Hadley's POV

I finished washing myself up and dressed in the clean clothes that had been left outside the bathroom door. A pair of dark wash skinny jeans, a light grey sweater, and some burgundy converse. Simple enough. I was grateful to not have to put back on mine from last night. I quickly looked at myself in the mirror. Still a mess from last night. My eyes were hollow. The cuts on my face would take some time to fully heal. I ran a comb through my damp hair.

I pushed my hands into the granite sink counter trying to center myself from totally losing it. If I denied what I felt last night for long enough.. The fear.. The pain. Maybe it would all just be gone one away. Maybe I could just forget. This could be a new life, a new start. My old life felt impossible now.

I left my room and made my way into the hall. I was completely lost in the maze of a house. House was an understatement, this was more like a mansion. I hadn't realized the scale of it. So Tate is rich. A rich werewolf. What the hell is my life? I made my way around a corner and found a large wooden banister staircase. I made my way to the pain level and opened the two large doors that were right off of the base of the stairs.

I opened the doors to a living room unlike anything I had ever seen before. There was a large fireplace on the back wall. It was the back wall. The room had been painted a rich emerald green with dark wood floors. The room was covered in rich grey velvet furniture. Countless numbers of small couches and chairs. The walls were lined with books and paintings. Paintings of the moon, the woods, of wolves. It was the most beautiful place I had ever seen.

My eyes were lost in the details. Taking it all in when a curly blonde head popped up from a chair.

"Don't let the room fool you we're not all pretentious assholes. This is where we have council meetings so it's the most showy of the whole place," The blonde guy had stood up and was now making his way towards me. He walked with confidence. His sapphire blue eyes were smirking at me. Probably due to my shocked expression at seeing the room. He was also very tall, not as tall as Tate but pretty close. He was just as strong too. Must be a wolf thing.

"I'm West. We met the other night briefly. You might be able to recognize me," He said flashing his fangs.

My mind jumped back to the woods. There had been a light tan wolf with blue eyes that Tate had growled at. My head turned as I looked over West. He lightly laughed as I connected the dots.

"Yeah I don't know if I am ever going to get used to the fact that you guys can all shift like that"

"You could too if you wanted too," he said, giving me a teasing look.

"I'd probably make a crap wolf. Is it really that obvious that I have the gene. I just.. I went my whole life never thinking I was anything other than human. Does that make me stupid?" I said looking at the ground.

"Hey. Hey not at all. Yes you have the gene but unless it's unlocked it hardly shows itself. Even when you're a wolf you still have that mortal side to you. You just never unlocked the other side. You probably did things in your life though because of your wolf half without even realizing it," he said.

I instantly knew I liked West and that we could be fast friends. Maybe living here wouldn't be such a bad thing.

"So you live here in the house?" I asked already knowing the answer.

"I'm the beta," he smiled with pride. "I need to be close to the alpha,"

"Oh I didn't realize," I said.

"Careful you'll end up bruising little West's ego with comments like that,"

I turned my head to find the owner of the voice that had come into the room. The woman before me was stunning. She had long curled deep blonde hair and ice blue eyes. Her lips were stained with a deep red that I hoped was just lipstick.

"Shove it Devin. I thought you were supposed to be gone another week" West said.

"I got done early and thought I would surprise you. Are you not happy to see me baby brother?" She said with the corner of her mouth slightly turning up. "And you must be Hadley. I heard about you five states over. My clothes look better on you than me. You can keep them," she said crossing her arms.

West and Devin continued to look at eachother. Their faces changed expressions but no words passed between them. We were standing in silence. I looked at both of them curiously. Was I missing something?

"I'll catch up with you later Hadley. Duty calls" West said patting me on the shoulder as he left giving me a smile.

"Oh god sorry sometimes I forget. When you join the pack you can mind link with the members. We have some visitors from another pack so West is joining Tate to bring them in," Devin explained. Everything was starting to make a little more sense.

"How many other packs are there?" I asked. This was a whole new world to me that I knew nothing about.

"In the northern continent there are 13 all together. Only the five founding packs matter though really. They are the ones who set the expectations for the other packs, and have the most territory. Lucky for you, you landed yourself a spot in the second largest founding pack," Devin explained.

"How long has Tate been alpha.. He seems so young," He had to only be a year or two older than me. There was no denying his power though in his mortal or wolf form. It practically radiated from him. Even as a mortal I could feel it.

I had been so lost in my thoughts about Tate I hadn't realized Devin's face had shifted. She seemed lost in her own sad thoughts as she finally answered me.

"Tate inherited the pack from his father as most alphas do. My father was the beta. Tate really should be the one to tell you about this but it wasn't good. Our pack. It was a cruel place before Tate. What he did. What he had to do. I owe him everything. Let's just say not all packs are like ours," Devin was so serious it took me back. What had Tate done?

"Anyways before you read way too much into that. Tate wants me to show you the pack grounds. He isn't quite ready to show you off to the Fenris Moon Pack and I don't think you're ready to meet them either. They'll be here in a few minutes" She laughed off. Trying to quickly change to topic.

"Let's get out of here," I said, popping off of the velvet chair.

"To the woods," Devin said, leading me out of the room.

We had made it to the entrance of a trail. Devin was explaining how it led all around the pack's territory. Even though many of them preferred to run in their wolf form on unmarked trails. This one was so extensive that non pack members hardly ever ventured off of the main part of the trail that was closest to the town.

That was when we heard the blood curdling scream.