Worth Continuing?

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The pack was fresh of a long month of traveling from Maine to Georgia with nothing but each other. It had been a long journey, but it was good for a new pack. They worked on building strong skills together to strengthen their bond. They hunted together and slept together. Along the way, they learned to better recognize each other's scents, as well as the scent of their Alpha. They were figuring out each other's signals for what they needed and when there was danger nearby. By the end of it, they could talk to each other without having to speak at all. They knew one another's transformations, their eye colors, triggers, and weaknesses. With a physical touch, they could feel each other's emotions and their pain. The group was getting stronger by the day. Now they were in a new town with a new fully furnished apartment, ready to start their new lives together in Atlanta.

Growing up, Beca Mitchell always considered herself something of a lone wolf. Which made getting ready for her first day of college a bit puzzling in and of itself. But then again, everything had been a bit complicated since she presented as an Alpha on her sixteenth year and was expected to lead a pack of her own. It was a bit hard, but Beca was a quick learner. And it wasn't all as bad as she thought. She was a pretty good leader and it turned out she didn't need to have a pack of fifty like her mother. She was much more comfortable with a few wolves whom she could be close to.

All that being said, on her eighteenth birthday, she was branded on her shoulder. The brand was a symbol mix of her mother and fathers family crests, as well as some unique additions of her own creation. It was a crescent moon with pink lotuses growing out of the thick of the moon, each of which represented her mother and father's families. Her addition to the brand was a small grasshopper hanging on the bottom tip of the moon. It was a tradition for the alpha to have it branded on their shoulder and to wear it with pride, as Beca did. It was also tradition for each of her pack members to take the brand themselves as they joined the pack. By the time Beca was set on her up on her own course as an Alpha, she had three betas who were willing to follow her.

The first of the Beta's was Stacie Conrad. Stacie had grown up with Beca in her mother's pack. They were practically sisters, mostly because Stacie forced herself into Beca's bubble no matter how hard Beca tried to push her out. After Beca's parents got divorced, the two were nearly inseparable. Beca's near first thought after becoming an alpha was that she and Stacie could have a pack all to themselves. Travel the world, pursue their dreams, All that jazz. But to Beca's surprise, she had more admirers then she could've hoped for. Jesse Swanson was a boy from a neighboring pack who Beca had met by chance on a hunt. He was also a pestering type of friend and eventually, Beca agreed to let him join her pack once she was branded. The third and final Beta to join them was Emily Junk, who to Beca was still a young cub. She was a few years younger than the rest of them, but she looked up to Beca. Beca taught her to hunt and what she should and shouldn't eat. Beca was happy to welcome her aboard. Once Beca was a full fledge Alpha, the small pack set out together, all with brands to match Beca's.

It was Emily's request for the pack to go to Barden. Emily's mom was a part of their acapella competitive team when she was just a cub, which Beca couldn't help but think sounded really lame, but she tried to keep her mouth shut in lieu of hurting Emily's feelings. Stacie wanted to be a medical major and Jesse wanted to study film. Barden offered both and because Beca's dad was a professor there, she didn't have to worry about paying for it. Not that it would've been a problem if she had. Her mother opened her trust fund for her on her eighteenth birthday and the four of them could've gone to college four times each with it before they had a money problem. Since she didn't, Beca paid for an apartment they could stay in while they completed their studies and the pack chose to make the trek on foot... Er, paw. They all considered it their first adventure as a pack. And that all is how Beca found herself doing her makeup in their brand new apartment, preparing for the activities fair and her first day of college.

"So, what're you gonna do?" Stacie asked from the door frame of the bathroom. Beca watched her through the mirror as she put in an industrial piercing.

"What do you mean?" Beca asked, their eyes meeting through the mirror.

"Well, Did you even pick a major? I know you're not excited for college." Stacie pointed out, fixing her curls while she had the mirror in front of her.

"Well, my dad wouldn't have stopped begging me to go if we hadn't anyway and in fact, I did pick a major," Beca knew what Stacie was getting at. Stacie wanted her to enjoy their time at Barden as much as the rest of them would, even if it wasn't her travel choice. If it were up to Beca the pack would've been in Southern California, in Los Angeles. Stacie knew that Beca was only with them now because they were her pack and she wanted to take care of them - even if they could take care of themselves.

"Really? What did you pick?" Stacies eyes lit up with inquiry. In a quick flash, Beca could Stacie's eyes flash from forest green to honey bee yellow. Stacie often had a hard time controlling her emotions and when she had a burst of any strong ones, her wolf shone in her eyes. Beca often nagged her about it, about how they had to keep themselves a secret and the second a human noticed it happening, the second they would have to drop everything and move. They were supernatural and that meant being a secret. Every wolf knew that. For the sake of being in their home, Beca didn't mention it.

"Music business," Beca said simply and unenthused. If anything, Stacie should've known. Beca had been glued to her laptop and mix board since she got it. Though, music business and making music weren't exactly the same thing.

"Really? Music business? Composition and Music business are really close majors. I think we'll have some classes together." Emily appeared in the doorway behind Stacie, trying to put on a shoe while balancing on the other foot. When she lost balance she grabbed onto Stacie and Stacie held her up.

"Maybe," Beca confirmed, turning around to face the girls in the doorway.

"Are you guys ready to go yet?" Jesse was sitting on the couch on his phone, as he had been for the last hour while the rest of them got dressed and put on their makeup.

"It's not our fault all you do to get ready is shower and put on clothes," Stacie rolled her eyes.

"Yes, Swanson we can go," Beca replied, ignoring Stacie's comment as they all made their towards the door, "We just have to go over a few things."

"Don't get caught, don't tell anyone we're wolves, don't do anything stupid. Did I forget anything?" Jesse smirked at Beca and the girls laughed with him.

"Look, I don't want to lecture you guys. You know all that and I trust you. I just want you guys to keep it mind. If anything happens, we can't stay here and I know you guys are excited to be here. I would hate to have to leave." Beca said it all like a true leader. She was a natural at it, as much as she hated it. Fate had a way of goating her into things that she may not have liked but worked out in the end. She loved her pack and she meant what she said. She didn't want to have to uproot their lives again. Atlanta was a great place. Their apartment had a forest nearby. They would have time to train, go to class, and get jobs if they wanted to. It would be a shame to leave before they had a chance to do anything.

"Yes Alpha," The group said it all together like a mantra, but it was more in jokingly than serious. Everyone knew that Beca didn't expect to be called Alpha. It was a long-standing tradition of packs, but she appreciated it as a form of respect.

Jesse opened the door and her pack headed out in front of her. Beca looked around the apartment once more before she left and winced at a small pain burning coming from her shoulder. She checked a second time to make sure everyone was down the hall before she pulled up her sleeve. It was her brand, as bold and new as the day she got it, but something was different. A warmth filled in where the brand was placed and filled her shoulder. A warm, almost burning sensation that was emanating from the symbol of her pack. Beca shook her head and replaced the sleeve over her brand. With any luck it was nothing. But knowing her luck, it was going to come back and bite her in the ass.