Chapter 24

EARLY UPDATE IN PROCRASTINATION CENTRAL.

This update basically happened due to the mass amount of Christmas and New Year's parties I have been to. I have been hiding from everyone by chilling in the toilet cubicleand typing, till my feet started hurting from standing in heels.

TheFabler, you're awesome.

chloeewashere, you have really nice hair.

Oh and this chapter is kinda long, as I wanted to end it like I did.

You guys go back to school on January the 5th? WHERE IS YOUR SUMMER HOLIDAYS??

QUESTION:

What was YOUR New Year's resolution that you probably will not keep?

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The body was identified a few hours later as a 27 year old man named "Caleb Iser", who had joined our pack with his wife. She was also found dead in their cabin 2 hours later, both drained of most of their blood in their bodies.

The only way the man and woman were ID'ed was by the wallets in their pockets; their faces were slashed beyond recognition.

I had quickly covered Valerie's eyes when we saw the poor man at our doorstep, all three of us rushing back down to the training centre, where the rest of the pack was.

We found Theodore with my mum, telling them both what had happened. Theodore then told us to advise the rest of the pack to meet in the main training gym, to call for a small meeting for the pack that was here.

Which is how Christan discovered Mr. Iser's wife.

The meeting was blatantly about how we cannot take this situation lightly anymore, and judging by the kills and threat, they should attack within the month. This was why reports will start to be written by trainers, judging what level of skill they are in fighting, so the lines for the order of battle can be organized within the week.

Theodore explained once again that women and children are expected not to fight, unless in the case of self-defense. They will not be looked down on if they dont, which Kaitlyn and I scoffed at. Hell will freeze over before Kaitlyn and I dont fight.

All of us who stayed in the main house were told to wait behind, so they could clear the body and check the exterior of the house for anything else.

'Jess' My mother waved me over, amongst the others.

I smiled, having not have had a proper conversation with her for a while, and missing her.

'Hi Mum' I said, before giving her a tight hug.

'How is my strong girl holding up?' She pulled her head back, stroking his hair behind my ear.

'Tired, a bit devastated, motivated. I'm fighting Mum' I said with conviction.

'Must you fight?' She had a sense of pleading in her voice, as if she knew something more than I did.

'Mum, he took away my pack once. I will do everything I can to make sure he doesnt do it again. I know I'm a capable fighter' I said.

Her eyes began to tear up.

'Jess.. there's something I need to tell you. Hell, let me show you'

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She sat me down on the bed, making sure no one else was in the room before she put a disc into the media system.

I caught a glimpse of the disc, a quick sharpie having written "Videos" on it messily.

'It started around here' Mum spoke as the disc began to play.

'Honey! How are you feeling?' The camera was shaking, as the person holding it was presumably driving a moving car.

I knew the voice. Dad.

The shot was moved from the racing road to a younger version of my mother, with a uterus 7 times larger than usual, her face strained with pain. She was wearing a fitting black dress, and looked well dolled-up for a woman about to give birth.

'I'm in labour Thomas! How the bloody hell do you think I'm feeling! And do me a favour and turn the stupid camera off!' Mum yelled, before groaning loudly in pain.

The camera turned again to a corner angle of him, my dad, who was smiling like the Cheshire Cat.

'See you soon, my to-be-born baby boy or girl. Hopefully I don't hit a car on the way there, or I'll get even more of an earful from your mother' He grinned, switching the camera off quickly.

The screen went blank.

'We wanted to find out the gender of Clark when he popped out. I had gone into labour during the meeting with Alpha Lorence, which is why I was dressed up well' Mum smiled in sadness, as the next video appeared on the screen.

'Both Bethany and I, are very glad to invite Mr. Clark Hadley to the world this March the 13th' The shot came closer to Mum holding a newborn Clark, whose eyes were squeezed shut in his tired mother's arms.

I could feel tears brimming in my eyes, but I pushed them back.

Baby Clark yawned, pushing his little arms out of his well-wrapped clothing, trying to pry his eyes open.

'Beth! He's opening his eyes!' My dad exclaimed, coming closer to the both of them.

'Is he?' My mother gasped, holding Clark up a little higher.

His eyes pushed themselves open, revealing two beautiful blue sparkling irises.

'He has your eyes' My father said from behind the camera, that my mother smiled at.

'Clark was.. the light in our fighting world. The meeting we were at didnt end on a good note. Alpha Lorence had been after our land and business, trying to negotiate and build the place into his own. All he had wanted was power. But now that we had Clark.. everything had seemed just that bit better. As it started to go downhill the more time Lorence had spent with us, you were our second light to brighten up the day even further.' I felt Mum sit down beside me as the video cut off to the next one.

'Okay Jesse, carrots or custard and apples?' The camera was at an angle behind my father and a tiny version of me, sitting on a high chair. He was holding up two cans of mushed food, setting them both down on the plastic tray table in front of me.

Young me attemped to grab the custard and apples, but ended up pushing the small can off the tray table. My father quickly caught it before it hit the ground with his wolf reflexes, holding it up with a smirk.

'Custard and apples it is then' He poked his tongue out, making the baby girl in the high chair giggle.

'Mummy! Mummy! Can I feed her?' The camera swooped down to a more grown up Clark, tugging on a pant leg who I assumed was my mothers.

'If you try to make sure she doesnt throw it on the ceiling again, I can annoint you with the job' Mum put the camera on the table so it faced her and Clark.

'I'm a big brother, I can do it' Clark nodded, standing up straight and strong.

I could feel a tear fall on my cheek.

'Then I give you the touch of ..' Mum raised her hand, hovering it above Clark's head.

'Responsibility!' She said in a deep godly voice, making Clark laugh when she put her hand on his head and messed up his hair.

'Thankyou' He bowed in seriousness, before taking the spoon from Dad's fingers.

Mum had held up the camera again to film the scene.

'Okay little sis. Here comes the airplane. Vroooom' Clark swooshed the spoon in the air, making little me open my mouth wide.

The mushy food was eaten messily, falling all over my chubby lips and chin.

'Finished! Can you say "Thankyou Clark!"' Clark held my hands, looking hopeful.

I gurgled out a few words that sounded like 'Ank Bark', before Clark started grinning.

'She said it! She said my name!' He exclaimed in happiness.

'Clark loved you.. so much. He wanted to always protect you' Mum said, my tears now flowing.

There were more video's that Mum had taken of our family, from Macca's to the wave pools, from the DVD store to nights in the house.

It was like Clark and my dad were here again.

At the end of them all, Mum spoke again.

'The day the pack was attacked.. it was made clear that Lorence would never get the power he wanted, so vowed to rage war on the pack until there was no single werewolf left standing. Which is why he is attacking this pack, because he wants to destroy any trace of all of us.' She said.

'Then we should leave! He didnt attack us in the old house for many years, surely he can't find us if we, from the old pack go on the run? We cant risk the lives of the pack here!' I sat up on the bed, straining my point.

"But Christan!" Rae, my wolf who has only recently connected back with me again said through our link.

I pushed her words aside, knowing I'd rather have him alive than injured or dead.

'I tried Jesse! Believe me I tried. He isn't right in the head. He came to Theodore months earlier, and attacked him like a savage animal and demanded this land too. He wants to destroy everyone, not only us. If we leave, he simply follows and leaves a trail of death. We may as well keep our days with the ones we care about'

I was suddenly angry at my mother, for making the decision to marry Theodore and put the whole pack in danger.

Because of her choice, everyone I care about is at a high risk of getting hurt. My mate, my daughter, my closest friends. Even the friends that once used to be close to me; they dont deserve to be hurt no matter how far apart we've grown.

But before I said a word to her, I stopped, and saw how low her head was hung. I saw how her dark strands of hair fell over her face in regret... and I couldnt be mad at her anymore.

She is more devastated about the war than anyone, and I can't be mad at her for that.

I left the room by giving her a hug, telling her it was going to be okay; that I dont hold anything against her, because I don't.

I walked through the hallway downstairs towards the kitchen, to reach the medicine cabinet for a painkiller for my headache, when I bumped into the two people I havent seen in forever.

Nicholas and Vanessa.

Vanessa had gotten a haircut recently I think, and had dyed her hair back to fully black. Nicholas was accompanied by a few extra piercings since the last time I saw him. They were both in romantic conversation, holding hands like lovers as they did when I crossed their path.

'Hey guys' I smiled polietly, waving a seemingly awkward wave.

'Jess! Its been too long. How've you been?' Vanessa let go of Nicholas' hand and enveloped me in a hug.

It bought back the memories of when we used to comfort wach other after we lost it all, tears re-developing in my eyes. I could tell she was tearing up too, as I felt my shoulder dampen.

'Crap I just.. I'm sorry about that. I havent had a hug from you in forever' She pulled back, wiping her tears on her sleeve.

'I feel your drift...' I put on a smile, blinking my tears back.

'What happened to us? We used to be connected by some freak chemical reaction' I laughed through my now obvious tears.

'Mates, relationships, new pack, new friends.. losing sight of important relationships' She shrugged, trying to wipe her years away again.

'How about we just.. friends? Watch a movie with me?' I suggested.

God, I really miss her. I miss my best friend.

'With Jason?' She asked.

I nodded, trying to laugh away the tears streaming down my cheeks.

'Just give me like.. 20 minutes to clean up my face' Vanessa wiped at her eyes, making her stained, raccoon-like eyes worse.

We both agreed we would watch a Romantic Comedy, because we secretly always knew Jason loved them as well.

I went down to the training centre, where Jason trained a class of younger wolves, just self-defence. I would see him sometimes as I walked out after finishing training, and would wave to him before he started his class.

Knowing his 2 hour class would be close to ending about now, I rushed to the door just as he locked it, his mate Hannah by his side.

'Jason! Hannah!' I caught up to them as they walked down the hallway.

'Hey Jess' Jason said, moving to the side so I could walk side by side with them.

'Hey Jesse, How's it?' Hannah asked with a smile.

'Good actually. I was however wondering if I could borrow Jason for a trio reunion? Its just a 2 hour movie, and a few snacks. You can have him all to yourself later, I promise. Its just Ness and I getting sentimental again' Hannah laughed, before saying

'Be my guest', letting me drag Jason back to the house to help me make snacks in the 5 minutes we had before Vanessa came down.

'And we can't watch an action movie because..?' Jason plopped down on the couch, sounding annoyed.

'We know you love good ol' Nicholas Sparks. I see all those secret tears you shed, dont try and hide it' Vanessa smirked, pressing play on the megashare link of the movie.

The wifi connection however, had different plans.

The movie stopped and refused to play any further after the first 10 minutes.

So the three of us sat down, and did what we do best.

We ranted about negativity in the world; for 2 hours. From things like our OTP not being cannon, to problems like the screw up of Michael Bay movies.

'I thought the Turtles movie was good! Megan Fox is jealousy worthy' Vanessa had exclaimed at first.

Jason and I turned and looked at her blankly.

'You're joking' I was in shock at her unrealistic statement.

'So funny Ness! Im laughing so hard' Jason glared at her.

He glared for a solid 37 seconds, before Vanessa gave up.

'Alright fine, all the facts were wrong and Megan Fox didnt even suit the role. Argument avoided, happy?' She rolled her eyes at our dedication to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

'Mummy! Look what Daddy taught me!' All of a sudden, Valerie had jumped on my lap.

'Woah, sweetheart! You scared me! What did he show you?' She leaned back, getting her hands into a position.

She linked her hands together, her thumb between one of her hands, before looking up at me. Her eyes sparkled with excitement.

'Are you ready?' She asked, the grin on her face wide as ever.

'Yup' I couldn't help but grin at her excitement.

She pulled her hands away from each other, whistling as she did, doing the classic "Pulling my thumb off" hand trick. Her hands were far below my eye line, so I could see her folded left thumb, but she didnt need to know that.

'Valerie? Where did your thumb go?? What happened?' I gasped, faking terror.

'It's coming back, look!' She pulled her other thumb back up, showing me that it was "no longer cut in half"with excitement.

'Oh thank god. I thought your thumb was gone forever' I put my hand on my chest in relief, feeling Christan's presence behind me and the couch.

'Cool huh' He said lowly beside my ear, making me laugh.

"You're turning into a classic dad with all these bad dad jokes and tricks" I linked to him, smirking as I did.

I was amused.

"You're turning into a classic Mum, pretending the Dad's tricks are good. Dammit, why arent we making more babies? We're such perfect parents" He linked back, sighing over-dramatically.

"Because if we do, our married parents will know we've mated with the new smell a mated wolf gives off. And we dont want that, do we?" I raised an eyebrow, emphasizing the word "Married".

"Hmm.. I dont care. As soon as the obstructions are cleared, my scent will be all over you" His eyes looked determined as they stared straight into mine.

It was making my insides mush.

'Hey, I gotta go! Bye!' Vanessa clicked her fingers in the middle of our faces, making us jump apart.

'Crap, sorry. I had a good time Ness and Jase, we better do it again soon' I said, looking at both Jason and her.

'Definitely, trio for life yo' Jason held out his fist, which I fist-bumped right back.

Vanessa joined her fist at the side of both of ours, making our fist-bump 3 way.

'Trio for life' Vanessa smiled.

I hugged both of them, feeling like the past relationship was back.

It made me feel happy. Really happy.

I heard a small yawn, breaking our hug apart and sending us on our way to our rooms for the evening. It was already around 6; 2 hours longer than we had said we would meet up for. It was worth every extra minute.

'I gave Val a shower, and there's some pizza on its way' Christan said, plopping down on the bed with Valerie.

They both bought out the laptop, starting to watch some youtube videos.

'I'm going to shower, what kind of pizza did you get?' I asked, grabbing some clothes out of my drawer.

I had finally moved all the clothes from my suitcase to my drawer, after a large amount of months.

'Pepperoni, obviously' Christan replied in a "Duh" tone.

'Good choice' I said, before walking into the bathroom.

I set down my clothes, locked the door and stripped before hopping into the shower.

I hummed along to one of the many songs that are stuck in my brain daily, today being Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus, Ignorance by Paramore, Jesus of Surburbia by Green Day, and the most prominent of all, Centuries by Fall Out Boy.

I started up the shower, letting steam push up around me while singing a weird mash of all 4 somgs quietly.

Showers are my favorite time of day.

I quickly scrubbed away the dirt of the day, letting the hot water run over my bare back as I lathered shampoo into my thick hair.

With my eyes still squeezed shut as to avoid getting shampoo in my eyes, the hot water suddenly stopped running down my back, the connector pipes making a gurgling noise.

I groaned, feeling the soapy shampoo run down my face, knowing I still couldnt open my eyes, or they would be in flaming agony.

Then out of nowhere the shower started up again, spurting out slightly colder water than before, but still water.

'Stupid shower' I mumbled under my breath, rinsing my hair and face under the water to wipe the soap away before I could open my eyes.

Just as I got the last bit of soapiness down the drain, my smelling sense kicked in.

What is that smell? I couldnt place my finger on it.

It was some sort of substance, diluted so the smell wouldnt be too strong.

I finally opened my eyes to my mop of hair dangling in front of my face from my head being leaned over. They soon adjusted to the colour flowing through and dripping off my hair.

It was red.

The colour, the smell.

I screamed in absolute horror, stumbling and pushing opem the shower cabin door, slipping and falling to the bathroom floor while I cussed like a sailor.

I was in shock, watching the diluted blood gush out of the showerhead.

'Jess? Jess?! Whats wrong??' Christan knocked on the door loudly, making my chest jump in fright.

My bare body was freezing cold, my knees hugged to my chest.

I was in there. That was somebody's blood. I was showering in somebody's blood.

The door pushed open, as Christan rushed in.

'Jess?' He called out, scanning the room quickly before he set his eyes on me.

'Jess! What happened?' He looked shocked.

I could feel the blood dripping from my hair into a pool around my body.

'I.. the shower' I pointed to the shower, my arm ridden with goosebumps.

Christan turned away from me to set his eyes upon the blood shower, which was still running. My hand covered with blood had made a print on the shower cabin door, making the scene even scarier.

'Youre fine. Youre okay I promise. Lets get you cleaned up from the water downstairs? That water comes straight from the mains, rather than from a water tank' Christan grabbed my towel from the towel rack, an wrapped it around my body.

He left the shower on, saying 'The water will run out soon', and someone will clean it by tomorrow.

It instantly warmed me up when he put his arm around me, walking me downstairs in my newly red-stained towel, past a sleeping Valerie.

I pushed past my fear of the shower and washed myself again as quickly as I could in the shower downstairs, scrubbing away at every part of me twice.

I cant believe someone would do something that sick.

Although.. it mustve been a sign towards me. Valerie and Christan had a shower before me, and there was no blood that Christan or I know of. And it did change halfway through MY shower.

Are we all being watched?

I thought deeply into the situation, before I wrapped my towel around myself and changed my clothes quickly, opening the door of the bathroom. Christan fell backwards, falling at my feet.

'Thanks for waiting, I really do appreciate it' I said sincerly, pulling him upright.

'After that experience.. It wouldve been cruel to leave you' He shrugged it off like it nothing. I smiled.

'I really dont tell you enough how much I love you, do I?' I said, shaking my head in disbelief.

Disbelief that him, in all his perfection.. is mine. I can say he's mine.

'Nope. Its more "Ugh you asshole" usually' He rolled his eyes, making his voice high-pitched to imitate.

'Ugh you asshole, I do not say that all the-' I stopped myself mid-sentence, Christan smirking at me.

'Fine. I love you. I love you so much it actually hurts, but I will refuse to compliment you on how amazing you are, because it'll just go to your head which is big enough as it is' I rambled, kissing him quickly.

I dodged beside him, unintentionally and practically running up the stairs, like an embarrased girl questioning her first date's feelings about her.

I curled into bed beside Valerie, in the middle as always. That was before I began to stare at the ceiling, letting out a held in breath.

I saw Christan come in through the corner of my eye, take off his shirt, and crawl into bed beside me.

He turned to face me, as I kept on looking at the ceiling.

'You make me feel like Asia's land mass, instead of tiny New Zealand, just by blocking out what you actually want to say to me. Its so bloody attractive' He said, grinning widely when I turned my face towards his.

'Are you saying if I compliment you more, you'll go back to New Zealand?' I bit down on my lip, trying not to smirk.

'Nope, I'll be on Cloud 9 with anything you say' He leaned in and kissed me, my insides churning and sparks igniting like it was the first time.

'Goodnight Christan' I pulled back, letting him hold me as my eyes drooped.

I was so tired.

'Night Jay' And with that, he wrapped his arms around me as I fell asleep.

Darkness swirled around in my mind, my subconscious inactive. My mind was in a state where all my senses were alert, but time was moving 10x as fast. I counted the hours passing by.

1...

My body was warm.. my arm was warm and being held onto tightly.

2....

My body was warm, my arm was warm, still being held onto tightly.

3...

My body was being held closer, my arm was still being held onto tightly.

4...

Silence, moonlight peeking through my eyelids. Complete and total silence.

5...

My body was warm, my arm was.. missing a hold. And a leverage from the bed.

I reached out my arm, seeing if I could find my small bundle of warmth, but all I found was the edge of the bed.

I opened my eyes, letting them adjust to the moonlight. The bed was empty.

Maybe she went down to get a drink?

No.. Valerie wouldnt, she would wake one of us up.

She cant reach the glasses or cups.

There was a crash outside, like someone colliding with the metal shed.

I shot up, quickly pulling myself out of the bed.

'Why are you moving?' Christan said sleepily from the bed.

I planned to rush outside and see what was going on, when something blurry moved from the window out of the corner of my eye.

I quickly glanced out the window, double taking at my sight.

There stood a rugged man, eyes blazing red. He stood up in front of the forest opening, moonlight shining down on him. With a devious smirk on his unshaven face, he held up a small, scared, and sleepy-looking 5 year old girl, who was trying to struggle out of his grip.

He held up MY small, scared, and sleepy looking 5 year old girl, who was trying to struggle out of his grip.

And in a split second, with his blazing red eyes staring into what seemed like my soul, he bought out his yellow-stained incisors. He looked down at Valerie, looking back up at me with the same smirk.

Then he bit down on the nape of her neck, her spine arching back in pain.

'VALERIE!' I screamed, banging on the glass.

'YOU BASTARD!' I screamed again, banging as hard as I could on the glass.

He looked back up at me, his mouth dripping with her blood, grinning deviously before flinging her to the ground.

'Christan get up!' I yelled out through my streaming tears, running as fast as I could downstairs.

I pushed past a sleepy Kaitlyn in the corridor, barely listening as she yelled after me. The front door was wide open, the 5 locks bustsed open.

I sprinted outside, ignoring the cold night splintering my skin, Valerie clear in my vision as I turned a corner.

'Valerie!' I yelled out, my knees skidding on the ground as I knelt beside her.

Her eyes were barely open, blood pouring out from her shoulder and onto her spaceship onesie, her usually soft brown hair tousled and dirty from the damp mud under her.

'Sweetheart? My sweet baby girl, let me take you inside. Youre okay. Just keep your eyes open yeah?' I lifted her up in my arms, blinking down the tears streaming from my eyes.

I held down my hand on her shoulder, putting a bit of pressure on the wound, to try and stop the bleeding.

'It.. It ..cold and.. hurts.. Mummy' Valerie choked out, as I ran as fast as I could inside.

'I know sweetheart. I know. But Mummy will make it better, I.. I promise' My speech stunted on the last word, the only thing I could think of being hoping I could keep the promise.

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Naya xx