Raelyn

Trouble Between Packs

"What do you mean you have them in the dungeon!" my brother's exclamation in anger wakes me up in fear. I spring out of bed to see what's going on, wincing at the pain in my stomach. I lift my shirt and look at the fading bruises. I sigh, and debate going downstairs. I don't want to be punished again.

Our pack, The McKenna pack, follows the old ways. The Alpha is not to be questioned is rule number one. As the Alpha's little sister, I get punished for breaking that rule often. Females are seen as little more than breeders as well, which means training to protect pups and learning home keeping skills. I've always enjoyed cooking, but I wish I could train to be a warrior. The basic "pup defending" training comes easily to me and I enjoy it immensely.

I grit my teeth and change into leggings and a sweatshirt, quickly pulling my red hair into a ponytail. I walk down the stairs and see my brother conversing with the Gamma.

"Good morning Cal," I say gently. My brother, Callahan McKenna, looks up and his angry eyes soften very slightly.

"Raelyn, go hide in the kitchen or something for a moment," Cal orders. I nod with a slight pout and obey.

I hope he'll come in to tell me why he shouted. I cook breakfast for us while contemplating what could be going on. Before I realize what I've done, I've made far too many eggs and pieces of toast for my brother and I to eat, even with our werewolf appetites.

"Feeding an army?" Cal asks from behind me.

"I guess I wasn't really thinking while I was making it," I glance down in shame. I hated wasting food, especially so much.

"Don't worry about it Rae," Cal sighs, knowing what I'm thinking. He sits down and I serve him, putting butter and various jams out for his toast. I serve myself and we eat in silence.

I'm bursting with curiosity, so I finally ask, "Why was Ryan here?"

"Don't talk about him so familiarly," my brother growls at me. I look down and nod. "Gamma Ryan was here because we found Kaiser warriors on our land."

I gasp in fear. The Kaiser Pack was our neighboring pack. We had okay relations with them, but finding warriors on our land could mean serious trouble.

"We put them in the dungeons for now, and I sent a message to their alpha. There were only three of them, but I can't act as if this was an accident in case they're trying to lull us into a false sense of security," Cal explains with a sigh, rubbing his hands in his face.

We finish eating in silence, and I look over all the food I've made still on the table. "Cal, could I take this food to the warriors in the dungeon?" I ask on a whim.

My brother's head snaps up, "What the fuck did you say?" He glares at me and I wince in fear.

"I've made so much and it'd be a waste just to throw it out... And even as prisoners, they need to eat, right?" I justify my question to him.

My brother growls softly, then nod, "Fine. But this means you'll take responsibility for feeding them from now on. You can bring their food to them yourself. I won't waste men to play along with your stupid games."

I grit my teeth at his last comment, but refrain from saying anything. He'd probably 'forget' to feed them most days, and this gave me a way to talk to them and find out why they were in our territory in the first place.

I get up and put the food in containers, reheating the eggs and smearing jams and butter on the toast. I put it all in a basket and head out the door and make the short walk to the dungeon.

As I open the door, I'm reminded why it's called the dungeon. The stench of bodily fluids immediately assaults my nose and I wrinkle it slightly in disgust. I pass by the empty cells to the largest in the back. The three warriors are all together in the largest cell and I look at them in curiosity.