The Transfer
Chapter 22 - The Bear Hunt Pt. 2

We came to a small clearing in the trees where I could finally hear the sound of running water. Despite the fact that it was winter, the warm sun was beating down on me, helping with the sweat forming on my body. I was exhausted, but I felt great.

Up ahead, I saw Ezra and Alfie. They were sat around a campsite. There were several tents positioned around the area, already set up. Most of them sat within the trees, away from the water and mud by the stream.

There were camping chairs set up too. There weren't enough for everyone to get a seat, hence the reason for the giant logs that had been positioned around the fire that was cooking two giant pots of rabbit stew.

My wolf grumbled. She was hungry and couldn't wait to grab some food.

People began to shift back and changed into clothes. Lila nudged me into the trees, grabbing some clothes for us on the way. We shifted back and slipped on the clothes before returning back to the campsite.

"I can't wait to crawl into bed and just pass out. I'm so tired,” Lila said softly, stretching out her arms. I nodded in agreement and yawned. Just thinking about sleep made me feel even more tired.

"Hey there. Have a good run?" Ezra greeted as he walked over to me and kissed my crown. I smiled up at him and nodded.

I threw a glare in Veronica's direction. "Most of it was good.”

Ezra chuckled lowly and lead Lila and I over to a log where we sat next to each other and stared at the fire. It wasn't late yet, but it was almost getting to the point of sunset. I assumed that everyone would be having an early night.

"The stew is almost ready. It's Jenny's recipe so it has to be good, right?" Ezra asked me. He sat down on a chair and I nodded eagerly. Jenny's cooking was the best in the world.

"We should've brought Jenny with us. She would've been able to cook up a storm,” Lila groaned as her brothers and the other boys began to sit with us. Most of them sat on the dirt, leaning back against the legs, keeping their feet close to the small fire.

"I've missed Jenny's cooking. I volunteer that when we get back, I'm coming over for dinner,” Lucas says, sipping on a bottle of water. My wolf yipped, she liked the idea of him coming over for dinner. She thought of him as her brother already.

"Me too!" Quo said quickly before anyone else could say anything. We all chuckled with each other before I looked up and saw Liam approaching us. The bond pulled at the two of us, and then began to twist when Veronica bounded over to him and stopped him from coming my way.

l inwardly sighed and turned my head. Veronica was a pain in my damn ass. I hated her already. "You know, Ali, we're pretty close to Terialta. Your brothers said that you should come and visit before we make our way home," Ezra told me. I raised my eyebrows at him.

How did he know that my brothers said that?

Ezra smiled and shrugged. "I like Beckett. I talk to him quite often.”

I rolled my eyes. Of course he spoke to him often. My brothers loved knowing everything about me. They're just protective, but it got a little annoying at times.

The thought of crossing into Terialta on the way home made me feel a little queasy. I didn't like that I would more than likely be seeing the disgusting Beta. I only wanted to see my brothers.

"Maybe... they'd probably grill me and try to get me to come home," I told him wearily. Ezra chuckled and nodded at me.

"Samaya said he wanted you to come home. I think Jax wants you to stay here,” Ezra said with a chuckle. I rolled my eyes. Of course Jax wanted me to stay. Him and I always liked to joke around and make it out like we hated each other.

I loved all my brothers. I was close with them, as they were mostly the only friends that I had had for a long time. Surprisingly, no one in Terialta wanted to be good friends with the Alpha's daughter. "Four brothers? Man, screw that! I can't even handle my brother, let alone four!" Quo hissed out. Everyone laughed, except for Kade. He looked quite uncomfortable.

He stared at the ground and used to stick to stab at the dirt. He looked oddly sad. His beast was on edge.

"What's up with Kade?" I asked Lila through a private link. She looked up and noticed Kade. She sighed softly.

"His brother turned rogue a little while ago. He doesn't like talking about siblings and stuff," Lila replies. My heart ached for Kade.

A rogue brother? That must be absolutely terrible. I couldn't imagine how painful that would be to experience. I wondered where his brother was. Was he still alive? Was he dying?

"Don’t worry about him though. He's just a little uncomfortable by it. He always has been,” Lila added quickly. I nodded at her and yawned yet again. My belly rumbled hungrily and everyone turned to look at me.

I flushed as Alfie rolled his eyes at me. "Food is almost ready, pig.”

I rolled my eyes back at him for the nickname. He just chuckled a little and I rubbed my eyes. I was in fact incredibly tired and hungry. I couldn't wait to eat so I could crawl up into a warm ball in a tent and sleep.

I suddenly felt a hard burn on my shoulder and I hissed. I looked up at Liam, noticing Veronica's hand on his shoulder. She was talking, and he looked not at all interested. They had been talking for ages Now.

"For fuck sakes,” I muttered under my breath as it continued to burn. I wanted to march up to Liam and rip Veronica's hand off his shoulder.

Why wasn't he telling her off? Did she not know that it hurt the both of us? It stung like a bitch. "Veronica, please,” Liam said, lightly pushing away her hand. Veronica immediately let out a sigh. I could imagine her rolling her eyes.

"What? I didn't do anything. We're just talking, babe,” Veronica said with a shrug. I bit back a growl as I cringed at the nickname. Babe? Is she serious? Does she know almost everyone here can hear her?

Did this girl not know how wrong it is to act like this around a male with a mate?

I tore my eyes away as Liam looked in my direction. I didn't want to appear jealous but I'm sure I was coming close to it.

"That girl has a serious ass beating coming her way," Lila rumbled from next to me. I put my hand on her knee to try and calm her. Her wolf was already close to coming out and taking a bite of Veronica's ass. It was something that I really wanted to see.

But my wolf wanted a bite out of this girl's ass too.

Then again, we both knew that we couldn't just try and fight the Alpha's daughter. If Henry didn't like me, then I couldn't imagine he'd be gentle on punishing me if I attacked his daughter.

"Soup is ready! Come get your food kids!" Ezra called to everyone. People got up from their seats and rushed towards the vampire who was dishing up dinner. I stayed back and let everyone get their servings first.

I nudged Lila to get her food and she got up and made her way over to Ezra. She found herself standing next to Liam who was handing plastic bowls to people. They began to mumble things to each other, and I tried to listen, but they were talking too softly.

I wanted to know if Lila was talking about Veronica being handsy with Liam. Would she bring that up with him or would she let him try to handle it on his own?

"Stop staring at him. He's not going to disappear. Come get your food," Quo said from next to me. I rolled my eyes at him and stood up as he lightly chuckled.

I neatened out my t-shirt dress and sighed and moved towards Ezra. He was grinning from ear to ear as he handed a bowl to Lila. He was awesome.

"How long are you going to let that disgusting female obsess over your man?" Ezra asked me, not looking at me so we would insinuate that we weren't linking.

I held back a laugh of annoyance and shook my head lightly. He didn't know how badly I want to tear her apart.

"Maybe I should take down her instead of that bear tomorrow?" I joked with him. Ezra began to smirk and he chuckled slightly as he shook his head.

"Let me get my phone and my popcorn. Have to film it, or it didn't happen," Ezra replied as he handed me my bowl. I thanked him and he just winked. I turned around and headed back to sit down.

I found my seat surrounded by a group of males that I hadn't yet met. There was a gap from where I was sitting before, where they wanted me to sit.

"We don't bite. Promise,” one said as he flashed me a grin that told me how arrogant and cocky he really was. I scowled at him and showed him my teeth.

"Well I do,” I snapped back. He cowered and sat back in his seat with his head down as he ate his soup.

My beast scoffed. She knew that he was just trying to show off. We both didn't like it.

"Come on, we can sit over here," Lila's voice said as her hand clamped onto my arm and pulled me in the direction of another place to sit. The two of us sat together without the boys this time. They sat with Liam, who had Veronica almost sitting on his lap.

"So you excited for tomorrow?" I asked Lila. I didn't want to think about what was happening with Lila and Veronica. The whole thing was annoying me and I knew that I'd get worked up and angry if I kept thinking about it.

Lila nodded eagerly as I ate some of the stew. It bursted with flavour and popped inside my mouth. It tasted amazing and I prayed that Ezra would make it more often. It reminded me of the rabbit stew my mother used to make for my brothers and I when we were younger. It was wonderful. "Incredibly excited! Those bears won't know what day it is by the time I'm finished with them,” Lila said as her belly rumbled. I grinned and we both laughed.

"The females always get the first kill. Veronica will go first, since she's the Alpha's daughter, and then you, since you're technically the Beta female. I'll go next and then the other girls will take their turns. Some girls like to pair up with others so that there can be three wolves onto one bear," Lila explained to me. I nodded at her and realised that I'd never taken down anything that big before. Would I be able to take down a whole bear by myself?

Of course I would.

"The boys go afterwards. Liam usually lets some of the other guys go first. He gets anxious out in these woods," Lila said, lowering her voice. I nodded at her.

Why? What's there to be anxious about?

"Don't stress too much, Ali. Tomorrow is going to be really fun. I promise,” Lila told me. I smiled and nodded at her as I continued to eat the wonderful rabbit stew.

After dinner, I tossed my bowl into the fire and headed straight to bed. Lila followed along with me. Her and I shared a tent with Ezra, whilst most the girls slept in the other tents and majority of the males slept outside in their fur.

Just before I dozed off, I sensed movement outside my tent and felt my hair stand up on the back of my neck. It was Liam. I saw him shift from his skin to his fur.

I saw the shadow of a wolf and watched as Liam laid next to the tent where I was sleeping. I smiled weakly and shut my eyes, letting myself drift into a deep sleep.

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