"Well, were in a pack now aren't we?" I said. He looked up at me, and nodded. "Listen, though; I'm not gonna be a beta. I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not exactly the best at taking orders." I said. "I know. I can tell." He said with a smirk. "Besides- I didn't turn you, so being in my pack doesn't necessarily mean you have to be a beta." He explained. I nodded after a moment of thought. "So then wait, what does that make me?" I asked. He looked up at me. "Second in command." I narrowed my eyes. "In werewolf packs, I've only ever heard of Alphas, Betas, and Omegas." I said. He nodded. "Well in rare instances like this, there have been cases where a second in command is initiated into the pack." He explained. I nodded silently. I sighed, flopping back onto my bed. "You're tired. Get some sleep." He said, moving over toward the window on the opposite side of the bed. Before he had a chance to leave, I grabbed his arm and pulled him down so he sat on the bed. I sat up, moving close to him. "Second in command, right?" I asked, my face inches away from his. His eyes narrowed, and he nodded. "Okay," I said, letting go of his arm as he stood up, and exited through the window. With a sigh, I pulled the comforter from the bed, tossing it on the floor. I curled up against my pillow, and drifted to sleep.
I awoke to the sun pouring in through my window, along with a muscular werewolf towering over me. I blinked a few times, before sitting up and looking around the room. A comforter had been thrown over me, and the bloody one with claw marks in it from last night was gone. I noticed that my entire room smelled like him, the scent closing in on me in darkly inviting waves and tendrils. He sat down on the edge of my bed, dressed in a pair of black jeans and a white tank top. I sighed, inhaling his sharp, heady scent from where he sat. "Your up." He said, analyzing me for a moment. I nodded, running a hand through my tousled hair. I didn't hear Louise anywhere in the house. "Where's Louise?" I asked. "She went out to the grocery store. I uh, had a talk with her this morning." Suddenly my stomach was twisted in knots. "What'd you say?" I asked suspiciously. "Just that you would be safe with my pack." He said. I nodded, some- what relieved. I pulled back the covers, getting out of bed and heading over to my dresser. I pulled out a pair of jeans and a black short sleeved shirt. "Meet me on the edge of the woods during lunch. I'll be with the rest of the pack." He said. "So, they know about me?" I asked. He sighed. "Yeah. They know." He muttered. I glanced behind me to see that he was turned around, before getting changed.
I pulled off my shorts and shimmied into my jeans. "So, how'd they take it when you told them?" I asked, pulling off my tank top and pulling on my t shirt. I turned and saw he had already turned around. Whether or not he'd seen me get changed I wasn't sure. But the look in his eyes told me he'd seen something. "What?" I asked. He blinked and shook his head, returning back to the previous subject. "They weren't thrilled." He said after a moment. "I'd expected as much." I replied. I picked up the brush from my desk and ran it through my hair, pulling it into a side pony tail with the hair tie I kept on my wrist. I sighed and sat down on my bed next to him. "What happens then?" I asked. He smiled a fanged smile at me. "Then, you prove your ranking." He said.
From the moment school started, all I could think about was lunch. Derek hadn't been specific about what he meant by "prove your ranking". He just said to be ready. Which was more than unnerving. Four boring, uneventful classes, and the bell rang for lunch. As I exited chemistry, I hurried down the corridor to the cafeteria. Though it was already packed, no one noticed as I slipped out the side door. I made my way to the edge of the woods, to find it empty accept for the grass, and the trees. At that moment, reality dawned on my mind: this was an ambush. I dropped my bag and settled into a crouching position, as a low growl became apparent off to my left. I spun around and found Erica before me, attempting some sort of mid air tackle. I dodged her advance, moving to the side and striking her on the temple. She lay on the ground unconscious as I turned to see Boyd standing before me. "She always was predictable." He muttered, taking a much more strategic approach on the situation. He moved forward, swiping his clawed hand in my direction. I blocked it, moving off to the side and bending his arm in it's opposite direction; hearing and feeling the bone snap. He yelled in pain, as I swept his feet from behind, tripping him onto his backside.
I paused and listened, waiting for Isaac's attack. Suddenly he was behind me, grabbing me in a bear hug. I head butted him, stepping off to the side and side kicking him in the shin. I heard the bone snap, followed by his agonized cry of pain as he fell to the ground. I backed up toward the edge of the woods, wondering where Derek was. Suddenly I heard a growl from above, looking up as I realized that he'd used the trees as his cover. He jumped down, toppling onto me and knocking me to the ground. We rolled through the grass for a moment, until we came to a stop with him straddling me. A smile ran along the length of his lips- he obviously thought this was over. I brought my right leg up, pushing him off of me long enough for me to switch our positions. The nails of my right hand became claws, as I held them against the hollow of his throat, breathing hard. "Well executed." He said after a moment. I retracted my talons, standing and watching as he got to his feet. I looked to see Erica just coming too, while Isaac and Boyd began correcting their injuries, getting to their feet.
"Selene, this is the pack." Derek said. I nodded, watching as Erica got to her feet. "I don't think we've been fully introduced." Isaac said, stepping forward and holding out his hand. "Isaac Lehey." He said, as I put my hand in his. He brought it to his lips for a moment, looking up at me before letting them move further up my arm. I grabbed his arm and bent it back- not enough to break it but enough to get his attention. "I'm not a big fan of being touched." I muttered, releasing his arm. Boyd came forward as Isaac stepped back, rubbing his wrist with his uninjured hand. "Sorry bout your leg." I said, shaking his hand. He shrugged. "Nothing Derek hasn't subjugated us too before." He said, stepping back. Erica watched me for a moment, before stepping forward and shaking my hand. The look in her eyes was strangely animal. More-so than Boyd or Isaac. "So, why'd you want the bite?" I asked. Her eyes never left mine as she responded. "I guess you could say that suffering from epileptic seizures all the time can make you gain a new perspective on things." She said. So that's what it was. The bite was her way out. Her way out of being an outcast. I nodded. "I think we'll get along just great." I said honestly.
She stepped back, and I looked at them while Derek spoke. "Selene is our newest member, and second in command." He said. Erica's head tilted to the side, as if she were slightly confused. "I thought there were only Alphas, Betas, and Omegas." She said. "Generally, most packs are like that. But there are rare instances where the Alpha has a second in command." He explained. "So, what she's like the… Alpha female?" Isaac asked. I glanced at Derek as one of his eyebrows raised. "Something like that." He said darkly. I knew a little bit about wolf hierarchy. And generally, the two alphas were mates. I wasn't exactly sure if the same rules applied to werewolves, but the words "mate" and "female" in the same sentence, made my stomach flip flop. Especially when I was around Derek. "So in other words, she's above us?" Erica said bitterly, crossing her arms in defiance. "Yes. Do you have a problem with that?" He asked sternly. She glared at him for a moment. "Not at all." She said with a shake of her head. Damn; I hadn't been apart of the pack two minutes and I was already causing controversy. I glanced at the clock on my phone, noticing there were five minutes left of lunch. "Well, I'm gonna be late for class." Isaac said, heading toward the building. Erica followed silently behind. "See ya." Boyd said, before turning on his heel and catching up to the rest of them. I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "Well, that went well." I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes. "I thought they already knew about the ranking." I said, looking at Derek as he leaned against a tree. "They knew you were coming into the pack- not about the ranking though." He said.
I nodded, glancing down for a moment. I exhaled a deep breath through my mouth, blinking a few times to get myself together. "Now what?" I though out loud. I looked up at Derek, the expression on his face telling me he was thinking the same thing. "How about this," I said, an idea springing to mind. "Erica and I will watch Jackson, and Isaac and Boyd will watch Lydia. See which one of them has the most… I don't know, off behavior." I said. He nodded. "Um, just… be careful around Erica, okay?" He asked, stepping closer until he stood directly in front of me. I raised an eyebrow. "Believe me, I think I'll be okay." I said. He nodded, but he had yet to move. "I'd better… get to class." I murmured, trying to ignore the way his closeness to me made my heart race, and by blood boil. He nodded, gently brushing a hand against my neck before heading back into the forest.
Chills still running down my spine, I grabbed my bag and sprinted to algebra. I walked in just as the teacher did, quickly picking a seat next to Erica. I quietly pulled a piece of paper from my notebook, and scribbling a message to her. "Derek wants us to watch Jackson. He wants Boyd and Isaac to watch Lydia." I passed it to her, and she took it without hesitation. She unfolded it, read the few lines on the page, and looked up at me with a nod. Her eyes had softened since earlier out by the woods. What caused her suddenly mood swing, I wasn't sure. But I was grateful for it. As the teacher silently turned to the board, I noticed Stiles walking into class late. He sat in front of me at his usual seat, glancing back at Erica and I. I watched as he wrote a note, and quickly passed it back to me. I unfolded it quickly before the teacher turned around, scanning the words he'd written down. "Whatever it is you and the other wolves are planning, don't do anything stupid. Like get anyone killed. Or kill anyone outright. And Scott told me about you joining Derek's pack. WTH?" I rolled my eyes, quickly replying to his little message: "Look, the hunters in this town obviously have no problem killing lone wolves. Joining his pack gives me a fighting chance. Not only that, but like you said, I already know more in two days than Lydia does. Which makes me involved- too involved to back out. I'm in this fight." I said. And every word was absolutely true whether he liked it or not. I passed the note to him and watched as he read it. After a moment, he crumpled the note, and shoved it into his pocket. I smiled to myself, knowing that he understood the truth in my words. I glanced over at Erica, who had been watching our little conversation. She was smiling. I turned back to the board, as the teacher began to speak.