The Beta's Daughter

Four

Paisley's POV

The door to Brynlee's room slammed shut, making me jump from the sound. Some of the coffee from my cup spilled out onto the white granite countertop and a little on my shirt. I put the mug down and quickly found some paper towels to clean up the mess.

I looked up from my cleaning to see Uncle Collin place a hand on his forehead and shake his head. Aunt Baleigh placed a hand on his arm trying to comfort him.

"Don't beat yourself up on this," Aunt Baleigh said kindly. "She's just stressed right now. Give her a few hours. She'll calm down."

Uncle Collin put his arm down. "We've fought before on this kind of subject. She's set that her life is worse because of who she is. All I want is her to accept the gifts she has been given."

I wanted to say something to my uncle to make him feel better, but the words never came to me. Instead, I watched him give my aunt a kiss on her forehead before heading to the office.

"Will he be okay?" I asked shyly.

Aunt Baleigh sighed. "He's under a lot of stress and pressure lately like your mom. We've already had three hunter attacks in the past month and the pack is starting to struggle in what they should do."

I nodded. Mom, the Luna of our pack, was always in meetings and phone calls, talking to Alphas and any pack members about fighting off these hunters. Since our last attack, we lost about ten of our best fighters and enforcers from our pack and two others. The casualties keep getting worse and Mom is getting worried. I could see it on her face every morning before she went off to make her calls.

"I'm sure it'll get better soon," I reassured.

"Me too," Aunt Baleigh said with a heavy sigh. She sat up from her chair and gave me a quick kiss on my cheek and walked out of the kitchen.

I put my mug in the sink, washing out the cold coffee that was left inside. I stared into the sink, my mind spinning. I wanted to help with these things. I'm supposed to be the next Luna of this pack unless I find an Alpha mate. I tried to help Mom during the meetings, but I never have any good advice or good battle tactics for how she should approach the hunters. It seemed hopeless.

With a sigh, I left the kitchen and headed outside. Being out in the fresh air always helped me think.

I pulled the glass slide door open to the backyard and let the cool autumn air rush past me. I took in a deep breath before stepping into the open. I pulled the door behind me to close and quickly raced and jumped into a shift.

My wolf, Alora, was a bright gold color. When I first shifted, a lot thought my wolf was white because of how light the color of her fur was. I remember Mom assuring me and everyone that it wasn't.

Run! Let's run! Alora said eagerly. I responded with the same amount of eagerness and took off down the open field and into the trees.

As I entered the forest, my eyes caught sight of a stone propped up around an open area. I trotted over to it.

I remember the story Aunt Baleigh told when Jaxson and Brynlee and I were just kids about her pet cat, Kato. She loved him. Kato was her munchkin cat that always had her back. He fought like no other and could always tell when someone was upset. Aunt Baleigh told us he would always get startled when one of us cried. He was like our little protector.

Luckily, just a few years before he died, Kato mated with this other cat. We had never seen her before, but we figured she was just a stray roaming around the forest. They had four adorable kittens. I had begged my mom to let us keep all of them, but she insisted we only keep one.