wasn't, and that was fine; for now. She looked forward at the road as her seat vibrated to the loud music that her sister insisted had to be at full volume.