Soulless

Chapter One

...

"What do you think this meeting is going to be all about?" My mother said, nervously biting her lip as she tried to neaten up her bun.

 I shrugged impatiently, it wasn't the first time we have had an emergency pack meeting - and it's usually very pointless.

"Dad doesn't tell us anything. Even though you think he would have done, considering I'm gonna take over as beta in just a few weeks." I grumbled, still slightly salty about the lack of confidence dad has in me and my future duties.

"Oh, you know how he gets," Mother says, finally finished fiddling with her hair. "Now come on, we're gonna be late."

We stepped out of our fairly large house and I shut the door behind us. We walked in silence, the only noise was coming from the gravel beneath our feet. 

We were lucky enough to have a home far away from the rest of the pack, therefore it was usually always quiet.

My eyes travelled to the forest that was just behind our house. That was the place where I spent most of my childhood. 

It always brought I sense of peace and comfort to me.

Whenever dad was annoying me, I'd leave the house in a rush and usually go for a run in the forest. I knew it like the back of my hand.

"Look we're almost here." My mother said, pointing at the very large crowd of people bustling about and effectively cutting my thoughts sharp.

A few pack members turned to greet us - before we advanced towards the stage at the front, where a serious-looking alpha stood in the middle.

My mother and I stood towards the back, alongside my father - the current beta- and my close friend Noah - the future alpha. 

We were soon going to take over the pack, it was only a matter of weeks now.

"Silence." The alpha spoke out, effectively shutting everyone up. All the curious eyes turned to look over at us, all 400 people very much confused as to why we were having this emergency meeting.

"As an Alpha, and the current leader of this pack - I know what is best for my people." The alpha firmly states, his eyes concentrated on the crowd who are eagerly hanging on to his every word.

"And it's my duty to take procedures I see as necessary to make sure this pack stays safe through even the darkest of times." He declared when everyone nodded to what he had said.

"Therefore, I must tell you all that from now up until I say so, the forest surrounding this pack is off bounds." The alpha spoke, with a no-nonsense tone.

My breath was taken away as I took in what had been said- as had many of the people staring at us. They all began voicing their concerns, rightfully so. 

How were we supposed to go on runs in our wolf forms if the woods were out of bounds?

I quickly made eye-contact with Noah, the future leader, and he had the same bewildered look on his face. I guess I wasn't the only one not informed about this.

"I know what you are thinking, however, we are having to go into a state of emergency as we have recently heard rumours from the neighbouring packs." The alpha carries on.

"Even though you may believe the stories about May Crudelis to be just that, stories, I am unfortunate enough to have to say that she is very much real and has been said to have been spotted in these very woods." He bitterly said.

I was confused, why was a very respectable alpha such as this, believing these stories about some girl? And not even that, but he is putting us under protection over some lies made up at bonfires?

I made eye contact with Noah once more, his face looked both confused and relieved.

"Do you seriously believe all this?" I mind-linked him.

He had a thoughtful expression on his face before he let out a shrug. "My father seems to believe them, but I doubt they are real."

I roll my eyes and flash him one of my signature smirks.

...

"I heard May Crudelis had wiped out the old pack of the black crows, months back because she was bored." Some guy in the cafe whispered to some girl, presumably his mate.

"I heard she cut off some guys dick because he was bad in bed," The girl whispered out, making a few guys and I (who had overheard this conversation) wince at the thought.

I rolled my eyes.

"I don't believe in any of this nonsense," I told the guys I was sat with, all who had gone to the same school as me.

"I don't know, the Alpha looked really worried about this whole situation." Derick, one of the guys I'm sat with, muttered. All of us looked at him before bursting out with laughter.

"Oh come on mate, you really think some little girl could take down a whole pack? By herself?" I laughed, most of the guys agreeing with me.

"I say we have a party in the woods Saturday night," I told them. "Maybe then we can all calm down and break the rules a little. The moment Noah and I become the new authority figures, we won't be able to do this kind of thing anymore."

The guys all agreed with me, before starting to plan out who brings what.

My eyes drifted off to the window, where the couple from early sat. The guy was around twenty old, my age, and the girl was maybe a year younger.

The girl was clearly starting to freak out about something, possibly about the whole May Crudelis bullshit.

I rolled my eyes again.

The boy noticed and pulled the girl into his lap, playing with her hair and whispering something to her.

His eyes showed his emotions perfectly, love.

I huffed and looked away.

Who would want to have a mate? Realistically. Someone who you have to share every little thing with. You're never allowed to be alone, you can never have something that's just yours.

Mates are possessive and something that can easily be used against you emotionally.

No thank you.

"Cameron, you good?" Noah asked me, his eyebrows raised.

"What?" I said, finally snapping out of my thoughts.

"Are you okay?" He repeated.

The bell of the cafe went off at that moment, luckily stopping him from further questioning me. We all turned to look over at the door, our senses overwhelmed by a sickly sweet perfume.

A group of girls came in, laughing their asses off about something.

Suddenly one girl whispered something to another and they all went silent and turned to look at us, flirtatious grins on their faces. 

Noah whistled happily to himself before grinning at us and setting off to go talk to them. I rolled my eyes, my own signature smirk appearing on my face as I joined him.