4 Chapter 4:

(Amanda's POV)

It turned out that she was in the kitchen, which was located on the west wing of the second floor. I managed to successfully find Mom. When I saw her, she was busy helping out two pack members, one of which looked to be around her age and the other who seemed a bit older, and were working in the kitchen. It seemed that she was having an interesting conversation with them, seeing as she through her head back multiple times as she laughed.

It was good to see this carefree and joyful side of her again because before, in the previous packs, Mom was usually by herself in the room which we shared.

She used to seldomly leave the room and when she did, it would be to do our laundry or to get luxuries from the store, which we ate in the silence of our room, for comfort, when we had melancholic thoughts of the past.

Sure, Mom had me but it wasn't the same, as she needed people her own age to socialise with, and I also trained as a warrior in the previous packs and would usually be gone for long periods of time during the day. Sometimes when I returned late to our room from the brutal day of training, Mom would already be in bed, sleeping, otherwise if I returned slightly earlier, I would see her reading a book or watching TV.

She also had to eat alone plenty of times, and this was saddening for me as it hurt to see her like this. I couldn't even d anything to help because I had to remain quiet in the previous packs, since our main plan was to remain silent and not draw attention to ourselves.

Many people didn't really know this, save for the few who aided Alpha Kyle, but I was kidnapped a few times before by Alpha Kyle, in order for him to lure my mother in to his base. It was when I was between the age of five and nine.

Unfortunately, it always worked because he knew that Mom was vulnerable as she had already lost both her mates before, and she wasn't willing to lose her only daughter as well. You would think that I would've been in a worse off state, but truth be told, Alpha Kyle never harmed me, no matter how many times he had me kidnapped.

I can't really remember much about how I was taken, besides that I was injected with a substance. I know this for a fact, because I still have a slight scar on my right arm, near my shoulder. I know that they injected me with a drug that made me forget temporarily because up until today, I could never remember anything about where the base was which I was held at, besides that I was kept in a cage, presumably underground since it was always pitch black when I awoke after the drugs wore off. These seem to be the only things which I can remember. I can't even remember what events would take place afterwards, but now, I think it was for the best.

But anyway, enough of this depressing talk. I know that I've got a tendency to ramble and always reflect on my thoughts but now was not the time for this as I had to focus on the task at hand, which was almost complete as I had already found Mom and all I had left to do was to speak to her about the urgent matter.

I didn't want to interrupt Mom as she looked to be enjoying herself, but I had to, so I walked over to where she was.

"Hi Mom", I said and gave her a hug.

Mom replied by hugging me back and saying, "Hey sweetie, did you have a good sleep? I would've woken you up earlier but I knew that you were probably very tired from the trip still and it would still take a while to adjust."

"Yes, thank you for asking Mom, I had a good sleep, and it is fine that you never woke me up earlier as I probably would have been in a very cranky, morning mood", I said with a laugh.

"Oh yes, I am quite familiar with how that turned out previously and it was not a pretty scene to witness", exclaimed Mom with a laugh too.

"Oh, where are my manners". Mom said to the two female pack members who she was still assisting, "I didn't introduce my daughter to you yet."

Before Mom had a chance to answer, one of the women said, "Oh it's fine Michelle, you don't have to worry about it and she is here now."

She had big, brown eyes and short, shoulder-length, brunette hair which was starting to get whispers of grey streaks in them. And even though she was short, about 5ft1 and plump in stature, you couldn't miss seeing the wide smile which she wore on her face, which made her eyes crinkle in the corners, as she walked closer to me, looking as if she was inspecting me.

"Hi, my name is Daisy. It's a pleasure to meet you...", she said, waiting for me to introduce myself.

"Amanda", I interjected.

"Ooh, such a pretty name for such a beautiful girl", she said and gave me a very tight hug, almost as if she knew me and hadn't seen me in a few years.

"Thank you", I replied, hugging her back and glancing at Mom who had a smile on her face.

Daisy then released me from the hug and turned to the cupboards, saying that she must get back to arranging the spices.

The other lady then dropped the pots which she was washing in the sink, dried her hands off on a kitchen towel before she introduced herself with a welcoming smile on her face, "Hi, it's a pleasure to meet you too. My name is Ariana.", she said, putting her hand out infront of her as she offered me a handshake.

She on the other hand, in comparison to Daisy, had long, brunette coloured hair. She looked to be roughly about 5ft5. I however also noticed the similarities between the two women. They both had the same facial structure such as having the same nose shape and the same jawline. Must be mother and daughter then.

I shook her hand, before I walked over to Mom, and she walked back to the sink.

"Mom", I whispered, "I've got some urgent news that I want to discuss with you, privately. Could we please go back to the room?"

Mom replied by whispering back, "Ok sweetie. Let's just say goodbye to Daisy and Ariana then we can get going."

With saying this, she turned back to face them, "It was nice meeting you Daisy and Arianna but Amanda and I must be heading back as we still have some packing to complete."

"Ohok, no problem dear", said Daisy.

Both Daisy and Ariana then proceeded to wave us off as Mom and I headed back to our room, before they returned to their tasks.

Upon reaching our room, I closed the door and Mom took a seat on one of our sofas.

"So honey, what urgent matter did you have to discuss with me?", she questioned.

I decided not to beat around the bush and got straight to the point, "Mom, I'm thinking of enrolling as a warrior in this pack."

There was a pregnant pause as I examined Mom's facial expression which had a frown adorning her face, before I continued.

"I've been thinking about it for quite some time ever since we decided that we were planning on settling down in this pack but I didn't want to voice my opinion yet as I didn't know how you'd react because I know that our safety is of the utmost importance and by doing this, I could be putting myself in harms way again because this is how we were caught out in the previous packs."

I paused once again as I saw Mom's frown deepen further but I continued, "In the previous packs, I was hardly much of a help to you Mom, but now, since we are deciding to cut the chase off here, we have nothing to lose anymore. It's now or never, and becoming the bait at this point seems valid because Alpha Kyle wouldn't suspect that it's so easy to get to us seeing that we hid fairly well and managed to escape from him multiple times before."

Mom remained calm but the frown still remained on her face," I really hope that you know what you are doing. I understand what you mean about being the bait because I've too thought about it but never said anything. However, I'll need some time to think it through though before I agree."

Truth be told, I expected her to reject what I was saying but this fact suprised me that she also thought about it.

I told Mom that it was fine as I was willing to wait so I gave her the space she needed and told her that I was going to go for a walk around the packhouse, to see if I could learn some new things about our new home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Upon leaving the room, I bumped into a wall.

Well, it felt like a wall but this was proven wrong as I felt hands on the upper parts of my arm, which grabbed me in order to stop me from stumbling back. I definitely bumped into a person. I facepalmed myself mentally, thinking that I haven't even been here long but I was making mself seem more noticeable in this pack already. Maybe it was a good thing though, seeing as Mom and I were ending the chase here and also, who knows, I could be making new friends this way😅.

I looked up and my suspicions were confirmed, seeing as firstly, a wall could not have mysteriously sprouted hands, and secondly, when I looked up, I came face-to-face with the handsomest face which I've ever seen.

I stared up at him, and noticed that he had blue-coloured, piercing eyes, which I seemed entranced by, and he had brown hair which was styled in a quiff hairstyle. I also noticed that he had a very prominent jaw line, and judging from the wall-like feeling which I found out, he definitely worked out a lot and probably had a set of abs.

After looking at him for a few more seconds, I broke the gaze by turning my head downwards, in a sight blush as I noticed a smirk which settled on his face once he caught me staring at him.

He took this as a sign and released me when he realised that I hadn't fallen to the floor and before he could say anything, I muttered a quick sorry before I turned the other way and hurriedly sped along the corridor, not forgetting about the slight tingles which travelled up my arms, where he held me to stop me from falling.