I tried not to acknowledge Lyle that morning, but his red puffy eyes made me wince. Lyle rarely cried, but I also knew he wouldn't want me to mention it. He was a very prideful man... something I never understood.
The entire day at school, Emerald was discussing her outfit for her date that Saturday with that girl we talked about. Weston was fairly good at handling these situations because he had a very feminine side that he only let show for a select few people. Those people being me and Emerald.
The day was exhausting and practice was even more draining. As Weston and I walked inside from practice, I tried to listen to his blabbering about school, but it was hard to concentrate on his words.
Weston slammed his gym locker and looked at me curiously. "So is that a yes?" I turned to him confused at his question, which he rolled his eyes to in response. "Wolf training. Like now. I was just telling you that I haven't trained with my wolf in a really long time, and I know you haven't either." He sounded annoyed, but I knew he really wasn't.
I sighed and picked up my bag. "I'm really exhausted, but I know I should let him out. Wanna go to the clearing?" He smiled widely and nodded vigorously.
Weston hopped in my car and we drove to the clearing. It was off road into the woods, a nice grassy area that was perfect for training sessions. We held majority of the hand to hand combat sessions here, so it was like a second home to me.
Weston was one of the few people who've actually seen my wolf, the other person being Alpha. I refused to hunt or teach in wolf form. Alpha understood why, and no one ever questioned it.
I stripped down, placing my clothes in a neat pile. I tried not to look at Weston as he did the same. Weston had no shame in his body or wolf, while I liked my privacy. We both took a few seconds to painfully switch into our wolf form. It had been months since I had changed because I wanted to hide my wolf away. Weston had a beautiful red coat, similar to the color of a fox, to match his hair. He was a decent size due to his delta blood, but nothing compared to me. My coat was midnight black, an extreme rarity in the wolf community. There was a single imperfection on my coat: a small white patch on my chest that looked like a half of a heart or maybe a semicircle. Weston always joked saying my mate would have the other half of my heart.
Besides my color, my size was also off-putting. I was the size of an Alpha, if not larger. This was probably due to my rouge blood, but I didn't need to give the pack more excuses to bully me.
I circled Weston's wolf, trying to get used to the feel of being in wolf form again. Weston lunged first, beginning our playful fighting.
We spent the next hour chasing each other, fighting each other, and simply playing. It felt good to finally run free, and Weston was the only person I trusted enough to do this with.
It was getting dark, so we swiftly shifted back and redressed.
"I swear you're larger every time I see you," he laughed as he gathered his things and hopped back into my car. The car ride to his house was comfortable silence. A silence I needed after a long day of interactions. Weston really was an amazing friend, and I thanked the Goddess for him everyday.
"Thanks for pushing me to come out tonight," I broke the silence with a genuine thank you. Weston beamed brightly as he turned to face me as I drove.
"That's what best friends are for, silly!" He slapped my shoulder, and I whimpered as if it hurt me.
He gave me a small smile and wave as he exited the car once I got to his house. I knew Luna was going to be upset because I was a little late for dinner. What I didn't expect was to pull up to the house just in time to hear a deafening argument between Alpha and Lyle.
I walked in early enough to witness Lyle say his last words. "You waited for the last minute to tell me my coronation isn't happening! That's just unfair and wrong, Dad!" He ran upstairs, leaving Alpha, Luna, and I standing there in shock. Dinner was on the table untouched, and my growling stomach was not happy about this delay.
It didn't take me long to realize what they were talking about. This was a continuation of the argument from last night.
Luna sat down in defeat, not looking up to either Alpha or me. Without any words, I made a plate of chicken and mashed potatoes for Lyle, avoiding the broccoli because he hated it with his life, and I didn't need to make him more angry.
"I'm going to bring this up to him," I stated politely before trudging upstairs to his room. I took a deep breath before knocking. I've gotten in the habit of bringing him up food over the years. I've never got in an argument with Luna and Alpha, always too worried about being kicked out. Lyle on the other hand got into yelling matches with them frequently. He got his stubbornness from Alpha for sure.
"Go away, Dad!" Lyle sneered through the door. I laughed humorlessly.
"I thought you had a better nose than that. I brought you food. Luna will come up here and bust down the door if you don't accept it from me," I explained, knowing the routine fairly well.
There was small silence before the door suddenly flew open, revealing a very pissed off Lyle. I didn't let the action startle me as this was our normal routine. He stepped to the side, letting me in his room as he stomped back to his bed. I quickly entered and closed the door behind him. I placed the food in his hands before leaning on his desk comfortably.
"If it's any consolation, I told Alpha it was stupid not to tell you. But he also only told me last week," I mentioned as I glanced around his room. He had a few paintings up that he had done recently. Other than that, the room had little personality to it, similar to mine.
Lyle grumbled a little with his mouth full of mashed potatoes. "Yeah, well it's stupid, but I can't argue anymore," he mumbled, glaring at his innocent food.
"Yeah..." I trailed off, standing up again, "Let me know if you need anything." And with that, I left the room, not needing his negative emotions right now.