Chapter 14
Klaus's POV
"Dude! Come on get up!" You know when things get bad, when you sleep on your best friends floor, face molded into the carpet, with half a dozen empty beer cans scattered across an arms radius around your head, the morning after the night before and getting woken up by your guy friend on a weekday.
"No" I groaned, not bothering to raise my head, knowing that as soon as I did a banging headache would hammer my brain to smithereens.
"Come on Dude! You've been wasted for three days straight, and we got the game tomorrow, the coach won't put you in the team if you don't bother to turn up for play training."
"My head!" I growled, "Urg! I think I'm going to..." I just about got to the toilet in time before I spewed my guts out down the pan.
"Man, you got it bad" I could hear Nick laughing at me.
"I've got nothing bad, I've just been in the mood to get hammered."
"You've been at it for three days, you didn't turn up to practice Friday and coach was pretty pissed" he was right, I had stayed entirely off my head since Thursday night.
"Urg, Nick pass me another beer" I moaned, - the only way to get rid of this god-awful hangover is to just get pissed again... sounds like a plan, because all too soon reality of just how f*cked up my life was will catch up with me, and I wasn't ready to face that yet.
"Na, not today, you're coming to school even if I have to get the whole pack to drag you there" he grinned,
"NO!" I growled, but I felt like crap, so my voice sounded week even to myself.
"Do I have to call big daddy wolf?" he smirked.
"Urg I'm coming!" If there was one person in the world who I was scared of, it was my father. He was like my own personal alpha, to keep me in check and boss me about. With that thought, I pulled myself off the floor and dragged myself back into my bedroom, "but I'm going to need a bucket full of paracetamol" I growled.
"Fine, but we're leaving in 10" he called over his shoulder as he left my room.
Right now the three of us were living in one of my dads 'real estates' just on the outskirts of town, our own 'bachelor pad' as we called it, and a top location for the best house party in town to everyone else.
"So the almighty Klaus returns!" Ethan laughed, as he poured some more pancake mix onto a frying pan. Something not many people knew was that Ethan actually loved to cook, which was great for Nick and me because we never had to cook - not that I knew how to anyway. "You want some pancakes?"
"Naa man, I think I'll probably just bring it back up again" I moaned, my head still banging, as I sunk down onto one of the kitchen stools.
"So did you hear any more about the rouge?" Nick yawned as he took a seat beside me.
"No" I frowned, I had forgotten about the wolf who was smelt around the area last week,
"Maybe he was just wandering" he shrugged
"Maybe" I agreed
"All I can say is that I'm surprised none of us noticed him" Ethan shrugged, planting a couple more pancakes on Nick's plate.
"That's all you man, I left you in charge" I grinned hitting Nick, under any other circumstances I would have been more serious when discussing a breach in pack security, but my head had a much more critical subject on its mind...
"He was too busy thinking about sky, to think about his duties" Ethan laughed sitting across from us.
"Sky" I mumbled, looking around the kitchen as a way to cover up the fact that I all but choked on her name, as memories of Thursday night caught up with me so fast that It was like they never left. I felt a whole new wave of sickness overwhelm me, as I remembered what she'd said 'I don't want to see you again.' The same sentence repeated itself over and over again in my brain, like an alarm clock with no snooze button. Being wasted had temporarily numbed me from this overwhelming pain for the last few days. It had dulled the pull she had on me, but now I was sober again It all came back to me like a tonne of bricks crushing me, so hard that all I wanted to do was crawl in a hole and die... well after I go round her house and beg her to take me back.
Urg, if I thought I was feeling like shit before. I was feeling a hundred times worse now.
"I would have thought, Mrs. Lakeland would have noticed though" Nick shrugged, hang on...
"Mrs. Lakeland?" I repeated, the surprise apparent on my face... Sky's staying with Mrs. Lakeland?
"Yeh you know, that old widow who lives next to the north-west side of the forr..."
"I know who she is!" I growled, unable to hide the seriousness from seeking through my words. If some wolf I hadn't met, who was on my land without permission and knocking on my mate's door was around. My wolf growled angrily, as my previous depressed mood was entirely overridden with protectiveness as I thought about someone near my angel.
"Whoa!" I vaguely noticed Ethan and Nick looking at me like I was about to blow, and maybe I was. "Man you need to calm down" Nick warned, his hand pressing on my vibrating shoulder. He was right I did need to calm down, I could feel my wolf riding into change, and I really didn't want to change in the house - In the mood I'm in now I'll probably break it down, both my human and wolf was beyond livid at the fact someone was near enough to hurt her.
"I got to go," I growled, not finding the strength to control the anger in my voice.
"Wait!" Ethan and Nick said at the same time, causing my wolf to snarl at the two of them, as I barged past them towards the front door. I needed to get out of here. I needed to be with her.
"Man, where are you going?!" Nick called after me, as I began to run towards the forest.
"To see someone" I growled over my shoulder.
"Is your intention to kill em? Because in your mood..." he began, but I cut him off with an almighty growl, which had him frozen where he was.
"I WILL NOT KILL HER!" I snarled, my voice echoing through the forest. "Now get lost!" I ordered.
"Klaus, we are not letting you go alone..." Ethan said as the two of them began to walk towards me.
"I said STAND DOWN!" I ordered, letting all of my alpha authority leaks into my voice, leaving them no choice but to obey me.
I watched as the two of them bowed their heads, in a show of respect. They might be my best friends, but they also knew their rank, which was lower than mine.
With that, I shifted giving all my senses over to my wolf and began to run through the forest, with one and only one destination in mind.
The Lakeland Estate.
Well that was until reality hit me, one being it was half eight, meaning Sky would have already left for school, Leaving only Mrs. Lakeland left at home, and something told me that I wouldn't want her to see her granddaughters future husband stalk naked on her front doorstep. Had I not been so hot-headed, I would have thought ahead and brought a spare pair of clothes. I would have also realized Sky would have already left, but I wasn't worried about her safety as much now. I knew she would be with Wesley, and as much as I hated the prick. I knew she would be safe with him, not to mention the number of my wolves which where at school right now, they wouldn't let anything happen. I reassured myself but made a mental note at the same time to talk to the pack about the situation.
I was nearly at my parent's house now, so I decided to go and grab a spare pair of clothes, and hope that nobody was home. I really didn't want to answer the questions, which were no doubt going to arise when they saw me. I could picture it now...
'Hey honey' my mom would smile warmly enclosing me in a hug and not let me go for a couple of minutes, that would allow my father to come and see the commotion.
"Hello son, what calls you here?" he would ask frowning, as he would think I was skipping school. Meaning I would have to tell him it was pack business...
'Inform me son' he would say, and then I would tell him the situation and probably let it slip that she was my mate and ruin everything.
I was almost about to turn around and go home again. Thinking of what might be said if I walked in and saw them, but as I neared the house, I thought I would just jump through the window. The dining room window was usually shut, but the lock was typically left unlocked. So I crept around the back, and as expected, the window was still unlocked. So after changing back into my human form, I jumped through the window and then continued to creep through the house until I got to my old bedroom.
It was just as I had left it, everything in the same place. So I quickly went up to my wardrobe, grabbing whatever I could find and then pulling them on until I was fully dressed.
"Son" a horribly familiar voice sounded from the door. Busted. I cringed as I slowly turned to see my father leaning against the doorframe with his eyebrow raised.
"I can explain" I blurted out, raking my brain for an excuse that didn't involve mentioning the truth.
"Would you like to explain to me why you came home, and haven't said hello to your mother?" he frowned disapprovingly, Urg he has an irritating way of being able to make me feel like a 5-year-old caught stealing a cookie from the cookie jar.
"I just need to sort something out" I muttered vaguely, hoping in vain that he would think nothing of it. Of course, that was something my father would never be able to do.
"Inform me son" see there you go! I knew he was going to say that. I couldn't stop a growl from escaping my lips, as I tried to think of what to say.
"Well, you know that rouge found in the area, the day I came back?"
"Yes..." I frowned, confusion flashing across his eyes. "I thought nothing was thought of it..."
"Well no nothing was, but..." I stopped, not knowing how to tell him, or what to tell him.
"But?" he pressed, annoyance seeping through his tone.
"I think he was interested in one of... us" I finished, I would have said 'pack' before I realized that she actually wasn't officially a member of my pack.
"Oh," he frowned. I could tell that he was getting annoyed with my vague answers. "...and who might that be?"
"The wolf was sensed near the old Lakeland estate" I shrugged, hoping he wouldn't notice I hadn't answered his original question.
"So the wolf in trouble is either Mrs. Lakeland or... the new girl" he grinned, amusement consuming his eyes.
"Sky, father. Her name is Sky" I corrected him automatically and then internally cursed my own stupidness.
"Of course it was to do with a girl!" he rolled his eyes chuckling slightly "but one question... Why did you stop to change?" he asked amused. Urg dad! I rolled my eyes. The phrase 'like father like son' wasn't so far off the mark when it came to us. I took after him in the player department. My 'sleeping' history was what got me kicked out of the house in the first place. In the end, my mother had, had enough of me bringing a different girl home every night. Apparently, I reminded her too much of my father in his younger days.
"You know, your starting to sound like a dirty old man" I rolled my eyes as I walked past him, deciding not to answer his question.
"Hey I still look and feel 25!" he called from behind me, as I went to find my mother.
"Mom" I called to her when I finally located her in the kitchen.
"Who are you?" she squinted her eyes, causing me to roll my eyes again "oh yeh! Klaus my son, who rarely comes and visits!" she sighed sarcastically, as she wrapped her arms around me.
"Sorry mom, I've been busy" I shrugged, but I knew it wasn't an excuse.
"Well come and sit down, I'll make you brunch" she beamed while I grimaced.
"Actually mom, I only came to say hi... I've got pack business to deal with."
"KLAUS ALEXANDER IVERSON" she glared, and I knew she was pissed; by the way, she had to pronounce my whole damn name!
"Mom, look I just got to sort out something. Its important and I promise as soon as I finish I'll come straight back and were have lunch?" I reasoned with her, knowing that it would soften her up.
"Fine" she muttered rolling her eyes.
"Love you mom" I Grinned walking towards the front door.
"Yeh that's what I have to keep reminding myself" she grumbled sarcastically.
Seeing my parents had surprisingly helped me push the whole Sky situation away from the center of my brain for a few minutes, but as my angered, protective thoughts flooded back to me, it was back down to business.
I needed to talk to Mrs. Lakeland.
I hadn't ever been to Mrs. Lakeland's house, though I knew where it was. It was one of the nearest houses which sat just within our territory, I could understand a rouge coming here. Seeing as it was buried deep within the forest, and close to the border, meaning a quick escape would be possible. I couldn't help but realize this fact made my protectiveness of her even worse, she lived so far away, so close to the dangers of other packs. I couldn't protect her here, not unless I somehow persuaded Mrs. Lakeland to let me move in - I must admit the thought was beyond tempting. But then the reminder that she never wanted to speak to me again re-entered my brain. Causing my insides to twist within me, causing me physical pain as her heart broken face flashed in front of my eyes. I frowned, willing her away from my mind for the moment, my feelings weren't important right now. What was important though, was making sure she was safe.
So I composed myself, and my thoughts as I knocked on the whitewashed old door, waiting for the old lady to let me in.
"Who is it?" she called cheerfully through the still closed door.
"Klaus Iverson" I answered formally, wanting to make an excellent first impression towards my future in-law. Well, she already knows who I am. My consciousness reminded me. I just hoped she didn't know of my reputation... aw hell, everyone knew my reputation! I guess the whole 'past coming back to haunt you' wasn't so far off the mark, though I wouldn't have thought it would have come back so quickly.
I felt my hands clamming slightly, as I waited while she fiddled with the door. Urg! Macho it up man! It's not as if its meet the parents! She isn't even her parent. Not to mention the fact she wouldn't even know I was sky's mate. Unless... no. Nobody knows we're mates, so I doubt she would have told her grandmother.
"Hello son, can I help you?" the woman smiled as she ushered me in, wait! What? Son!?
"Er..." I frowned unsure, did she know?!
"Spit it out boy, I don't have all day!" she chuckled, and I felt a small smile spread across my face. I could tell where Sky got her attitude towards me from. No one had ever told me to 'spit it out' before... did she forget I was her alpha?
"Actually, I'm here to ask you some questions."
"Oh, of course" she smiled and led me to the small cozy living room. This house was defiantly not a house I would picture anyone under the age of fifty living in, let alone a teenage girl. "Can I get you anything?" she offered, hovering in the middle of the room uncomfortably.
"No thanks, Mrs. Lakeland," I said motioning her to sit down.
"So what would you like to know?"
"Well, Its about the visitor you had last week" I reminded her, as I watched confusion cross her eyes before realization swept her features.
"Oh yes! He wanted to know if Skylar was living here" she nodded.
"WHAT?!" I growled without thinking, and then immediately composed my anger as I looked at the startled look on the old woman's face. "I mean, he was specifically looking for her?" I clarified.
"Yes... of course, I said she didn't live here," she said cautiously, as she watched my reaction. So I hid the fact, that right now I was feeling sick with worry.
"D...did he say why?" I asked through clenched teeth.
"No, he didn't... Klaus is something wrong?"
"n...no, I mean I don't think..." I trailed off, for once in my life not sure what to say. I mean everything was defiantly NOT ok, but I didn't want to worry her. Sky was for me to worry about and look after.
"Klaus?" she pressed, worry apparent in her voice.
"No its ok, she's fine" I lied, pulling a fake smile to my face, as a plan developed in my brain. I would make sure she was safe, even if it meant spending every minute watching over her and making sure nobody could touch her, I would do it.
"Are you sure?" she asked concerned.
"Yes positive, it was just a shock" I lied again as I got up.
"Is that all?" she asked surprised,
"For now yes, thank you for your time Mrs. Lakeland," I said bowing my head slightly, like the gentleman I knew I could be, but as I walked back into the hall, I stopped dead in my tracks as my eyes landed on the suitcase sitting by the front door. In that one second, I felt like my heart stops beating altogether before it started to painfully break within me. She was leaving? NO! I wouldn't allow it! She was MINE!
"I... is she L...leaving" the words left my mouth in such a mumble, that I wondered if she could understand me at all.
"No, I'm leaving for a couple of weeks, my friend just lost her husband. I said I'd stay with her for a while" That one sentence rebuilt my heart, bringing it back to its normal pre-broken state.
"and Sky?"
"She will be staying here" she informed me.
"On her own?"
"Yes" she chuckled "she is plenty old enough to stay alone on her own"
"Well, she may be old enough, but will she be able to take down attackers if they came back?" I growled slightly, reminding myself to control my anger. I didn't let her answer as I carried on " I think it would be better if she stayed with someone while your gone" I offered, knowing full well what 'someone' she would be staying with.
"Who?"
"With Wesley at my parent's house, they would be fine with having her stay for as long as your gone" I smiled kindly.
"Well that's very kind, but I'm not sure if Sky would want..." she began, but I cut her off before she could carry on.
"Her safety is our main priority here," I reminded her with a reassuring smile.
"Well then... I guess that would be alright" she smiled.
"Great, when are you leaving?" I asked
"In a few hours" she sighed.
"Perfect, I'll inform her at school then" I grinned, my mood immediately brightening. "I'll see you soon Mrs. Lakeland" I waved, having to remind myself to at least try to act normal, as I left her house.
"Goodbye Klaus" she called, as I walked towards the forest, smiling to myself.
Now all I need to do is think up the perfect excuse to move back home for the next couple of weeks.