Chapter 2
Delilah
Everything is about to change, and I hate it.
I remember the last time everything changed like it was yesterday.
When I was six years old, my mama rushed into my room in the middle of the night, terrified in a way I’d never seen before.
She would often check on me as I slept, but this was different. I could see her hands shaking as she helped me put my shoes on and pulled a sweater over my head. And the frantic way she stuffed our very few belongings into a bag, as her eyes flitted around the room.
She was silent, and every time I tried to ask what was wrong, she’d cover my mouth with her hand, silencing me. Instinctively, I knew something was very wrong. I knew we were in danger, even if she wouldn’t say that.
I had clung to her neck as she ran down the stairs of the Human compound, tears falling down her cheeks. She held me so tightly that I could hardly breathe. I didn’t know what she was running from, or why we were fleeing when we had only just arrived a few weeks prior.
Fifteen years later, and I still don’t know what happened that night.
To be honest, I don’t remember much of my life before we got to that compound. I know it wasn’t the first one we’d gone to, but I didn’t know why we had to keep leaving. Mama refused to tell me. She still refuses to tell me.
Bringing myself back to the present, I sigh, looking down at the woman who raised me, as I wash her hair. She worked a long day today, cleaning the old structure they’re using for the Academy.
Mama would often wash my hair when I was younger, trying to comfort me. So now, I do the same for her.
I’d do anything for this woman. She’s the reason I haven’t tried to run away from this pack already. She’s not as strong as she once was, and I can’t leave without her. Not that I’m likely to get far even if I tried.
Our home here isn’t very large, but thankfully, Wolves don’t like for their servants to smell, so we have a full-size tub in our modest bathroom. It’s easy enough to fill with hot water, so we don’t have to worry too much about the cold during the winter months.
Can’t have your servants stinking up the place when your nose is super sensitive.
Unfortunately, I leave for the new Academy tomorrow, and even though it’s on Primal Moon Pack lands, it’s an hour-long walk from here. I won’t be able to see Mama very often, so on top of missing her, I’m worried about her too.
This is the last time I’ll get to wash her hair for a long time, and it’s making me emotional.
I inhale the lavender scent, and close my eyes for just a moment, committing it to memory.
It soothes me in a way nothing else can.
I already know I’ll be stealing this bottle of oil to use in my own hair. She won’t miss it too much, hopefully.
Thankfully, my best friend Genny’s mother agreed to look after Mama for me while Genny and I are away. Emotions I don’t feel like dealing with clog my throat, and I bite my lip, fighting them off.
My mother’s been through a lot over the past years, and I just want her to be okay. If I’m careful and keep my head down, I might make it out of the Academy in one piece. Two years is a long ass time, but we’ve made it this far.
No sense giving up now.
Two of the largest packs, besides this one, demanded Michael treat his Humans better; so as a compromise, he agreed to open the Academy. Even though some packs, like Shadow Moon, had stopped forcing their Humans into servitude over fifteen years ago.
Four years ago, they started demanding the same of Michael. In order to avoid a war, they compromised.
Which is probably at least part of the reason the two packs hate each other. Especially since part of the deal Michael made was to enforce Avowed servitude for all attending Humans, and Wolves of every pack have to participate.
If anything, it will just create more issues, if you ask me. The unavowed Humans from Primal Moon will be throwing themselves at the Wolves from other packs in an attempt to escape. If a Human is claimed by a wolf from one of the other packs, they automatically leave with that Wolf in two years.
Sadly, Primal Moon is a massive pack, and there won’t be enough free Wolves from the other packs to go around.
I wouldn’t mind attempting to get myself Avowed to literally anyone other than the one Wolf I already know will cause problems for me. Some things will never change.
My mind wanders back to the past, as I rinse the soap from Mama’s long blonde hair. My own hair is a deep red and so unlike hers that I wonder once more who my father was.
Did I get my deep red hair from him? While Mama’s eyes are blue, mine are green.
My mother had cried for a long time after we fled the compound; but no matter how far from the compound we got, she wouldn’t tell me what was wrong. I’ve never been able to handle her tears, but when I was little, I’d do everything I could think of to make her stop.
That time was different, though. She was scared of whatever was making her run, but that wasn’t all. She was scared of where we were running to. I know that now.
“We have to hurry, Delilah. Run faster baby. Please…” She had looked so frightened when I eventually tripped and cried out from the pain. “Shh, please, my girl, please.”
The way her voice broke as she begged me not to cry will always haunt me.
She had to carry me after that, her scent relaxing me.
To this day, she still smells the same. Like lemons and freshly baked bread, her hair carrying a hint of lavender.
She still complains that she smells bad after a long day of working, but she’ll never know just how comforting that scent is for me.
For a short time, I’d thought Mama was running from the red Wolf that followed us that night, but instinctively I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. I never saw him again after that day, and I still think about him from time to time. Every time I’ve ever asked Mama about him, she’s shut down.
I don’t know who the man behind that Wolf was, but I do know my mother hates talking about him.
Her emerald eyes gloss over, as tears streak her cheeks, and she refuses to speak.
There's a history there. What would the red Wolf want with two Human women? He couldn’t be my father.
Wolves didn’t mate with Humans. Ever. It would kill them.
I don’t think Wolves can even impregnate a Human or vice versa. It’s never done. That’s going too far. That would be forbidden if it was possible, even if Humans are used and abused by their masters in every way they deem fit.
“Thank you,” my mother whispers, as I finish scrubbing her scalp, my hands pruning. I smile. She has secrets and a dark past she hides from me. I’m her only family, and I feel like she is a stranger sometimes.
“Of course, Mama.” I lean down and kiss her forehead, taking a deep breath. Tears burn my eyes as I stand, turning away from her so she won’t worry. I suspect she knows anyway. She always knows when I’m crying.
I give her space, so she can finish her bath, and head to my little bedroom.
The mattress is small and worn with many years of use.
The walls are painted white, but there are a few holes from trying to fix leaks.
There’s no window, and that always made me feel trapped, but up until now, I don’t think I’ve ever known what being trapped truly felt like. I thought I did.
Being forced to attend the Academy, forced to live in the dorms, and spend every waking moment with Wolves, is suffocating me.
I flop down on my tattered blanket and push my face into my skinny pillow.
I let out an angry scream before flipping onto my back to stare at my ceiling.
Maybe, once I leave, Mama will finally sleep in bed.
Right now, she sleeps in the living room on the couch.
There’s only one door to this little shack, and she insists on facing it at night.
No matter how hard I try to get her to sleep in the bed, she refuses.
I’ve even resorted to falling asleep on the couch, but the small woman is stronger than she looks and just heaves my body over her shoulder and tosses me into the bed.
I think she’s scared Michael is going to show up one day and try to take me from her. Thankfully, that creepy old fucker hasn’t even laid eyes on me in over two years. Primal Moon is a massive pack, and the Alpha rarely leaves his home for anything other than running with his pack once a month.
If only his son Coal would stay the fuck out of sight as well. He seeks me out. Finds me when I try to take a new route on my way to fetch water for the cleaning buckets.
Quil too. I literally hopped from tree to tree, went the long way to the garden, and even attempted to mask my scent, but he still managed to sneak up on me one time.
I am a beacon for Alpha-Beta bullshit. At least I’m not a Wolf. Their pheromones have no effect on me. Well, not to the level it would affect a potential mate. Of course, that doesn’t stop them from scenting my arousal.
“Ah!” I groan, flipping back onto my stomach and hiding my face. I don’t want to think of them right now. I don’t want to think of their effect on my body or mind.
I strip out of my clothes and get comfortable in my bed. I need to be awake early tomorrow, so I can make the long trek to the Academy. I can’t be late, or I’ll really be hating life.
An image of Coal bending me over Quil’s lap flashes through my mind, and I bury my hands in my sheets. I will NOT touch myself to thoughts of those bastards. No matter how crazy they make my body feel.
Well, you literally just got off yesterday, to thoughts of Coal between your thighs, so…
“Shut up,” I whisper to myself, annoyed that I’m right.
I hate them with the fury of the burning sun and desire them just as strongly. This is going to be a brutal two years.