A/N: See chapter one for unnecessary disclaimer and rambling authors note.
Change
We'd been on the road for about a month now and Adam was still diving every day, insistent that we had to get farther away so as to avoid being caught. I suspected though that he wanted to keep driving because if we stopped we'd have to admit we had nowhere to go and nothing else we could do.
We had been driving though a thick patch of forest and now the tress were starting to disappear on either side of the road. Adam sang along to the radio as he drove unaware that I was awake. I laughed and he looked at me in the mirror. "Hey, don't dis the voice. I could win American idol with a voice like this." He drove a little while longer before pulling into a roadside services gas station and diner just outside a little town the sign proclaimed was called Bear Valley. Adam got out and opened the door for me bowing as I stepped out, "madam." I slapped him on the arm and giggled, to my shame. I just couldn't curb my growing feelings for him. Everything he did was just so damned cute.
We headed into the diner after filling up the car, "thank God, I'm starving. What time is it Mr. Wolf?" he checked his old watch.
"'Bout half twelve, feeding time." He said, rubbing his hands together. As we entered the diner everyone seemed to stop what they were doing and watch us. Obviously this town wasn't used to strangers. Adam whispered in my ear, "look they're all watching you, I'm getting quite jealous." I rolled my eyes.
"Shut up, you dork they're watching both of us. That's what they do in these hick towns; stare down the strangers to check if they need to get the pitch forks out." He shook his head making his hair fall into his eyes adorably.
"No, it's you, they can tell you're not like them."
"I'm not sure that's such a good thing Adam." he steered me into a both chuckling lowly.
"Oh it definitely is." By now everyone had finally gone back to their own business with just a few of the male customers stealing glances now and again. Adam chose a burger to demolish and I opted for chicken salad which earned a raised eyebrow and a snigger from Adam but I didn't consider a raised metabolism an excuse to risk getting fat. When we were halfway through our meal the door banged open and in walked a man who looked to be in his thirties dressed in jeans and a plain black t-shirt with an expensive looking wool overcoat. He had blonde hair and light blue eyes. Despite the fact that he looked completely out of place no one gave him a second glance, he took a seat at the counter and judging by the wide smile the waitress gave him he was known. I turned to Adam to comment on the strangeness of an obviously wealthy man being a regular in a dive of a diner in a little blue collar town like this one. Adam had paled and his nostrils were flared.
"What's wrong? Adam?" he looked at me and pulled some crumpled bills from his pocket, tossing them on the table.
"We have to go, now." I started to ask why up he shushed me and took my arm and pulled me up leading me to the door with a vice like grip on my upper arm. As we went out the door he whispered, "the guy at the counter, he's a werewolf." I looked at him questioningly as we made our way back to the car quickly. "He's not like us, he's pack. We have to go before he smells us." We reached the car finally.
Adam was just about to unlock the door when a hand appeared on his shoulder and cold voice drawled, "why such a hurry pup?" Adam swung around and tried to punch the stranger, I say tried as the pack wolf caught his fist and twisted it. "Don't make me break it, boy. I only want to talk." Adam laughed derisively.
"Sure you do, is that before or after you and your pack slaughter us?" the man shook his head and laughed.
"You mutts are all the same. You don't know how to speak to your betters or how to keep the secret in front of humans; now as well as kicking your ass I'm going to have to do something about her. Thanks a lot, mutt." He twisted again, Adam made a noise of pain but still began to shout back.
"Betters! I don't fucking think so..." until I cut in.
"Um, excuse me sir?" the blonde wolf turned to look at me, "I'm not human." He looked unbelieving as he sniffed the air. He had obviously written me off as a human due to my being a girl. He inhaled and I saw his eyes widen as he realised that I was a werewolf too. But, instead of releasing Adam his grip tightened causing Adam to gasp in pain, he jerked him chin up with his free hand.
"Did you bite her mutt? You know that's against the rules." Adam shook his head.
I started, "he didn't bite me, no o..." Adam cut me off in a pain filled voice.
"She doesn't know who bit her, he left her and she survived somehow and I found her." The man's grip loosened slightly.
"Oh, I'm sorry I just assumed you were human and thought he was kidnapping you or something form the rough way he pulled you out of there." He still didn't release Adam who still had a very pained look on his face.
"Uh, could you let him go, please? You're hurting him." he looked down as if he had forgotten the boy clenched in his grip.
"Oh sure, sorry boy. Can't be too careful." He let him go and clapped him on the back still looking at me which I found slightly unnerving. Adam shrugged him off and stormed over to me blocking me from the older man's view.
"Yeah, so, thanks for assuming and almost breaking my wrist but uh do you think we could go now?" The werewolf seemed to snap out of a daydream.
"Watch your manners mutt, I was only trying to help, and besides I still want to talk." Adam rolled his eyes.
"Haven't we 'talked' enough?" the man laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Yes, well, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Clay Danvers and as I'm sure you've know I'm a member of the Pack. But now I know the only crime you're committing is trespassing on pack territory we don't have to fight. Since you're only a pup I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Although, I assume your father is around here somewhere, is he on a run? Or in the town?" Adam looked down, I had never really thought about it before but Adam was the same age as me and had never mentioned a father or any family. Before he met me he must have been completely alone I thought sadly.
Adam replied licking his lips nervously, "he's not with us, he's...he's just not. It's just us two." Danvers nodded and I saw Adam redden a little. Apparently a wolf without a father was some cause for embarrassment or shame in Adam's book.
"Right, well we can't talk here come with me to the house and we'll talk." The man said briskly, Adam tensed.
"I'm not a fucking retard, there's nothing for us to talk about, I'm sorry we trespassed or whatever but I didn't know this was pack territory and..." Danvers looked up sharply.
"What do you mean, you didn't know? What kind of father doesn't tell..." he trailed off and shook his head again. "Look boy, you're not in trouble just come with me, you can meet the alpha and have a chat with him." Adam backed away a little further from the blonde haired man.
"Whoa, no. No way, as I said I am not a fucking retard. This is a trap. You want to trick me into going to this pack HQ then you'll kill me and keep her." He said jerking his head towards me to punctuate the last part.
Danvers denied it, "not at all kid, I was thinking that...well, we've decided to start being a little more lenient to mutts and we've even allowed some into the pack. Those who obey the rules and keep out of trouble. And considering how young you two are and that you're alone and she's well, a girl. I think that there'd be no question of you two joining, if you behave that is." He laughed as if he had made a joke. He reminded me of my second step dad who had always tried to step up to the role of father even if he had only ever succeeded in embarrassing himself. But this guy wasn't some harmless business man from Connecticut. He was a werewolf an older more experienced werewolf who could kill both Adam and myself right here if he wanted. Adam stayed defensive.
"No." He growled raising his chin defiantly. Danvers face seemed to darken.
"The thing is kids, if you refuse to come with me we will have to assume you have something to hide and I will be forced to pursue you and follow the usual procedure for intruders." He smiled but it was threatening. Adam's shoulders sank.
"Fine, we'll come but I'm not promising anything." Danvers smiled again more genuine and not quite as terrifying this time.
"Good, I'm not saying that you two have to join us but you can see what we have to offer." He said seriously but without losing his smile.
We followed Clay Danvers to the pack house which was located on the outskirts of the town in the middle of a lush forest. Danvers stopped in front of the house and got out of the car looking expectantly towards us. "Shit." Breathed Adam and I could see why, the house was pretty big, however, it wasn't larger than my grandmother's house out in the Hamptons or my third step fathers ranch in Texas. Danvers waved us over. Adam smiled at me weakly, "c'mon." He said his voice betraying his worry. He was scared, and I couldn't blame him, I was absolutely terrified. A feeling I was not too familiar with especially since becoming a werewolf, after the initial holy shit I'm a werewolf fear or maybe I'm just going insane thoughts.
We got out of the car and approached Danvers who had already opened the door. He called out, "hello! It's me, I've brought some uh, guests." As we entered the house I saw Adam looking around in what looked like awe. We followed the light haired werewolf into the kitchen through a dining room. Two men and a woman were situated around the room. Danvers directed his speech toward a leaner looking man with slightly tilted eyes and dark hair. "Hey, Jeremy, I met these two pups." He paused and gave the man a look which I interpreted to be his method of silently confirming that I was indeed also a 'pup'. "I thought you might like to meet them, this is..." he reached behind him and pulled Adam forward and looked at him realising he hadn't asked for his name.
"Adam." my friend supplied in answer to Danvers quizzical look. I noticed that his demeanour had changed entirely his shoulders were slumped forward, his head was lowered and he mumbled his words, his confidence was seemingly gone. I didn't understand why until the man called Jeremy moved closer to me, that was when it hit me. This man was undoubtedly the alpha and something deep inside me on a base instinctual level told me that he had to be obeyed and respected. My human side however bristled at the very thought.
"And who are you little wolf?" he asked gently tilting my chin up. I played nice and smiled at him timidly, mumbling my name. "Lana, a very pretty name." I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and caught sight of Adam watching him from the corner of my eye. I moved my head so that he was no longer touching me. Jeremy noticed the - what I had thought was a subtle –move and turned to look at Adam who quickly looked away. The alpha chuckled gently and held up his hands away from me. "Don't worry son, I wasn't going to hurt her. I was just looking." He walked away from me towards Adam, he stood in front of him and took his chin. It surprised me that he was just as gentle with him as he had been with me. He studied his face, "you look familiar, who is your father?" he removed his hand clasping both behind his back. Everybody in the room was now watching Adam, waiting for his answer. Adam licked his lips and looked around searching for an escape. He did not find one.
"Answer the alpha, boy." Growled Danvers. He was stood by the backdoor which looked like it led out to a large garden. It seemed as if he was guarding it. The woman shushed the impatient blonde man. Adam looked at his feet, licked his lips again then looked up at Jeremy. He took a breath then said so quietly that I doubt a human would have heard him, "Thomas Denton." There was an audible growl from the man by the door and the woman pursed her lips. Jeremy however, let out a whistle and turned away from Adam, he reclaimed his seat at the table.
"Hmm, is your father with you?" Jeremy asked. Danvers answered for him.
"The boy said they were alone Jer." The alpha nodded, he looked back at Adam and cocked his head questioningly.
"When was the last time you saw him Adam?" the fact that he remembered his name made me warm slightly more to the alpha, it showed that maybe he was as prejudiced as the other man obviously was from his treatment of him. Adam shrugged.
"Um, a couple of years or uh, maybe three? I think, sir." Jeremy raised his eyebrows and nodded again. The woman spoke.
"How old are you?" another shrug from my travelling companion.
"Sixteen." Her delicate eyebrows knitted together.
"Who have you been living with then hon?" Adam didn't answer but gave her a look and let out a small laugh causing her cheeks to heat slightly earning himself a cuff around the head from Danvers.
Jeremy hummed a little and said, "Why don't you two stay for dinner." The way he said it made it a statement rather than a question. Adam moved to my side and took my hand.
"Uh, thank you for the offer, sir but, I think we better get going." He looked at me.
"Yes its getting kind of late," I added. The woman spoke again; she moved from her spot by the counter and came over to us.
"You could stay the night, couldn't they Jer? Besides I'd love to have a chance to talk with you Lana I haven't met any other female werewolves. It might be nice to share a few pointers." She winked at me obviously trying to step into the role of good cop. The alpha smiled at her.
"Of course Elena what a good idea, we have a guest room to spare." He looked expectantly at Adam and myself, I let Adam speak for us although he was still nervous.
"Uh, thank you, but like I said we really should get going we've already paid for a room so..." he lied and shrugged looking at me. Jeremy nodded as if this was the reaction he had expected.
"All right, but please stay for dinner. I insist." Adams shoulder's drooped just a little lower showing his defeat. There was no way he could refuse a dinner invitation from the alpha a second time without causing offence. Adam nodded and shot a look my way an apology evident in his eyes. The alpha and Elena smiled. The blonde woman stepped closer to me and slid her arm over my shoulder's guiding me out of the kitchen and into the connected dining room. As we went she called over her shoulder to Danvers.
"Can you get the kids please Clay?" he grumbled an answer and left via the door to the garden. Kids? I thought to myself, I hadn't even thought about there being children in this pack that Adam seemed so scared of. Elena seated me next to her as she took a chair at one end of the table. I wasn't sure what she expected me to do or say so I looked away from her behind me to where I could still see Adam stood in the kitchen with Jeremy just behind him. The alpha said something into his ear and Adam jumped, the older man laughed at this and clapped him on the shoulder. Adam flinched almost imperceptibly but Jeremy did not remove his hand he just steered Adam into the room and to my surprise signalled for Adam to sit by him on the left hand side to the head of the table. I heard high childish voices giggling in the kitchen and water running accompanied by the more sedate southern drawl of the man called Clay telling them to go into the dining room while he got the dinner out. Two small children looking to be about five years old ran into the room and crowded around their mother. She quietened them down slightly and went about introducing us to them. "Guys, this is Lana and Adam. They're having dinner with us tonight so I want you two to be on your best behaviour." They said shy hello's before Elena continued. "Lana, Adam these are my children; Logan and Kate." The girl piped up.
"We're twins!" she said excitedly. They were very cute but their excited chattering was beginning to remind me of why I hated kids so much. Especially when I was forced to field such questions as, "are you brother and sister too?" Adam was no help he just sat staring at the table top, the only noise he made was a spluttered laugh at the question to which I hurriedly squawked a no. When Clay brought the food in they luckily lost interest in us.
"Finally, Clayton. Our guests must be starving I think you may have interrupted them in the middle of their own meal." Said Elena as he claimed his own spot across from me and next to the little girl and Adam. Hemming him in between alpha and enforcer, the boy, Logan was seated opposite Adam on Jeremy's other side. Before I even took notice of what the food was I noticed that the attention of the adults at the table had returned to Adam who was again being questioned by Jeremy. He was asking his questions in a very congenial manner however, I could tell the subject matter was quite serious. I listened.
"So, Adam when exactly was the last time you saw your father?" Adam tensed and looked at Jeremy without meeting his eyes.
"Why? I'm sorry but why do you need to know this?" Jeremy raised an eyebrow; obviously he was unused to being questioned by mutts in such a tone.
"Because, I would like to have a word with him, do you have a contact number for him?" Adam rubbed his forehead and sighed.
"No I don't have a number for him, the last time I saw him was when he left our motel room saying he was going to get us dinner, he didn't come back. I haven't seen him since." Silence met his answer. I blinked; I had guessed something was up with Adam's past since he hardly ever mentioned his family. Jeremy cleared his throat but before he could speak Danvers spoke up.
"Jesus Christ. What kind of father does that? Damn mutts." The alpha suppressed a tight smile.
"Thank you for the input Clayton." Danvers frowned for a second before laughing and beginning to chatter with Jeremy about nothing in particular. I turned my attention elsewhere Elena was smiling at me again. I returned her smile hesitantly, older women rarely smiled at me I usually got a disapproving frown and lecture. She began carefully.
"Lana, I hope you don't think I'm being rude but how exactly did you become a werewolf? It wasn't...?" she nodded towards Adam who was slumped in his chair looking relieved to have the attention taken off of him. I opened my mouth to correct her but Danvers leaned forward and cut me off.
"The boy said she doesn't know who bit her," he looked at me, "is that true?" I nodded and opened my mouth to lie.
The blonde man interrupted rudely, "how long ago was that? When did he find you? Where did he find you?" before I could answer Elena laughed throwing her napkin at the man in a playful manner.
"Honestly Clay give the girl a chance, at least let her eat before you start peppering her with questions."
"Hey, you started it darling," retorted Clay showing his perfect teeth in a smile and winking at her flirtatiously. Were they together? It surprised me they seemed so different but now I looked at the kids you could definitely tell that they came from the two blonde adults. She returned his smile,
"I only asked one question, you practically gave the poor girl a pop quiz." My attention was drawn to the sound of clanging metal and I looked away from her to see Jeremy lifting the covers off of the food dishes. The smell of roast beef and buttery mashed potatoes filled my nostrils. I saw out of the corner of my eye that the uncovering of the food had made Adam sit up straight, bringing him out of his reverie. Danvers noticed too.
"Hey, kid don't get too excited until you taste it." Everyone laughed a little at his joke, except Adam who just reddened. He stuttered.
"I uh, it's just..."
"That we've been living off of fast food for a few weeks." I cut in, Adam laughed.
"Ha, more like my whole life."
"Well, here we try to eat healthily although none of us seem to be particularly blessed in the cooking skill department. Jeremy doesn't really like fast food." Laughed Danvers, Jeremy pulled a face.
"Disgusting stuff, a poor excuse for food. You can taste all the chemicals and rubbish they put into it." Elena slid a knowing smile my way as if to say, one point to the pack. Jeremy served himself before anyone else reached for anything and I followed Adam's suit and didn't take anything for myself, I didn't want to seem too eager lest they took it for my wanting to stay. "Well come on children help yourselves, you don't want to hurt Clay's feelings he's very particular about his culinary prowess." Jeremy said smiling at the muscular blonde. Adam choked on the water he had been sipping, children? I was sixteen for Christ's sake. The real children giggled as Jeremy patted the choking Adam on the back good naturedly his smile showing that he probably knew what had caused the choking. The back pat however made Adam practically jump out of his skin spilling the glass of water he was holding everywhere, including over Jeremy. Adam stood.
"Fuck!" he realised he had said the expletive out lout and glanced at the kids then at their disgruntled looking father. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I... I didn't mean to um..." he just stood there looking kind of – to my dismay – scared, what did he think they were going to do? It was only water and he hadn't sworn at anyone. Jeremy just smiled at him placidly, standing himself so he could brush himself off with his napkin. As he stood Adam took a step back. The smile on the alpha's face wavered.
"Hey, it's ok son, its only water. It doesn't matter just sit down and have something to eat." Adam did as he was told sitting down warily as Jeremy exchanged a look with his adult pack members. The kids seemed to sense something was going on and kept quiet concentrating on their own food. I helped myself to some of the food in front of me while Elena spoke up with a forced cheeriness in her voice.
"Jumpy one aren't you kid?" Adam shrugged and muttered.
"Just don't like being touched, by strangers." Jeremy nodded to himself as if he had just realised something. As I watched the others I found myself growing almost jealous of their banter and easy camaraderie. I had a lot of fun with Adam but, I got the notion this was how werewolves were supposed to live. However I also had a feeling that this kind of settled life wouldn't be for me or Adam and I itched to get out of their house as soon as I could.
