Shackled

Chapter Twelve

Happy Holidays Everyone! Hope you are all doing well and getting to spend time with friends and family. Sorry its been so long, but better late than never right?

What's your guys' favourite holiday tradition? Mine is making Lefse :)

The car was armoured. A large black beast of a machine - it looked dangerous; a war machine ready for battle. Eden guessed that these were the norm for those as powerful and deadly as Elijah, but she had never seen one before, not with nonconfrontational people like her parents running the show. Her pack owned a few cars, for practical purposes of course, but she had never seen the likes of Eli's garage.

The cars were parked in rows, all classic black and silver, looking so shiny she wouldn't have been surprised to hear they had never been used. Eli told her that one day they could take one of the flashy sportscars out for a spin, maybe even head to the city, but today was not that day. They had climbed into the backseat of an Escalade much to her surprise, it seemed Eli didn't drive himself, rather a serious looking warrior with an earpiece in sat dead still behind the wheel.

"Are you the president or something?" She couldn't help but tease him as the car exited the lot and took off onto the long driveway.

"No, typically I'd drive myself, but we don't know what we're getting into here. It could be dangerous and with you along for the ride I'm not taking any chances. It's just us and two follow cars, can never be too careful when you have precious cargo." He winked and Eden was sure he meant it as a joke, but it had the complete opposite effect.

The blood drained from her face as she realized the truth to what he was saying. They could be walking into an ambush, all because she felt had to return home. She was risking the lives of his warriors, of his pack members and yet she sat teasing and joking in the backseat of his bulletproof car.

She felt slightly nauseous. Her life didn't seem like hers anymore, everything she did and felt was foreign. She wasn't made for this, couldn't stand to have other people's lives weighing down on her conscious. When she had been locked up in her little attic room, lost in her own little world things like pack responsibilities had just flowed off of her and her pack had let it. Truth be told, if she was really honest with herself, she had been relieved when she found out Mason would be Alpha.

She had always doubted her ability to lead, every Alpha does at some point, but when it had been made official and her position was finally taken away, a small part of her had been grateful. No longer did had she had to worry about being pleasant and civil to her members, no longer had she had to worry about being a role model for younger members. Now though, fate had come back to bite her in the ass. She had been a fool to think she could outrun her destiny, no one could outrun the moon.

Eli could tell that her spirit was fading,

"Hey, don't worry, everything's going to be okay. No use worrying about it right now anyways, we're here."

His voice brought her out of her thoughts. It seems her thinking had taken longer than she thought and looking out the window sent a pang of nostalgia through the entirety of her being. Directly out her window was the pack's little library. A building that had been single-handedly run and cared for by their pack's oldest member, Mr. Aldridge. He had been a kind old soul, with plenty of stories and wise advice, never far from a smile despite the years of pain and hardship he had seen in his long wolf life.

Stepping out of the car and on to the soft ground broke the illusion, however. The charred smell of smoke was in the air, cut only by the metallic taste of blood that seemed to seep into her pores. Bracing herself she turned away from the library, the only building that seemed to be intact, beauty amongst the death and devastation that had become of her home.