5

To put it lightly I was on edge for the rest of week. Every night I'd wake up in a cold sweat, dreams of Tahlia Hale ripping my throat out or beheading me were now a nightly occurrence.

I didn't know much about Tahlia; I knew she was well respected in the werewolf community. As much, if not more than my father. She could transform into a full wolf like my dad and like him she obviously knew who the emissary is. I was brought up into a pack where anything to do with the Hale's was treated with caution. Although some members of my pack are more eager for bloodshed than others, we knew we had to be cautious.

For a few reasons. Reason one, the treaty limited allot of what we could do to them, basically only giving Alpha's the right to bloodshed. Unless they are a betrayer of peace. E.g. Walking on someone else's land justifies an instant kill from anyone.

Another reason was exposure. Exposure to both hunters and humans was always of the upmost importance. If we started killing a bunch of Hale's, then the humans would start asking too many questions.

But it's currently 2:45 am and I had so many questions. Most of them directed at an Alpha I've apparently met but now can't remember meeting. I'd seen her before a few times, living in a small town and being in the same grade as her son will do that.

I remembered in first grade there was this school picnic and Tahlia Hale was there. For some reason I thought it'd be a good idea to just stare at her. Some background, you're not supposed to look Alpha's directly in the eye because it's considered challenging their authority. But my seven-year-old self-had never seen another Alpha before apart from my father. So, I was obviously just curious and wanted to see the scary Alpha of the Hale pack. The so-called enemy.

She knew I was a Wood based off my scent but at seven I hadn't matured enough to wolf out yet. She only smirked lightly at me, but it was enough to scare me off. Even though I was seven, I'd still openly disrespected and challenged her. I had always been slightly fearful of her after that.

Now I was out wright scared. Don't get me wrong I'm gad I'm still breathing but she shouldn't have let me go. My father wouldn't have let any of her children go if they did what I did, He'd come up with something worse than beheading. I'd learned not to disrespect my father from a young age. He's just as feared as he is respected. There's no doubt in my mind he wouldn't hesitate in killing a Hale, even if they were fifteen.

Which is why I cannot figure out why she let me go. Even if she didn't want to kill me, she should've locked me up as prisoner or something! All this worrying was causing me so much stress, it seemed to be eating away at me. Another big question is why would I even be on their land in the first place?

I don't have a death wish. Apart from that one incident when I was seven, I've always done right by the treaty and the feud. Sure, I fought every day with Derek Hale but that's because I had to spend every single school day with him. Not to mention it's expected to hate each other. I just can't figure it out and it scared me. I was scared that when my father, Thalia Hale and the emissary meet to discuss business that she'll let slip what I did. And if she can prove it then my father, to it mildly won't be happy.

We'd probably have a pack meeting to establish a punishment that fits breaking the treaty and somehow surviving. A punishment worse than death, I bet my father would be able to make up something that comes close.

I know I'm painting my old man in a bad light but he's really not that bad. Our pack is just stricter compared to others. We take punishment seriously to keep ourselves in line. But only if you go against the pack. 'My family is my pack and therefore my pack is my family' is what we teach our young. We called our Alpha, sir and we run more like a military than a normal household. It didn't mean we weren't given love or affection growing up we just place a high value on discipline.

We lived by an unspoken rule of pack before family, pack above everything. Our motto is 'la route est dure mais c'est notre route' which translates to 'The road is hard, but it is our road'. I always thought my packs motto was a bit cheesy, but I'd never voice that to my family. They take the words of our pack as basically the word of God himself.

I heard that the Hale pack lived differently. Family before pack. That they don't have a military order of running things. They were a werewolf dynasty as old as ours. Well respected but not as feared as the Wood pack. Their motto 'Tan fuerte como la piedra' translates to 'As strong as stone'. While their motto was in Spanish our was in French. According to legend we founded beacon hills to flee the Argents in France.

The feud had never scared me so much before. I'd grown up with it, accepted it as a part of life. A rival werewolf pack at the other end of the reserve, a rivalry that has been ongoing for centuries. But now that the Hale's practically owned me with the fear of rattling me out...well, I was scared.

I was surprised when I slept in on Monday morning. My alarm clock was blaring 9:15AM and I was still in bed. This never happens because Anna would always be blaring her car horn at me and my mother would never allow me to skip school unless it's a full moon. One of the only down sides of being a werewolf is that we can't get sick. There's no possible way for me to catch the flu or common cold. So, I could never use the old 'I'm sick' to get me out of school. I tried once and my mum didn't by it for a second, actually she made me sit down with my father to discuss the importance of honesty.

Needless to say, I never tried that method ever again. But I was young, and nobody had told me before that werewolves cannot get sick and I hadn't learned how to rest my pulse either. So, I didn't really skip school unless I was a hundred percent sure I couldn't control myself on the full moon, which is rare but I am prone to the occasional slip up.

I was staring at glowing numbers with dread. My mother isn't going to be happy when she finds I'm still asleep, might as well get this over with.

I ripped the covers off me and started making my way to the dining hall. I approached the grand staircase and tried to tread lightly while keeping an ear out for any voices around.

My house consisted of my mother, father, my grandparents (fathers' side), Alec, Anna and myself. All of us are werewolves, our family had bred the occasional human from time to time. While humans in the Hale pack are basically treated the same as wolves in our pack they are looked down on. We don't have any at the moment but before I developed my wolf, I did fear what would happen if I was just a regular human and the gene skipped me. But thank god it didn't. At the end of the day, they are my family. And yes, they may be flawed but they love me and I love them.

I just didn't want them to catch me being late for school. My house was huge and while that might be all normal people need to sneak out undetected, my family weren't normal. Therefore, any creak on the stair or squeak of my shoes, then five pairs of supernatural ears would be aware that I'm late and still here.

Just as I finished tip toeing down the stairs, Alec came walking out of the dining hall with a smirk on his face. Well shit.

"Why are you walking down the stairs like that Avery?" He rose his eyebrows at me.

My brother was casually wearing a white shirt and jeans, somehow pulling off formal and causal at the same time. His hair was messy but more like he'd styled it then woke up that way.

I looked down at my stance, I was walking down the stairs on an angle with my arms out on the rails as if that'd make me more silent.

I shrugged. "No reason, Where's mum and dad?"

He nodded over his shoulder; towards the room he'd just left.

I sighed "Are they mad at me?"

He smirked at me lightly. "Should they be?"

I tipped my head in confusion. "Yeah...I'm not at school"

He creased his eyebrows. "You're not supposed to be at school, they'd have your head if you were".

I looked at him like he was the world's biggest idiot. "But It's Monday".

He chuckled a bit. "Yeah, well it's also the Hale boy's coming of age on Friday, so no school for you for an entire week." He winked at me and continued walking off towards a different part of the mansion.

Well shit. I'd been so caught up in in my own stress and worry to remember that Derek Hale turns sixteen this week. I guess I should explain. When a werewolf turns sixteen their wolf matures, and it's called a coming of age. It means you don't have to worry over control and that your able to find your mate. When this happens, it's called a 'coming of age'. It only happens for born werewolves.

Once we turn sixteen our wolves mature to the point of being able to control our transformations on full moons and they can recognise our 'mate'. A mate is basically a werewolf's soulmate. They are destined and sacred. Every born wolf has one and only bitten wolves have them if they are the mate of a born wolf. But mates are never human. Apparently, everything is heightened when you have them and the love you have for your mate is ten times stronger than human love.

At age twenty-one, in my pack we're expected to leave in search of them. Female's always join the pack of their mate. I do not why but it's just the way it's always been. Because mates are so sacred, Alpha's can recognise females that rightfully belong in their pack, even before they've come of age. It's a pack survival instinct that only powerful Alpha's can have. This is because technically that female would be that Alpha's rightful pack member despite already being in a pack.

My brother has yet to find his mate mostly due to living in a small town with only one other pack. He turns twenty-one next year and it's expected that he'll go in search of his. During coming of age ceremonies ally packs will come to see if any of their beta's can recognise their mates.

It's for that very reason that my pack is basically going into isolation for a week. Beacon Hills might have just as many werewolves in town this week as humans. All of them would have an alliance with the Hale pack or are here out of respect to Tahlia. Basically, the town will be over-run with Hale's and their allies for the entire week. Every werewolf in America is aware of the feud, and it would not be smart for us to be casually walking around now. Especially if they thought harming us would get them in the Hale's good books.

So, we stayed in isolation for a week. I remembered doing the same for Laura's coming of age. I remembered Alec's and Anna's. Around five hundred wolves showed up for both ceremonies. I guess their mates are either in a pack that is allied with the Hale's or most unlikely is that their mates are in another country.

But all it means for me is that I have an entire week off school and do not have to see stupid Hale's face until next Monday. I was smiling at the thought. I have three months until my own ceremony and it unnerved me a bit. I didn't know if I was ready for that kind of commitment at age sixteen.

An even worse thought then came to mind. What if I had to not only spend school with Derek but with his new mate as well. Classes with two Hales? Bloody torture. And if she is his soulmate then she'd be just as annoying if not more so then Derek!