Claws (Rewritten)

Ten

Caleb

Our impromptu sleepover at the pack house was disturbed early the next morning. I'd forgotten just how much these wolves liked their routines.

Chloe and I had taken one sofa, with Adelyn sleeping on the other, mainly because we couldn't decide who should get the spare bedroom and who should have the sofa. Eventually, to prevent a war, we just decided to leave the bedroom altogether. The room was quiet, peaceful, and then there was a noise like thunder as what sounded like hundreds of people raced down the stairs.

The unexpected noise jolted me awake, and I opened my eyes to see Tyler shooing the younger members of the pack into the kitchen for an early breakfast before training.

Unfortunately for us, Markus was part of the unlucky group, and he wasn't going to let us escape his fate.

"Absolutely not!" He exclaimed, storming into the room and ripping the blanket away from me and Chloe before I could react.

"Hey--!"

"Get up, I'm not going to be the only one awake this early, it's not fair!"

Chloe and I glared at him. "You're so annoying," She complained.

"Extremely annoying," I continued, having no choice but to wake up properly or face certain death.

Markus grinned victoriously and went to grab Adelyn's blanket, only for her to shoot up and point at him dangerously. "Just you try and take this away from me," She glowered, wrapping the blanket around her protectively. "I'll burn your hair off."

Markus held up his hands in mock surrender. "Fine, keep it." He sniffed indifferently.

"Have you...?" I asked, trailing off, glancing briefly towards the kitchen.

It wasn't much to go on, I'll admit. "Have I...?" He repeated, frowning. "Have I woken you up halfway through a software update or something?"

I gave him a blank look before shifting my gaze more purposefully to the kitchen. "Have you told them yet? About our plans for this winter?"

"Oh! No. I'll tell mine if you tell yours."

"Touché," I muttered. I'd been thinking about that dreaded conversation for a while, now. But avoiding it would do nothing for me. I resolved then and there to visit my father and Daniel today. Lyn would be proud.

Tyler appeared in the doorway, giving Markus a stern look, who scurried off to the kitchen obediently. "Are you training, too?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he met my gaze. He was even polite enough to give me an apologetic look for the disruption.

"No, I'm off to prey on some poor defenceless human," I told him, struggling to hold back a smile when Chloe shot me a lighthearted glare.

"Suit yourself." He smiled before addressing the girls. "How about you two?"

Adelyn shuddered at the idea. "I don't want to break any bones, today."

"I'll go easy on you," Chloe laughed lightly.

I left just as everyone else headed outside into the clearing to train. It was obviously not a coincidence - the discussion last night and now training this morning. Kaden wanted everyone to be ready for a confrontation.

The thought worried me.

When I reached the city, it was still early in the morning. The only other people outside were early joggers and people returning home from night shifts.

Very suddenly there was a firm hand on my shoulder, and I just about had a heart attack. Within the instant, I had the person pressed against the wall with my hand around their throat, my eyes flickering red in warning.