Rightfully His

Prologue

Tinsley

Aaron, listen to me. If you really want to help, you’ll take Tinsley and go. My mother frantically told my brother. She thrust a few more of my clothes into a backpack, turned quickly, and cursed under her breath. A second later there was the unmistakable sound of something smashing through the window and glass shattering.

Mommy! I cried, terrified. My mother turned to look at my shaking form with sorrow in her eyes. She walked over and crouched so that we were eye to eye; tears glistened in her eyes with a sad smile on her beautiful face.

Tinsley honey, you must listen to what I’m about to say. You and Aaron are going to leave right now and you must not come back until we say so. She said sternly. I shook my head.

I don’t want to leave you and daddy. I whimpered. A tear fell down her cheek. We both stiffened at the sound of fearsome growls that came from outside. She looked over my shoulder, out the window. A light from outside illuminated her saddened face, making her look older.

If you ever have to remember one thing in your life, remember that your father and I loved you. So, so much my darling. She pulled me into a hug, and I could feel her body shaking slightly against mine.

I love you too Mommy. I whispered. Another growl broke us apart. She picked me up as she stood and walked over to Aaron.

It’s time my son. Take your sister and go to Kent’s. She squeezed me tightly to her before passing me to my older brother. He reached out and proceeded to hug me tightly to him. I wrapped my legs around his torso and rested my head in the crook of his neck.

Mother. His voice trembled. I thought it odd that a fifteen year old would sound weepy and sad.

Go now, My mother’s voice sounded panicked as another loud crash came from downstairs followed by deep growls. I pressed my face harder into Aaron’s shoulder and whimpered. He ran his hand over my hair soothingly. We are so very proud of you my little boy. Don’t ever forget that. Now it is up to you Aaron. Keep your sister safe, I’m begging you, watch after your little sister.

I won’t fail you. He whispered. She passed the backpack to him and pressed a hand over her heart as tears fell down her face.

I love you both my children, more than anything. She whispered. I couldn’t help it. I cried. I cried as my brother ran from the room and down the stairs. I cried as I saw the familiar wolves of my pack fighting intruders. I cried when I realized the light I’d seen reflect onto my mother’s face was a fire that had mysteriously started. All the while Aaron ran, I cried.

It’s going to be ok, Тinsey. He said, calling me by my nickname as he quickly ran to my mother’s car and threw me and the two bags into the backseat. I hadn’t noticed he’d picked up another bag as we ran.

I sat and shut my eyes tightly, pressing my hands over my ears to try to chase out the sounds of my dying pack. My brother drove away, speeding off down the path. When he was about to turn onto the main road, I turned quickly to catch a last glimpse of what we were leaving behind. My breath caught. On the lawn, the enemy wolves advanced onto my badly wounded pack. I watched as the house that I had grown up in, the house that had been my safe haven, burst in flames.

Aaron turned onto the road, which ended the gruesome view. I fell back into the seat and curled up. I sobbed. I was sure I had just lost everything.

Chapter 1

Tinsley

My past isn’t something I dwell on. It isn’t something I think about it when I lie awake at night. Rather, it’s something I avoid, something I try very hard to ignore and forget. I was seven when my pack was murdered, add post-traumatic stress to that young age, and my memory of the night is a bit hazy. Of course though, it’s not something that I would actually like to remember. The memories I try to run away from are the days and months leading up to that fateful night. The moments I spent in my father’s warm embrace and the sound of my mother’s trickling laughter. I try to block out the memories of the warm summer days I spent with my friends down by the lake, the way my mother’s body flowed when she danced. I try to close myself off from all these memories. I may try, but it doesn’t always mean I succeed.

Hello, how may I help you? The cheery voice of the woman working at the counter startled me out of my thoughts.

Oh, uhh just a coffee. I murmured quietly, avoiding the gaze of her male co-worker who currently had his eyes running over my body. It was disgusting.

The café was pretty empty considering how early it was so I had my choice of tables to sit at. I took my coffee, smiled politely at the girl, who had now noticed her co-worker’s roaming eyes, and shot me an envious look. I sighed quietly as I walked towards the back to take a seat. I didn’t get along with many people that weren’t werewolves. Human girls envied my looks and in turn avoided me. Human males focused too much on my appearance. Werewolves though, were used to my looks since we all possessed a certain beauty and undeniable charisma. While humans felt the urge to be around us, some were too intimidated by just our exterior to actually act on it. I sipped my drink as I opened my laptop and typed in the town of my new home. Mission Falls, Oregon. Home to a reasonable population. Known for its greenery and woodlands. Founded in 1832 by American settlers. 'Mission Falls seems just like any other town,' I thought. I knew only two things about it before coming. They were known to have an amazing hockey team, and it was also home to the Pacific Falls Pack. Although, humans only knew about the first one. With its territory spanning several states and fierce, well-trained fighters, the Pacific Falls Pack was one of the most well-known around.

I’m thrilled that he’s coming back soon. I’ve missed Danny so much, he’s been gone far too long. I looked up to see a girl walking in chattering on her cell phone. She walked up to the counter and ordered quickly, still talking on her phone about Danny’s homecoming.

I hadn’t realized I had been studying her until she reeled around and looked at me. Her eyebrows raised in surprise and held my gaze. I could just barely make out hazel specks in her eyes and her lean limbs and undisputable attractiveness singled her out to be a werewolf as well. A second after my realization, her scent drifted over to me, confirming my thoughts. She looked me over carefully before smiling slightly.

I gotta go. She said quickly into her phone before forking over cash to the cashier and taking her coffee. I watched as she maneuvered her way over to me before sitting down. We sat in silence a moment before I decided to speak.

Hello. I tried to make my voice sound as pleasant as possible. I’d promised Aaron that I would try in this town and I don’t intend to break that promise.

Hi. She seemed cheerful enough. You’re Tinsley Blake right?

The one and only. How’d you know? I asked quizzically.

I was there when your brother went to speak to Trent. He’s the Beta. She explained.

Wait, don’t you usually ask the Alpha if you want to live on his land? That’s how it’d always gone in the past, but with a pack this big it wouldn’t surprise me if he didn’t have the time.

Yeah, but Daniel’s away right now so you’re stuck with Trent. But when Danny comes back you’ll have to reintroduce yourself to him. He has final say, but I’m sure that if Trent already said you could stay, Daniel won’t contest it. I nodded in reply.

You call you’re Alpha Danny?

He’s my brother. I’m sorry, I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Juliet Weston. She smiled cheerily at me, and I took a second to study her. She looked a little younger than me by maybe a year. She had brown hair that curled in waves and bright blue eyes like myself. She was certainly a pretty wolf.

Well, you already know who I am. I murmured, suddenly shy about talking to the Alpha’s sister. It was quiet a moment before she spoke.

Can I ask you a question? I nodded. I heard Aaron tell Trent you guys moved around a lot. Why? I mean where are your parents?

I paused, thinking it over. It wasn’t uncommon for people to ask that and we always answered as best we could, coming up with the preordained lie. My brain scrambled, trying to remember what Aaron had told me. They work a lot? Off traveling the world? For the life of me I couldn’t recall. Juliet sat still, continuing to wait.

Uhh, they uhh.. I murmured, while panicking. I looked up to meet her gaze.

It’s ok. You can tell me later if you want. Her eyes held a knowing look, but she didn’t comment on it. Next question, you’re a dancer huh?

I’m really starting to believe you’re clairvoyant. I said, laughing. She chuckled along with me and shook her head softly.

How fun would that be? But no, I’m not. She sighed dejectedly, and I laughed again. I just recognize a fellow dancer’s body when I see one. Petite form, long limbs, the way you hold yourself up.

She was right about me being a dancer. I can remember being four years old, and I was standing in the kitchen doorway, mesmerized by my mother as she twirled back and forth across the floor as she made dinner. She was so graceful with the way she moved. She never looked down at her feet. She swayed her hips to the music inside her head and twirled once again. She had devoted her time to teach dance to younger kids, myself included. My mother fueled my passion for dance. Even after she died, I continued to dance, using it as my only outlet.

You dance too? Her eyes sparkled as she nodded.

There’s a dance studio in the next town over. Want me to show you it sometime? I nodded and smiled softly at her.

Juliet certainly wasn’t like any of the other Alpha family members I’d met so far. Most of them were snobby, being full of themselves just because they were related to power. Often the Alpha’s and their mates were nicer than the family members.

Have you found your mate yet? Her sudden question caused me to choke on the coffee I had been sipping.

Uhh no. Not yet. And not ever.

I hadn’t found my mate yet, thankfully. I’d already made up my mind that I didn’t want a mate. I didn’t want to have to be so dependent on someone. I didn’t want to have to love someone. Most importantly, I didn’t want to feel like I would disappointed my mate because of my heavy past. I was a girl with baggage I didn’t want that weight on my mate. Each new town we moved to I prayed my mate wasn’t there.

Hmm, well maybe you’ll meet him here. There’s a lot of guys who are mateless. Juliet replied.

Have you met your mate yet? I decided to keep the subject off of me.

No, but he’s out there somewhere. I can’t wait to find him. He’s going to be like my own personal Prince Charming. She sighed dreamily, thinking about her mate. I fought the urge to laugh, we didn’t exactly see eye to eye on the whole mate situation then.

You said there were a lot of guys that didn’t have mates. I’m kind of surprised one of them isn’t your mate.

Thank goodness for that! All the guys here are such whores. They can’t get enough of the humans and the girls that aren’t mated. It’s disgusting. She shuddered.

And you want one of them to be my mate? I asked, raising my eyebrow.

Well, I just think if you were you could change him. You don’t seem like the type of person that is cool with your mate hooking up with different girls each day. I shrugged at that.

Yeah, we’ll see. I said doubtfully.

Just stay away from Trent, Michael, Dave, Carter, and my brother. They are the worst. I’m telling you. I’m surprised they haven’t caught something yet. She gagged and I laughed. My eyes widened as I looked down at myself that displayed the time. We’d been talking for a good forty five minutes.

Shoot, I’m sorry but my brother is probably freaking out. I told him I’d only be gone for half an hour. I said as I stood up. She nodded and rose, checking her watch.

You’re only fifteen minutes late though. I nodded at that.

Fifteen minutes might not seem like much to a normal person, but with me and Aaron, fifteen minutes was a lifetime. In fifteen minutes I could be dead. In fifteen minutes I could have been taken. Countless things could happen in fifteen minutes. Aaron was very strict with me about being punctual because he gets antsy if I’m even a minute late.

Uhh, my brother’s pretty overprotective. I muttered quickly.

I can relate. We both laughed as we walked out of the coffee shop.

So I guess I’ll see you around then? The way it came out, it sounded more like a question.

I’ll see you tomorrow silly. I was suddenly confused. Tomorrow was Monday, what was I supposed to do tomorrow?

Unless you’re planning to commit truancy, you’re coming to school, right? I groaned at that. Exactly what I thought. Juliet smiled to herself.

Then I guess I’ll see you tomorrow. I muttered glumly. She laughed loudly and laid a hand on my shoulder. I held back the impulse to flinch, strangers touching me made me nervous.

Cheer up. Our school really isn’t that bad. We’ve got friendly teachers, a kick ass hockey team, and amazingly hot guys.

Well, I guess it's ok then if you’ve got hot guys. I said sarcastically. We laughed and parted ways.

Tomorrow was the first day of school. The first time I would meet the people I’m supposed to spend my senior year with. The first time I’d meet the other werewolves. Well tomorrow sounds fun…or not.

Chapter 2

Tinsley

A snarl woke me. I sat up and looked around, confused. As I listened I heard more than one snarl. There were many. A loud bang from outside sent me up and shrieking. I stood in the middle of my large room, quivering. My door was closed but in the hall I could hear heavy footsteps walking towards my room. I whimpered as they stopped outside my door. Backing up, I pressed myself against the wall and glued my eyes to the door, small tears clouding my eyesight.

The door burst open to reveal a large rusty colored wolf. The door hung off its hinges, the sides splintered. I screamed out as the wolf bared its teeth at me. I could already tell this wolf was not in my father’s pack. I knew every wolf in the pack, and whoever stood in front of me wished me nothing but harm.

He stalked forward, growling and licking his lips. I could see something dark coating his muzzle and a faint metallic smell drifted towards me. It took me only a second the recognize the scent as being blood. Blood coated his muzzle. This was it then. This wolf was going to kill me. There was nothing I could do. I was only seven, I couldn’t shift yet. I cried, waiting my mom and dad. The wolf let out a throaty bark like it was laughing at me.

I stood in my white nightgown and clutched my teddy bear to me. Almost in slow motion the wolf leaned back on its haunches and then propelled itself at me. I screamed as it lunged.

I screamed and shot up, drenched in sweat. My sheets were tangled around my legs, and my heart was pounding. I took deep breaths as I stumbled into the bathroom. ‘Just a dream. Just a dream. Just a dream.’ I splashed cold water on my face and stood, looking at the sink as I tried to calm down and push the dream away. Finally, my heartbeat returned to normal, and I looked into the mirror. My blonde curls were damp from sweat while my eyes were accompanied with dark circles. I looked like someone who could really use some sleep. It’s not that I don’t get enough sleep, it’s just that I get nightmares like the one I’d just had. I would rather not sleep than dream again.

Jumping into the shower quickly, I washed away the bad memories to focus on calming my nerves. The worst part about moving to a new town is going to a new school. Being painfully shy kept me from having friends. People assumed that because of my looks, I thought I was better than them, so in turn, they avoided me. You would think that after attending eight different schools in almost as many years, I would be over the whole first day of school jitters; however, they still get to me.

I went through my closet before pulling on a plain white shirt and blue jeans. I left my hair down, leaving it in its natural wavy state.  Nothing flashy, I just wanted to blend in. I slipped on a pair of strappy, black sandals and grabbed my backpack. Reaching for a banana and water as I entered the kitchen I looked around for Aaron, sort of surprised he hadn’t barged in after I screamed. It hadn’t occurred to me until I was changing, but I figured he was still mad from yesterday about me being late. After giving me the third degree, he went to his room for the rest of the night. I spied a note on the counter and picked it up.

            T-

Had to work early. I’ll be back around 5 and I picked up some groceries earlier so there should be stuff to make food. Have a good first day of school.

            -Aaron

The apartment felt so empty without having my brother in it. We were polar opposites, with him being the loud extrovert, and me being the thoughtful introvert. While I could be just as friendly as him, I wasn’t. Sometimes I felt bad for Aaron. He had to grow up fast. He had only been 15 when our parents died, leaving him with a seven year-old to take care of. He’s never shown the strain though. He finished high school, worked, and took care of me at the same time. He takes online college classes and found some kind of construction job here.

His jobs took up the other half of his time. Early on, he taught me we had to work for everything we had. We weren’t just given things on a silver platter. I know that in some bank there’s a trust fund with our names on it, filled with our old pack’s money. Seeing as how we were the only survivors, we are the only people entitled to the money. However, Aaron and I had no desire to see that money, much less use it. It felt wrong to use the money our old, dead pack worked so hard to earn. We would much rather work and live middle class, then live a lavish lifestyle with dead money.

Throwing away the banana peel, I walked out of the apartment and took the stairs, skipping the elevator. From what Aaron told me, the school was only a ten-minute walk from where we lived. As I strolled, I looked around. I hadn’t really had the chance to explore yet but I passed the usual places towns had: post office, police station, a diner. Everything here was just as normal as the last place.

Turning the ten-minute walk into a five-minute walk because of my werewolf speed, I walked up to the school early. A few people mingled about here and there, talking in groups. I felt the gazes of several guys and the envious looks of the girls around them, but refused to look at them. Soon whispers of the new girl reached my sensitive ears. I rolled my eyes at the remarks and continued forward.

I pulled the office door open and was greeted with a warm reception room. A woman dressed prim and proper in a tailored grey suit looked up as I walked over to the desk she was sitting at. I watched as she silently appraised me, and from her slight frown she apparently didn’t like what she saw.

Yes? Her tone was cool and clipped.

I’m Tinsley Blake. This is my first day. My voice was quiet. I couldn’t quite look her in the eye.

It’s everyone’s first day, that’s why they call it the first day of school. She snapped. I flinched away from her voice and tried again.

Of course. What I meant is that I’m new to the school and I haven’t gotten my schedule or anything.

She glowered at me before reaching for a file on her desk and flipping through it. Eventually, she removed a few sheets of paper and stapled them together, sighing like she’d just done the hardest task in the world. Either this woman hated her job and the kids that go here, or she was just very unfriendly and lazy. She sighed again and then stood, slowly walked over to a cart that held different textbooks. Running her finger over the spines, she selected four books and placed the stapled sheets of paper on top.

Here. She thrust the stack at me; I looked over the papers.

 Bell schedule, school rules, map of the campus, and the last page held my schedule and locker number.

            Is your schedule not satisfying enough? The secretary sounded annoyed now.

            No, it’s fine. Uhh, thanks. I murmured, quickly escaping from her cool, grey eyes.

Using the school map, I wound my way up a flight of stairs and down two halls before finding my locker. Jeez, this school couldn’t be bigger. It was three stories, not counting the roof, and had so many walls I wasn’t sure how people remembered where all the classrooms were. I shoved the books into my locker, trying to ignore the stares of my peers. More people had shown up since I’d been in the office. I could already tell just by looking at them that this was the school rich parents sent their kids. Girls walked around with Gucci purses and designer shoes while guys looked equally expensive.

I looked up as a girl walked up to me and leaned against the locker next to mine. Her red hair shimmered as it flowed down in waves, a sharp contrast to her pale skin. She had piercing green eyes rimmed in black eye liner, reminding me of a cat. She was dressed in all black, but at the same time she didn’t seem gothic. Her jeans were tight, the boots she wore went up to her knees, and a black leather jacket that fit her perfectly adorned her arms. Whoever this girl was, she was certainly gorgeous. I waited for her to speak, watching as she just continued to look at me and grin. Her lips were coated in red lipstick.

Hi. She finally chirped. I blinked, expecting her to be one of those bitchy girls.

Hi. I murmured quietly. She laughed at my soft response.

Don’t be so nervous. I don’t bite. She smiled at me. A smile I timidly reflected back to her.

Be careful, I wouldn’t believe her. A guy walked up to the both of us and grinned down at the red head. She rolled her eyes and turned back to me.

I’m Kayla and this asshole over here is Nate. She motioned lazily to the guy next to her, and I took a closer look.

His dark brown hair flopped onto his forehead, partially blocking his piercing baby blues. Strong features and a nicely built body definitely made him something to look at. I had to admit, this guy had some good looks. Looking between him and Kayla, I carefully studied their faces. While they both had the strong cheekbones and definite hotness to be a werewolf, I only picked up the scent on Kayla. Werewolves all have a particular, woodsy smell, so it’s easier for other werewolves to pick them out. While I’d almost immediately singled Kayla out as being like me, Nate I was a little hazy on. Some humans, though, were just blessed with good looks. During my little analysis of him, I didn’t realize he had been doing his own studying.

I’ll admit. You fulfill four out of five things on my checklist. He finally said, grinning at me. Kayla rolled her eyes and let out an annoyed huff.

Damn checklist again. She muttered.

What? I asked dumbly.

Maybe five, we’ll have to see. He threw me a cocky grin while I glanced over at Kayla, raising an eyebrow.

Do I even want to know what’s on this list of his? I asked her. She shook her head slowly.

No. She mouthed. I laughed while Nate pretended to be offended.

As fun as this had been, I have a class to get to. I will see you sexy ladies later. He winked as he left.

I’m so looking forward to it…not. Kayla called after him.

You want this Kayla! He yelled back, halfway down the hall.