Bye, Bye, The Camp I.

There was anticipation that hung over the recruits in The Camp about finally moving to Crandale...

They were buzzing with excitement, and it was apparent in the mood as Kristensen and Trudy made their to House of Caston's residence.

They heard the whispers and murmurs... it seemed to be already confirmed, Kristensen thought.

Kristensen's mind was still reeling with what occurred with Arson, and she couldn't help her disappointment. It was different from before when she disagreed with their way of doing things, this time around, there was a hint of provocation in the way she talked.

Why, why, and why? Kristensen sighed. And she didn't find the alpha's symbol either.

"Did you see the way she looked at us?" Trudy broke the silence, her voice laced with anger. "Didn't I tell you before? Omegas are the worst."

Kristensen nodded, her jaw clenched. "Forget it. Isaac's dead, killed by Ocean, and we're back to where we were before."

They walked in silence for a few moments, each lost in their own thoughts. Kristensen wandered why she was bothering with the mystery when it really had nothing to do with her.

Yet again, there was a tuck in her that made her irritable when she thought about the Alpha's symbol Isaac had before. That Mara Ryson, they were somehow related...

A running figure bumped into Trudy, and they fell.

"Sorry, sorry..." The boy said.

Kristensen thought him a boy because he looked way younger, although tall. She watched as the boy offered his hand to Trudy and oulled her up. When she went to ask Trudy if she was alright, Kristensen saw the same mark on the boy's hand... her eyes narrowed.

What she didn't see was the light moving from the boy's mark into Trudy's palm - she had the same mark as well.

"Are you alright?" The boy asked Trudy.

For a moment, Trudy became dazed when she looked into his eyes. It was only when the boy blinked that she regained her senses. "I'm fine." she said briskly as she took back her hand.

Something was wrong... Trudy felt it, and so did Kristensen, but they couldn't pinpoint what as they watched the boy leave, until he disappeared from their sight.

"Have you seen him before?" Kristensen asked. Her eyes inadvertently looked at Trudy's hand. She searched every inch of it but didn't see anything out of the ordinary, and only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.

Trudy shook her head absent-minded. The feeling she got from that boy was familiar, but she couldn't place it. Was she mistaken?

"Let's go." Kristensen said.

They put the incident at the back of their minds as they continued on their way.

At one of the buildings, the boy who had just bumped into Trudy knelt down before a masked figure. It was the same figure that had watched Ocean leave after he intercepted the pack's sacrifice.

The eyes on the masked were a bright red, and they were looking at Kristensen and Trudy's figures. "Is it done?" the masked figure rasped, the voice rough as though not often used.

"Yes." The boy said weakly.

"You're sure she has it?" the masked figure drawled.

The boy shook as he knelt, his whole body shaking with fear. "Yes."

"You did well." The masked figure said as it turned around towards the backdoor. "Father will take care of your family."

There was no response from the boy. He seemed to have fallen asleep, but from close inspection, he was the same as Isaac's corpse. The boy was dead.

Kristensen and Trudy met Mel halfway. It seemed she had been waiting for them there. When she saw them, she jogged towards them. "We need to talk." she said, her tone urgent.

They exchanged an exasperated glance before following Mel. They stopped at the side of a building, and Mel wasted no time getting to the point.

"I think Arson is in trouble." Mel began, her voice low.

"Not this again..." Trudy interrupted.

"I overhead Drew talking to her last night." Mel hushed loudly, then looked around and continued in a low voice, "she's threatening her. Arson has to... she told Arson to steal something from you."

Kristensen's eyes deepened, but she looked at Mel quietly. "Steal what?"

Mel shook her head, her expression troubled. "I don't know, but whatever it is, it can't be good, right?"

They stared at her blankly. Their expression mirrored - we don't know...

"Are you sure?" Trudy asked suspiciously, "we don't have anything worth Drew kidnapping Arson over."

But Kristensen remembered what had happened with the boy before and remained silent. Could it be they had something but didn't know? Her gaze lingered on Trudy.

Trudy shook her head at Kristensen, "I don't have anything. Are you crazy?"

"Try to remember, maybe you took something from that building without knowing?" Kristensen said.

"What building?" Trudy asked, exasperated. It was clear her patience was worn out.

Kristensen only looked at her probingly.

"I don't..." and Trudy stopped midway. She remembered the plate from before, when the ritual was interrupted and Kristensen's bloodlust... could Drew be after that?

Trudy racked her brain, but she couldn't remember if she'd left it behind or not... "Let's go. Vince and Casey are probably waiting."

Kristensen didn't question further and nodded.

"We'll ask." said Kristensen to Mel. "Thanks."

It was only after a couple of steps that they realized Mel was still following them.

Trudy and Kristensen looked at Mel questiongly.

"I joined House of Caston too." Mel said awkwardly.

Well... there was nothing else to say.

As they were walking, they saw more than two alpha representatives with their party and the recruits leaving.

It seemed people were really moving out...

Kristensen watched everything silently. At least she didn't see anything out of the ordinary. It calmed her racing mind down slightly.

It didn't take long before they reached the residence of the House of Caston. Vince and Casey were waiting for them outside.

Kristensen didn't look or greet them. She didn't forget their previous conduct at all. Unreliable, unbelievable, and very, very stupid. And Trudy followed suit.

Mel brushed past Casey and Vince, "Hello." she said awkwardly, hurrying after Kristensen.

"They're still mad?" Vince asked Casey next to him, looking at the attitude they received, rubbing the end of his nose.

What they'd said yesterday was the simple truth, how did it become something else? He didn't understand, but Casey didn't pay him no mind. He went after Kristensen.

Kristensen sat down and closed her eyes, somehow her mind wondered to the boy who'd bumped into Trudy.

She hadn't said or asked Trudy what she might have taken out of that building or about the mark that looked similar to that on Isaac on that body.

What did it do?

The mark wasn't the same as the pseudo alpha's symbol. Instead, it was a simple tattoo of a moon with other crescents inside, the same as the blood moon from that space. Could it be..?

Kristensen brows furrowed deep in through. It couldn't be what she thought, could it? Her eyes opened abruptly and went back and forth, every inch of Trudy's hands to find whether she had it.

She didn't.

How did Trudy become one of the pack?

Kristensen hoped her assumption was wrong because if it weren't, they were in deeper trouble than Omar Voss or Colton Maddison.

Wouldn't it mean Trudy was the walking, the pack's sacrifice then?

Kristensen's stare on Trudy deepened, so much so that Trudy couldn't ignore it anymore.

"What?" Trudy asked.

Kristensen shook her head but decided to ask, "You... you don't feel any different since we came from there?" she prompted, her voice cautious.

"What?"

"What?" Trudy and Mel asked at the same time, yet their meaning different.

Mel inched closer to Kristensen, "What building? What happened? Where were you?" she asked without taking a breath.

It was then Casey and Vince walked in.

Vince huffed as he sat down, barely stopping himself from blowing his lips. "People are already leaving without us, and you're giving us attitude when you get here." he mocked.

Kristensen put her messy thoughts at the back of her mind when she heard Vince. So, they were really leaving...

She didn't know how to feel about that. Since she found out she was a wolf, all she thought of was moving forth so she could meet her parents again and ask them what she needed to. And now, it was happening...

"When do we set off?" She asked.

Trudy interrupted, "we just came from seeing Isaac. You won't care about that anymore?"

Vince shrugged and threw the ball to Casey. "It's not a matter of my house, I need to get back."

It took Casey a lot of his willpower to not throw a punch at Vince. He really wanted to beat him up...

"You heard Ocean yesterday. There's nothing for us to do here. We need to leave... it's done."

Actually, Kristensen wouldn't care about the pack's sacrifice if it weren't for the alpha's symbol and its possible connection to Mara Ryson.

Now, she was tied to this damnable case unwillingly, wasn't she?

"Then when are we leaving? I don't see Tate and Winnie or the other recruits?" Kristensen asked.

"They already left. We're waiting for Ocean." Casey grumbled.

And they didn't have to wait for long.

Ocean arrived not long after with Drew and Arson, his demeanor flashing as playful as ever.

When he arrived, his eyes stayed on Kristensen alone, making Mel move away and give her seat.

"You're more relaxed than this morning." He whispered next to Kristensen's ear after he sat. His breath tickled her a bit. It was so irky...

Kristensen moved her head away... "You're the same." she mumbled.

For whatever reason she didn't understand, it didn't annoy her as much as when he first did it, and Ocean noticed. His eyes twinkled with amusement - satisfaction. They glinted, and the gold shone like the sun on a bright day

He liked the direction his pub was taking...

"Can we leave now?" Drew said coldy, her blue eyes flashing quickly with emotion.

No one had objections.

Kristensen watched with bridled excitement as The Camp became nothing but a scene she was leaving behind.

Cyan...