Taking the Leap

Chapter 19

Song of the chapter - Fallin' All in You- (Shawn Mendes) if you think it sounds like an Ed Sheeran song it's because he co-wrote it.

Writer's Note - Demographics! As of May 8th we're at 2k reads!! I never thought we'd get here! I haven't been consistent with updates, I apologize. I've written chapters 19 through 25, and I'll be releasing one chapter a day for the next week. (So maybe this is longer than a traditional novella but let's just pretend that it's still a novella, hee hee).

Also! I think I'll go back and add songs since I like doing that.

Age
13-18 (21%)
18-25 (37%)
25-35 (8%)
35-45 (3%)
45+ (2%)
Private (28%)

Gender
Male (6%)
Female (67%)
Private (27%)

Countries
United States- 52.8%
United Kingdom -11.2%
Canada- 5.6%
Australia, South Africa, - 4.5%
Czech Republic- 2.2%
Dominican Republic, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, United Arab Emirates - each 1.2%

If you're a reader from a country not here know that wattpad is kind of weird and I sometimes think they miss countries if a reader read a while ago or very recently.

~Achilles~

I scanned the dining hall for the third time, feeling like my ears were ringing and that the room was too much. Xander was talking but I just couldn't focus on the words, "What?"

He frowned, but the his features smoothed out as he moved in close to me, touching my elbow, "Let's go outside."

He ushered me out of the building and into the cool, wet, night air. The rain had stopped by the time we got to the pack grounds, making the night sky startlingly clear.

There were still a few families coming into the dining hall and everyone was greeting me so normally, it felt painful. A terrible weight burrowed into my chest as I watched families walking in and other pack members, no one walking in alone. There were a few cursory glances at Xander but there were too many wolves around for them to be able to tell he wasn't one of us.

Xander's voice was soft and insistent, "I'm sorry Achilles."

I shook my head, stuck somewhere between shock and numbness, "I can't believe they didn't come. They always come to pack meetings, no matter what." It didn't matter how long I waited, my family wasn't walking in through the doors.  The sense of betrayal anchored me to the spot and made me feel sick. "They knew that I needed them, today of all days, and they're not here."

"You don't have to tell anyone about us," Xander said quietly, "This doesn't seem like the best time."

"It's never going to be the best time." I countered just as quietly, feeling the numbness spread out and down to my toes, making my extremities feel foreign and wrong. Everything was wrong.

My heart took a slow and long beat as the Asheborne alpha walked in. She was a statuesque woman with an appearance that could be described as a presence in and of itself. Tara was built sturdily with round hips and square shoulders and a predatory, vulpine face. She had short black hair that was never long enough to curl around her ears and dark, coffee eyes. She was White like most members of our pack and pale. Some people found her appearance intimidating, but then she'd smile and that did a lot to make her seem approachable.