Chapter 5

Silver Lake was a thriving werewolf town with a population of almost 3,000 wolves and a few human residents.

At 7:30 a.m., residents were leaving their homes and going about their day as they always did. People greeted each other as they passed on the street on their way to work, and kids ran down the sidewalk on their way to school. The only thing that gave it away as a werewolf settlement was the occasional sight of the guards walking down the street in pairs.

The Alpha was always incredibly proud of his pack and their ability to live their lives to the fullest no matter the circumstances. Looking at Amelia walk down the street next to him, he had always hoped that she would someday be a part of his pack. One of his people and a part of his family. He had made himself forget about her in hopes that he could move on from losing her, but his wolf spirit was not so easy to convince. And now he understood why, she was still out there.

She was here now, looking around the town and its inhabitants with a really confused look on her face. He remembered that she had said that rogues have always been after her, so he assumed that she wasn’t used to wolves not reacting to her presence with violence.

“Amelia…” he called to her, tearing her away from her thoughts. “No one here will hurt you, I promise.”

She seemed to believe his words as she took a deep breath and her muscles relaxed a little.

He smiled, glad that he had practiced speaking kindly with his team. His presence was most intimidating thanks to being born and raised as an Alpha, but he wanted to be an Alpha that his people could approach and not an Alpha that seemed to rule above everyone. So it warmed his heart to see that she didn’t look at him with terror in her eyes anymore.

They walked towards the center of the town where they passed a large building that looked like the town hall.

“We’ll be off now, Alpha”, said one of the wolves as he and the others turned toward the pack house. Amelia only just noticed that his team had been following them as they walked through the town. A couple of them squealed about finally getting some food while the rest of them shoved each other towards the building.

“See you later, Amelia”, one of the younger wolves said as he left waving at her.

Amelia immediately raised her hand and waved back without thinking, then froze and looked at her hand like it had moved without her permission.

The Alpha couldn’t seem to stop himself from thinking that every little thing she did was incredibly cute. He chuckled a little at her awkward gesture before turning to resume their journey.

“This way…”, the Alpha said leading her further across the town towards more residential buildings.

The further they walked, the more nervous she seemed to be getting. And he could understand why she felt that way, after all, it had been over two decades since she walked these streets. A part of him knew it was impossible but still wondered if she had any memories of Silver Lake, or him.

“We’re here…”, he said, coming to a stop and motioned to the house next to him.

Amelia stopped, and then slowly turned to face the building. It was a modern bungalow with a decent-sized front yard and a tree casting shadows on the grass and the front of the building. She walked slowly beside the Alpha and he could hear her heartbeat quicken the closer they got to the building until they came to a stop in front of the entrance door.

“Wait!” she said when the Alpha raised his fist to knock on the door.

She pulled down the hood of her jacket and used her hands to straighten her dark auburn hair. She then took off her backpack and retrieved a white envelope. She straightened her jacket again when she put her backpack on and held the envelope in both hands while staring at the door.

Amelia was a mess. She hadn’t bathed in a couple of days and she was covered in dust, mud and grime. Not to mention, her clothes were torn and ripped along her right side revealing blood-covered injuries from her ordeal trying to get to Silver Lake.

But there she was, desperately trying to make herself look presentable for someone she had never met. The Alpha could tell just how anxious she was to make a good first impression, and his heart broke a little realizing how desperate she was to not be turned away.

To the Alpha, it almost looked like she was praying for something as she held the letter standing in front of the door. She slowly glanced at him when he still hadn’t knocked on the door yet as he watched and waited for her to ready herself. He watched as embarrassment seemed to spread across her face when she realized what she might look like. He had to fight the urge to pull her into a hug and tell her she had nothing to be worried or embarrassed about. But instead, he let his knuckles make contact with the door as he knocked twice.

“Jason, my boy. What are you doing knocking?”, said a voice after a short pause.

Thanks to wolves’ heightened sense of smell, they could tell who was at their door even without knocking. So he knew it seemed strange to knock when visiting people close to you. He wasn’t sure how Amelia would react to just barging into Patrick’s home, so he thought this was the best option.

“We have a guest, Patrick”, Alpha Jason said in response glancing at Amelia.

“A guest…?”, said the gruff voice behind the door. “We don’t get guests….”

The door opened and an older gentleman was standing on the other side. He stood at over six feet tall and had grey temples and a welcoming face with kind green eyes. The moment he laid eyes on Amelia, he froze on the spot unable to make a sound for fear of breaking the illusion that was before him. He recognized her, or at least he recognized a part of her.

“Mr. Patrick Jones?” she said. “M…my name is Amelia. My mother told me to g…give you this”, she said thrusting the envelope in his direction.

Amelia was unable to hide the fear and desperation in her voice so it came out broken whenever she spoke. And no doubt, all the wolves present would be able to hear her erratic heartbeat.

“She said that if I ever needed help t…that I should come to you. She said….”, She trailed off, scared and confused she lowered her head to look at the ground.

Patrick had not said a word, he had just stared at her standing in front of him. ‘He doesn’t remember me, or maybe he just doesn’t want me here’, she thought to herself fearing the worst. Amelia readied her heart for the inevitable rejection. If he didn’t want her here, she didn’t know where else to go.

When she looked up again, she was shocked to see Patrick staring back at her with tears running down his cheeks.

A multitude of emotions washed through her when she saw his tears. Surprise, Relief, Gladness and then ultimately, Heartache. She had family left and he wanted her there with him. She hated herself for taking so long to get back to her true home.

“Oh my baby girl…”, he said extending his arms.

“Grandpa…”, she said as her voice broke into a sob. Patrick reached out and pulled her to him by the shoulders and hugged her tight as they both cried.