kind of guy-friend I had. “Yeah. I’m going on three years of training at Hunters High.” I shot him a look. “And they never taught us anything about humans becoming Otherworlders.”
“Politics.” He scoffed. “Don’t tell me you believe everything they and PIU taught you? That’s one of the reasons I left humanity. Humans think they’ve got it all right all the time.”
“Not true.” If I was all right all the time, a lot of things in my life would be different, including the fact that here I sat in the middle of the Canadian woods.
Silence settled in the room. As I crawled into my makeshift bed, Aspen asked, “What were you doing chasing a werewolf anyway?”
I told him the same thing I told Ilume, about my training at school and my working for PIU. “Only it’s not like I knew what she was when I saw her. I just knew she wasn’t tagged.”
“You knew she was dangerous though.”
“Your point?”
“My point is, you didn’t have any weapons and you chased something with weapons built in. You’re too gutsy for a human.”
I frowned. “You know, when you brought it up earlier I took it as a compliment. Maybe I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions.”
“I guess it’s both a compliment and an insult,” Aspen said simply, shrugging. “I’m just saying that once Rex is your enemy, he’s always your enemy. That’s why no one risks getting on his bad side, except Thagen.”
“Who’s Thagen?”
“A wolf that split up our pack. He had his own ideas on how to run things. He didn’t like Rex’s father, and he hated Rex. He undermined them by forming a rebellion within the pack. Thagen and his pack left to start anew somewhere far away. They tried to persuade me to go. One morning we wake up and half our members are gone. We tracked them, but their scents disappeared in the towns. The only person who still has contact with us is Leslie, Ilume’s sister. Nobody will ask Ilume what she knows.”
And here I thought it was the disease that had cut the pack’s numbers. “Why did you stay?”
Aspen hesitated. His gaze was clouded, reflecting mixed thoughts. “It’s too risky for me to leave these woods.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Oh.” I wanted to pry, but I knew how it was, not wanting to talk about something. There were subjects in my life, like dad’s disappearance, that I didn’t want anyone poking at.
We stared at the ceiling, quiet for a few minutes. I replayed that night’s events in my head. Besides the fact I was starving, tempted to sneak out to the kitchen and see what I could find, Ilume’s face kept popping up. I kept seeing her gorgeous figure, then her flat expression during the alpha/mate conversation.
“Is Ilume really supposed to become that asshole’s mate?”
“On her eighteenth birthday, yeah. She’s got about three weeks.” Aspen smiled. “Why? You hoping she was single?”
“That’s not what I meant,” I retorted, but my face warmed up.
“Don’t worry. Every guy in this pack has looked at Ilume. It’ll be a disaster when she takes him as her mate. They’re totally different people, like trying to mate a lion and a wolverine. Everybody knows it, too.”
“Can’t she just say no?”
“It’s not that easy. Rex is the son of an alpha male who was the son of an alpha male. A chain like that, which hasn’t been impaired by a rival pack or died out and replaced, becomes something like royalty in the werewolf world. For Ilume to reject his offer, especially when she’s from a line of omegas and solitary wolves, is highly frowned upon. Rex could legally kick her out if she refuses.”
“That’s such bullshit,” I snapped. Ilume’s stress levels must be booming with that kind of pressure. I felt bad for her and pissed at Rex; pissed at werewolf society, really.
“Yeah, well, our rights aren’t protected like yours. According to the government we don’t exist.” Aspen tilted his head,
“Politics.” He scoffed. “Don’t tell me you believe everything they and PIU taught you? That’s one of the reasons I left humanity. Humans think they’ve got it all right all the time.”
“Not true.” If I was all right all the time, a lot of things in my life would be different, including the fact that here I sat in the middle of the Canadian woods.
Silence settled in the room. As I crawled into my makeshift bed, Aspen asked, “What were you doing chasing a werewolf anyway?”
I told him the same thing I told Ilume, about my training at school and my working for PIU. “Only it’s not like I knew what she was when I saw her. I just knew she wasn’t tagged.”
“You knew she was dangerous though.”
“Your point?”
“My point is, you didn’t have any weapons and you chased something with weapons built in. You’re too gutsy for a human.”
I frowned. “You know, when you brought it up earlier I took it as a compliment. Maybe I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions.”
“I guess it’s both a compliment and an insult,” Aspen said simply, shrugging. “I’m just saying that once Rex is your enemy, he’s always your enemy. That’s why no one risks getting on his bad side, except Thagen.”
“Who’s Thagen?”
“A wolf that split up our pack. He had his own ideas on how to run things. He didn’t like Rex’s father, and he hated Rex. He undermined them by forming a rebellion within the pack. Thagen and his pack left to start anew somewhere far away. They tried to persuade me to go. One morning we wake up and half our members are gone. We tracked them, but their scents disappeared in the towns. The only person who still has contact with us is Leslie, Ilume’s sister. Nobody will ask Ilume what she knows.”
And here I thought it was the disease that had cut the pack’s numbers. “Why did you stay?”
Aspen hesitated. His gaze was clouded, reflecting mixed thoughts. “It’s too risky for me to leave these woods.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Oh.” I wanted to pry, but I knew how it was, not wanting to talk about something. There were subjects in my life, like dad’s disappearance, that I didn’t want anyone poking at.
We stared at the ceiling, quiet for a few minutes. I replayed that night’s events in my head. Besides the fact I was starving, tempted to sneak out to the kitchen and see what I could find, Ilume’s face kept popping up. I kept seeing her gorgeous figure, then her flat expression during the alpha/mate conversation.
“Is Ilume really supposed to become that asshole’s mate?”
“On her eighteenth birthday, yeah. She’s got about three weeks.” Aspen smiled. “Why? You hoping she was single?”
“That’s not what I meant,” I retorted, but my face warmed up.
“Don’t worry. Every guy in this pack has looked at Ilume. It’ll be a disaster when she takes him as her mate. They’re totally different people, like trying to mate a lion and a wolverine. Everybody knows it, too.”
“Can’t she just say no?”
“It’s not that easy. Rex is the son of an alpha male who was the son of an alpha male. A chain like that, which hasn’t been impaired by a rival pack or died out and replaced, becomes something like royalty in the werewolf world. For Ilume to reject his offer, especially when she’s from a line of omegas and solitary wolves, is highly frowned upon. Rex could legally kick her out if she refuses.”
“That’s such bullshit,” I snapped. Ilume’s stress levels must be booming with that kind of pressure. I felt bad for her and pissed at Rex; pissed at werewolf society, really.
“Yeah, well, our rights aren’t protected like yours. According to the government we don’t exist.” Aspen tilted his head,
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