Wanted

Ten

It was the next evening, and everyone was in the living room, watching some basketball game. I wasn't interested in it, but Will had insisted everyone watch it together; something about 'pack bonding'.

I'd spent the afternoon in the woods with Will and Lucas, in my wolf form, just running. It was surreal, the feeling of being a wolf, running through the trees. 

Will had spent the entirety of the evening telling me how proud he was and honestly I was proud of myself as well. Never in a million years did I think I would have been strong enough to live without my family, let alone be a werewolf. A lot had happened over the past few months, and somehow I'd managed to survive it.

I was leaning against Will, his arm resting on my hip whilst I chatted quietly to Evette. Finn shushed us every so often, but we just pulled faces at him before returning to our conversation. After everything, I felt compelled to become someone she felt she could trust and confide in. I felt responsible for her somehow, probably because of what my dad had done.

Finn stood up and headed into the kitchen, but bolted back out, his eyes wide and his face drained of all colour.

"Finn, what is it?" I asked, sitting up from Will and making my way over to him.

"Layla, it's your dad. He's outside." he said, causing my breath to get caught in my throat. I froze in shock. It had been months since I'd made that phone call, why was my dad only finding me now? 

"My dad's here?" I asked stupidly, looking to Will for what to do, because I honestly had no idea.

"Are you sure Finn? Are you sure it was him?" Will asked, earning a nod from Finn.

I immediately sprinted into the kitchen, ignoring the shouts of protest I could hear, and out into the back garden, where I came face to face with about 50 hunters. 

And right at the forefront stood my dad, gun aimed straight for my head.

"Dad?" I said, stepping forward slightly.

"Peanut, thank god you're alive, come here, I'm taking you home." he said, but I didn't move. I felt Will come over and stand behind me, followed by the rest of the pack. Lucas looped his hand into mine, staring intently at my dad, whilst Will moved himself in front of me.

"Peanut, what are you doing?" he asked, his gun lowering slightly.

"It's okay Will, he won't hurt me." I said, stepping out from behind him. I let go of Lucas' hand and made my way over to my dad. "Dad, tell the other hunters to leave, and then we can talk." I said calmly, not breaking eye contact with him for a second.

"Layla, what's going on? I'm here to take you home. Now stop being stupid and come on." he said, reaching out for my arm, but I stepped away from his grasp.

"Dad, I need them all to leave." I said gesturing towards the hunters surrounding us. I was managing to stay calm, but I couldn't the nauseous feeling bubbling in my stomach. My dad must have noticed how on edge I really was, because a look of dread swept over his face.

"Oh god." he said, "What have you done?"

"Dad, they need to leave." I repeated, but it was too late, my dad had realised what was going on, and suddenly his gun was back up. But this time, it was aimed for Will.

"What did you do to my baby girl?!" he shouted, stepping past me and stalking over to Will. 

I ran after him, placing myself in front of Will and at the end of my dad's gun. I heard both Finn and Lucas snarl at my dad, the barrel of the shotgun only inches away from my head.