The Kingdom of Wolves

Chapter 19

"You'll never amount to anything!" I felt his words slap me across the face. "No one will want you, you monster!"

I felt my upper lip quiver as looked up at my snarling father. I was sitting on the couch, curled up in on myself like a terrified roly-poly. His glowering face covered most of my vision. Out of the corner of my eye, I could just barely see the outline of my mother in the doorway to the kitchen. I could tell her hands were covering her face, which was better than on her hips. Hips meant mad. Face meant scared.

"Look at me, you coward!" He slapped me across the face. I saw my mother's knees buckle. I started falling towards her, but as soon as I hit the floor I sank through into another room. Now, instead of my old living room, I was in Lena's dining room. There was a dark shape on the table. I quickly identified it as a wolf. It howled to the ceiling, then pounced on a limp, dark shape. It howled to the sky once more before it turned to me, blood dripping from its muzzle. I gasped. It's eyes seemed so familiar....

My eyes flew open. I was lying on my back in Lena's room. I could feel a cold sweat dripping down the back of my neck. I sat up and looked around.

It was dark, so I figured I'd slept through the day. There was a lump under the covers of Lena's bed, which I assumed was her. I dropped back down with a sigh, feeling the amazing feeling of a comfy bed.

Once I decided it wasn't worth trying to sleep anymore, I slid out of bed, my bare feet sinking into the soft carpet that even without looking down I knew was yellow.

One perk of being a werewolf: I have great night vision. Really, I just have great vision in general. So even from where I stood I could see the two piles of crisply folded clothing sitting on the dresser. I padded across the room and saw that it was not my clothing (aka the clothing I stole), but it was definitely intended for Lena and me. I looked back at Lena to see if she had woken up, which she hadn't. I quickly slipped out of the pajamas, sliding on the soft silk shirt and leggings, plus my coat that Lena's family decided not to get rid of (luckily). Lena's family is certainly rich.

When I pulled the pants of the stack, a piece of paper fluttered down. I leaned down to pick up the small note, skimming it quickly. My eyes widened as I read. I shoved it deep into the back pocket of the leggings.

As I finished pulling on the pants, Lena began to stir. Soon enough, her head popped up from under the covers. "Whatimisit?" She slurred sleepily.

"Time for you to get up," I replied, chucking the clothes her way. She caught the shirt, but the pants flew past her. She twisted around, grabbing them from the floor. I opened my mouth to mention the other thing I had found in my pile of clothing, but instead I said, "I'm gonna go see if Syl's up. You get dressed."

I left the room, leaving her to her own devices. I pressed my back against the small strip of wall between the two rooms and sighed. Reaching into my pants pocket, I pulled the note out again.

Here is the list of werewolves. Use it wisely. I don't want to see you again until you have an army a team.

It wasn't signed, but it didn't take a genius to figure out who it was from. Attached was a sheet a of paper, folded up really small, that was indeed a list of werewolves. Or at least the registered ones. The thing that really scared me was the part about the army. Was that what he thought of us? We were just gonna be an army? What if he was going to use us to help the king instead of harm him? I shook my head. No. I couldn't think about it like that. I had to trust him so that we could go through with this. I pushed myself off the wall and knocked on Syl's door.

It took a few knocks, but he answered, looking bedraggled and groggy. "What?" He grunted sleepily.

"Get dressed and meet back in Lena's room in 5," I told him.

"Aye, aye cap'n!" He smirked, saluting me. I punched him in the shoulder, scowling, then marched away to check on Lena.

When I opened the door to Lena's old room, I found her sitting cross-legged on the bed, looking entirely comfortable in the expensive silk clothing we had been given. "Syl's meeting us here in 5 minutes," I told her. She gave a slight nod of recognition, not acknowledging my words in any other way. I crossed the room and jumped up on the extra bed (I guess you could say it was my bed, but it wasn't going to be mine for much longer), enjoying the way the mattress felt underneath me.

Lena stood up and was already halfway to the door before she said, "I'm going to go find something to eat. You want anything?"

I thought for a moment. "Get some stuff that'd be good for the road. I don't know how long we'll be staying here," She nodded and left.

I sighed. A blatant lie.

How fun.

-

We sat on the floor, munching on the cold pancakes Lena had found. They were cold because none of us felt like heating them up. They were pancakes because that's what Lena felt like getting. She had also grabbed some protein bars, at my request of "something good for the road."

We had been sitting there for 15 minutes and I still hadn't told them about the note.

But then again, we hadn't said much more than "hi."

"Guys," I began. "We need to talk."

Lena set her pancake down on her napkin, which she had also taken from the kitchen. "I have a feeling this isn't good."

"What in the world gave you that idea?" Syl muttered under his breath.

I ignored Syl's comment and turned to Lena. "No, it isn't good," I pulled the note out of my pocket and handed it to her. She read it, then handed it off to Syl, her face tight. He let out a noise somewhere between a squeal and a grunt. "This morning when I was getting dressed, I found that. I'm not so sure your grandfather is the greatest ally, Lena."

"Well he has to be," Her voice sounded small and strained. "I mean, he could've just been in a military-ish mood. He does oversee a great deal of military action and I'm pretty sure he used to be a general. Yeah, that's gotta be what happened. And then he caught himself and realized that we weren't in the military and changed it to team. Or maybe he just didn't want to intimidate us with the idea of being an army. Or may - "

"Lena," Syl held up his hand to stop her. "I think we've got the idea," He looked over at me, his expression questioning.

I thought for a moment before making up my mind. "Lena's probably right. I mean, if you spend that much time around the military it's got to start going to your head."

Syl looked relieved. Lena looked even more relieved. I almost felt relieved. I wasn't ready to let go of my doubts just yet, but I knew Lena's grandfather was crucial to our success. Well, if we could trust him, that is.

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WOOOOHOOOO!!! 1283 WORDS PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!

Hi! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Sorry for my outburst up there^.  Well, no I'm not.  I hope everyone had a great week and I am so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so sososososososoosososososososososo sorryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy about not posting a chapter last weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope I won't miss anymore weekends, but with school I can't guarantee anything.  I hope you guys understand!

Thanks again for reading!

Ravenclaw567