A/N
I love all the comments! I love reading through them! They make me laugh and smile so much. So feel free to comment:)
...
Luna made a farewell breakfast for me the next morning. Her and Alpha sat down and ate with me, chatting about how exciting everything is. My mom was already starting to plan Ace and Weston's coronation. She even called my uncle to get in touch with my aunt about the plans. I was glad she was getting involved with Black Hearts. It made me feel like I wasn't really leaving her behind, not that she would let me.
Once I got to the pack house, I made sure to wear a high collar and my sunglasses to cover my scars again. Xander was in the kitchen with Hayden and Oliver when I walked in. I was thankful no other members were there to see the twins in full glory.
Xander knew I was there before even seeing me. We could sense each other fairly well, sometimes it creeped Oliver out. Xander pulled out a chair next to him at the table they were sitting at. The two boys looked confused until they says me approach them.
"Bruh! How do you always know?! It's scary!" Oliver whined, chewing aggressively on a piece of bacon. Xander shrugged, not answering him. I sat next to Xander, watching Oliver sloppily eat his food.
"I hope you don't eat like that in front of Weston," I commented.
Oliver rolled his eyes, stuffing more bacon in his mouth. "Goddess no! He'd have a heart attack. That boy is the neatest person in existence," he mumbled.
Hayden's eyes haven't left me since I made my first appearance, so I finally made eye contact with him.
"You two really are identical, huh? How do you tell each other apart?" Hayden asked curiously, staring between us.
"Easy!" Oliver shouted. "If Blaze takes off his jacket and sunglasses, then he looks 100 times more badass than Xander." Hayden's stare got more intense as he was trying to decipher Oliver's words.
I didn't appreciate being called out like this, but I didn't have much of a choice. I shrugged off my high collared leather jacket to reveal the claw marks across my neck. Then I took off my glasses and folded them neatly onto the table. Hayden didn't even attempt to hide his surprise as he openly stared at my scars.
After a moment of gawking, he finally composed himself. "Oh yeah, definitely more badass than Xander," he agreed giving me a small smirk, making me blush slightly. He raked his eyes over me, furthering my blush. I tried not to show any emotion, but I couldn't help but be frazzled by his behavior. Was he flirting with me?
"So did Lyle ever make his final decision?" Xander asked me in a soft tone, leaning in close as if to make it more private.
I shook me head slightly. "I called him, and left a voicemail last night. Considering he hasn't called back nor did he say anything before he left... my guess is rejection." A pain flowed through me to Xander. I could tell he was trying to take some of it away from me so I wouldn't have to bare it by myself. "I'm not really upset, though. We would've been a bad match. It would've been awkward to explain to people. And I certainly didn't want to stay in that pack." Xander accepted that answer, and leaned back to continue whatever conversation he was having with Oliver and Hayden.
I leaned in closet to Xander, finding comfort in his presence. Our magnet necklaces that I almost forgot about snapped together, scaring all of us. I pulled back to disconnect them as all of us were still a little spooked.
"Oh finally! A relative that doesn't annoy the shit out of me with their stupidity!" Uncle Zach announced as he sauntered into the room, his mate, Jocelyn, trailing behind him with a bored expression. He reminded me of Alpha a lot with his attitude.
Uncle Zach came over and ruffled my hair a bit before taking a seat. Jocelyn sat next to him, allowing me time to assess her attire. She wore scrubs and a snow white lab coat that had her name sewn into it. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun, and her glasses were perfectly balanced on her face. She looked extremely intelligent and not to be questioned. The complete opposite of my goofy uncle.
"I'm not stupid! Just overly inquisitive!" Xander defended himself, an offended look on his face.
"Sure, son," Uncle Zach replied sarcastically.
Hayden was studying all of our interactions, but I didn't question him. We were a very odd family.
"Anyway, Oliver, I need you to look at the seating arrangements again to include everyone who's coming from the North Starlight pack," Uncle Zach ordered. Oliver groaned, but didn't argue.
"Do you mind writing down a list of everyone's names for me?" Oliver asked me in desperation to figure out my pack's presence.
I nodded and turned to my twin. "Who from Ace's family is going to come?" Xander glared at nothing, but I could feel his annoyance.
He sighed before answering. "As far as I know, his parents and his grandfather. Apparently his grandfather is excited." Xander didn't seem to believe that, so I was happy to prove him wrong.
"Oh yeah, his grandfather is probably bouncing off the walls with excitement," I confirmed, patting my brother on the back. Hope lit up in his eyes, an unusual sight to see. "His grandfather was a Delta for a different pack. His grandson being an Alpha's mate is his dream." Xander smiled now, making my heart flutter with relief. I hated seeing him upset. So much so I've probably thought of a dozen ways too get rid of Ace's parents in the past twelve hours.
"Xander, I need you to start setting up the tables and the tent. Oliver can join you when he's done with the guest list," Uncle Zach ordered around. Though Xander and Oliver were taking over the pack, Uncle Zach still held authority over them.
He turned to Jocelyn, who was studying some patient notes. "Is Lilith busy today?"
Jocelyn didn't even look up from her papers as she answered. "We have four colonoscopies today. Trying to get in everyone before the holidays." Uncle Zach sighed in understanding.
"Hayden, I need you to go around the pack parameters and make sure everything is set," he continued to order, but paused to spare me a glance. "And take Blazen. Consider it a tour!" Hayden's face fell, but quickly recovered. He simply nodded, his eyes flickering to me for a moment.
After everyone finished up their breakfast, Hayden turned to me. "Normally, I'd say we should go in our wolf form, but we can't mindlink yet. So why don't we change into running clothes and we will jog around?" I nodded, a little thankful about him not seeing my wolf form yet. I know I looked practically identical to Xander, but I still had a lot more scars, even in my wolf form.
I went to my apartment to change. I picked out some basketball shorts and a t-shirt. Even though it was winter, I knew my wolf was always fairly hot. My shirt did allow for my claw mark to be shown in its full glory, but since Hayden has already seen it, I wasn't too self conscious.
We met outside the pack house, where pack members were now hustling around. I got many stares, but no one dared to ask me any questions. I had a vibrant Alpha aura, one that no one wanted to question.
Hayden was just in basketball shorts, showing off his muscular torso. I tried not to stare too long at his abs because that would be impolite.
"Ready?" I nodded, as he raked his eyes along my body. Very impolite of him.
We set off towards the woods at a light jog. Some parts of the area looked familiar, but others were completely foreign to me. We were in comfortable silence for a while until we came up to a small stream.
"This is Caveat Creek. Don't know why it's called that, but it is." He pointed to the direction the water was flowing. "If you follow the flow, it brings you all the way to Victory Lake in North Starlight territory," he explained, now sparking my curiosity. Victory Lake was where Alex's lake house was on.
I didn't get to ask any questions before we were moving again. I knew running Starlight's parameter took almost 4 hours, so I assumed about the same for Black Hearts. We were already about 2 hours in and still ran in almost complete silence.
Hayden started glancing at me every few moments, as if he had so many questions but was afraid to ask.
"You can ask me any question you want, you know? I'm not gonna bite," I encouraged, trying to end our awkward silence.
"Your bother bites, so I figured you would too." I genuinely laughed at the comment knowing Xander's personality fit his description.
"Well, as you can see, we have very different personalities. I can't just pop back into the pack that mourned my apparent death and penalize you guys for being curious." I shrugged, trying to seem harmless.
Hayden sighed before stopping in his tracks. I gave him a curious look before stopping myself. "Let's take a break for a bit," he suggested, sitting down on a tree stump. I leaned against a tree across from him so I could face him.
"So... what's your position going to be at the pack? You were meant to be Alpha, but obviously you aren't filling that role." I was surprised by his sudden question considering we've barely talked for two hours, but I appreciated the entertainment.
"I'm gonna take over some of the pack training. I was the pack trainer for the warriors at Starlight, so it's fitting. And I'm going to college next year for exercise science," I answered, giving him a detailed description.
Hayden squinted at me, as if my answer was almost too perfect. "You aren't jealous of Xander for being Alpha?" Something in his words told me that if he was in my situation, he would be jealous.
"I don't like the spotlight. Never have, never will. I do, however, love being a warrior." I paused, my fingers grazing the scars on my neck. "I'm already scarred, so what's one more, right?" There was a hint of sadness in my voice that I hoped he wouldn't notice.
I couldn't tell his reaction from his stoic expression. Now I understood people's frustration with me. "I like them," he spoke up finally.
"What?"
"Your scars. They tell a story about your life. They are badass," he hesitated for a moment before smirking. "They're kinda sexy, too. You got more on your chest?" I was taken aback from his forwardness. I don't think I've ever heard tiny scars being called sexy, besides from maybe Emerald.
I blinked a few times, as if this was actually a dream. "Um, yeah, quite a few. Some old, some more recent," I stuttered, now feeling the weight of his eyes on me.
"Can I see?"
"Is this your clever way of trying to see me shirtless?" I was kinda surprised at my own boldness.
Hayden laughed, and boy did he have a very musical laugh. "If I just wanted to see you shirtless, I could think of a hundred better ways I could've gone about it," he joked, pushing his messy hair back to see better.
I ignored his comment and pulled my shirt over my head, putting the dozen scars on display. My most recent one from Lyle's birthday.
Hayden didn't say much as he studied my chest. I couldn't quite tell if he was focused on my abs or my scars. Either way, it made me feel a little uncomfortable.
Finally, he leaned back on his tree stump with a growing smile on his mouth. "Oh yeah, I was right. They do make you look sexier," he said smugly, causing my face to go bright red. I quickly put back on my shirt, feeling quite flustered.
Hayden swiftly stood up and approached, which I tried to not react to. "That leads me to my next question. What exactly happened with your mate?" He stopped only a foot away from me. Feeling a little threatened, I stood up straighter, showing off my massive height.
"My mate is my adoptive brother, Lyle. He wasn't very happy about it, so I gave him a week to decide. I could never bring myself to reject someone," I explained in a somber tone. "He went on vacation or whatever. So he wasn't even here to make the decision. I tried calling, but he didn't answer. Felt like he made up his decision." I shrugged, trying to not let it bother me as much as it did.
"Have you heard about what happened to my mate?" Though the words sounded confident, I watched him shift uncomfortably in his spot.
"Only bits and pieces. I don't like prying. I figured if you wanted to tell me, you would. But I'm a stranger, I wouldn't expect you to," I confirmed, attempting to show some compassion.
Hayden chuckled, taking his hair with his hand again. "That's why I like you, Blazen. You respect privacy, unlike your brother and cousin," he murmured before looking back up at me. "I wasn't happy about who my mate was either. His name was Carter, one of the pack warriors. I wasn't expecting a male mate, so I was pissy about it. But Carter held his ground, bothering me until I fell in love with him." He was genuinely smiling now just thinking about his mate. "I was away at Delta training for the weekend when I got the call that he had been in a car accident." His smile was gone, replaced with a frown. "We were only together for three months before he passed away. And I regret everyday that I treated him so poorly in the beginning." He sighed, looking down at his hands before looking back up. "So don't give up on your mate just yet," he advised before patting me on the shoulder.
He backed up, checking the time on his watch. "There is a pack meeting tonight, so we should probably hurry back. Want to shift into our wolves? I know we won't be able to communicate, but you just need to follow." I hesitated at that, not sure how I felt about the idea. Hayden raise his eyebrow, waiting for an answer. I gave a short nod before taking off my shirt. Hayden stripped right in front of me, so I tried to keep my eyes on the trees instead as I did the same.
We shifted at the same time, revealing our wolves to each other. Hayden was large, but I still towered over him. His fit was a golden brown, similar to his human hair. The wolf nudged me slightly before jogging off. I followed obediently.