Grasping Fate

Alessandra woke with a start. Those golden eyes were haunting her again. Swirling through her thoughts and dreams like smoke—interrupting thoughts and halting ideas.

Smashing through the normality of her otherwise dauntingly boring life.

The banging on the scuffed white door startled her, making her jump slightly. She could feel her ears twitching, bristling her messy bed hair. Rubbing the faint scar on her cheek (mainly out of old habit), she replied, “I'm up! I'm up! No need to break the door down Mrs. T.”

Mrs. Templelock (or Mrs. T as the inhabitants of the compound liked to call her) was the owner of this vast section of land located to the east of the Creekwood-Celestial Pack.

She was a seventy-two-year-old werewolf who was plump and smelled like warm fresh cookies.

She was never seen without an apron on and had thinning grey hair which was permanently fixed into a bun with a red and white checkered scrunchie.

The main house itself was located on top of a hill, a long winding driveway slipping down through the overgrown bristles and viney-branches.

Trees guarded it and littered golden-brown leaves every autumn. But right now, in the pinnacle of summer, its airy façade was light and cheerful as the sun filtered through the leaves and branches.

However, the house was anything but cheerful, light, or airy. Many kids were left without homes—some were abandoned, some had lost their families in combat, some were refugees from neighboring packs.

All in all, though, everyone had their version of events as sorrowful or daunting as they may be. Despite this, they all had one thing in common—they were all werewolves.

Well... Apart from Alessandra, that is. She also has no idea why she'd ended up in this goddess-forsaken place.

Her best guess was that her family has been completely obliterated in the Attack of Nightencewood. But she felt nothing. No sorrow. No survivor's guilt. Nothing. Nada. Zquelch.

The main house itself was massive. A total of thirty rooms, twenty bathrooms. Only one kitchen though, which was a shame.

With nearly fifty kids on the go, the kitchen would always have someone in it—night and day—so there was no such thing as midnight snacking.

But it also meant that Mrs. T always had forty-nine kids to wake up and deal with before Alessandra, making her extremely aggravated in the mornings.

“WHAT?” Mrs. T shouted through the door. Oh yeah, and she was partially deaf.

“I SAID! I'M UP!” Alessandra shouted again, throwing off the thin duvet and wriggling out of the creaking bed.

“WHAT?” Mrs. T screamed.

Alessandra sighed, ripping the door open. “I said, Mrs. T, that I am up.” Alessandra spoke through gritted teeth. Not exactly fond of the cold nipping the exposed skin of her shoulders and legs. And.... She wasn't exactly the typical definition of the well-known “morning person.” Whatever the hell those were.

“WELL, WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST SAY SO? YOU COULD'VE COME DOWN AND HELPED WITH BREAKFAST.” Mrs. T was still shouting, not because she was particularly angry—just, you know, she can't hear.

“I only woke up a few minutes ago, Mrs. T.” Alessandra sighed, rubbing her hands over the goosebumps on her arms, trying to warm the flesh.

“YOU COULD HAVE SET THE TABLE.”

“I'll keep that in mind for tomorrow, Mrs. T,” Alessandra nodded, glancing over at the alarm clock. 6:52 am, it read in luminous blue flashing numbers. Shit!! If she wanted to get in the bathroom and shower, she needed to be quick.

“DAMN RIGHT YOU WILL,” Mrs. T muttered while walking away. “UNGRATEFUL DAMN KIDS MAKIN' ME DO EVERYTHIN' BY MYSELF.”

She snorted to herself before reaching for her already set out clothes hanging on a hook by the door and her washing products, allocated in a small wicker basket she'd made in crafts when she was eleven, before sprinting down the halls to the nearest bathroom.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she realized there was no one in the halls on the west side yet.

Having been the last to have been woken up, many of them would be the last to roll out of their pits.

She quickly locked herself in the bathroom and showered, took a pee, brushed her teeth in a record 7 minutes and forty-two seconds. In this house, you had to be quick or suffer the wrath of another “inmate” as they called themselves. In this house, you were practically a prisoner. Curfew varies from 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm depending on how old you were, and lights out completely was at 10 pm. This was when all the lights were physically shut off at the mains; they then came back on at 5 am the next day. It meant all the youngsters who suffered from night terrors were left to suffer until they learned to deal with them, even if they were scared shitless.

She could barely recollect when she was younger all the girls wanting to be roomies because she knew the lumos charm. The charm of light.

But as she grew, and her knowledge of charms deteriorated, she was abandoned once again. Just freaky-eyes Alessandra with the twitchy ears and no knowledge of where she once came from.

It's one of the reasons why she doesn't roomie with anyone now. No one wanted to say it—hell, no one ever did say it—at least not to her face, but she'd always be the outsider.

Despite this, it's the only place she'd ever known and still found solace in calling it her home.

The door rocked on its hinges. A large, heavy fist banging the bathroom door. She already knew who it was. Lander. He was the biggest fucker here. Six foot four of pure muscle.

He'd come from the Neckland Pack, further up north where everyone was apparently built like a house. He'd only been here a month and was a temp, which meant his family was coming back for him.

He just needed to be away because of the battle going on. It was considered too dangerous for anyone under twenty-one.

He had auburn wavy hair and honey brown eyes with a set of strong, straight eyebrows and a sharp jawline. Instantly, half the girls here were smitten. She tried to be, but... the pain came.

It shut down any physical attraction she had to him, whether she wanted it or not. It was a serious pain in the ass.

“Open up. I need a whiz,” his deep voice sounded through the door.

“Yeah. Yeah. Hold on,” she stumbled, gripping the jeans and yanking them higher up her leg. The battle was getting progressively more difficult due to the fact that water droplets were dripping onto her thighs from her soaking wet hair as she flounced around the bathroom, desperately yanking the fabric.

“I swear to the goddess, I'm actually about to piss myself. Open the door.”

“Go piss in a bush outside then!” Alessandra called, trying to get the denim over her sodden underwear and ass. When you have to quick shower, there is no time to dry. Especially not in the compound.

“Who the fuck do you think I am? Just open the door!”

Alessandra gave up, grabbing her toiletries and shirt, throwing open the door and stepping out.

Instantly, Lander recoiled, covering his eyes. Not that she minded. She gave no shits about what men saw when they looked at her. “Whoa! Cover yourself, woman!” he cried. His cheeks going red and the tips of his ears tinged rose.

“Awwe. Has poor virgin Lander never seen a woman half-naked before?” Alessandra pouted jokingly, shrugging her shirt on.

“Oh fuck off. I've fucked more girls than you've had hot dinners. ” He muttered, slamming the door shut.

She snickered. Being stuck in a house with so many morons could be so much fun sometimes. Only sometimes though. It was completely shit the other seventy-five percent of the time.

Sure there were the regulars but most people just came and went, that's just how it worked.

A flurry of bright red hair stomped round the corner, hissing in fury when they collided, “Watch it whore- oh shit! Hey! Ally!” Her look of fury turned into a wide grin.

“How's it going Jess? Still on the hunt for Beth's neck I see.” Alessandra grinned, her eyes glinting dangerously.

Beth was... Well... Quite the character. She was the resident psycho or as the inmates liked to call her the P.B.B. The Prissy Bossy Bitch.

Alessandra may have had a few run-ins over the years which resulted in Bethany wearing a neck brace and a months worth of grounding and bathroom duty.

But that only meant that Beth no longer spewed shit. Not about her anyways.

Jess was the all out bad bitch.

With crimson bright ruby red hair, a naval piercing, many many many tattoos littering her torso and arms, bright green emerald eyes and a natural affinity for the art of shaping, plucking and drawing eyebrows.

She mainly wore deep black leather jacket and a variety of burgundy clothes paired with a set of combat boots.

And even though it hadn't been confirmed, Alessandra was pretty sure she carried a knife and had a samurai sword in a her room.

She wasn't exactly sure... buuutttt she just seemed like that type of person.

“You fucking bet. That bitch has been barking up the wrong trees again. Trying to get evidence against me,” she laughed maliciously, “I swear she thinks i'm dumb. I've covered all my tracks. Every. Single. One. And if she starts scaring away my clients. Well. She'll live to fucking regret it.” Oh yeah, let's not forget the fact she's a hardcore drug dealer.

“She's going to bust you again isn't she.” Alessandra stated.

Jess rolled her eyes, “Let's rephrase that. She's trying to bust me again. I'm not as stupid as i was two years ago. And she's about to get her ass beat if she tries any dumb shit.”

Jess glanced at the bathroom door, nodding to it, “Is it occupied?”

“Yeah, Lander just got in there. Might wanna try the one downstairs near the backdoor.”

Jess winked, “Good thinking dude, i'll catch you at breakfast, yeah? I smell pancakes! Today's gonna be a good one, I can feel it!”

“Will do! See you later!” Alessandra smiled as Jess jogged away, walking back to her room.

Jess and Beth were regulars. They'd all been thrown in here around the same time. Jess and Beth were both eighteen and Alessandra was only a few months away from the big ol' eighteen herself.

She thought back to the days when they were younger. When Beth used to have her head out of her own ass and when Jess used to be more carefree and childlike.

They'd all been kind of close but when their second tier of school started they all kind of separated, went their separate ways into different groups.

Jess begun to deal drugs to get more money and get herself out before she turned twenty-one and Beth decided to wear her ass as a hat and well... Alessandra didn't really want to change.

So she remained the same, just with a fouler mouth.

Once she reached her room she dumped her toiletries and ran down to breakfast. She wanted the best batch of pancakes and the only way to get them was to be relatively quick in barging into the line.

When she saw the mass amounts of twelve year olds, she knew she was in luck.

“Out my way. Coming through. Move before you get shoved. Thank you.” She sang, squeezing through the bristling pre-teens as she was near complete with her daily morning routine. All that was needed now was a big mouthed thirteen year old she could put in their place and she'd be laughing.

“Ally! Over here I got you a batch!” Jess called from across the room.

Alessandra bristled, she'd just shoved past what felt like three thousand children. She shrugged before smiling at Jess, “It better be a fucking good one.”

“WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT SWEARING AROUND THE KIDS!” Mrs.T yelled.

“Sorry Mrs.T,” she winced.

Mrs.T scowled and went back to serving the mass amounts of pancakes whilst she plopped herself down in a chair opposite Jess.

“So what've you got today, soldier?” She laughed, tying her ruby red hair into a bun. Now her hair was back you could see the crescent moon tattooed on the side of her neck and the hollow tiny heart on the top of her left cheekbone. She was practically gorgeous and most of the boys here wished she would pay them an ounce of attention but all her focus was set on getting out of the compound.

“Ummm... I'm not actually sure, probably like literacy, maths, possibly Triple science? Honestly don't know and don't care.” She laughed.

“That's not the attitude to have Ally! Think about it! You get accepted into college in the Lakemoon-Celestial pack and you're outta here! You could apply for student accommodation and live a free life. Well free of this place anyway.”

Alessandra smiled sadly, she had no idea what she'd do after school. No idea where to go. She'd only ever know was the Creekwood-Celestial pack.

“I mean I guess I could but who knows right? I don't even know what i'm doing in forty-five minutes! I can't determine what i'm gonna do for the rest of my life that's just difficult and takes up too much brain power this early in the morning.”

“Well you've got six months until application day, hun. You better start thinking.”

Alessandra laid her head on the table, pushing her plate out of the way, “I mean what about Inter-Pack Law? Or is that like really difficult? Umm Veterinary-Shift dynamics? Like how you guys shift and like doctor shit?”

Jess tapped her chin, her eyes suddenly lighting up, “Oh! I know! What about like that Coniunx-scindo shit? Where you like help mates split and stuff? There's a fuck tonne of money in that! Especially if it's done illegally!”

“Yeah but like- i don't want the council up my ass. That's like the worst crime you could commit!”

“I mean yeah. But like... the money.” Jess stated. pushing a half-eaten pancake around her plate.

“I'd be wanted by the royal-guards if i did that and you know how that ends up.” Alessandra rolled her eyes.

“Yeah... but how much money do you think you'd rake in.”

“Jess i'm not doing it.”

Jess groaned, “Oh come on! It'll be fun! We could be wanted by the R-G together!”

“No! I want to do something legal! I don't want to be fucking snuffed out by douche-bags on their high-horses.”

“Fine,” Jess huffed, “If you insist.”

An alarm bell rang, signalling the time to go.

“Right, well I need to get my bag, I'll see you on the bus.” Jess sighed, heaving herself out of the seat.

Alessandra nodded, heading out of the house. When she heard a ding from her phone she fished it out of her pocket.