Chapter Three

Chris runs over after almost breaking down the gate to the fence in the side yard. "What the hell is happening here?" He yells and runs toward Allison. He steps in front of her to guard her and says, "What are you all doing here?"

The man with the harp takes a step back, "We didn't come here to try and start anything."

"Well we have something now!" Chris barks at them.

The man with the harp chuckles, looks down for a moment, then back into Chris' eyes. His eyes now glow an icy blue and he almost growls, "We're here to collect one of our own." His eyes flash to me.

Chris turns his head to the right and looks at me. "What are they talking about?"

I shrug and grunt for a second. My throat is dry and dead from the singing and the smoking. "I played a harp. That is the extent of my knowledge."

Chris looks back at the man with the harp. "What are you talking about?"

"This," the man says and brings the harp up to Chris' face, "is a Kissar. An ancient, actual Kissar. It has been passed down to me from the wolves before us from the wolves before them from a siren who killed Nyctimus for it."

"What?" I yawn.

Everyone looks at me and then back to the man with the harp.

"Nyctimus, our direct ancestor, played this for Zeus after Zeus resurrected him. And he was given the task to spread its beautiful sound wherever he could get himself. But a siren killed him, inheriting the task as infinite burden." He cocks his head and looks at me, "And only a direct descendant can play this Kissar."

Everyone stares at me.

I look at all the faces and then shrug and yawn again. "I'm not really fully getting this and I don't really care."

Chris steps away from Allison and runs his hands through his hair while sighing.

"Why you so stressed?"

He snaps his head toward me and shouts, "You have no idea what this means!" He turns to Allison, "You have no idea what this means!"

I roll my eyes and groan, "What does it mean?"

Chris shouts up into the night sky before turning to look at me. "Once you play the harp of a pack, you must harp for a pack."

I roll my eyes again, "What the fuck does that mean?"

Chris looks at the slightly older guy who was holding back the handsome boy. "This can be a lot easier and shorter if you'd shift."

The guy nods and steps to the side, away from everyone. A deep growl rips out of his lips from deep in his chest. His body tremors and the seams of his clothing rips and strains, which oddly turns me on, but the sight of his contorted, hairy, fanged face completely turns everything off. I gasp and scoot back a bit at the sight of his red, glowing eyes. His voice is gruff and deep, "This isn't the usual way people find out."

"What the hell is happening?!" I shout and pound my fists once against the tops of my thighs.

"Nyctimus is a man in ancient Greek mythology. His father murdered and prepared him for food for Zeus to try and make a fool of the gods. Zeus brought Nyctimus back to life, but his father and all of his brothers were turned into wolves. From here, these men sought out mystical advisors to teach them how to balance and shift between man and beast. Some of us are bitten," he looks at the man with the harp, "And some of us are inheritors."

I lean against the back of the chair and run a hand up and down my neck. "So… you're trying to tell me you're a… werewolf?"

"Not trying – showing your proof."

"Okay," I sigh and slowly get up. "I'm going to sleep on this."

"Oh no no no," the man with the heart starts walking toward me, "You see, Nyctimus is our ancestor. The siren who murdered him is your ancestor. Her burden is now yours. And that burden is our gain."

I look at him and shake my head, "Allison is one then, too."

He tilts his head down and smirks up at me, "You didn't inherit this from your father."

I groan and start to walk away, "We're not talking about my mother tonight."

He quickly closes the space between us and grips my left bicep in his right arm.

I turn my head to the left and stare him right in the eye. "You let go of me or I'll break your arm off from the elbow."

He chuckles and rolls his head, still smirking at me. "I'd like to see you try."

My body tremors a bit – I've felt this rage before, but I've never felt it as power. I continue to stare into his eyes as I focus all my shaking into my capture arm; the shaking turns violent and I yank him forward hard enough to dislocate his elbow and shoulder. He stumbles forward, lets go of me, and bites his lip to keep the sound of his pain in his mouth. The one who shifted runs up and pops his joins back into place. The harp holder looks at me and then laughs, "Good try. With some training you'll be able to rip arms clean off."

I scream out into the night and roar, "Who the fuck are you people?"

He laughs and says, "I'm Peter Hale, former alpha – "

"Then you're clearly of no importance," I sigh and then look at the man with him, "Who are you?"

He laughs and says, "Derek Hale, current alpha."

I wave my right hand around to signal behind him. "And who are all these boys behind you?"

A boy steps forward and blocks Allison from the scene in the making. "I'm Scott. I'm an omega."

I roll my eyes and sigh, "What the fuck does that mean?"

Peter rolls his eyes too, "He refuses to officially join the pack. He just runs around with us."

I laugh, "Then just join—"

"No, no," he shakes his head, "Not this pack."

Literally everyone but Scott rolls his or her eyes – possibly not Allison, as I can't see her, but everyone else rolls their eyes. Another boy steps forward and says, "I'm Stiles. I'm just a human."

"So what are you doing here?"

He laughs, "Sometimes I wonder, but I try to be helpful."

Allison moves from behind Allison, "Dad and I are hunters."

"What the fuck?" I laugh and sit down on the cement. "What the hell y'all doing here together?"

Scott laughs, "Sometimes we fight and sometimes we collaborate."

I roll my eyes but rest them on the handsome boy. "Who are you?"

He clears his throat and then croaks, "I'm I—Isaac."

I smile at him, "You an inheritor, too?"

"No," his pale cheeks burn a light pink, "Derek bit me."

I look back at Derek, "So you bite one random teen and call yourself an alpha? This is a pathetic pack."

Both Chris and Peter laugh and roll their eyes.

Derek growls, "Well, Eric and Boyd are currently MIA, so –"

"I don't care," I yawn and get up. "This has been interesting, but I'm going to bed." I turn to walk away, but then Chris says, "It's not fair, and it's not desirable, but it's the balance now. And if you try to break it, your whole life is going to fall into shambles."

I laugh and continue to walk away, "I was born into shambles."

"But then you were wisped into wealth. You want to lose this new comfort zone?"

I stop and look at him over my left shoulder. "The one perk to my otherwise fuck'd life?"

He grins and nods, "Follow me to the car."