TIME RUNS

VALERIE FIVE YEARS LATER 'Weak.' 'Puny.' 'Rotten.' 'Sluggish piece of shit.' I sit on the back of Evie's black wolf watching Oscar, Nathan and Ivan before me with disinterest. They continue kicking Jeff's lifeless body with their paws, muttering curses at him in rage. Evie let's out a loud wolf yawn. This is quite boring. Jeff didn't even try to fight when everyone began attacking him. The moment he saw me, his face crunched up in fear, and he looked like he wanted to piss on himself desperately. I didn't even have to shift into my wolf to scare him. I would have laughed at his response if I didn't want him dead more than anything else. 'Four more to go,' Oscar says through the link as we walk back towards our vehicle that is parked on the road at the edge of the woods. 'They are the worst ones,' Evie says. Mark, Dominic, Jimmy and Morris are the wolves we have left on the hit list of the Riverside Moon Pack. I don't know Jimmy or Morris personally, but Mark and Dominic, I know I will enjoy killing them! Reaching into the backseat of my very own Convertible Audi A7, I pull out everyone's clothes and throw them to them so they can get dressed when they shift back to their human forms. This is my first car and my baby. I call him Arrogant. Everyone hides behind trees and quickly change. They are all back in no time and Evie hops into my car, taking the passenger seat. I look in the rearview mirror at the boys and notice that they are all seated inside their white Lexus behind me. 'Please make sure to thank the Alpha,' I say to Oscar through the link. We had tracked Jeff to one of the Packs that was attacked and a black cloth with a piece of the silver statue was left at the attack scene. He was hiding among the Pack members. The attack was Mark's work, but I didn't care. I wanted Jeff dead! It's five years now ever since I joined the Riverside Moon Pack and became their Alpha. Whenever there is an attack on a Pack and a black cloth with a silver piece of the Moon Goddess's statue in it is left behind, we are informed about it. We know that it's a message sent for our Pack. There's an association of wolves similar to a court called the Sorority which consists of older wolves. They are supposed to handle such matters. However, the current head of the Sorority, Mr. Duncan, hates me and the feeling is mutual from my side. It's a long story, but when I apparently continued to 'disrespect' him, he had commanded Pack wolves to not help any of us in our search. Thanks to Oscar, I not only managed not to shift in front of them, but also spared Duncan's life from my wolf who wanted to tear him apart. For the past five years, whenever we would trace the rogues that we've been chasing, they'd always be hiding among Pack members. We always ask the permission of the Alpha of that Pack's territory before we can gain access to their land, so that we can kill the rogues. But I always make sure that none of the other Packs know about me being a white wolf. It's still a secret known only to our Pack and a few trusted members of the Waterfall Moon Pack. To all others, I am known as the Beta of the Riverside Moon Pack, and Oscar is known as the Alpha. I like it that way, though at times it pisses me off because I have to act weaker than I am. Oscar being an Alpha's son makes it easier for others to believe the lie. He reeks of power similar to that of an Alpha. That way, there is no chance of other Packs' possibly figuring out that I'm actually the Alpha of the Riverside Moon Pack. After killing the dirt bag hiding among the other Pack, we would take back the piece of the statue with us to our Pack's land. We've collected almost all the pieces of the statue. All that's left now is the lips, chin, nose and left cheek. By now, almost all the Packs know that they have to call our Pack if there are pieces of a silver statue found in an attack scene. It's all thanks to the rumors that have spread, saying that this war is personal to our Pack. The Alphas of the attacked Packs call us because they don't want to interfere in our fight and they know it's a sensible thing to do. They want to avoid any unnecessary deaths in their Packs because they know the rogues will stop at nothing when it comes to destruction, and the only thing that can stop them is us. Once we reach our territory, Evie and I decide to take a swim at the beach before returning to the Pack House. I am swimming deep inside the water when I hear Evie calling me through the link. I see her looking for me in the water. I concentrate my energy on the water and raise my palm high. The water reaches about ten feet high, then when I flip my hand. Splash! The water falls on Evie, drenching her and I laugh loudly at her. "Ha, ha, very funny," she says, frowning at me. "From where I'm standing, it's funny," I say, grinning brightly at her. After my eighteenth birthday I came to know that I could control water. I just have to concentrate on the water and it moves as I want it to. My mood also changes the way the water near me is flowing. If I'm furious, the sea will be deadly. When I go deep inside the sea I can gain energy from the body of water. The energy I do get from being in the water makes me much stronger. I started to have anger issues, which I believe are due to my wolf, but my anger can be quickly cooled down if I'm in water. One day, due to my anger, I attacked my own pack after I had killed a rogue and my anger hadn't been fully exhausted. Evie, Oscar and Nathan were hurt from the attack. Thanks to the grace of the Moon Goddess, I didn't kill anyone in my Pack, or else I would have died of guilt. I know that I had hurt almost everyone who tried to stop me. It took them days to convince me that they were all okay, and for them to get me to leave my room. I was coiled up in my room crying because I had hurt them. It is always difficult for the Pack to control me when I get that malicious! Veronica suggested that I had to join an anger management class. I joined, but when the counselor ticked my nerves, I kicked him in the guts and got thrown out of it. So nowadays I cool off my anger through meditation and yoga, and Donald helps me through it. I am disturbed from my thoughts when Evie starts splashing water on me. We get into a massive fight, throwing water at each other, but in the end I win because of my special powers to control the sea. "Hey! Hey girls aren't you missing someone?" Ivan calls, running towards the shore of the sea with Oscar close behind him. "Where's Nathan?" I ask. "Getting laid," Ivan says while smirking. There's no doubt that Ivan is the Pack flirt. He changes girls like he changes clothes. He even flirts with me and Evie, but it's only for fun. He is a great friend to us. Ivan runs into the water and lifts me bridal style before throwing me back into the water. After we all finish playing in the water, we get out and stand on the shore horizontally, ready to race and see who would reach the house first. We all call out, "Get Set, Go!" Together Evie and Ivan start running towards the pack house, while Oscar and I begin to walk casually. When they both notice that we aren't running, they all stop and turn to look at us. As soon as they look at us, Oscar and I bolt off and start running. They all realise a bit too late what our plan was. "Cheaters," they say behind us as Oscar and I reach the Pack House before them and high-five in victory. We enter the Pack House together. It's our own mansion. It took two years to build this mansion. Only eighteen plus members of the Pack stay in the pack house. Each and every single member has their own room, so all the pups in the Pack are eager to come and stay at the Pack house. Parents aren't allowed. Instead they all have houses built for them around the Pack House. Often, Veronica comes to check the cleanliness of the Pack House, and Donald comes to make sure we aren't doing any 'monkey business', as he puts it. I start climbing up the stairs to the top floor, where my room is. I use my werewolf strength to climb each step to the seventh floor, when I suddenly collide into someone. 'Sorry Alpha,' Bella says through the link, panicking. Bella joined the Pack only recently. Her parents were killed in a rogue attack by one of Mark's fans. I smile at her kindly and walk past her up the stairs. I make my way up the rest of the stairs to the seventh floor. There are five rooms on the top floor. The first room on the left belongs to Nathan and Edith, who is now our Pack doctor. Nathan proposed to her recently and their wedding will take place soon. I'm so happy for the both of them. Nathan is a big brother to me. He's very protective and a good friend to me. I always want to have this kind of relationship with Jasper, but now I'm happy that Nathan is here for me in that way. Edith is like a sister to me too. I still remember when one of my dates was about to kiss me. Nathan turned up, and not only did he punch the guy; he even threatened to cut off his balls. Well, that was the last time I ever saw that guy. After that happened, Evie and I were told we weren't allowed to date anyone until our education was over. The first room on the right us Ivan's. The walls are all plastered with posters of naked girls, but that was when I got in there a year ago. I haven't entered his room since then! The second room to the left is Oscar's. His room is filled with all the latest gadgets. He changes his laptop every month. The guy is a big time nerd when it comes to those sorts of things. The second room to the right is Evie's. It is filled with photos and cameras and she works as an event photographer. Well, you can sort of call it my room too, because half of my time I'm parading in it with her. Then the last room on the seventh floor is mine. I open my door and look at the photo that is hanging from the wall opposite the door. It was taken on my eighteenth birthday party, where the theme was 'white wolf' as they had all put it; everyone was dressed in white. I was standing in the middle of the photo, Evie beside me with the best-friend pose, and the rest of the Pack making funny faces behind us. It is my favorite photo!