Drowning with Fire #3 ✔

Chapter 1 - Ember

Trust depends almost entirely upon the truth. Fragments of truth leads to fragments of trust. Yet we'd begun letting little truth determine our entire trust.

It's Kaden.

Up until then, I never realised how much so few words could destroy everything in the blink of an eye; the thud of a heartbeat; the splitting of a second.

The pack hadn't discussed staying in Montana for the rest of the summer. But from the moment I got that call from Halia, it was like everything and everyone started moving on an accelerated timescale.

Needless to say, chaos reigned the ranch for a good few weeks. We had endless discussions and debates over what to do, and where we should go. Only one thing remained constant:

The pack could no longer coexist.

Alliances had shifted, priorities had altered, and a new Alpha was emerging.

Jonathan (Theo's long-lost dad who he'd recently found again) and Maia (who'd been a somewhat failed experiment of the hunters and was now a skinwalker) remained focused on heading to learn more about Maia's new and volatile nature as a skinwalker.

Jason and Jade didn't falter either – it became very apparent very quickly that they were willing to rid themselves of 'pack responsibilities' as soon as possible.

Abi and Zack were torn between heading to a secluded cabin in Canada and joining me, Theo, Ryder and Thea in going to the UK. Both of them were of a compassionate and empathetic nature, that much was apparent. Yet when Theo made the call that they don't get involved, they agreed almost instantly.

Like I said, alliances were shifting.

Neither Ryder nor Thea had ever been to the UK before. Ryder was excited, in spite of what we knew we'd face on our return – or, had a vague idea of what we'd face anyways. Theo and Thea having to part with their dad after only just having been reunited was heart-wrenching to watch.

After booking flights, trains or coaches with money scraped together from Jonathan's savings and elsewhere, it wasn't long before the former pack members left one by one.

In order to cover the extra cost to return to the UK by plane, Theo and Ryder got jobs as dishwashers and Thea and I put in some hours in the same diner.

Considering I'd never worked before, I enjoyed the toil immensely – most likely because of the prospect of returning home was driving me forwards. Of course, the long hours up on my feet, having to contend with getting orders right, were gruelling.

With all four of us having worked long hard evening and weekends – we still attended high school, surprisingly – it wasn't too long before we'd earned enough. We'd be broke upon arriving in the UK, but once we got there, I was hoping things would start falling into place.

By the time the full moon came around again, it was just Theo, Ryder and Thea out in the woods – with me staying in the ranch alone, counting down the hours before they returned safely.

Inevitably, we were the last to leave the ranch. The previous number of emotional goodbyes left tears embedded in the ranch's wooden floor panels and seemed to linger constantly.

"I'll miss this place." Ryder voiced, a hand resting on a wooden doorframe.

"We'll come back one day." Theo reassured him, placing a hand on the Beta's shoulder.

Will we?

"Let's just get going already." Thea huffed, lugging her last bag outside, "We're gonna end up being late!"