When I arrived at my house, my parents were furious. They had arrived early this morning and were worried out of their minds when their only son answered his phone but their daughter did not. They had sent out teams of tracker wolves to search for me and I met up with one of the teams after I ran for a few minutes within my territory. They brought me to my fuming parents within minutes, giving me clothes so that I could shift back into my skin. I now am standing before them uncertainly, wondering if they know about the party that I went to.

"Kayla, just where were you all of this time?" my mother, Luna Scarlet, said. My father, Alpha Antonio, had his arms crossed beside my mom giving me that I'm-glad-your-alive-but-am-still-mad-at-you looks. I didn't back down from their stares, knowing that they were trying to intimidate me into telling them the truth and feeling bad about my actions.

"I could not sleep." I clipped, looking them in the eyes, "so I went for a run."

My mom narrowed her eyes at me, as if she could sense my lie, but soon her gaze softened and she let out a tired breath. She came over to me and put her arms around me suddenly, making me stiffen up at the contact.

"You had us worried sick for you," she said in my hair as she squeezed the life out me. "Next time, leave a note please."

I nodded to her when she let go, and let out a breath as my body relaxed. My dad's gaze had softened as well, but he didn't look like he would give in so easy. Once my mom left to go to the kitchen, he spoke of what my punishment would be.

"You will do two hundred laps around the gym, then work on your stealth and agility until lunch. Then you are to fight against the warrior wolves after a review on how to survive as a wolf for a year or more." I winced at the severity of my punishment. Usually I never did so much body labor in a single day. "After dinner, practice your skills with man made weapons and sharpen your skills as a wolf."

"Yes, Sir." I said feeling dejected. All that I wanted to do was go to sleep in my bed, but now I wondered how I was supposed to do all of that in a single day without breaking down.

"Over the next month, your work load will only increase, Kayla. After the ball in a few days, if you do not find your mate, then you will become the Alpha. By the end of the next cycle of seasons, you will be leading this pack and this little amount of work will only increase young lady." With that, my dad walked away leaving me feeling overwhelmed.

I walked to the kitchen myself and saw my brother sitting the table by himself. A bowl of cereal was in front of him and a book was in his hands. Slowly he held his book open with his right hand as he tried to get a spoon of cereal in his mouth as he continued to read. By the time the spoon reached his mouth, the cereal had fallen back in the bowl with a splash. He jumped as milk flew at him and quickly lifted his book out of the way of the harmful liquid.

"Need this Danny?" I asked him as I broke a paper towel off the roll on the counter and offered it to him. He looked up, surprised to see me.

"Yeah, thanks." He said and wiped up his small spill. "I have something of yours."

He went into his pockets of his baggy jeans and pulled out my phone, handing it to me. I raised my eyebrow at him, wondering were he found it, but took it gratefully nonetheless. He seemed to understand what I wanted though and proceeded to explain to me how he came about it.

"I found it in your shredded clothes Kay. I had gone to find you only to see you shifting with an unknown Wolf and running off into the woods." His tone grew angry, but it was hushed so I knew it was only out of worry for my safety.

"I'm alright." I said as he grunted in unhappy response. "Thanks, Danny."