Chapter 2

When we got to school, we walked inside and went to Bella's locker first and then mine. Everyone knew who we were, but they kept their distance from us. Both of our fathers were known for being crazy. And no one wanted to mess with the Alpha or Beta's daughters. So we only had each other at school. Which was fine with us. The further we stayed away from people, the less likely they were to find out about what was happening in our house. When we got to our first class, we sat at the back of the classroom as usual, and I pulled out my notebook and pen and started scribbling on the page in front of me. When our geography teacher arrived and started the class, I just sat there with my head in my hand, scribbling in my book and barely paying attention. When I was 6 years old, I woke up in the morning to my 26-year-old mother and my 48-year-old father screaming at each other in our old house. The one that we had before we moved to the packhouse. I stayed in bed for ages because I couldn't find the courage to get out of bed and go out there to see what was going on. I could hear things smashing and my mother screaming at my father. I then heard the slap that he gave my mother while yelling at her. And that's when I got out of bed. I opened my door and slowly crept down the hallway, and stood at the kitchen doorway, and my mother was on the floor holding her face, and my dad was standing over her. She saw me standing there and scrambled to her feet. " It's alright, sweetie. I'm alright. Hey, why don't you go and get dressed, and then you can go outside and play with Bella. How does that sound?" My mother asked, crouching down to my level. But I just shook my head and looked at my father before I turned back to my room, and I closed the door. I started getting dressed, but their fight wasn't over. I could still hear them screaming at each other, and I was shaking while I was buttoning up my shirt. But I managed to get dressed, and I walked back to the kitchen. My father was storming out the back door from what I could see, and my mother was holding a rag to her bloody nose. " Why does Daddy get so angry all the time?" I asked. " I don't know, sweetie. He just does. Hey, are you all ready? I think Bella is alright outside. I saw her playing in the playground earlier. Why don't you go and find her while I clean up this mess and all the broken glass?" Mummy says to me. " Okay, mumm," I say. And I hugged her before I walked outside, and Bella was still at the playground. I got on the swing next to her, and she looked at me and then back at the house. " I could hear your daddy screaming from here," Bella says. But I just nod my head. She knew that meant that I didn't want to talk about it. " Do you wanna go and annoy Ethan. He's with his friends." She says. And I smile at that and shake my head. So we jumped off the swings and went running to find Ethan so we could annoy the crap out of him. Something that we loved to do all the time. And it always cheered us up. I was snapped out of my thoughts by Bella nudging me, so I looked at her and she pointed down at the picture that I was absent-mindedly drawing. It was a big snarling wolf attacking a woman and a child. I quickly changed the page and started paying attention to the class that we were in. Try to get my mind to concentrate on what needs to be done at school. The day went by pretty quickly, and before we knew it, it was time to head home. But we always took our time before going home. We slowly went to our lockers to get our things, and then we headed outside, but we saw that same black BMW sitting out front waiting for us. " Ethan. What are you doing here?" Bella asked. " I'm giving you guys a lift home." He responded with a beaming smile. " It's alright. We can walk. It's not that far." I say. " Too bad. Get in." Ethan ordered. So we got in his car and he took us into town instead of taking us home. " The Alpha told us to get home straight after school because of that party tonight," I told Ethan. " Don't worry. Dad and the Beta know that you girls are with me. I told them before I picked you guys up. Don't worry. You won't get in trouble." Ethan assured us. Ethan took us to an ice cream store downtown and took us inside. " You do know that we're not 10 years old anymore, right?" I asked Ethan. " I know. But I thought we could all sit down and talk." He says. " A coffee shop would have been better," I say, sitting down. The other two got ice cream, but I didn't order anything. " So Tessa, how are the ribs going?" Ethan asked. " Pretty good. I think they're just bruised. They'll be back to normal soon." I say. " Yeah. Thank God for werewolf healing." Ethan says. And I just smile at him. " So, Bells, how has Dad been since I left? Has he gotten any worse?" Ethan asked. " About the same, I guess," Bella says," Eating a bit of your ice cream, and then she side-eyed me. But unfortunately, Ethan managed to see us. But he didn't say anything about it. I had a really bad feeling that he only bought us here to fish for information. He was asking too many questions, and I didn't like it. So I kept quiet for most of that ice cream adventure, and Bella and Ethan just kept talking like always. Like they were just talking about old times. When we got back to the packhouse, Ethan said that he needed to go run some errands for his dad before the party, ty so Bella and I went inside. Both of our dads were sitting in the living room waiting for us, and we knew that couldn't be good. " We are having people here in a few hours, and you two have been out galavanting with Ethan." The Alpha says. " He picked us up from school. What did you want us to do? If we didn't go with him, then he knew that something would have been up." I defended us while Bella sank back a little. She was never able to stand up against them. " Well, now you two have a lot of work to do, don't you. There's cooking that needs to be done, and all the bedrooms in the packhouse need to be ready in case anyone decides to stay over." My father says. " I'll go and help Bella with the rooms, and then I will get started in the kitchen," I say. " There's not enough time. Bella can clean the bedrooms. That means scrub the bathrooms, change the sheets, vacuum, everything. In every bedroom in this packhouse. And Tessa, you need to get started on appetizers, then the first course, then the second course, then the main course, and then dessert." The Alpha ordered. " Yes, sir," I say. I looked at Bella, and we had to head in separate directions. I went to the kitchen, and there was no one there. Hardly anyomegass worked at the packhouse because the Alpha and Dad made us two girls do everything. It was a wonder that we were even allowed to go to school most of the time. But I grabbed some ingredients out and I started making the main course because it would take hours to cook, and then I got started on several different appetizers to give the guests some variety. While I was in the kitchen, my father walked in and lingered behind me, and I could feel my whole body tense up, but he stood behind me, watching me. He didn't even try to move any closer to me. He was just intimidating me. That's all it was to him. A fucking game. He thought it was funny. By the time everything was ready,dy the omegas arrived because they had to serve the food, and I went up the backstairs to our apartment and went straight to my bedroom. I had a shower and I couldn't even bear to look at myself in the mirror this time, so I just had a quick shower and I got out and went to the wardrobe. I got dressed in a floor-length gown with a white strapless bodice with a light pink floral lace over the top that also went over my shoulders to make the straps, and black the skirt was plain black and black strappy high heels. I then brushed my ass length snow blonde hair, and I put on a silver and diamond bracelet and matching earrings. But I kept my neck bare, except for my hair hanging down. And then I started to walk downstairs. I made to to the main area of the house and I stopped at Bella's room just as she was coming out, and she was looking a little nervous about this party. " Alright. Just relax and greet a few people. There's nothing to worry about. Once we do that, then we two can sit at one of the tables in the ballroom and everyone else can do whatever the hell it is that they do." I tell her. " Alright. You know I hate these parties. Getting all dressed up. It's like our fathers are putting us on display." She says. " That's exactly what they're doing. And they know it too. Come on, before they get pissed at us for being too long." I hooked my arm around hers, and we started walking down the hall. We walked down the staircase and off to the right was the living room, but all the furniture had been cleared out of it and the rooms adjacent to it, so people would walk around freely and talk, and have a good time. And the main ballroom was set up for dancing while the dining room had been lined with four very long tables that could easily seat a couple of hundred people. Walking to the living room was nerve-wracking, but I made sure that I held my head hi,gh and people did look at us. " It's only because we are the hottest ones here. Just remember that." I whispered to Bella as I felt her tense up. And we continued walking into the room. Alphas from other packs would come over and introduce themselves, and of course, we needed to be on our best behaviour and represent the pack well., We were nice and polite to everyone, and we would have light conversations with people. I noticed that there were older Alphas with their teenage sons who were learning the ropes to becoming Alphas themselves, and there were others in their 20s and 30s who were there with friends or even their Betas. I wasn't sure. We had been at the party for about 20 minutes mingling when a familiar scent filled my nose and strong arms wrapped around my waist, nd I knew immediately that it was Mason. " Take note of the people that you like in this room, sweetie. We can invite them to our wedding." Mason hissed in my ear while smelling the crook of my neck. I tried to unravel his arms from around my stomach because I was now in a lot of pain with the broken rib, but he wasn't letting go for anything. I didn't have the strength to get him to let go. All of a sudden, there was a growl that ripped through the room, and the band stopped pplayingand I heard something smash. Like it was a wooden chair or something. Everyone looked in that direction, and a man was standing there whom I had never noticed before. He would have been in his early 20s, with brown hair to his shoulders, a brown goatee, 6-foot 6 at least, and very defined muscles that were now tense as his intense gaze stared directly at me and Mason. But I didn't know who he was. I was frozen in the spot, and this man was just staring at us with pure hatred in his eyes. But then I realized that the hatred was for Mason. Not me. " Mine." He demanded.