Into His Arms

~~A/N~~

Welcome back to 'Into His Arms'! For those of you that chose to continue thank you for giving this a chance to develop before you gave up! And for new readers please go back and read the prologue before this chapter, it gives some background and character development that I will tie in later on.

I am writing this chapter as my prologue is going through the submission process so I haven't received any feedback yet from the prologue. Once this chapter is done and submitted I will wait for the feedback before I submit chapter three which is already outlined and ready for construction.

Once again any CONSTRUCIVE criticism is welcomed. If you decide to leave compliments... those are accepted too! While I will be starting off slow for the first two or three chapters to build characters and background please bear with me as I want to develop the characters so they have more depth than how quick they are to bed each other.

Sorry moving forward I will shorten the A/N's :P

*Side note* this story will contain some non-con/reluctance, I tell you now so no time wasted on your part if that doesn't interest you and fair warning for those who might complain later.

Enjoy!

~M~

***Wynnie***

"HAZEL IVY SOROKA! If you don't hurry up and come down here this instant, we are going to be late!"

"Geeze mom you don't have to screech like that!" Her daughter shouted back as she ran down the stairs, "I couldn't find the package with my tassel, hat and hood, then I ended up misplacing my speech looking for them." There was a slight pause as she came around the corner and she pouted out, "By the time I had everything I realized I had messed up my hair!"

Looking up from packing her travel bag she finally caught sight of her daughter standing in the entrance of the living room. Her face looked so distraught with her hair sticking up in odd ways she nearly chuckled but was quick to swallow it. Her expression reminded her so much of the way she'd look after one of the wilder adventures she and Ryon used to have.

"I tried to fix it back to the way the salon had it but it ended up looking like this!"

Wynnie shook her head and motioned her daughter over. She didn't understand why Hazel insisted on going to that superficial salon with those stuck up and rude so called "beauticians". They wouldn't know what beauty was if it came and slapped them in their judgmental faces. From the moment they'd walked in she'd seen through their vain aura and felt the judgment and jealousy radiating off them directed at her unsuspecting Hazel.

They'd conned her into getting that ridiculous hairstyle knowing it didn't suit her at all! She'd tried to talk her out of it but Hazel was always thinking the best of people and said they should leave the styling to the professionals.

Honestly she almost jumped with joy when she saw the deflated and lopsided camel hump on top of her daughter's. She had a beautiful mane of long springy curls that was a dark burnt sienna. Those trolls had tried to cut it off in their jealousy, despite it being so healthy and thick, and when she wouldn't yield to that they tried to burn it off with that damned flat iron.

Thinking back on it had her wolfs hackles raising in motherly indignation. Calming herself she cupped her daughter's cheeks and said, "Honestly, I told you that hairstyle was going to be nothing but trouble. How would you have put your graduation cap on?"

"I just wanted to try something different for a change... today I won't be the proverbial wall flower and I wanted to at least look moderately hip"

"Honey even that Jersey girl that started that stupid trend isn't doing it anymore. That has to be one of the most ridiculous hairstyles I have seen in my life and I am 546 and thought powdered wigs were fetching!"

Hazel rolled her eyes and pulled away saying, "It doesn't matter if you think it's cool mom. I'm going to be on stage in front of my whole graduating class and I want to at least stand out. It's not too late for me to make friends you know."

"I know that it's not too late, but you have been chosen as the egregia cum laude! If they want to judge you by your 'style' instead of your personality, then it has always been too late for them!" she sniffed out and went back to her travel bag and started rummaging through it.

***Hazel***

She couldn't entirely place the blame of her nonexistent social life on the fact that no one talked to her. After all it takes two to hold a conversation. She couldn't understand why they had chosen her to give the student address she barely socialized on campus if you could count working in lab groups socializing. She never knew what to say besides "pass the goggles and gloves please".

She had always been the odd one out, especially being raised in the "pack" but not part of the "pack". Sinking to the couch she sighed saying, "No one will miss the student address anyway, I should call Dr. Maureen and tell her that I caught a nasty bug and can't make it."

Her mother swung around from her travel bag swinging a brush at her, "Haz if you think for one second that I am going to let you give up an opportunity like this and let you mope on the couch after all that hard work you put in toward this degree you must not know your mother!" She huffed putting the hand with the brush on her hip as she used the other to tick off her accomplishments, "You already have your Masters in Animal Genetics and Physiology, your training with your father on being his assistant as 'Keeper' is almost finished and your only 25! Do you think those pups waltzing around the pack are doing anything remotely close with their lives like you are?! You are one meeting away from becoming indispensable to the pack that all of those 'haters' won't have an excuse to exclude you. Your father and I are so proud of you already that when the council officially names you his successor next week we won't be able to fit our big heads through the door!" She laughed out.

She moved to stand behind Hazel and began brushing her air into a low ponytail continuing on excitedly, "You're going to be the youngest and first female 'Keeper' to the pack council and will only have to answer to them and the Alpha! You'd have beta status without having to fight any of those jealous bitchs that only care about becoming madam Alpha!" She finished putting her hair through the hair tie and patted down the fly aways. "There now you can put your cap on properly."

She sighed and looked up at her mom ruefully, she couldn't be upset when her mom was being so damned positive about everything, and that was all the time. Seeing the silver lining in everything was her specialty and she almost hated her for it because it caused her to feel bad about feeling bad. She could never be that positive all the time it seemed to exhausting but that's why she loved her so much, no matter how bad her day had gone she could always count on her mother to make her see the brighter side.

She shook her head and laughed, "You're right, I can't wait to see their faces at the ceremony next week they will be livid that little miss human rose in the pack so fast without being in their little clique!"

Her mom laughed agreeing and went back to packing her bag and taking it out to the car. She got up and walked to sit on the porch to wait for her dad to come outside so they could leave. She watched as her mom began removing the roof and door panels from their Jeep Wrangler muttering about it was a nice day to ride with the top off.

Gazing out at the front yard she couldn't help but admire the blooming flowers and trellises that took over the area that sat between the trees and their house. While she loved her research she enjoyed the time she spent helping her mother take care of their garden. It was really magnificent if she said so herself.

It could be on the cover of Home and Garden magazine and she was not one to brag. But while she adored the time she spent working with her mother, her first love was her research and her second was food.

'Well' she thought looking down at her figure hidden by the black graduation gown, 'maybe those positions were switched.'

Thinking back to her mom's proud face almost made her feel guilty about hiding her secret night hobby. She'd been taking culinary classes and was fast becoming really good at making pastries. She really enjoyed the feeling of creating delicious things and relished the looks people got when they ate her creations. It was like watching a magic show every time someone bit into one of them. The wonder and joy that passed over their faces boosted her spirits as if she'd received one hundred of her mother's pep talks at once.

However, it was still a secret from her family, so she was the guinea pig for a lot of her creations which she didn't mind. She loved being the taster because the added perk of being the first one to try those pastries was her sweet tooth thanked her often. But her weight did not, she knew she had gained a little weight but nothing drastic, she'd always been a little plump especially as a kid. Growing up around lycans didn't allow her embrace her body image especially since Lycans are born with naturally athletic and lean builds. Even if they were to put on weight their bodies would hide it well on their tall frames and their metabolism would wash it away without them even breaking a sweat.

She on the other hand, who hadn't grown since the fifth grade, was an intimidating 5 feet nothing with a healthy appetite. That along with puberty did not sit well with her dreams of a model figure, she instead turned decent V neck shirts into lewd tops, since her 36E tits and soft belly made those into deep V necks crop tops.

Her figure did resemble an hour glass, abject a slightly over sized one, all her excess weight that didn't adhere to her stomach seemed to settle around her hips, thighs and butt giving her a low center of gravity. While most women dreamed of getting a thigh gap she just wished her voluptuous thighs weren't vacuum sealed and didn't ruin every crotch in every pair of jeans she had.

She felt her only redeeming feature was her unique face. With her curious eye color, she could always count on a second glance from people who did get close enough to see their changing depths. The kaleidoscope of purples, greens and hazels set off the thickly lashed almond eyes and were clearly the bread winners on her body. Although when she laughed you could barely see them as her full cheeks dimpled and almost swallowed them.

"You ready Haz?" her father said snapping her out of her self-evaluation.

She smiled and waved her hat at him, "Yep let's get this over with, I can't bare the anticipation, plus I can't wait to get home! I seen your roast chicken in the fridge yesterday I know you are cooking it tonight!"

"Well I had to add another this morning, along with some slabs of ribs, some lobsters and steaks so you're in luck! There might even be extra for left overs." He said as they both walked towards the car as her mother came from taking the panels to the garage.

"You could have come out to help earlier" her mom fussed.

"You know I like to watch the sweat glisten of your skin dear it's positively dreamy!" her dad sighed throwing his hand to his forehead in dramatic teen fashion. Her mom rolled her eyes and moved to get in the front passenger seat.

She laughed asking, "Why did you take out so much? One chicken should have been enough!"

He helped her get in the back seat saying, "Because your brother is back silly, and he thinks it's a competition on who can eat all the food the fastes... oh shit" he looked at her mother who looked ready to leap across the car at him.

"You idiot! Ryon said not to tell her! I swear you can't hold a secret to save your life you blabber mouth!"

She starts giggling at them as her dad ducks his head remorsefully and resignedly climbs in the front seat. She settled back as they pulled out of the circular part of the driveway going down the access road leading from the house towards the street.

"Don't worry mom I will act surprised when I see him it's no biggy."

Her mom throws her a 'don't you take his side' look in the rear view mirror and that was enough for her to know to stay out of that argument.

As they pulled out onto the main road and headed off the packs land towards the highway the sounds of her mother and father's argument drowned out as she thought back to the last time she saw her "brother" Ryon before her life was turned upside down.

~9 Years Ago~

Ducking back behind the tall shrubs lining the sidewalk of the park she sat in wait for Ryon and his friends to come out of the restaurant. Her hiding spot was perfect, it faced the front of the packs local pizza shack where Ryon and his friends often hung out and gossiped about cool young adult stuff her mom wouldn't let her read about in the magazines. She loved to watch them because it looked like a scene right off of one of those teen movies that she loved to drag Ryon to see every chance she got.

They'd eat at the 'shack' and then come sit in the park and sip their iced coffees and talk cool kid stuff. She'd like to pretend she was an undercover gossip reporter for a teen magazine and that to get all the juicy secrets she'd have to do detective work. The only problem was that her hair would get stuck in the branches and she'd look like a wild woman by the time she got home from her adventure and her mother would always flip out.

"Why is it that every time we try to hang out with you 'little Debbie' is always there! We know she's your pet Ryon but jeeze can't you leave her tied up at home."

She ducked further into the bushes hearing them enter the park close to her hiding spot.

"She's not my pet Lysett and there's nothing I can do to make her stop." She saw Ryon come around the corner and make his way to a picnic table reclining on the table top, "Besides you follow me around too and I don't complain."

She saw the female voice come into view next and recognized Lysett with her two lap dogs she called friends trailing behind her, "Well that's two different things and you know it," she sniffed then pouted prettily moving in between Ryon's legs with her eyes downcast, "I'm your girl aren't I? We're supposed to be seen together, and she's not even related to you, at best she should be tolerated by pack but she thinks she can just mingle as she pleases it's disgraceful!"

Ryon growled low at that and Lysett looked up startled as he bit out, "Whatever my parents and the council decided is done and should be respected you will not speak ill of my parent's decisions again. I will never regret any decisions my family made in bringing her here and I will not go against the council's decision to let her roam the pack lands."

Her heart swelled at the obvious snub to Lysett and his claiming of her as part of the family.

One of Ryon's guy friends came into view and sat down on the bench connected to the table saying, "She'd always be a burden to you and any wife Luna gives you man! Her status is lower than the omegas in our pack. And even they can shift to at least protect themselves."

Ryon shrugged and sipped his iced coffee, Lysetts face clouded a little at the non-committing gesture, but she smoothed it back out and said, "So you don't mind having a sister that's lower than an omega in the pack? Or the burden that she'd place on the future of our relationship and status in the pack?"

Ryon's face twisted in disgust as he said, "First of all Lysett I never implied we were getting married so what burdens I choose to live with shouldn't concern you..."

She could have jumped for joy knowing that she didn't have to deal with the cruel and uptight Lysett for the rest of her life, until his next words chilled her to the bone.

"Second I never thought of her as family and will NEVER consider her my sister so quit saying that she is. I will take care of her as I swore before the council when she was first brought here and that is as far as my DUTY to her will go." He said getting louder as he continued on.

Her face fell as she choked back the sob that threatened to reveal her to them but the streams of tears would not be reined in so easily. They flowed unchecked down her face as he continued, "No one will ever force me to accept her as my sister because I never wanted one in the first place! So can we PLEASE talk about something less tedious as my foster sister."

She hung her head trying to cover her ears and drown out the evil twinkle of Lysett and her minions laughing. "Well damn Ryon if I'd have known you didn't want to talk about the 'little Debbie' I wouldn't have brought it up," Lysett giggled out ignoring the slight of him denying her plans of marriage.

At the cruel nickname Hazel jumped out of her hiding spot and yelled, "Well if you didn't want me here you should have left me where you found me you flee bitten mutt!" she turned to Lysett and yelled, "You two deserve each other since you're the one who gave him those flees you loose gutter bitch!"

She turned around and ran off towards her house not looking back at the chaos that ensued after her well-aimed comments.

Although, if she would've turned back she'd have seen both of Lysett's friends holding onto her, Ryon's friend rolling on the ground struggling to control his laughter, and a proud grinning Ryon.

~Present Day~

***Hazel***

She was knocked out of her dark memories by the car jostling over the speed bumps in the arena drop off zone. They'd gotten all the way there and she'd never even noticed they'd left pack lands. Her parents had finished their argument and were now laughing about something as they dropped her off at the main gate.

As she slid out the back seat she reminded them to not forget their special passes. Since she was a speaker they got designated seats and parking access. Those access passes helped a lot since they were running late and the arena's garage vacancy meter read full. The passes would grant them reserved parking, access to special seating and would make it easier for them to see her and for her to spot them during the ceremony.

Walking up the ramp and into the arena she followed the sea of black graduation dresses through the main gates to the back of the arena where they were gathering students based on major. She kind of blacked out at that point going through the motions like a chicken in a slaughter house waiting for the big event to occur.

In the blur of black she was somehow able to distinguish Dr. Maureen by the curtain to the stage and made her way over. She greeted her and was introduced to everyone standing around the stairs to the platform. As the ceremony music began to play they moved up onto the stage and she was squeezed in between the University President Dr. Maureen and the formal address guest speaker. She forgot the man's name even though she had just been introduced to him but she seemed to remember he had kind eyes and had looked like a nice man.

As the ceremony parade music continued the new graduates filed in from the side arch ways. Looking out she recognized none of the faces that were waving to each other and the crowded stadium so she looked off to where the ceremony speaker's guests were allowed to sit and spotted her parents. Smiling broadly, they waved like lunatics and blew kisses, she smirked and did a little shy wave back. She couldn't help but notice the empty seat to her mom's left and knew Ryon hadn't shown up yet. She inwardly sighed knowing he'd be late, he always liked to make a grand entrance.