The Forests Secrets

Quiet, isolated, depressing, those were the first words that come to mind when describing the small town of Aeston Colorado. It was a small city in the middle of fucking nowhere. Cell service was crap, almost everyone knew each other, and not to mention that everyone seemed to have that country bumpkin feeling with freaking log cabins or old-styled homes. The place was like it was stuck in time. It was so outdated, that Evelyn often wondered if these people even knew what high definition TV was.

The frown that was placed on Harlow's lips a couple of months ago when she learned her father had died in a hunting accident was still there. Even as her bright green eyes look up towards the small high school that was to be her prison for the next year.

"Come on Harlow, cheer up. Your father went to school here. Isn't that cool?" Harlow heard her mom say, but didn't reply as the car was parked and slowly slipped from the truck that was newly bought. A scowl appearing on Harlow's lips as her right foot landed in a puddle of muddy water. "Yeah mom, really freaking cool," Harlow mumbled quietly as she turned towards her mother and offered her an unimpressed look. The older woman who looked similar to her daughter, except with light blue eyes softened her features and sighed. "I know it sucks Eve, but hang in there. Alright, try and make it work."

The only response that Harlow could give her mother, was the closing of her door and headed towards the school's front doors. Her boots clicked on the cement as she walked, head down as she moved. Ignoring the looks people were giving the new girl as she made her way inside.

--

A low rumble emanated from Dominic's chest as he drove to school. The girl who the patrol had found a couple of nights ago was sitting in his back seat. She looked pissed, but Dom didn't care. He didn't go against the alpha's orders. If he thought that her assimilating into a normal high school experience was going to be good for her, then he'll bend over backward to make sure that she went to school. Her little protector, her guard dog, her ringmaster. The girl, who Dom couldn't remember the name of, was certainly an enigma. She came from an abusive pack and yet, she wants to go back to them.

Pulling into the parking lot, Dom could feel the hairs on the back of his neck slowly raise. This was familiar territory for him, but he worried what this girl, Moon, Star, whatever the fuck her name was would do. Would she run as soon as he let her out of the car? Would she try and scream bloody murder and get them all in trouble. Drawing attention to what they were. What The Pack was?

Once the car was parked, Dom made sure his agitation was known as he slammed the from the door and then turned slightly as he opened the back door for the girl. "Out." Was the only thing he said as he opened the child locked the door. "You're going to behave, right?" Dominic asked like was talking to a child and then motioned for her to start walking towards the school. "We need to get your schedule," Dom mumbled quietly, although he already knew that the alpha pulled some strings and she'd be forced to have all of the same classes as him.

Walking through the parking lot with the girl, Dominic ignored the stares. People usually stared in awe of those who belonged to The Pack, not because they know what they were, but because they tended to be some of the fittest at the schools. Girls wet dreams, and boys nightmares. As the wind blew through the parking lot, Dom could feel the hair on the back of his neck bristle ever so slightly. Caleb. Dom said through the pack link. Dispersal. He gave his friend a warning, and then followed the girl he was in charge of towards the office.

@ FallenHope95

Caleb's nose started to tingle as Dominic gave him the warning on the lone wolf. On it. He responded back as he headed out of his own car. This was something he would have to deal with himself as Dominic was currently busy handling the new girl. All Caleb knew about that was that he was glad he was not put in charge of her. So far, she had not been reacting at all how they expected and, at times, it was rather hard to watch her do what she thought to be normal. Almost stomach-turning.

But now he had to hope that this outsider wasn't going to be difficult on him. Usually, lone wolves tended not to interfere with the pack. It was possible for them to live in harmony like this if it wasn't for the other pack trying to move on any new wolves and their territory. At this point, it would be safer for the new wolf and for his pack to forge an agreement. Just to ensure that this new wolf didn't bother with the psychos on the other side of the border. And did cause more trouble for him and his family.

It took Caleb a few moments to scan the parking lot, looking for the new face among the crowd. Though when his eyes caught her, he was laser focus. A girl. That was even more dangerous for her. If the pack caught wind of her then she was in for a rough time. Though the question now was, how in the world was he going to approach it with her? He didn't want to scare her with suddenly pushing too hard but to let her live in oblivion for too long would be a problem. Hopefully, when she smelled him, the new girl would get an idea that at least she wasn't the only one around here. The rest would be a later conversation since it would be dumb to spill it out all right now in front of the school.

So, Caleb started to make a beeline for her, easily catching up to the wolf as she got to the front door of the school. He walked behind her for a few moments, wanting her to get a moment to smell his scent before he moved up to her side. A warm, welcoming smile moved over Caleb's face as he turned his body towards her slightly as they continued walking through the hallways. "You must be new around here." He said warmly. "My name is Caleb, it's nice to meet you."

---

Luna leaned back into the leather of the car, her arms folded in front of her. She looked out of the window, watching everything that passed by as they went on their way to school. Fury was settling in Luna's chest as they inched closer and closer to the building. Why was this happening to her? Why did they kidnap her in the first place? Some of them kept trying to tell Luna that she had been rescued but that wasn't the case in the least bit. First of all, she never wanted to be 'rescued'. She was aching to go back home. In truth, she was being used as a hostage and that was made even more clear by being given a warden. Though why they wanted her to go to school was beyond her.

She only lifted her head once the driver slammed the driver's door to the car. Though she had no idea what he could possibly be so angry about. But it was frightening, knowing that the man in charge of her was not only a kidnapper but also seemed to have some anger problems.

The young woman shifted uncomfortably in her seat as he opened up her door. "I don't want to go," Luna whispered to him, a bit of anger in her voice. "What even is the point? You are all going to bring me back sooner or later." Her eyes lifted up to meet his face but as she saw the irritation in his eyes, she slid out of the car. Though her heart was filled with anger towards the man, she found it unsettling to disobey his orders. He was not part of her pack but he was still a man and, at the moment, in charge of her. And she had no desire to be beaten for being bad.

A little huff of annoyance left Luna's lips but nonetheless, she started towards the school. Part of Luna wanted to hunch over, wrap her arms around herself and try to be as invisible as possible but it wouldn't be right for her to do so. Even though she was nowhere near her pack, she had to follow their rules best she could. So, standing with perfect posture, Luna walked, her chest puffed out as well. She had tried to also pick out the sexiest clothes from what she was given but it was difficult as, apparently, the school had something called a 'dress code'. Nor did the pack give her anything normal clothing-wise.

Soon enough, Luna was in the office and one of the office workers looked up, a warm smile on her lips. "Good Morning, what can I help you with?" Luna looked to Dominic expectingly.

@ BearGirl
All Harlow wanted was to be left alone, go to school and then move back to New York. Where she had spent most of her childhood. Where she felt like she belonged, not in this run downtown in the middle of nowhere. This place didn't even have a place for her to get her nails done, she'll have to drive an hour to the next town to do that! This place was inconvenient.

The hairs on the back of Har's neck tingled slightly before the sudden appearance of some guy came into Harlow's side vision. She visibly jumped in surprise at his quiet approach and felt her heart thumping quicker in fear. The last thing she wanted was some country boy to hit on her. So, even though she was still scared out of her mind, Harlow tried to bring back her city attitude. "Don't talk to me, I'm busy." She told the stranger who nearly gave her a heart attack and headed into the school, not bothering to hold open the door for him as she made her way into the school.

Once inside, Harlow could feel the stares still on her. Random people were looking at her with narrowed eyes and others were just curious about the new girl. The whole thing sent chills down Harlow's spine and she quickly lowered her head as she made her way to the office to the right of the school entrance.

It was quick getting her schedule, and as soon as she had it in hand, Harlow was out the door without a thank you. There was no need to be nice to people she'll only know for a year. Why make friends that she'll just leave behind in a year? The thought of just leaving her mom in the middle of nowhere caused a small frown to appear on Har's lips. They were all each other had left.

--

Trailing his gaze down towards the girl, Dominic's expert hearing picked up on her whispers as she got out of the car. His lips pursing together as he listened. "You're safe with us, you know. You're lucky you're being offered a normal life by our Alpha." Dominic said just as quietly as they walked towards the front of the school. His dark eyes were constantly glancing between the new girl and the surrounding area. Knowing that there was a Dispersal in the area was dangerous. If it was a male, then he could cause problems with the pack, if it was a female? Well, she's playing with fire without a pack to help protect her.

Walking into the office, Dominic shover his hands into his pockets casually. He didn't usually come to this area. The smell of bitter coffee and cheap perfume always caused his nose to burn and eyes to water ever so slightly. He preferred the outdoors, the smell of grass and floral to this stuffy place. Plus, he loves the ability to shift and run as long as he possibly could.

Blinking as he snapped out of his daze, Dominic realized that the girl was looking towards him. As if she wasn't capable of speaking herself. Giving her a small arch of his brow, Dom looked towards the secretary as he leaned his arms against the counter. "She's a new student, here to pick up her schedule," Dom told the older woman and offering a small half-smile that got the woman's heart to flutter even though she was his mother's age. Gross, but what could a good looking guy like Dom do?

"You're a lucky girl." The secretary said as she started to look through her paperwork for Luna's schedule after learning the girls' names. "Dom here's the quarterback for the school's football team." The secretary mumbled quietly. "He's going to be famous one day." The idea caused Dom to want to snort and roll his eyes, but he didn't. Becoming famous was far from what Dom was going to be doing with his life. He was sworn to protect Caleb as his future beta once their father's pass away, his future was set in stone for him way before he could even walk. "Ready for some learning?" Dom asked in a monotone as he glanced down at Luna once she had her schedule, turning to lead her to her first class.

@ FallenHope95

As the new girl basically told Caleb to fuck off, he started to slow down in his speed. A deep frown came over his lips as he watched her walk off towards the office. Well, that definitely did not go how he wanted it to. But that did not mean that Caleb was going to give up. It just meant that he needed to push a little harder until he was at least able to get out what he needed to say. Of course, he couldn't force her to agree to an alliance. In the least, he would be able to warn her about staying away from the others. Though, that seemed that it would not be a problem since she was pretty quick to get rid of him.

Caleb rubbed the back of his head before turning off and making his way to his own first-period class. He might as well figure out how to explain it all to her once he got the chance. Maybe around lunch, she would be willing to talk? Once the girl had some food in her. As much as he didn't want to talk about wolf related things at school, it didn't seem like he had much of a choice. Would someone like that really meet him outside of school? Doubtful.

Once he was in class, Caleb sat down and started to pull out his schoolwork. He felt rather lucky to have something so easy in the morning, English. Something that he could zone out in if he needed to. And it wasn't like anything they did in that class was particularly difficult.

(Did you want to skip to lunch for them all?)

---

While the secretary was going off about how amazing her capture was, it took everything in Luna not to roll her eyes. There was nothing lucky about the situation she was in. And she certainly did care about how Dominic was going to be famous one day. She let out a small huff before glancing off to the side, looking to the window. If she wanted to droll over Dominic, fine, but she didn't want to get involved.

Now that the schedule was in her hands, Luna started to look at the classes that she was enrolled in. Though, as she looked it over, she couldn't help but let out a small sigh. None of this sounded even remotely interesting...plus, Luna wasn't even completely sure what some of these classes were going to entail. It wasn't like they had classes like these in her pack, at least not for the girls. What were they ever going to use chemistry for anyways? Luna closed her eyes for a moment, reminding herself that it was only going to be like this for a little bit. There was no point in complaining to Dom about it, not that he would care anyway. Folding her schedule, Luna shoved it into her bag.

She felt herself deflating again, but only after a moment, Luna was able to push herself to continue on, pushing out her chest and walking as one would. Her eyes started to roam around, looking at all of the people walking by. None of the girls looked at how she would expect. And a lot of the men were sloppy as well... how disappointing. Luna deflated again, her head dropping down again. She wanted to do her best and keep pushing ahead but the truth was, she felt defeated. "Why ask when you know I don't want to be here?"

As they walked into the class, the teacher lifted his head up and looked to Luna. A welcoming smile moved over his face as he walked over to her. "You must be the new student, Luna?" Once again, Luna looked up at Dominic expectedly.

@ BearGirl
Lunch, an activity that Harlow usually loved because she got to hang out with her friends, was now a disaster. Why? Because she didn't have any friends at this stupid school, that's why. So, what does a loner do when one wants to not be stared at while eating something to stop their stomach from attacking the other intestin's inside? She hid in the library, that's what.

Tucked in a back corner, at a table that should be able to fit four people. Her little thing of yogurt in one hand, and her spoon in the other as she ate and studied in the other. Her bright green eyes looked over the words in the history book, getting her work done before she went home so that she didn't have to do it later.

Eating the last bit of her yogurt, Har stood up and threw the plastic container and plastic spoon away. Her bright green eyes looked up for a moment and caught that annoying kid who walked to her this morning walking past. Hoping he didn't notice her, Harlow turned her back to him and went back to her secret spot, hoping to be ignored for the rest of lunch.

--

Finally, it was lunchtime. Dom could practically feel himself drooling. This morning he had to skip breakfast because he overslept and needed to pick Luna up from the packmates she was staying with. So, food was off the table til he got to school. "Alright, Luna. Let's get some food." Dom said, not caring if she was listening to him or not. He led her towards the hot lunch line and paid for the both of them. "The burgers here are vegan, so I don't recommend them." He told her quietly as they moved down the line.

Once they had their food, Dom wrapped an arm protectively around Luna's shoulder and started to lead her to a table in the back right corner. It was where most of the other pack members who went to this school sat. "Sit," He told her and then sat down next to her. Then, he started to eat one of the two pieces of pizza that he had gotten for lunch.

Once he was no longer, hangry, Dom looked towards Luna as he wiped his mouth from the barely-there greese. "How do you like your classes?" He asked as he crumpled his napkin and dropped it onto his tray. Feeling more sociable now that he wasn't hungry.

@ FallenHope95

Caleb had gone to the cafeteria and wolfed down his lunch. He was on a mission that didn't involve him wasting his time eating. He had to find the lone wolf before the end of the day. Though, after a quick sweep of the cafeteria, Caleb could tell that wasn't going to be easy. Why wasn't she just in the goddamn cafeteria? With a light groan, he turned out of the room and went into the rest of the school.

With his nose turned up, he followed any reminiscence of a scent of her. By now, she had gone through a good portion of the school, so picking up her smell was easy enough. But he didn't want to have to follow her whole schedule to find her... But, luckily enough, Caleb was able to pick up a rather recent smell and that lead him straight to the library. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see her hurrying deeper into the library, and without hesitation, he followed.

Once he was right behind the woman, he tilted his head slightly, trying to get a better look at her. "Hello," Caleb said. "We need to talk." At this point, all he could do was hope that she would hear him out. But, he was beginning to get worried that she wouldn't listen. This morning was an indicator of that and it would just be annoying if she just tried to shake him off again. "I know you might not want to, but this is important and I promise not to take up too much of your time. Just let me say what I need to and I'll leave you alone after that if you want."

---

By the time that lunch came around, Luna was fully upset. All of her classes had been horrid. Why she had to learn any of those subjects were beyond her. Especially since she couldn't see any of it being all that useful in real life. Plus, some of her classes gave her work to do at home and that was never going to happen... Though even if she wanted to be good and do the homework, Luna didn't understand anything that the teachers were trying to teach and that alone had been stressful enough. Like, what the fuck was a proton?

Without any fuss, Luna followed Dom through the lunch line, grabbing whatever she thought might be edible. Though as she turned towards the rest of the cafeteria, Dominic wrapped an arm around her shoulder. A large frown came over her lips and she started to shift uncomfortably under him, wanting to shake him off. But it wasn't a lot walk over to the rest of them. Looking at the pack alone almost made her not want to eat. Though once they were sitting down, Luna picked at her food and ate a little of this and that before pushing her tray away with a sigh. God this place was Hell.

"Can you just stop trying to talk to me?" Luna snapped at him, her emotions getting the better of her. "I hate it here, I hate you and I don't want you touching me either. I've been good, haven't I? I followed you around, and I haven't caused a scene so just leave me alone." With that, Luna was quick to turn her back to Dominic, now looking around the lunchroom. A sick feeling started to spread through her now that she talked back. She hated being bad. Even with Dominic, she had to be a good girl. Do as the men say or she'll be punished. Luna seemed to grow uneasy before she glanced back at him. "I'm sorry," She whimpered out.

@ BearGirl
Of course, as soon as she sat down that boy from earlier that gave her the creeps would find her. The hair on the back of her neck raised once more and Har couldn't help but let out a tired groan as she listened to him. He didn't seem to get the hint that she didn't want anything to do with him. Boys everywhere just don't seem to get the hint that they're not always interesting to listen to talk it seems.

"What do you want?" Harlow asked quietly, closing her history book since it seemed like she wasn't going to be finishing her homework anytime soon because of this chatterbox. Her bright green eyes looked up towards the boy who seemed to be stalking her now at this point. "What can be so important? We don't even know each other." She said and then pursed her lips together as the librarian made a shushing noise from her desk, reminding the two that they were in the library and that silence was important here.

Glancing from the old woman, then back to the boy, Harlow arched an eyebrow. Waiting for him to explain what the hell was going on. What could be so important that he freaking stalked her around the school?

--

When Luna snapped at him, it took everything in Dominic to not snap back. He was trying to be nice and get over being a dick this morning to her. Although, it seemed that she didn't seem to care about that. So, he had just pursed his lips and intended to just look away and pretend she wasn't there the rest of the day, but. As her meek little voice apologized, he couldn't help but snort as a chuckle escaped from him.

"For someone with such a bite, you are quite wishy-washy," Dominic said quietly as he looked down at her through the corner of his eye. Eyeing her as he watched how she would react to his words. Heck, he's been watching her body movements all day. She was constantly acting like a submissive wolf, but he could easily sense that she wasn't one at heart. She wanted to fight back, but she was just scared.

"Why do you have me do all the talking for you?" Dom finally asked after a couple of moments. His head tilted slightly as he looked down at her. The other pack members weren't looking towards them, but he knew they were probably listening in. "We know you're not very meek."

@ FallenHope95

"Of course we don't?" Caleb said with some confusion as she mentioned them not knowing each other. "That's not the point right now." Since the girl was sitting down, Caleb kneeled down onto one knee so that they were on the same level. His voice lowered as he spoke, not wanting anyone to overhear the conversation that they were about to have.

"Listen, normally we would just leave you alone but unfortunately you came here at a very bad time. So, I'm just trying to give you a heads up on what's going down. We are currently fighting the pack on the other side of the Redstone River. And it isn't a little territory dispute, but some really messed up things are going on at their side and I am sure the moment they know you are here, they are going to try to recruit you. I am telling you right now, don't do it. They do really fucked up shit to the woman in their pack. So, in the least, just stay away from them." Caleb told her, his voice and eyes dead serious as he spoke.

"If you want to make an agreement with me and my pack, that's great. If not, that's fine. But I am dead serious about you not wanting to go near those guys. Okay?" He hesitated for a moment before continuing on. "I'll leave you alone from now on if that's what you want."

---

Some confusion moved over Luna's face as he started to laugh. She didn't understand what was so funny. Though whatever she had done was apparently amusing to him. Luna reached up and rubbed her temples softly. She really didn't understand this pack, and she did find Dominic very irritating. What they wanted from her was beyond her. Luna knew that she was just being played as a pawn right now, and she didn't like it. They were forcing her to live life their way because they thought it was 'better for her' but by the end of the day, they would send her back when her pack had something they wanted.

"I normally don't bite," Luna mumbled to him before letting out a small sigh. She wanted to go home. But that probably was not going to happen any time soon. It was going to be hard to do, but she needed to try and keep her emotions under control. She knew that. Even though Dominic kidnapped her, her pack wouldn't want her snapping at him. It was just hard not to when she was upset, stressed and homesick and she knew it was their fault.

For a few moments, Luna glanced out at the cafeteria. She wished she could sit somewhere else. Her eyes shifted back to Dominic after a moment as he asked her a question. Though her head tilted a bit, finding his question odd. "Because you are supposed to?" As he mentioned her not being meek, Luna glanced off to the rest of his pack for a moment before dropping her head a bit. Meek wasn't exactly the goal but it sounded like they didn't think she was being a good submissive.

@ BearGirl
A flick of annoyance flashed through Harlow's eyes as the guy, who she faintly remembered being called Caleb, kneeled next to her. She cast a wary look towards the librarian before looking down at Caleb once more. Her lips turning into a slight frown as she listened to him, deeming him mentally insane the more she was forced to listen to him because he sounded like a weirdo.

"Is this something to do with the school's football team or something?" Harlow asked, not following what all of this pack shit is. "Because if it is, then I can hang out with whoever I want." She pointed out. "I'm not an animal, I don't stick with packs of boys with crazy hormones, I have more important things in my life, like staying away from freaks like you." She said as she pushed out her chair and stepped away from a kneeling Caleb.

Grabbing her bag, Harlow swung it onto her shoulder and snorted as she looked at the boy. "Of course I want you to leave me alone, you give me the creeps." She said as she turned her back to the boy and started to walk away from him. Her right hand moving to the back of her neck as she felt a tingle as her hair on her neck stood on end. Not knowing that it was the first small sign of a first shift and it was only being initiated because of the wolf that was following her.

--

"I think you should bite more," Dominic said casually as he looked over Luna and watched her for a couple of moments. "The whole pack already knows that you're not as quiet and sweet as you try and act. So it's alright to speak and act more freely." Don said, trying to reassure her that it's not bad that she'd got some bite to her. Hell, it's great that she's got such a mouth on her. It means that her birth pack doesn't have as strong a hold on her then what they had originally thought.

When Luna told him that he was supposed to talk for her, he couldn't help but blink in confusion. "What?" He mumbled quietly, tilting his head to the side a little bit. He wasn't sure if he had heard her correctly, or if she had said what he thought she did. "Luna, I'm acting as your guard, not your master. You can speak to anyone you want to as long as I know you're safe." Dominic said, eyeing her warily.

Slowly, Dom shifted in his seat and crossed his arms on top of the table. "What else are you not allowed to do in your birth pack?" He asked, curiosity piquing his interest. The things that he's heard so far, is going to be reported to Caleb's father, the Alpha. An is just prooving that they need to take care of this pack sooner rather then later because damn, is it unsettling hearing how she thinks things are run.

@ FallenHope95

A confused look came over Caleb's face as she started asking about the football team. His head tilted to the side a bit as he watched the rather upset girl get out of her chair and call him a freak. Caleb took a moment to take in a deep breath of the woman, wanting to confirm that she was actually a werewolf. Had they been mistaken somehow? Though that deep smell was enough to confirm it to him that she was one. And that she was one without a pack...

Caleb hesitated for a moment as she got up and turned her back to him. Though, he was quickly onto his feet. He was about to take a step, to run after her. But it was clear that she was not receptive to what he wanted to say, why Caleb had no idea. It was something that he would have to figure out. Plus, he didn't want to continue to give her the creeps anymore. While it was clear to him that the woman had no idea what Caleb was talking about, it seemed important to come up with a Plan C before chasing her. He just wanted her to understand before he backed off. He wanted to get her the opportunity to not get kidnapped and raped by a bunch of lunatics.

So, instead, he called after her as she walked away. "This is not a sports thing!" Caleb insisted. "I am being serious! Be careful!" The librarian slammed her book down and sushed Caleb. After a quick apology, he hurried out of the library and made his way to the rest of the pack. They needed to talk about the dispersal if there was still time. Though he wasn't even sure that there would be.

---

Luna let out a small disappointed sigh as Dominic started to push her to 'bite more'. Every word that left his lips felt like a needle pushing into her heart. She didn't want to bite more. It felt unnatural, even with her kidnappers. She didn't want what they were offering to her. She wanted her pack back. She wanted the protection they offered and her paths chosen for her. And she definitely wanted the men back to care for her and for her to care for their needs. Luna's shoulders started to sag again until she deflated enough that her hands were on the table and the side of her head resting on it. This was already such a long day and it was only lunch.

"It's not a master thing," Luna whispered sadly. "When meeting strangers, you're supposed to talk for me for protection. And once we know that they are safe, then I can talk to them as I please. It's to protect us... And I don't know anyone here..." Instead of finishing off her sentence, Luna just trailed off.

For a moment, Luna shifted her head so she could see Dom. Though she rolled back to glance at the cafeteria table again. Luna didn't really want to go through the list of rules with him, especially since she knew that he wasn't going to be respectful of it. And she really wasn't in the mood to be lectured or criticized for her way of life. "We have our rules to protect us and make the pack as a whole happy. We do what we can to keep our leaders and fighters happy and they, in turn, protect us, care for us and love us. Though the thing I am never allowed to do is say no to men." Luna murmured, hoping that would satisfy Dom. Though, she knew if he pushed, she would have to give in and give him the whole list. But, she figured the main rule should be enough.