I'm sure every kid or teenager had trouble with their parents. We always want to hide things, keep our life private. I didn't grow up with parents, I didn't get the chance to hide things from them before they were murdered.
Then Charles raised me for a few years.
Actually, it was more like Eli and the other shifters in the pack that raised me.
Some days I missed it, the old packhouse. It was one big home, three stories, ten bedrooms on each floor. The days that I wasn't locked inside my bedroom or Charles's closet were the best. When Charles let the sunlight hit my skin. When Eli was allowed to bring me food, take me into the yard. I knew they fought for me, all of them fought for me against Charles. That's how I ended up where I am now. Because they fought to take me here, Charles was originally going to bring a letter and a photo of me. But they fought to take me here, with the hope that I could run away.
And though I didn't run away, I did get away and now I was with my dads.
My dads, who both looked really angry at the moment because as much as I wished it, they were a lot smarter than they let on.
I was sitting in Darren's office, across from the desk as he sat in his office chair, while Silas stood alongside him. "Explain to us again what you were doing in the woods in the middle of the night when you told us you'd be spending the night at Ivans?" Silas asked, his big arms folded over his chest as he and Darren wore matching lifted brows.
They were good dads, they were fun, caring, but they were also in charge of a whole pack of people, and though Silas was the kind of Alpha that let things go, he was not one to just toss things under the rug. Darren was a perfectionist, he wanted everything a certain way, he wasn't as forgiving as Silas, and that usually ended up with them fighting, but their fights never lasted long, and I wasn't looking forward to being the subject of that arguing later today.
'We just went out to get some air.' I tried, but the look on their faces told me I wasn't fooling them.
"You and Ivan went to get some air, all the way at the lake with three other people?"
"Four." Silas cut in, my brows raising in question. "Patrick was also seen leaving the woods from the pathway that comes from the lake, and it's not like Patty to take a midnight stroll in the woods."
I sighed, my lips pulling inwards. 'It was just a birthday thing for me, it's no big deal.'
"It is a big deal Star. You can't tell us one thing and then do another. What if it was Charles? What if it was Lucca? You told us you'd be inside all night, safe in someone's house. Not in a field with your friends doing god knows what."
'We weren't-'
"Save it Star, your eyes are bloodshot and you fidgeting, it doesn't take a genius to know what you've been doing in the woods," Silas said cutting me off. I slumped in the chair, looking down at my hands, willing them to just stay still for a second, but it was no use, no matter what I did my hands ached to move. "How often have you been using?"
I looked back up at them, sighing 'Just last night, I haven't touched anything since the last time. I swear.' I signed, the lie coming easily from my fingers to them. Darren just shook his head, before pushing the chair back and standing on his feet.
And just like that, it was over, I got up and left, a pit still in my stomach knowing I was lying to them, that they were going to believe me because they trust me.
It was just that easy.
It was later that night that the itch hit me, Silas was putting the twins to bed while Darren had to work late at the office. So I took that as prime time to go outside, phase into my wolf and clear my mind.
But first, â I leaned over into my dresser, taking out the small, smell-proof canister that hid in a ball of underwear and undid the lid, revealing four little pink pills sitting at the bottom. Quickly, before the scent â though not grand, still something Silas could pick up from across the house if he wanted to â I popped two in my mouth, swallowing them dry before putting the rest away. Taylor had given me more this afternoon, but I kept them under my bed, in a tissue box until I needed to clear them out.
Getting out of the house was easy. I could hear Maddox screaming his ABC's while dad calmy sang them to Mekhi. He was distracted enough with them that I would dart out of my room and down the stairs.
One of the benefits of being a Golden was that you were quick, quiet, and sly. Kind of like a fox. In and out of your phased form. It was like playing Among us on 2x the speed.
Once I was outside, I lifted the sweater off my head, looking into the distance to not distract myself with what my body looked like, I didn't need my high to become depressed. That would be dangerous.
It has been dangerous.
I was in my true form within seconds and running into the woods. I had given Ivan a text, letting him know what I was doing. But I knew he would be asleep, that I would be safe from him coming into the woods looking for me, knowing good and well that I was being stupid.
I just wanted to make sure. I needed to know who was out there, what they were doing, and if they were coming for me.
I wasn't worried about Symon coming to get me, if Symon came back the first place he'd go was to his brother, and we all knew that.
But Charles and Lucca? They would be looking for me, they would want my head on a silver platter, and maybe going out in the darkness, alone was a bad idea for that. But I had to know, the itch to see what was out there was intensified by the high, and I had to see with my own eyes if my brother and captor were stalking the lands around my home.
I wanted to know how safe I really was.
My nose was to the ground, no unfamiliar scents were coming in, though Charles was known to have a scent mask. He would want us to know he was around because that was just the kind of man he was. If he had sent one of his goonies to scoop me out, he'd want us to know.
I had walked to the lake, and into the deep woods beside it when I heard something snap from my right side. Someone was walking towards me, I could hear their feet, and the low growl they let off as a warning to me.
I should growl too, let low and let them know I wasn't messing around.
But my mouth wouldn't do what my head wanted, and before I knew it I was belly up, with two very angry, brown eyes looking at me.