Sixteen.

Dylan

 Why would anyone come looking for me? It didn't make any sense. The only people who I knew that I live on the pack lands was the people I work for, but I have never even met them in person before.

 Even though Lecia sounded so confident, I hated to tell her that she was wrong. No one, and I mean not a single person has ever shown any real interest in me. 

 Even Alpha Rogan only cared because he didn't want me to bring any unnecessary problems to the pack. Keeping me away from others benefited him just as much as it did me.

 "You are not a mistake or burden that needs to be hidden away from others," Rae whispered softly, but meekly.

 While her words brought me some relief, they didn't erase all the feelings that I had built up inside about not being good enough to live as a part of the pack.

 Rae seemed to want to refute my thoughts, but she was oddly silent and tried to fill my mind with loving thoughts instead.

 Lecia was watching me with a look of expectation mixed with concern. I knew that she could tell that I was trying to talk to Rae and consider what she just told me.

 Whoever was giving Lecia information on what was going on behind the scenes must be in a position of power, or really close to the Alpha. If everyone knew that there was an intruder the alarms would have gone off last night.

 Having only known each other for such a short amount of time, I didn't really know much about her. I was done answering questions and thinking about things that made no sense.

 "I have no friends or family, so I think that you are mistaken or who ever is giving you this information is." My words came out rougher than I had intended, but I did not choose to apologize.

 She paused with the pancake an inch away from her mouth. I could tell that she was about to say something, but I stopped her by asking my question first.

"Why are you here Lecia? Why would someone like you want to be friends with me?"

 There. Let her answer some questions now. I'm not trying to be mean, but I can't be the only one who has to divulge things about myself and put myself out there for others.

 She let the fluffy pancake fall on her plate, but not in an angry way, as a matter of fact she seemed excited.

 The only way that I can describe the onslaught of words that came pouring out of her mouth was by describing a dam bursting forth.

 Lecia told me her entire life story, or at least that's what it seemed liked. She's the oldest of three, but the only girl. Her parents both work and she helps her mom do everything around the house.

 Playing sports and trying to get into college are her biggest worries right now and she has quite a few friends, but she considers them more like acquaintances than real friends.

 By the time she had finished telling me about her life, I had finished not only all my food and coffee, but I had gotten seconds and finished those to.

 Around the time she got to what happened with us in the woods outside the school. Explaining every time we had been together from her perspective was so enlightening.

 It seemed like she had been talking for hours when she finally explained what happened yesterday. "I showed up to see if you were okay since you suddenly stopped answering your phone and I found you, well, like that."

Heat filled my cheeks because I could only imagine what she walked in on when she showed up.

 "When I followed Rae to the beach and Brea was able to link with her, she instructed her to come her and get things ready after she had taken off to chase that scent."

 Well, that explains how she ended up being here at my house getting things ready when I walked in.

 "After everything happened after the Alpha left your house, you passed out and my mom let me know that there were search parties all over this area."

 Embarrassment made the heat in my cheeks burn hotter and I was sure that I looked as red as Rae.

 "I asked her if I could stay with you and she thought it would be a great idea and even sent my little brothers over with some food for me to make for breakfast."

 Sitting back in her chair seemed like a signal that she was done with story time and I couldn't help but feel out of breath. So many different thoughts were going through my head.

"So, your parents are okay that you're here with me," I asked nervously.

 The smile that spread across her face eased the slight ache that lives in my heart. "Yeah, of course they are. I had to bribe my little brother's to keep from staying the night with us though."

 A laugh that I hadn't expected, escaped my throat. The fact that someone wanted to stay with me was new, and a bit exciting.

 After cleaning everything up, and talking a bit more, we decided that we would go out and do some grocery shopping and have another go at girls night.

 The evening went by with lots of food and laughter. I even got to talk on the phone with her brothers who I found out were twins and who were only a year younger than her.

 When we were finally getting ready for bed, she decided to ask again what it was that had happened yesterday when she had found me freaking out in my living room.

 "I work for a company in the city and my manager sent me a message at the end of my shift telling me that I have to go in for a mandatory meeting."

 I thought that she was shocked at the request like I was, and was already worried about what was going to happen to my job, but I hadn't anticipated her response.

"So, what's the big deal? I don't get it."

 "What do you mean, if they want me to go to the office they are probably going to fire me. Plus there is no way that Alpha Rogan is going to give me permission to go to the office."

"Why," she asked perplexed.

 We were sitting in my pajamas and she she was sitting beside me and braiding my hair, so I had to turn to look at her.

 "They have never asked me to go in so they must be angry or upset with me." I had turned just enough to look at her, but not so much that she would mess up my hair.

"No, that's not what I mean."

She finished with the braid and grabbed my shoulder to turn me so that I was fully looking at her.

 "Why wouldn't the Alpha let you go to your office. If he already let you have a job, then why wouldn't he let you go in person if needed."

 Even though her question made sense, I didn't know how to explain to her all of the things that he had warned me about not only here in the pack, but especially in the human city.

 "There is nothing to be afraid of in the City, we go all the time. My father works for a large company there and my mom likes to go there to go shopping when ever she can."

 I was so shocked to hear about her parents. I know that many people work in the city, but I didn't know them personally and the pack lands are so big and we have so much stuff here that many people hardly ever leave.

 "I can go with you when you tell him about this if it makes you feel better. I'll be like your emotional support wolf."

 I couldn't hold back the laugh and the tears. They were happy tears of course, but still. These feelings and experiences were new and they were so enjoyable.

 When we went to bed, I fell into a deep and restful sleep, but not before Rae, who had been so quiet all day, wished me many more days of happiness like this.

I secretly wished for them to.

-

I spent the next two days with Lecia preparing for my meeting with Alpha Rogan.

 She decided that we would do role playing and that I would try different ways to explain to him why I felt that I had to leave the pack lands and how important it was for my professional career.

 Our meeting was scheduled for tonight and he was going to come here to my house. It worked out well because I could have Lecia here without having to come up with an excuse on why she wold accompany me.

 Deciding that a short, truthful explanation would be the best way to approach the topic, I ran through every different scenario and how to combat any refusal.

 When he finally arrived, it was already late in the afternoon and I was ready, or as ready as I could ever be.

 At first, I could tell that he was a little annoyed to find that Lecia was here with me again, but I couldn't understand why.

 He was wearing a suit, but his tie was sticking out of his pocket so I knew that I would be his last stop before heading home.

I decided that we should sit in the living room and try to get this over with as soon as possible.

 "So, what is it that you need to discuss with me Dylan, and shouldn't you have let me know if you would have a guest with you for this meeting."

 Shit, I had a feeling that I should have told him about Lecia before he showed up, but I was afraid that he would have made me ask her to leave.

 Privacy was one of the most important things that he had always drilled into me, but I was so happy for this new friendship with Lecia, I honestly never wanted her to leave.

 "Apologies Alpha Rogan, she has been spending quite a bit of time with me lately and I thought it would be okay. I apologize for not letting you know in advance."

 While he sat comfortably on the end of the couch, I could tell that he was upset by the way he held himself.

 "Just explain to me what you need, I had a feeling that it was urgent so I made plans to come as soon as I could."

 I needed to just get on with it. Having him actually sitting here in my house was making me lose my nerve. If I didn't get the words out now I would probably end up swallowing them up and forgetting them.

 "I received a request to go to the office for a meeting with my manager and I wanted to run it by you for permission."

 When I said that word, Lecia immediately looked from me to Alpha Rogan. I honestly didn't need permission from anyone. I was seventeen, about to graduate, and I already lived on my own.

 But, Alpha Rogan had been the one who took care of me in his own way and he essentially was the one who would allow or prevent me from doing, well, anything.

 Alpha Rogan rose to his feet the moment the words were out of my mouth. I watched as he did his best to hold in his anger, but I could tell form the way that he flexed his fingers that he was trying to calm himself.

"When did you receive this request?

Well, he hadn't come out and just said no, so I explained everything to him.

 "I received the message at the end of my shift two days ago, but I forgot to ask you earlier because of what happened that night."

Yes, he knew exactly what happened that night, in fact he was here that night to.

"Who sent the request Dylan?"

 I explained that to him as well, but I could see that he was furious that they made the request directly to me and that this was the first time that he was hearing about it.

 "I will have to talk to Xavier and then I will get back to you. If that is all for tonight, I will leave you two to enjoy yourselves."

 He walked over to the door and was about to leave when he asked me to follow him outside for a moment.

 I turned back to look at Lecia, who gave me two thumbs up when Alpha Rogan's back was turned and he was striding out of the house.

 He stopped a few steps away from my porch and I walked over to him but stood about an arms length away.

 It was dark outside, and if anyone was around, it would be hard to make us out in the shadow of the tree we stood next to.

 "Dylan, I want you to be careful with your new friend. Don't you think that it's odd that she suddenly wants to be your friend after she saw Rae?"

 He reached out a hand and placed it on my shoulder and pulled me into a slight hug. I was so shocked by his words that I let him.

 "I will meet you once I have made a decision about this, but next time you will be alone," he growled in my ear.

 When he turned to walk away, I could do nothing but stay right there. While I thought that his words were ones of concern, they hurt so much. All they brought with them was the doubt that I began feeling that he wanted to plant.