I shifted on the back seat while Yuri went to get my stuff and Scott made sure no innocent oblivious human got too close to the car. When Yuri got back he just threw my bag in and drove on. I quickly got dressed and then said: “Go to the supermarket. I need to grab at least some food before we go.” Shifting took energy, lots of it. Yuri nodded. I knew I was supposed to say something else too. Something about his confession. But… I had no idea what. I mean, of course, I wasn’t mad at him.

We were sixteen when I got chased away. The pack just realized I was gay because Hiro saw me kissing the damn shop clerk and of course he had to run back and snitch. It was a shock for everyone, even Yuri and Scott. Alistair was immensely disappointed with me and if he possibly had any reason to let me stay in the pack Diego quickly reminded everyone I had vampire friends and that I was a disobedient little shit. I fought back though and when Father told me to calm down I said some things I shouldn’t have and lost control. He hit me, for the first time in my whole life, and then he told me to leave and never come back. So I did.

It never even occurred to me to think he should have come with me. He had a family that loved him and an amazing future ahead of him. Why would he go with the outcast? Especially since he learned he didn’t know me as well as he thought he did?

“It would’ve been stupid of you to come with me,” I said. “I was never mad at you, neither of you,” I assured them.

“Still…” He gripped the wheel tighter. “… you were my Alpha, I should’ve gone with you.”

“I wasn’t your Alpha, I am not your Alpha, I’m your friend, I was never supposed to be an Alpha.” I sighed and knuckled my eyes. I felt tired. When I opened them I saw both Yuri and Scott staring at me doubtfully. “What?”

“Maybe you weren’t raised like a Prince, but you will always have the arrogance of the Ghealachs,” Yuri said as he turned his eyes back on the road.

“You lost confidence in yourself because Alistair and the devil twins always tried to push your Alpha side down. But being an Alpha is in your blood and soul, you cannot lose that,” Scott said.

“I’m sorry when did you get your degree in psychology again?” I grunted and looked out the window in hope they wouldn’t see my dumbfounded expression. Alistair didn’t try to push my Alpha side down… I didn’t have one… That was why Trystan was the Prince. I was supposed to be the Shield, the executioner, and the leader of the warriors. Scott didn’t answer me, since we got to the supermarket. I got out of the car and told them to wait there before they could follow me.

The supermarket was surprisingly busy. I quickly grabbed some beef jerky, a few water bottles, and cheese to top it off. There was a line at the register. Some old lady was slowly counting her coins. I sighed and turned to the postcard display rack. I spun it around just out of boredom and frustration. Scott was wrong. There was no Alpha side to push down. I wasn’t an Alpha. I wasn’t. I could hardly take care of myself. I couldn’t possibly lead a pack, which was another disappointment for my Father. Being dominant and possessive was one thing, leading was something totally different.

I watched the postcards spin when suddenly something caught my eye. I stopped the display rack and looked at the stray pamphlet I didn’t notice before. It was wedged between the postcards. I picked it up.

Keep our children safe! Said the headline. Under it was the picture of the old abandoned silver and copper mines in the forest. It was a petition to close them. You got to be fucking kidding me… I quickly paid for my stuff, since the line got much shorter while I thought about it. When I got back to the car I immediately handed Yuri and Scott the pamphlet.

“Did the petition go through? Did they actually close them?” I asked while I opened the water bottle and drained it.

“Uh… Well… Yeah, I think they filled most of the mines...” Yuri answered, “… though the one up north, you remember it? We used to hide in it all the time. And one on the vampire territory, I’m pretty sure those two only got an iron gate.”

“That’s it. That has to be it,” I said and started chewing the jerky. “I mean where else would they hide from the snow and the cold? It makes perfect sense!”

“The pack checked the one up north,” Scott said and stole a piece of jerky from me. “But the vampire territory… Well, that sounds like a good place for a villain to hide in,” he said thoughtfully as he chewed.

“Sure why not, at least we have some kind of a direction.” Yuri sighed then headed back on the road. It was about one p.m. which meant only Walkers would be out and about right now. Which meant we had a better chance to get to the mines if we went right away.

We drove all the way to the vampire territory which seemed quite dead. Not a single person was walking on the sidewalks and all the bars and nightclubs and even restaurants were closed. Weird. We parked in front of a random bar and decided to go the rest of the way on foot. I popped the last bit of cheese in my mouth and made sure the dagger holsters were holding tight enough. I had one on my thigh and one on my side under my shirt. Yuri had daggers of his own, one on each thigh and one on the small of his back. Scott decided to turn since he was a better fighter as a wolf than as a human, he would hear and smell better like that too.

I leaned on the car with Yuri while Scott shifted inside. For a while we stood in silence, Yuri looking at nothing and me pretending I was still doing something with my holsters. Goddamnit. I sighed loudly and turned to face him but before I could say something he raised his hand and shook his head.

“Nothing you say could make me feel better. I was supposed to be loyal. Period,” he said then he rubbed his temples. “Do you know why Trystan chose Marc as his Shield?”

“No. I think you’re a better fighter and more responsible and…” more loyal, but I guessed he didn’t want to hear that part.

“Yeah, I am. And I was his first choice but he very quickly realized where my heart lay and no matter how much I tried he wasn’t about to take me into his main circle when I was still loyal to his brother.” He gave me a sad smile. “Did you know that my father actually sat me down a few weeks after you left and asked me if we were a thing?” Yuri laughed at my shocked expression. “Really, he did… He didn’t understand why I couldn’t just forget about you like everyone else…” I moved a bit closer until our shoulders brushed. He smiled at me but there was still sadness and regret in his eyes. He continued. “I wanted to reach out to you… At first, the Alpha banned us from doing so, and after… Well, I wasn’t sure what I would even say and I was so scared you would be mad.”

“It’s probably good you didn’t…” I said. He looked at me with confusion. “It would only make us both feel more miserable. It broke my heart when Lowell first called me. And if you did?” I shook my head. “I would only miss home more and you would be even more split between me and the pack.”

Before he could answer, Scott scratched at the door and we let him out. He shook his light brown coat and looked up at us with his amber eyes. One was surrounded by white fur. He always hated it, everyone else thought it was cute, which was probably the reason why he hated it.

He pressed up against my leg and I ran my hand through the thick fur on his neck. I didn’t have to reach down, he was big enough to reach my hips and yet he was one of the smaller wolves in the pack. A werewolf could be four feet tall and weigh up to four hundred pounds.

“Okay, let’s do this,” I said and led my small pack right into the enemy territory…