3 Chapter 1: Her Pain, His Regret

My head was pounding when I woke up. I had no clue how much time had passed, but there was a burning pain in my back when I tried to move. I hissed, teeth grit and eyes screwed shut. 

"Don't try to move. Silver's still processing out of your system." 

I flailed in shock, eyes snapping to the silhouette in the corner of the room. 

"Wyatt." "You're lucky she didn't stab you any further. I wouldn't have been able to do anything but watch you die." He sounded irritated, but not with me even after our previous encounter.

"Why did you help me? You told me you wouldn't show any mercy the next time you saw me." I asked.

He sighed, and I saw his hand run through his hair. "Because, despite what I may think, you are still my sister. You and Willa both are my responsibility." 

I gave him a small smile of gratitude.

"Thank you."

"Just focus on getting better. Then we can talk."

 Over the next few days I slowly recovered. Wyatt only allowed me to have my necklace on when I started to lose my strength, other than that he kept it just out of reach. 

"I don't want you changing your mind and trying to kill me." 

Whatever, I was the one who came back to him. For the most part I was alone, but every now and then Wyatt would show up to check on me and bring me food. When I was able to walk on my own, without risk of passing out, I would stand outside the small building. 

We were in a place I had never seen before. Tall grasses surrounded us and you could barely see the trees that surrounded the field. Where did Wyatt bring me? Finally, one day I walked outside and had the urge to run. 

I had been cooped up before and it ended very poorly; I had killed the last one. I knew that running away would only prove my pack's point. I had abandoned them. 

But they abandoned me too. They left me there to die, didn't even look for me. 

My head began to swim as memories and thoughts of running and abandonment flooded my mind, but just as I was about to fall somebody caught me.

"Hey, careful." the voice said. It was Wyatt. "You need to stay inside. Unless you were planning on leaving again." His low growl at those words made me shiver. 

How did he know?

 He led me, carefully, inside and sat me down on the bed next to him. 

"Waylynn," he paused. 

That must have been the first time he had said my name in a long time. 

"Waylynn," he started again, looking away from me. "I want you to know that I never fully turned my back on you. The others, they hated you the minute you left, but I kept up hope that you would return. My anger slowly grew after the first four months, but I looked for you when I could. I only stopped after Willa caught me. I was only about five miles from the cabin we found you in a month ago." 

He looked me in the eye, pity and sorrow filled his own. "I'm sorry, I should've kept going. Maybe, just maybe I could have saved you." He leaned forwards and clasped his hands together, resting his elbows on his knees. I lifted my hand and slowly, carefully, placed it on his back. He jumped slightly and let out a low growl and my hand shot back to my chest as I looked away holding back the tears. A second after he realized what had just happened. 

"Waylynn, I...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

"It's alright I understand." I sighed. 

"Just one question, though." He nodded. 

"Why did you jump at me and push and yell and threaten when we saw each other in the woods? Why didn't you embrace me?" My voice was calm and slow. "Why did you tell Willa you saw me?" 

This time I stood up and faced him, making him meet my gaze as he lifted his head.

"I thought she had changed." He sounded hurt. I took a step back at his words and watched him stand up and leave the building.

I didn't see Wyatt for two weeks, and by then I had fully recovered. He returned to find me reading a small book I'd found on a nearby shelf. 

"Before you freak out on me, she's here to talk it out." He held up his hands in surrender, and then Willa appeared behind him. 

Her eyes held an unrivaled rage, but she was doing a spectacular job at keeping it in check. That didn't stop me from backing as far from her as I could, but making sure my moonstone was in reach. I kept my full attention on her, not too keen to be stabbed with silver again. 

"Wyatt convinced me to let you talk. So talk. Before I lose my patience." She snapped. I nervously explained my story, watching as the just side of her began to understand. 

"Fine. I will give you one chance. You can live with the pack, but the second you screw up, expect no mercy. Wyatt, anything she does goes on you, too. We'll revisit this conversation in a year." Willa huffed, stalking out of the house.

After lots of preparation of both me and the pack, apparently, Wyatt finally led me to the wolf den. 

Four years. Four years I had been away from the pack, the feeling of peace, and a proper home. 

Today that was all going to change, I finally got to go back. I was excited but tried not to let it show too much as to not make them change their minds. 

As we entered I looked around and there were eyes staring at me from every corner. I heard a few coughs and yips as the sick wolves responded to their pain.

"Waylynn Lykensen," a voice boomed over the chatter surrounding me. I looked towards the middle over the den and saw an old man standing there. 

My father! 

I smiled and took a step forward, but hands landed on my shoulders and there was a hushed "don't" in my ear. My smile dropped and I looked, again, at my father. 

"I must let you know, as your old alpha, you are no longer considered my daughter or the sister of Willa or Wyatt Lykensen. The choice to-" he falls over in a fit of coughing and his moonstone glows bright green. Willa helps him stand up to continue. 

"The choice to keep or change your last name is up to you." He bows slightly then goes back to his bed.

"Willa will take his place as his first born and will be the alpha. We still need the moonstone, but we may have found the Great Alpha," Wyatt says before going over to his sister and father and I turn once more to get a good look around the room. Many of my former pack were sick and many wanted nothing to do with me after my father's... the old alpha's declaration. A thought hit me, where is my mother? 

He didn't mention my mother! 

Tears swelled in my eyes as I ran to Wyatt.

"Where.... Where is your mother?" I asked.

His eyes fell to the ground and when they returned to mine there was hate. 

"She was so torn up about your disappearance she went looking for you and never returned. When scouts were sent out to look for her they returned with a dead body. She had been killed. Murdered. Someone had shoved a spear through her heart." His eyes were yellow and his breathing was rough. 

A low growl came from behind him and when I looked I saw Willa with her hand lovingly on his shoulder and eyes locked on me.

"I think it's time for you to walk away, Waylynn." Spite was in her voice. I turned and walked outside where I was most comfortable.

So I began living with the pack again. 

My father's disownment of me made it harder for Wyatt and I to reconnect, but that didn't mean it didn't happen. Eventually, Willa was forced to take over as the alpha of the pack because our father was too sick to do it. 

It wasn't more than three weeks later that a brightly colored bus charged into our treeline, revealing a young white-haired girl standing alone among the trees. I had shared a look with my brother as Willa chose to howl and reveal herself. 

Something about this girl was different, something that could affect the possibility of her being the Great Alpha. 

Wyatt sighed, and the rest of the pack quickly dressed him up as a Seabrook Power employee. I held in my snicker at his appearance when they placed glasses that magnified his eyes. We all watched him leave with the intent to inspect the damage caused by being spotted.

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