Survival

8. Shadows of the Past

Things had been tense for a while. Stephanie felt it crackling in the air, smoldering in her blood, turning her stomach. It was impossible to miss, but no one would say the words out loud- especially not in front of the children. Though it was hardly accurate to call Stephanie a child at fifteen.

Whispers after dark, meetings during school; Stephanie didn’t miss the strangeness of it all, despite the fact that the adults thought she would. There was obvious discord within the pack members, but no one under eighteen was clued in.

Stephanie felt like she was walking on shattered glass, on the blade of a knife whenever she tried to approach the subject. The distinct sensation of her world slowly descending into the unknown was appearing more and more each day. The apprehension never stopped increasing.

“I’m tired of not knowing what’s going on.” Liam sighed, lazily lounging on Stephanie’s bed, sprawled across it with all his lithe length.

Stephanie bit her lip, staring at him from her place on the edge of her desk, contemplating. “They have to tell us something, at some point, don’t they?”

Liam shook his head, his dark blonde hair brushing his forehead. “They’ve avoided it so far.”

“We definitely can’t just listen in on one of their meetings; a room full of werewolves won’t miss any noise.”

“The meetings are at the worst times for us, besides.” Liam propped himself up on his elbows, casting his green-eyed gaze at the tall girl in the corner. “And our only source won’t even give us a hint.”

May flicked her black hair out of her eyes, arms crossed over her chest. “I’m up for trouble all the time, you know that.” She paused, her jaws setting visibly.

“But?” Stephanie prompted wearily, her patience running thin.

“But it’s better if you don’t know, because the adults don’t exactly know what’s going on either.” Explained May as she leaned against the wall, shrugging nonchalantly.

“Come on, after all this? I don’t believe you.” Liam replied, a thin accusation under his voice.

Stephanie couldn’t blame him. Besides the obvious, Liam had more of a right to be irritated by the adults’ secretive behavior. He was usually involved directly with anything that could affect the pack, whereas Stephanie wasn’t.

“If it’s as serious as they think, you’ll know soon enough.” May shot back, unfazed by his attitude. “Especially you, Liam.”

“I still don’t buy it,” He concluded, letting his head fall back to the pillow. “If there’s any trouble, my dad usually at least tells me about it.”

“It’s a sensitive situation, L.” She replied honestly, her tone closing off the topic completely. “The Alpha, your father, can’t afford your gossip this time.”

Stephanie stifled a grin at Liam’s indignant expression, because she, too, knew that it was true.

“Anyway, it could all be nothing, and false rumors can set off some real trouble.”

Stephanie saw the logic in May’s argument, but still couldn’t accept what was going on. This was much bigger than a ‘maybe, maybe not’ situation. She could feel that much from the way everyone was acting, and how it was affecting all the kids. There was unrest and misplaced anger, unnecessary fights. If this wasn’t resolved soon, there could be some lasting damage within the pack.

“Well, they need to do something to reassure everyone under eighteen, because people are already getting on at each other.” Stephanie mused, glad that she’d managed, apart from a few family hiccups, to avoid letting the anxiety get to her. “I mean, it’s been months since this started.”