A pillow fell onto my face, instantly waking me up. I sat up immediately, scanning my surroundings for the threat. The threat was just Alpha staring at me with an amused smile dancing across his face.
"Whatcha doing down here, son? You do have a bed," he laughed, sipping his coffee as I stretched.
I ripped my blanket off and wandered into the kitchen, Alpha following as I grumbled to myself. "Weston was drunk and completely took over my bed," I groaned. The perfect lie. I poured myself my own coffee, an unusual gesture for me. I sat on the counter in only some shorts, displaying all my scars. Alpha wasn't bothered by them like I was, but I was still insecure being so exposed. I wished I had worn a shirt to bed.
"Well, seems like you had quite the night. You were at the birthday party for the next Alpha of Black Heart pack, yes?" I paused, uncomfortable that he knew the details. Did he know Xander at all? Has he seen a picture of him?
I hesitated before answering, looking for the right words. "Uh, yeah. I need to talk to you about that amongst a few other things..." I trailed off, sipping my coffee when I couldn't think of what else to say.
"It's okay. I think it's good you are making so many connections with other packs. It could help us with alliances one day!" he dismissed, waving his hand in the air as if it didn't matter. I wasn't sure if I was relieved that I didn't have to confess everything right now or upset he dismissed it.
I was about to talk again before Weston barged in looking very unhappy and definitely hungover.
"The beast has risen!" Alpha joked, putting his hands in the air to emphasize his point. Weston rolled his eyes as he took a frozen waffle out of the freezer.
"The beast will claw your ears out if you don't shut up," he grumbled, sitting next to me on the kitchen island counter. Alpha put his hands up in defense and continued to drink his coffee. "Do I have to go to to omega training today?" Weston whined as he chomped his waffle.
I patted him on the back roughly. "You bet ya!" Weston groaned and attempted to push me off the counter, but I managed to sturdy myself easily.
Lyle barged in, and we all looked up at him. I cautiously watched him, ready to protect Weston if need be. His eyes flashed gold for a split second, but he collected himself and walked passed us to the coffee.
"On second thought, if Lyle is in a bad mood, I'd go anywhere to get away from him," Weston piped up, obviously meaning it in a whimsical manner, but Lyle growled at him. Weston simply rolled his eyes and ignored the boy.
Lyle sat next to Alpha at the table, his eyes never leaving me. He studied my bare torso, and I suddenly felt even more self conscious than I thought was possible. Thankfully, his gaze switched back over to Weston. Lyle's eyes furrowed before asking, "Why are you wearing Blaze's shirt?" The words were practically spit out of his mouth, not doing a very good job at hiding his wolf's possessiveness. But to everyone else unaware of the situation, they probably assumed Lyle was just fucking around with us to bully me.
Weston blinked a few times before looking down at the plain black shirt. "How'd you even know this was Blaze's?" I mean it could've been anyone's black shirt, but I knew it probably smelled like me enough for Lyle to notice. Lyle shrugged, leaving Weston space to answer the question. "My elf costume got covered in cake," Weston admitted, blushing a bit. "It wasn't my fault this time! Xander was aiming for Blaze, but he got me instead," Weston defended, obviously not realizing the name he just dropped.
My eyes instantly fell on Alpha who was frozen in his place. He recognized the name. The name I screamed in all my nightmares. The name I cried for at night. Why else would I suddenly start hanging out nonstop with people from another pack? "Xander, the next in line Alpha, right?" Alpha suddenly questioned, not in his usual confidence but more hesitant. Weston nodded, now realizing his mistake. Lyle didn't react, which was good. His lack of attention all these years are coming in clutch.
"We better shower and get going," I urged Weston, hoping he'd get the hint. He jumped off the counter and practically ran out of the kitchen with me in pursuit.
While Weston was in the shower, Alpha knocked on my bedroom door. I wasn't sure what to do or what he wanted, so I just opened the door and let him speak.
Alpha sighed before searching my face for some kind of answer. "I was dismissive of you before," he admitted, sounding guilt ridden. "When you are ready to talk about it, you find me, and I'll listen," he reassured gently, placing one of his rough hands on my shoulder. I supplied him with a weak smile and a nod. Alpha's face was stoic, so it was hard to read what was going on in his head. He left without another words.
"What was that about?" I turned to see Lyle's head peaking out of his room. He was obviously listening to the conversation.
I narrowed my eyes at him, which only made him smile more. "None of your business," I sneered, slamming my door, but not before I heard his response.
"It will be my business soon," he mumbled, which made my heart stop. Behind the barrier of my door, I let my tears fall. I was extremely overwhelmed by everything that had happened today. I mean what else could go on today?
...
"So you are gonna move literally next week?" Weston shouted at me as he we drove to the field for training. I hummed, focusing on the road instead of his reaction. Weston leaned back on his seat. "Wow man, I mean good for you. It seemed like Alpha picked up on some stuff this morning, so it's not going to be a huge surprise. But wow, Luna is going to cry her eyes out," Weston remarked as he stared at me in awe of what I just admitted. Deep down I knew I wanted stay even if Lyle rejected me, but I also knew it would be best to just leave.
I itched my arm, pulling up to the field that already had a few omegas lined up. "Yeah, I'm sure it will all work out. I just need to get out of this pack." I get out of the car before Weston could comment further.
Ace ran right up to me, staring at me wide eyed. "What's up, Ace?" I asked a little skeptical, side stepping him to walk to the field. He swiftly followed after me.
"You smell different," he spoke slowly, trying to keep up with my pace.
Weston laughed behind us. "It's because we smell like another pack of wolves still." Weston scrunched up his nose in disgust, but I knew he loved the remnants of his mate's scent.
Ace stared at me for a minute before walking off to the rest of the omegas. Then Felix ran up to me with a contagious smile playing his face.
"I have something for you!" He handed me an envelope, and Weston wandered up, now curious. I glanced hesitantly at Weston before opening the envelope to reveal a card. "Happy late birthday!" Felix clapped his hands, and a few omegas sent us curious looks but didn't say anything. He obviously didn't know that it was quite odd for someone to give me a birthday gift. In a few days it wouldn't matter because I'll be out of here.
I opened the card to find a short, heart-felt message and a gift card to the diner Xander and I always go to. I had told him about it before, so it was a cute gesture.
"Thank you, Felix. It wasn't necessary, but greatly appreciated," I said genuinely as I scanned over his message. Felix smiled big again before running away to take his place next to Ace.
It was time to start the lesson, but I was unsure of how to begin. I settled on clapping first to get everyone's attention. Once everyone quieted down, I found my words. "Okay guys, we will be continuing our offensive work today. But first, I wanted to let you guys know that Weston is taking over training from now on. You will get any of my feedback next week from Weston," I announced, which caused chatter to erupt. The only person I that openly stared at me in shock was Ace. I felt bad for not personally telling him, but I wouldn't have known what to say.
The lesson went fast as Weston took over for most of it. Weston only agreed to taking over the training sessions this morning. Now I needed to figure out who would take my place for training the pack warriors. Probably Alex or maybe Weston's sister.
Weston and I chatted with Felix for a few minutes after the training was over. Weston was extremely excited he could talk to Felix openly about his mate.
Ace wandered up to us once everyone else left. He stared at me for a minute as Felix and Weston conversed. "Can we talk?" Ace finally asked, and I could see he was very conflicted. Normally his words came out confidently, but these came out weak.
I simply nodded and followed his to a tree a few yards away to give us some privacy. I don't even think the pair noticed us walk off.
"What's up?" I questioned a little awkwardly, not making eye contact with the boy.
But of course when I looked up, I was met with his lost eyes. I could stare at his blue eyes for hours, but I could look into Lyle's dark eyes for the rest of my life. I had to block that comment out of my head to focus on the boy in front of me.
"You didn't tell me you aren't training us anymore," he says slowly, a sad taint in his voice. His feet shuffled in his spot as he twiddled with his thumbs.
I felt a small pain in my chest, but I tried to ignore it. "Oh, it's a little complicated... I've got some personal things going on." I couldn't help the awkwardness as I tried to be as vague as possible.
"Oh, okay... I'm sorry if I'm over stepping right now, but my wolf is going out of control. I don't know why," he mumbled to himself, scratching the back of his head.
His words sparked my interest, everything suddenly making much more sense if my hypothesis is correct. "You said I smelled different this morning," I stated, which made him look back up at me. "And your wolf is confused? Is he confused because he thinks my wolf his his mate?" Ace froze, gazing up at me with wide eyes.
He nodded eagerly, breaking his frozen moment. "Yes, how'd you know? You don't seem effected." He gained back his confidence, now sounding more like an interrogator.
I bit my lip, not sure how to answer. "Weston?" I called over to him. Weston perked up, pausing his conversation with Felix. "Would you like to go to Black Hearts with Ace and me?"
"Of course, but why?" Him and Felix strides over to us. Felix narrowed his eyes, glancing between Ace and me.
Ace was staring at me confused, obviously looking for answers. "I think Ace might be Xander's mate," I confessed, causing Ace to look thoroughly lost while Felix and Weston shrieked in excitement.
"No way! How do you know?!" Weston was jumping up and down as he questioned me, obviously way more excited than anyone else.
Ace tugged on my shirt so I'd turn to face him. "Who's Xander?" His voice was small.
I give him a reassuring smile before explaining. "I share a wolf with someone, and I think that may explain what's happening here. You aren't my mate, you're his." Ace nodded, not daring to speak. "He's from another pack. It will make more sense when you meet him, I promise."