A Howling in the Hills (Prev. Adjusting) (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 4 - Salutations

Maria is on the side. 

I was hyperventilating.

Alex and I were making our way outside to meet Alex's family and later the rest of the pack. I was already freaking out when Alex decided to tell me that his father was the Alpha.

So now I was about to have a panic attack. 

"Why didn't you freaking tell me you were the future Alpha? Gosh!" I said between my quick pants of air. 

"Whoa, you need to calm down Adrian!" he said and pulled me to a stop. He sounded worried.

Good! I thought. He should be freaking worried. 

Alex looked incredibly confused. "Why are you so freaked out? And I'm not the future Alpha..." 

Now it was my turn to be confused. "But you said--"

"My dad is the current Alpha," he said. "My older brother will be the Alpha when he challenges my dad."

I let out a small sigh of relief. Alphas were known for being extremely violent, and they had to be able to produce offspring. Yet, I had no idea why it bothered me so much when I thought Alex would be the Alpha.

You know why, an evil voice in my head said. You want to be with him, but can't if he's Alpha.

My thoughts were distracting me and by the time my head was out of the clouds, we were outside. We were in a large clearing that was surrounded by the forest. My heart rate picked up again when I saw three people sitting on some outdoor furniture.

"Breathe," Alex whispered in my ear. I didn't even know I had stopped.

I let out the air I had been holding and began breathing normally again.

"There you go," Alex said quietly. "There's nothing to be afraid of."

Once my heart rate slowed down some, Alex walked over to the three people with me following behind. When we stopped, I saw that there was a middle aged man, and middle aged woman, and a man who seemed around Alex's age.

"Mom, Dad, and Brian, this is Adrian."

They all stared at me, silence filling the air. I shifted uncomfortably, anxiously awaiting what they would say.

Finally, the woman decided to speak.

She stood up from her chair and came over to me. The wind kept pushing her brown hair around her face, causing her to fight it every couple of seconds to stay behind her ears.

Sticking out her hand, she smiled at me before introducing herself. "Hello Adrian. My name is Maria."

I looked into her hazel eyes, looking for hatred or malice. I could easily spot it, now, after seeing it in the eyes of anyone I met.

When I only found kindness and curiosity in them, I hesitatingly took her hand in my own, still feeling apprehensive about touching another person. It made it easier that she was female and smaller than me.

"Hello Maria," I said quietly.

Maria gave me an encouraging smile, as if saying that I was safe here. 

It caught me severely off-guard.

Next up in the meet 'n' greet was Brian. Once Maria had let go of my hand and stepped aside, Brian looked over at me from where he was sitting. I wasn't close enough to be able to judge the emotion in his brown eyes, and that scared me slightly.

"I'm Alex's brother," he said.

I nodded to show that I understood and moved closer to Alex, feeling uncomfortable. I was thanking all the gods I knew that I wouldn't have to shake his hand.