Chapter 5

Ruby's POV

My heart pounded against my chest, but slowly, I opened the balcony door carefully. I jumped down, and in a second, I was standing in the spot where I thought I saw golden eyes watching me. I stilled and listened. I wasn't alone. There was someone here. I turned abruptly to catch golden eyes a few trees away from where I was.

"I know there's someone here," I scanned the tall trees with my eyes. My wolf was alarmed, ready to shift if anything. I could sense the danger.

Heavy breathing, I heard it, and then a russle of leaves. I turned and ran behind a tree, but there was nothing. I heard loud chatter and chuckles, and I recognized them.

"Rue, what are you doing in the woods so late at night?" I turned to face my brother and his friends. The boys wore shorts, their muscled upper bodies were bare, their eight-packs were exposed, and the girls only wore shirts. They had gone for a night run in their wolf forms.

"Rue!" Tate snapped his fingers in my face. I glanced at him,

"What?"

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I thought I had seen someone from my bedroom window and came to check," I muttered and turned to leave, but a firm hand grabbed my arm. I could tell it was either Hayes or Zylon from the sparks I felt on my skin. I elbowed whoever was holding me in the gut and turned, punching him in the face hard. My movements were quick. Everyone gasped.

"Fuck," the hand released me. It was Hayes I attacked.

"I'm sorry. You startled me," I fake-acted, horrified about hitting my alpha. He could see it was fake. Hayes only looked amused.

"Shit, little Rue, she strong," Shane, the gamma of the pack, laughed.

"Rue, what do you mean you saw someone, and why did you get out if you did?" Tate looked upset. I noticed Zylon, too, was discreetly searching the area with his eyes while Hayes and Shane briefly exchanged a glance.

"I'm sure there was no one. Rue can be an attention seeker sometimes," Cindy groaned, wrapping an arm around my brother's. I opened my mouth to speak, but opted to shut it. I was tired and just wanted to sleep.

"I smell something. There was someone here," Zylon murmurs. Hayes growled, and before I knew it, everyone was going in a different direction except the three girls. They glared at me, but it didn't faze me. I started walking back when Mary spoke, " Bummer, they just left. Thanks a lot, you attention seeker," I ignored her and continued walking,

"Ever since she came back, she thinks she's all that. But don't forget, to us, you will always be ugly, Acne rue!" I tried to avoid her, but she kept coming to me, speaking like an irritating mosquito. I didn't want to engage, but when she pushed my shoulder, I spun around and punched her so hard in the face that she fell to the ground, nose bleeding.

"Don't ever touch me again, or I'll swear, I'll break every bone in your body, you little mosquito," I warned and went inside, straight to the bedroom.

After an hour, I was almost drifting off to sleep when I heard the alpha's voice through the pack mind link, ' Everyone under the age of thirty should be at training, 04 A.M. It's mandatory.'

I woke up early, at 5 A.M., put on my sports bra, shorts, and running shoes, and bolted out of the house. I ran 20 kilometers around the estate and worked out before returning home. When I returned, I went to the kitchen for a glass of water. My mother and granny were there making breakfast.

"Good morning, baby," Mom greeted me. " Where's Tate?"

"I dunno," I shrugged as I went to the fridge.

"Weren't you at the training ground?" Granny asked.

"No, I was jogging and training alone," I answered, gulping my water.

"Oh, honey, training is mandatory in this pack now, and the alphas don't take kindly to absence," Mom said. Oh, I did hear through the mind-link, but I ignored it. In fact, I no longer wanted to be a pack member. I wanted to get a transfer and officially be part of the Jade Moon Pack.

'Why didn't you attend training?' a deep voice growled through the mind link, and my wolf purred. It was Hayes. Having him in my head felt strange, like he was caressing my mind with his fingers.

'I didn't want to,' I barked, shutting him out. I could feel a tug on my mind and low growls on his side. What the fuck? Why did I feel his frustration?

I ate breakfast and went upstairs to get ready for the day. Today, I would hang out with Beth and Ael.

I hopped into my Beetle convertible. She is just as I remembered her. I drove to our favorite street and parked, but as I was about to enter the cafe, I spotted Zylon standing still in front of a flower shop, looking at different flowers through the glass. He wore a black sweater, jeans, and boots yet managed to look so classic. For a moment, I paused, just staring at him. Zylon was truly beautiful. His blonde-golden hair was tousled, falling to his forehead. My heart skipped a bit. I turned before he could see me, but I wasn't lucky.

"Ruby?"