Unconditionally, Inevitably, Forever Yours.

Fort for the Broken

-Chapter 38-

"Good morning!" Maxwell chirped musically, angering the birds and wildlife with his morning ruckus. April rolled her eyes, continuing the same stroll around the house she'd been repeating since she'd gotten changed. First it'd started off as a run but, seeing as she was certainly no athlete; she soon got tired and gave up and was now walking mindlessly, barefoot- with her mind buzzing with possible endeavours or stunts she was capable of pulling before tonight. She'd heard somewhere that walking/running was therapeutic to some people when it came to thinking, so it seemed only logical to test out their theories.

So far, it wasn't working too well. And she'd been at it for, what, 4 hours maybe? The sun had come up but the air was still crisp and premature. Her guess was that it was around nine in the morning, which, for April, was a pretty early start compared to the midday awakenings back in her old town.

Maxwell's phone was blasting what must've been some kind of wake-up tune- a loud, upbeat artificial sound that followed April around like a shadow. It took quite a bit of restraint to not turn around and plummet his phone to the ground to cease the racket. That wasn't April insulting the music exactly, but her head was already beginning to ache from all her queries and unanswered questions. The last thing she wanted was another thing to subconsciously concentrate on.

"Hey, April," Maxwell called out to her. "You want some food or something? I was going to make some pancakes or something. Maybe waffles. But, then I realised, I've never made them on my own before. My mom would always help me but, rather than being back at home with her and dad- I'm stuck in a forest with my greatest chums. And, I'm practically a fugitive to the place I once considered home, and the Alpha probably wants my head for 'conspiring with the enemy' or some other bullshit."

"Your mom?" April questioned hesitantly, fearing an answer that she may get. "She doesn't live at the pack house, right?" Maxwell was right about the three of them now practically being fugitives to the Alpha. April dreaded what lengths Cohan would go to somehow lure them out of hiding- perhaps involving Maxwell's parents in doing so.

"Nah," He dismissed one of April's worries concerning his own flesh and blood, casually. "They're part of the pack; they just don't physically live inside of it. Since two of their close friends disappeared," Grayson's parents? "They've been anxious to live there, thinking that something was dangerous or whatever."

I guess they were right about that then.

"So, wait, they just abandoned you there?"

Maxwell sighed. "Not exactly. It's complicated." Well, I could use a story to take my mind off a few things, April thought. "My grandparents are two of the Elder Wolves, and they're practically the reason that I'm one of the Betas of the pack- that, and these muscles. Obviously. And, whilst being Beta, I guess it's kind of obligatory for me to stay in the compound. But, after school, I occasionally sneak off to see them. It's a routine now."

She nodded, understanding the situation to some extent. April liked having this type of conversation with Maxwell. One of which involving little suggestive humour or need for violence, instead a more civil chat- learning a bit more about the boy behind the man-whore façade. It was heading towards the stage that April even felt somewhat bad about calling Maxwell that; beginning to think his reputation didn't really live up to, or give the nickname justice.

"Your eyes are red," He noticed, coming to stand beside April with hesitant steps. "And dreary-looking. And puffy. How long have you been standing out here for?"

The concerned caution in Maxwell's voice only added to the tug of guilt at her heart.

Sighing wearily, April made it pretty evident how long she'd been wandering around in the forest.