His car was parked outside. There was no one else here, just him. I knew exactly what he was doing. He came for me personally to make me feel important, he came alone and easily turned his back on me, showing trust so I would trust him too. I followed him to the car, threw my bag in the back then sat on the passenger seat. He didn’t push me for an explanation as we drove to the pack house, which made me relax even more. Damn, if I wasn’t counting on this behavior it might have actually worked on me.

The pack house was mostly empty, I could hear three wolves upstairs in their rooms but that was all. It felt empty. He didn’t take me to a free room instead he led me to the kitchen, asking if I was hungry.

“Uh… Not really,” I said but sat down by the kitchen table. Everything here was very modern, all in black and white, loads of marble and granite everywhere. Elliot made me tea which I wasn’t that happy about but took it to not be rude.

“So, I’m curious… What happened? Just yesterday morning it seemed like you were getting along quite well with your family,” he asked, looking at his tea rather than at me, as if not to pressure me.

I let him think he hit a nerve, let myself get angry. “Yeah, well, then you’re just as naïve and stupid as I was. But not anymore, now I know,” I growled under my breath, gripping the mug a bit too tight. “It doesn’t matter, nothing I’ll do will ever make them change. I came back to bury Bran and I stayed to help them avenge him. I did my fucking best to act like a good son. But it doesn’t matter. Because they are the Ghealach pack! They are the high and mighty! The royalty! And I’m just a fucking faggot mutt too low for the likes of them.” I paused as if to catch my breath, to control my anger. And for a second there I really had to… It actually scared me that I didn’t even have to pretend that hard. It scared me just how close this act was to the truth. Elliot calmly listened, he didn’t push, he just waited for me to continue.

“What does it matter, that I saved Jack from the cadracs? Why should I play nice while they walk all over me? I say let them die, maybe then they’ll finally realize that they are nothing special.” But that was too angry, they were my family in the end… “I just don’t get it,” I said softly, letting sadness seep into my voice as I looked at my tea. “Why do they hate me so much? I always did what they wanted, I would die for them! What more do they want?”

“Alistair has been on that imaginary throne of his for too long,” he finally said. “He is a good man in his core but he has forgotten how the real world works, he has lost touch with the wolves who struggle out there. The ones who need the help of the King…”

“Huh… Guess at least there will be a better king when the Mercenaries finally kill him,” I said bitterly. He frowned at me then and I was scared that I went too far, that I fucked it all up.

“You can’t lie to me, Reid. They are your family… What the Mercenaries did is disgusting and terrible. But don’t worry, unlike Alistair I’m actually putting all effort into searching for them,” he said, looking out the window with a determined expression. Wait. This wasn’t in the script!

“You’re looking for them?” I asked raising my eyebrow, the act gone.

“Bran was my friend too you know…” he looked at me sadly then sighed. “And what if when they’re done with the Ghealach pack they come for us?” Then he smiled, oh so wickedly. “Plus can you imagine Alistair’s face if we get to kill them before him?”

“That would surely knock down his crown.” I played along with a small smile, though I was thinking hard about what he just said. That seemed like a genuine reaction… And the reason was there too…

“Exactly. You know, unlike Alistair I can see that you’re smart and responsible… How would you like to help me with the search hm? We could see if maybe I could give you what the Ghealach pack couldn’t, your revenge.” He smiled eagerly awaiting my answer.

Well… he just used the ‘common goal’ strategy to get me into his pack. He didn’t order the Mercenaries. I mean, he could have been manipulating me, just using the Mercenaries he himself ordered to get me on his side. But somehow I doubted it… It would be quite a risk helping me catch them when they could tell me it was all his fault. No. No, it wasn’t him.

“I don’t know…” I couldn’t stop playing yet though.

“It’s all right, you should sleep on it, you had a long day…” he assured me, oh so caring.

“Actually I don’t think I could sleep right now. I feel restless, I need...” I struggled for words like I didn’t even know what I needed.

“You need to kill something. A hunt would do you good.” He smiled. Oh, how it pleased Alphas to know what their wolves needed especially when they could give it to them. “Go, there is plenty of prey here.”

“Seriously?” I asked, shocked. “You will let me?”

“I trust you.” He nodded so sure of himself.

“You’ll let me hunt in your territory? Alone?” I had to ask, had to question him.

He nodded, feeling like he was giving me such an amazing gift. “You have a lot to think about.”

Damn, now if Father was as predictably as Elliot, my life would have been a thousand times easier. I thanked him as he took me upstairs to show me my room. I left my stuff there then went for a run. It felt weird, being here… The forest looked the same, but I could feel how different it was. It was dark and unwelcoming, there was just something off about it. Not, ‘here are Mercenaries’ wrong though. It was just… This wasn’t my territory. The forest knew I shouldn’t be here, it didn’t want me here. I wasn’t pack. Werewolves couldn’t control magic. But our territories weren’t just places, we had special bonds that made the territory truly ours.

I stopped at the border with the Ghealach pack. The forest there called to me, it wasn’t really my territory but still, I was born there, it was my home for sixteen years. That territory would always call to me. It felt so weird to stand on the wrong side of the border. The wind carried Yuri’s and Nikolai’s scent. They walked by a while ago, probably on a patrol. I stayed back from the border, I didn’t want to leave my scent where the next patrol could catch it.

In the end, I ran through the territory almost the whole night, crisscrossing every inch of it. I met a few wolves on my way, I always tensed, ready for an attack. But nothing happened. They would just run by, bark a hello, some even came closer to sniff me. Their eyes were welcoming, curious, friendly. Fuck. That broke my heart into pieces…

I felt like shit as I made my way into my room. I haven’t found a single whiff of cadrac scent. I only got a taste of a pack, that promised to want me, to never judge me… And it felt horrible because I wanted it. So much. I fell asleep eventually, I dreamed of wolves that night, of running by their side as an equal, loved, cared for, wanted…