Double upload because it's my birthday:)
-Adam's POV-
With just ten minutes to spare, I had everybody I needed, gathered in the pack house, awaiting Kaden's arrival.
Everyone was just as curious as I was, as to what it was he wished to speak with us about, I could only pray to Luna it wasn't anything bad.
The fact that it was just my friends, and my uncle, eased the tension of the situation a little for me, I was around people I knew I could trust, even with my life if it came to it.
And now, I found myself pacing.
Michael, Luke, Remy, Nathan, and Tom, all sat in various places around the living room, mostly in silence as they waited, all of which were surprised when I passed on Kaden's message.
But I didn't have time to ponder on that, too many questions were running through my mind, and I had no answers to them, if I asked, would he tell me?
My wolf was torn, he wanted to get to his mate so badly, but things only seemed to get more complicated the more time went on.
We didn't know what to do, I'd never felt so powerless before, and that was something I couldn't admit to anyone, I'm the Alpha, I'm the one who is supposed to be in control, yet here I was feeling utterly useless, waiting for my mate to make the first move so I know where I stand.
This is the power your mate holds over you, and there was no real escaping that.
The sound of a car pulling up outside caught my attention, pulling me to a stop, my eyes flickered to the door in an instant, the anxiety only building in my chest as I tried to calm my restless wolf.
A knock on the door echoed loudly around the room, the clock on the wall telling the time as 8PM, the ticking sound only seemed to mock me, but still, I swallowed down and forced my legs to move me towards the door.
He wasn't here, I couldn't feel him, only the presence of four people stood outside the door, which was proven correct when the door swung open to reveal Adrian, Zach, Cameron and Gabriel, all looking far too serious for my liking.
They joined us in the living room, greeting everyone is their usual friendly manner, Adrian was right, it was almost like when we met up to hang out, only the atmosphere was too tense to trick myself into believing it was a friendly meeting.
"Where's Kaden?" I asked, refusing to let on just how hard my heart was beating.
"He isn't here?" Adrian asked, glancing at the clock on the wall in surprise.
"Hmm, it's not like him to be late to this kind of thing, not that we've ever been in a situation like this, but you get what I mean," Adrian continued with a grin.
"Can you contact him, make sure everything's okay?" I kept a straight face, my body rigid, not liking his words.
Adrian's grin morphed into a kind smile, taking me by complete surprise, but it didn't help me to relax.
"Kaden's strong, he'll be fine, probably just caught up with work as usual," he reassured, taking a seat on one of the couches and pulling Zach into his lap.
"What is his job exactly?" Michael asked, clearly having just as many questions as the rest of us.
Adrian cringed. "I'm sorry, but I think it's best I don't answer any questions until Kaden gets here."
"Is he in charge of you guys or something?" Nathan asked next, making Adrian frown.
"Any questions you have about us should really be directed at Kaden," he pursed his lips.
Michael sighed loudly, but before he could speak again, I fixed him with a glare that had him shutting his mouth, and the room fell into silence once again.
"I can't believe our history teacher is a werewolf," Cameron suddenly spoke, only to blush madly a second later. "I'm so sorry, that was supposed to stay in my head," he spluttered.
Gabriel laughed, pulling his boyfriend closer to him as his arm wrapped around the boy.
Tom chuckled in kind, smiling at Cameron in amusement as he thought to himself.
"I can't believe some of my students are Soul Wakers," he returned, but he didn't look at the boys the same way we did, in fact, there was no confusion in his eyes at all, only fascination and understanding.
I wanted to ask, I was going to ask, but we were interrupted once again.
We were all stunned into silence as we watched an opaque, purple, doorway appear in the room, it looked just like the one they had placed in front of the classroom door, and my heart stopped.
I was waiting to hear the words of the spell once again, but instead Kaden stepped out from beyond it, his feet touched the ground and the doorway quickly vanished, leaving no trace of ever being there.
"My deepest apologies for being late, you were all kind enough to meet us here at this given time, but I am afraid I was held up with some important business," he sighed, sounding even more formal than usual, that tiredness still following him, when was the last time he got a decent night's sleep?
"Dude...what are those things?" Luke asked, still staring at where the doorway had been, with a look of pure shock and fascination, and I don't think any of us were expecting Kaden to answer the question.
"That was a portal, the one we used earlier was a shield, though they look very similar, if you know what you are looking for, you will be able to tell the difference," Kaden answered honestly, and nobody knew how to respond, so instead he continued.
"Thank you for meeting with me, I believe I owe you an explanation. I would also like to apologise for earlier, you can rest assure I do not plan on wiping your memories as long as you give me no need to, instead I simply wish to introduce ourselves to you properly, I assure you we are here with no ill intent."
Kaden held the full attention of the room, it was honestly impressive, and when his heart didn't skip a single beat with each word he spoke, I found myself smirking.
Only my mate could have me feeling bipolar, but just having him in the same room as me, had a calm sense washing over my whole being.
Kaden turned to Tom with a friendly smile, to which my uncle instantly returned, what did he know?
"At first, I thought you were the Alpha," Kaden started, instantly wiping the smile off my face, that was quickly replaced with a frown.
"However, you are far too laidback, I saw many confused faces earlier today, yet not you, you understood, having such vast knowledge, a calm and caring personality, with that aura, of knowing something that nobody else does, once you put all that together it only made sense for you to be the Elder."
Tom smiled wide, looking so at peace with himself, I envied that feeling.
"It's honestly a pleasure to meet you, I heard rumour you had all been wiped out," Tom smiled.
"I wish things could have been different, I held no control over the past, but I do hold control over the future, and I think it is about time some past wrongs were righted," Kaden replied solemnly, and I felt my patience flee the room.
"Will someone explain what is going on?!" I demanded, I didn't like being out of the loop, especially when we were on my territory.
Silence hung heavy in the room and Kaden turned to me, for a moment he just stared, and with his eyes finally on me, I felt like I could breathe again.
He stepped towards me, drawing all of my attention onto him, my wolf stood to attention, and I wanted nothing more than to pull him from the room so I could finally be alone with him.
"Adam..." he whispered my name and my whole demeaner crumbled, how could he hold so much control, when he had my wolf falling to his knees?
He pulled my wolf forward, and I didn't even try to hold back my eyes, I wanted him to see them.
"Anybody who holds the slightest knowledge of werewolves knows it's the Alpha who holds red eyes," he spoke, never breaking eye contact.
"We should probably talk," he continued, and I couldn't help but agree.
"I've been trying to talk to you since the moment we met," I told him, he smiled sadly, I could see the apology in his eyes, but instead he nodded slowly.
"I will listen now," he assured, and I had to force back a smile, "but if it's okay with you, I thought I could answer some questions you guys surely have, and maybe Tom and I could give our own History lesson," he smiled softly.
As much as I wanted to talk to him alone, the questions were only piling up and I still had no answers to them, so I willingly agreed, hoping by the time the night was over, everything would make a lot more sense.
"I'm afraid I only know half of the story," Tom informed, once he considered it safe to speak again.
"And I know the other half," Kaden concluded, holding the most confidence in the room.
"So, you have questions for me?" My mate smiled, relaxing in our presence as he awaited the barrage of questions that were surely to be fired his way, and he couldn't have been more right.
"What is a Soul Waker?" I was the first to ask, better to start simple, although I was dying to know if I meant anything more to him.
"We are an ancient civilization, it's in the name really, we are the Wakers of souls, with the ability to connect through souls, we are peaceful and only wish to coincide with others much like yourself, our people date back eons, and we hold an ancient magic that we try to use for good. We're really not that different from you, we each have our roles, our powers, all of our identities must be kept secret, and we blend into the human world just as well as you do," he explained calmly, more than willing to answer our questions in great detail.
"What's your role?" Michael asked as soon as he got the chance.
"I am the King," he answered, bringing the whole room to a shocked silence.
"We are of a different world, a world called Galtolga, a world of magic and hope," he finished, but still all I could do was stare.
My mate is...a King?
"Do you have mates?" Luke asked, and I forced myself to snap out of my stupor.
"We do, although to us they are our keeper."
"Who is your keeper?" I asked, refusing to look away from him as his eyes quickly found mine.
"I think you already know the answer to that question," was his response, and then he smirked at me, full on, sexy as fuck smirk, straight at me, and I had to stop my wolf from making his presence known.
But it was already too late.
"Mate," my wolf growled, and I watched, as Kaden's smirk only grew darker.
-Kaden's POV-
I could feel my pull towards Adam growing stronger by the second, it took all of my concentration to address the whole room, and not just stare at him the whole time, but I could feel his eyes on me with every word I spoke, every breath I took.
And to think I still had my guard activated, I dread to think what I would do if I didn't.
"Who is your keeper?" Adam asked me, he stared so intensely, his eyes daring, he wanted me to say it, to tell him he was my keeper, yet I could see a part of him was scared, that tiny spark of doubt, that just maybe it wasn't him.
"I think you already know the answer to that question," I answered, simply, and seeing that spark of doubt die out in his mind had me smirking.
"Mate," his wolf growled, red eyes shining through, I felt my blood hiss, something inside of me coming alive, as I lost all sense of where I was and who I was with.
My smirk darkened, eyes only on my keeper as I stepped towards him, I could feel my heart pounding against my chest, it was like I was in a trance, the soft whisper of my keeper calling to me.
"Sir!"
I was pulled back to reality by Adrian's voice, my surroundings re-entering my vision, yet it seemed only Adam and I were surprised by my actions.
"So, you are effected by him," Michael said, accusingly.
I'm not sure why, but my eyes found Zach and Gabriel, of course they were probably the only ones in the room who didn't know about Adam being my keeper, or about me being Adam's mate, it was possible Cameron had told them in the briefing though.
Zach looked surprised, while Gabriel looked concerned, neither knowing what to say or do.
"How come you've never reacted around him before?" Michael continued when I didn't respond to his comment, successfully pulling my attention to him.
I held up my arm, letting the guard that circled around it become visible, and instantly grabbing the attention of every werewolf in the room.
"Cool..." Luke commented in fascination.
Words written in Ceixean-the language of Galtolga-spiralled around my arm, along with a picture of a clock, and a lock.
"This is called a guard, it shields my aura while in the human world, this way our enemies can't find us, it keeps us safe, as well as everyone else, but in doing so it also hides my keeper from me. More commonly, a Soul Waker's keeper is usually one of our own, and it is very rare when that isn't the case, so the guard was never a problem...until now."
"Oh, that is so cheating," Adam laughed sarcastically.
Nobody dared to speak, waiting for Adam or me to make the next move so they knew where they stood.
"It is to keep everyone safe," I repeated.
Adam stood from his seat, taking steps closer towards me, but I didn't break eye contact, and when he was only a few steps away, Adrian and Cameron jumped in front of me, defences at the ready.
"Sorry..." Adrian apologised, grabbing Cameron by the arm and pulling him back over to their earlier positions. "Instinct," he explained.
Adam stared at them in shock before looking back to me.
"I am their King, it is in their blood to protect me," I smirked, enjoying Adam's reaction a little too much.
He nodded in understanding, he was an Alpha, he knew that response all too well.
Adam looked at me hesitantly, unsure of his rights, of what he could and couldn't do, before turning around and addressing everyone.
"Kaden and I are going to have a quick chat in private, nobody is to listen in, and nobody is to interrupt," he commanded, I knew the voice he used, it was one of command and authority, that not even the strongest would be able to disobey, of course I knew it, it was one of the perks of being King.
"Yes, Alpha," a chorus of voices came, bowing their heads in respect, even from the Elder.
Being alone with Adam right now didn't seem like a wise idea, but I understood why, this wasn't a conversation to be had with an audience.
So instead of protesting, I addressed my friends.
"This won't take long, you may answer any questions about Keepers, but the rest you should leave for me, and remember, we're all friends here," I smiled, hoping to calm a few nerves, before I turned to follow after Adam.
"Sir!" Gabriel's voice had me stopping in my tracks, I turned back with a raised eyebrow, it was Gabriel I was worried about being here the most, but he was in good hands, that much was obvious by Cameron's arm securely wrapped around Gabe's waist.
"Are you sure?" Gabriel asked, uncertain.
"I'll be okay, Gabriel, thank you," I smiled in amusement, but sincerity, I really did have the best friends.
Adam led me out of the room and into a corridor, where I continued to follow him until he led me into a bedroom.
"I'm not sure your choice of destination is wise," I teased, eyeing the bed in front of us.
Adam laughed breathlessly, and it showed in his eyes, what a wonderful thing to see.
"Unless you want to freeze outside, I'm afraid it's our only choice," he smiled.
"Is this your room?" My eyes glanced around, unknowingly taken away from the reason we were in here.
"Yeah...the others would be pissed if you got your scent in their room," he laughed. "Oh, no offence, it's just-"
"I know, territorial beings," I smirked, falling back onto the bed in a sit up position, my arms catching me behind me.
"Now that's not a wise decision," he frowned, clearly holding his wolf back.
"Sorry..." I chuckled, "I can stand," I went to stand up, but Adam quickly stopped me.
"No, no, it's okay, you've been standing since you got here, relax."
"I don't think this is why you called me back here," I brought the conversation back on track, knowing if I didn't, things would go a different way, very quickly.
Adam frowned, taking a minute to think, all while I watched him.
"Take it off," he said after a moment.
"Excuse me?" I raised an eyebrow, an amused smile on my face, that instantly dropped when he clarified what he meant.
"Your guard."
"I can't do that," I frowned.
"Why not?"
"I already told you why." If I took my guard down now it could put us all in danger.
"Let your enemies come, we can take them," he spoke confidently. "We're in the middle of nowhere anyway, no humans live near us, you know that, it's safe here," he tried to convince me.
"It would still be putting you and your pack in danger, you really want to risk that?" I asked in disbelief, letting the restlessness get to me as I stood up once again.
"My pack is strong, we could take whatever or whoever comes for us," Adam crossed his arms, unbreaking.
"Except only a few of you are here," I threw back.
"The rest of my pack isn't too far away, they could get here in a matter of seconds if need be."
I didn't want to be the person to tell him they may not be strong enough, a werewolves pride is everything to them, the last thing he needed is his mate wounding his pride.
"It's too dangerous," I sighed, dropping back down onto the end of the bed.
"One minute..." he tried, but I just couldn't risk it.
"30 seconds?" I refused to look at him now, I could feel myself weakening to his request, but I couldn't.
"10." Adam sat down next to me on the bed, I could feel his stare burning into the side of my head.
"It's not fair..." he whispered, turning his eyes in front of him and away from me.
"I thought you were human, you had no response to me at all, while I was burning up inside, craving to get close to you, constantly fighting off my wolf, and then I find out that you're not human and this terrifying thought consumes me that maybe I'm not your keeper, I've seen Adrian and Zach together, and even Cameron and Gabriel who are less open to PDA, you've never reacted like that towards me, all because of a stupid guard...that doesn't even seem possible."
Adam sounded sad, I hated it, I made my keeper sad...I really am the worst, maybe it took so long for me to find my keeper because I wasn't ready yet, this was all forced upon us after all, if I hadn't have caught that damn ball...
The guilt only continued to grow, I felt awful...
And so I watched the guard around my arm slowly disappear, and then everything hit me all at once.