The Alpha's Family

Runaways and Cowards

(Jacklyn's POV)

I helped my mom remove sinister weapons from the weaponry room. It was time to prepare ourselves for battle. It's not like we didn't train at all. It's just that we used wooden weapons for practice, and we've never encountered anything threatening except for a handful of rogues. Fairies were extremely rare and hard to detect.

"This is the last load," mom said. She handed me a dust coated box.

I peered into it to examine the contents. I hid my disappointment. I was expecting a lot more from the smallest, and last, box. I don't know, maybe I was expecting a really unique anti-fairy magical sword that the Wolf Committee has. Instead, there were just a few daggers and machetes.

I didn't notice mom had started unloading them until she tapped me on the back. She gestured to the weapons that lay on the table, indicating for me to take them out to dad. I placed them on a silver tray and gingerly carried it to the front of the packhouse.

"Ah, thank you, Jackie," dad said when he saw the weapons.

"No problem as long as you hurry up and get these off. They're heavy."

"Guys! The knives are out!" dad called.

A group of trainees broke away from the crowd to each get a knife for themselves. By the time they were satisfied, not a single knife was left. I turned to join mom again but dad grabbed my shoulder to stop me.

"Hey, Jackie," he looked worried. "Have you seen Kane and Emi?"

I shook my head. "Why?"

"I wanted to talk to Kane about some Alpha business, but I couldn't find him so I looked for Emi thinking that he was with her."

"And you can't find either of them?"

"No..."

"Who knows they're missing?"

"So far just me, you, and Brett."

"I think you should tell the Dawson and Macie," I suggested. "They are your Betas, after all."

"Alright. Thank you, though."

"Any time. When you find Kane, may I beat him up for being an idiot?"

"You have my permission."

"I'll try not to get too carried away, don't worry."

"Jackie!" mom called. Standing alone on the porch, she waved her arms at me. I bid dad a quick goodbye and promise not to tell mom. He just nodded with a relieved smile before going back to whatever he was doing before. I joined mom and watched them from a distance.

"I was trying to find your sister..." mom trailed off worriedly. She glanced at me hopefully.

"She's around here somewhere," I said. It wasn't exactly a lie. Sure, no one was able to find her, but that doesn't exactly mean she was completely gone.

"I've looked everywhere!" mom sounded exasperated. "I've asked around, but no one has seemed to have seen her! Or Kane. What's up with that?"

"I don't know," I answered truthfully. "Did you ask the Betas? Dad probably would, but he's a little busy right now."

"No, I haven't asked them. They seem a little off today..."

"Oh, they won't mind."

"Alright, thanks, Jackie. I'll go check with them."

Inside the house we went our separate ways, mom heading for the Betas' quarter and me heading for Emi's room. Maybe mom forgot to check in there. Or maybe Kane's room. No one dared to go in there because of... teenage boy problems. No doubt he'd be in there immersed in a game of Call of Duty or something equally ridiculous.