Zoey Nyssa
After our little moment in the hallway Cyrus led me back into the kitchen where the rest of the pack was. I scanned the room for Isaac but he wasn't there. I looked at Cyrus who nodded his head over to a table with two seats left.
"Isaac should be back soon with the rest of the wolves. Until then I'll introduce you to some of the pack." He shouted over the music.
The table he led me towards had a woman sitting there who looked familiar. She smiled as we sat down.
"Well would you look at who's good as new." She laughed looking at me.
I smiled and nodded. "It's Alana right?" I asked. She grinned and nodded as a man walked over and sat down next to her, kissing her forehead.
"Zoey, this is Alex. He was training with me when you and Isaac came into the gym." Cyrus said, leaning closer to me so I could hear him.
Alex gave me a toothy grin and slid his cup over to me.
"Umm what is this?" I said, picking the cup up and looking at him.
"It's party night, newbie. Drink up," he said, slapping the table before standing up and walking away.
I looked at Cyrus with wide eyes.
He laughed. "He does that to everyone. You don't have to drink if you don't want to. He's really the only one that does."
I laughed and nodded sniffing the contents of the cup. The alcohol burned my nose telling me that whatever this was, it was strong. I hesitantly took a small sip of it but quickly choked and coughed at the strength of it causing Cyrus to laugh.
"Oh, that's disgusting." I cringed, pushing the cup away from me.
"Why do you think no one drinks when Alex makes them?" Cyrus laughed.
I rolled my eyes and opened my mouth to say something but was cut off by people shouting and howling. I turned to look at the entrance to the kitchen and saw a group of people walking in with Isaac leading the group.
"Dinner is served," he said loudly.
This comment was followed by loud shouts and screams from both the group and everyone in the room. His eyes met mine and his smile grew on his face, at the same time the tingly feeling grew in my chest as I smiled back. As he walked over to the table Cyrus stood up and held his arm out to him. Isaac took it roughly and pulled Cyrus into one of those shoulder hugs, giving him a hard slap on his back.
Boys.
His eyes fell on me again as they separated and Cyrus walked away.
"I hope I wasn't gone too long," he said as I stood up.
I shook my head. "Not at all. Cyrus was just showing me around more and introducing me to people." I said my eyes glancing over to Alex, who was now standing on one of the tables.
Isaac followed my gaze and laughed. "Yeah, Alex is quite the partier. He's a really good person though...when he's sober."
I giggled and turned back to look at him. He looked exhausted but was clearly trying to hide it so I didn't ask about it. His hair was a mess and his clothes along with parts of his arms and face were covered in dirt.
"What were you guys doing?" I asked, pulling a blade of grass from his sleeve.
Isaac smiled. "It's Sunday night, it's hunting night." He laughed.
"Hunting night?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Every Sunday I take the hunters and we hunt for the food for the week. We still have to eat, you know."
I nodded. "No I know that, I just kinda thought that you did what normal people do and go shopping for it."
"We still do that too. The humans that live here usually go out every few days and get groceries for us. We can't risk going out and getting tied up in human issues." He said trailing off.
I nodded again recalling the story that Cyrus had told me. I guess it made sense though, if the pack was attacked back then, the enemy pack must have known members from this pack and what they looked like. If they sent the human members they wouldn't be as big a target. I was snapped out of my thoughts when a hand touched my shoulder, sparks immediately radiating from it.
"I want to show you something," Isaac said quietly. That's when I noticed that the music had been turned down and the room was quieter now. Everyone was eating.
His hand grabbed mine and led me out of the kitchen and down the hallway again and past the hallway Cyrus led me down before. Once we reached the end of the hall he reached out and opened the door for me to walk through. A cold breeze hit my skin as I walked out onto the same patio he took me out on earlier.
It was like I was seeing it for the first time again. When before the woods were filled with sounds of nature and the pack shouting to each other it was now silent, the only sound was the sound of the wind rustling the leaves on the trees and an occasional hoot from an owl in the distance. The real jaw dropper was the sky. I had never seen so many stars in my entire life. I didn't even know there were so many. My eyes fell on the moon. It was only a half moon tonight but it was as bright as it would be if it were full and just as big. I smiled and turned to look at Isaac who was still standing by the door watching me with a smile on his face.
"What?" I said quietly as he walked over to me.
He shook his head. "Nothing. You just look really happy right now."
"I don't think I've ever felt this happy in my life," I smiled. Isaac's hands found mine causing his smile to grow.
My eyes left his hand and fell on the necklace he wore around his neck. It was on the smaller side, easily missed if you weren't looking for it, but it held the same charm of the wolf print as Cyrus' family.
"I've seen this everywhere today. Cryus wears one too. What is it?" I asked, reaching up to look at the charm closer.
It was gold and no bigger than a nickel but the detail on it was immaculate. The chain seemed to vibrate ever so slightly as he began to speak. "Think of it as a family crest. It's a pack symbol that allows us to identify each other as well as other packs. This is the print of the first alpha of the Ozais pack. The name means strength," he said, his hand gently grabbing mine.
"The first alpha- you mean one of Cyrus' ancestors?" I asked, dropping my hand.
He chuckled. "I see Cyrus already gave you the history lesson about us?"
I laughed and nodded.
"Well then you know why it's dangerous for us to leave the reserve." He said, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. "The Nero pack has been our enemy for centuries now and who knows how many hunters they've taken in since the first attack."
"First attack?" I said, almost surprised. "You mean there's been more than one?"
He nodded. "They haven't been as bad as the first one but every now and again we get a stray that needs to be taken care of. The hunters know better than to step foot in our lands but the Nero alpha whoever they are now is ruthless, attacks have gotten more frequent the past nine years. Just before my connection to you formed actually."
"That's weird. You don't think it's because of me do you? I mean— since you felt whatever—"
"Yeah. I don't think you have anything to do with it, I mean why would you. We didn't even know who you were at that point," he said, his hands finding mine again.
I giggled quietly as tingles shot up my arms again.
"What?"
I looked down, shaking my head. "Nothing. I just- I don't think I'm ever going to get used to that," I said referring to the tingles in my wrists.
"Yeah, it's quite an odd feeling," he said quietly.
My head shot up to look at him. "You can feel it too?"
He laughed and nodded. "You do know this kind of thing goes both ways right?"
"Well-yeah. I mean you've mentioned that. I just didn't think you could feel that too."
He smiled again. "I can. This feeling varies between wolves and their mates. Some feel an intense heat, others feel each other's emotions when touched," he said, his hand starting to trail up my arm to my shoulder and back down to my wrist again. My entire arm erupted in tingles. "Some get shots of pain," his hand came up to my chin lifting my head to look at him. My face heated from both the tingles and the heat of the moment blush that had appeared. "And the rest get sparks."
Our eyes met sending the tingles followed by a calm feeling throughout my entire body. He moved slow, watching my every move for any sign of opposition. But there was none so he continued to lean down to place a long and soft kiss on my lips. Sparks mixed with butterflies exploded in my stomach as he pulled me into him by my waist. Our moment was quickly interrupted however, with the sound of the door opening and someone clearing their throat. Isaac pulled away just enough to rest his forehead on mine, neither of us wanting the moment to be over. My eyes opened slightly to see who was standing next to us and I jumped back quickly when I saw it was Cyrus. His arms were crossed over his chest and he held a smirk on his face.
"Sorry to interrupt." He said grinning.
Liar.
"Did you need something?" Isaac said, slightly annoyed.
He shrugged. "Just to tell you that Collin and Dimitri started another fight in the kitchen tonight."
Isaac sighed. "Well, did you do anything about it? I mean you are the alpha aren't you?"
My eyes widened with the amount of attitude Isaac was giving Cyrus. I thought you were supposed to treat your alpha like royalty almost.
"Yes, but you are their trainer. I thought you had this figured out between them."
"I thought I did too." Isaac said, running his hand through his hair. "I'll talk to them tomorrow."
Cyrus nodded then looked at me giving me a smirk. "Enjoy your night you two," he said, shooting a wink at me before walking away.
I smiled and watched him leave. Once he shut the door behind him Isaac turned to me again. "Talk about bad timing," he laughed. "How about I show you to your room?" He said offering me his hand again.
I smiled and took it and followed him back into the building. We walked for a while until Isaac led me into a large bedroom with a large window and several doors leading to who knows where. His hand left mine as he let me enter first and then closed the door behind him.
"Do you like it?" He whispered.
"It's beautiful." I said in awe of the view that the window gave of the reserve. I was almost as good as being out there.
"This is my room. Eventually will be yours too but, one step at a time," he said, turning me around to press a gentle kiss on my lips.
I smiled as he pulled away and released me. I wandered around the room in silence, looking at the little bits of clutter Isaac had filling his room. My slow walk came to a stop when my eyes fell on a picture of him and Cyrus. They were so young in the picture I couldn't quite tell how old they were exactly. Seeing this picture reminded me of what Cyrus had said earlier. About Isaac taking over the pack if Cyrus doesn't find his mate.
"Isaac?" I said, turning to him slowly.
He hummed in response, his nose buried in a book he had picked up.
"Cyrus told me about the plan that you and he came up with."
His head turned towards me, a confused look on his face. "The plan?"
"Yeah. The one that if he doesn't find his mate in the next five months, you'd be the one to take over the pack when he no longer can?" I said, more as a question.
His expression didn't change. I could see the thoughts behind his eyes trying to make sense of what I was saying. I felt a hint of embarrassment not knowing if I had said something I shouldn't have. He stood there for a moment before shaking his head.
"Yeah. Right. The-uh the plan." He said slamming the book shut and putting it away. "Well-uh the bathroom is through that door for you to get ready for bed." He said pointing to the door directly behind me. "You can sleep in here, only if you want. You don't have to-uh your room is through that door. You should have everything you need in there," he said pointing to the door to my left next to the window. He seemed a bit different now. "I'll let you get ready. I-uh-I have to go check on something," he added. He turned and started walking towards the door.
"Isaac?" I called making him freeze in his shoes. I could feel just how tense he was. He turned to look at me. "Are you okay?"
I watched as he closed his eyes slowly and sighed before slowly walking back to me. Once he reached me he placed his hand on my cheek and his lips on my forehead.
"I'm fine," he said, pulling away. His voice, much more focused now. "I just need to check this one thing."
I didn't dare ask. I just nodded and then before I knew it he was gone. I quickly turned and walked through the door he said led to my bedroom. My mouth fell open. It had a similar window to his room but this one had a better view of the sky. The moon showed through the trees creating patterns on the floor. I smiled and walked over to the closet to find it fully stocked with various kinds of clothes. Once I was able to find something suitable for pajamas I walked back into Isaac's bathroom and turned the shower on. After my shower I brushed my teeth and walked back into the room. I walked over to the bookshelf that Isaac was standing at before and pulled out the book he was reading. I laughed to myself when I noticed that it was a version of the story of Merlin.
Secretly a nerd. I like it.
I shrugged to myself and sat down on his bed and opened it. Before I knew it I was almost half way through it and starting to fall asleep. I closed the book and set it down next to me before pulling the blankets up to my chin. I couldn't help but wonder what was taking Isaac so long.
Just as sleep started to darken my thoughts I heard two voices in the hallway. They were talking to each other- no they were yelling at each other. About what? I couldn't make out, but one of them seemed to be really upset. Just as I reached the line between consciousness and my dreamworld I heard the door open quietly, followed by quiet footsteps and a gentle kiss on my cheek. Then there was darkness.