-Kaden's POV-
We finished up the meeting as best we could, I could tell there was still some confusion, but there was so much information to take in, and it was already getting late, any other questions they had would have to wait for another time.
I could see Adrian's own questions practically written on his face but he continued to frown at the floor, as everyone slowly got to doing their own things again, although I had a feeling a lot of minds would be drifting tonight.
"Are you guys okay?" I asked, as I approached my close friends, while Adam was doing the same thing with his.
"That was just a lot to take in," Zach commented, looking at his keeper in concern, Cameron nodded in agreeance, his hand gripping Gabriel's tightly.
"I understand, and I hope none of you hold it against me for keeping this from you, I was just doing what I thought I had to. Hopefully we can discuss this further, more privately next time, but for now I think you all should get some rest." I hoped my smile didn't seem to forced, it was hard to conjure up a real smile when the tension in the room was so high.
Cameron and Gabriel shot a concerned look in Adrian's direction before they wished me a good night, letting the two boys know they would be waiting outside for them, I almost forgot they drove here together.
The two left, leaving me alone with Adrian and Zach, but I don't think Adrian was even aware of his friends departure.
"Adrian," I called his name, trying to get his attention away from the ground, but without much success.
"Everything okay?" Adam asked, as he approached from behind me, the pack members slowly leaving the room until it was just the four of us.
Zach held onto his keeper, his face riddled with concern before his desperate gaze moved onto me, in hopes I'd know what to do.
"What is he thinking?" I asked Zach, though my eyes didn't move from Adrian.
"I don't know, he's blocking me out..." Zach confessed, looking even more distressed by the second. He's too lost...
"You need to snap him out of it," I told him, I was becoming more and more aware of the conversation I would have to have with Adrian after all of this, he deserved to know, but I couldn't tell him before.
"How?" Zach's eyes flickered between me and his keeper, and I held back a sigh.
"I mean...I don't really want to hurt him," I thought aloud, knowing Zach wouldn't like that idea much either, and the look on his face only confirmed that.
"Or...you could kiss him," Adam suggested from behind me, his amused eyes watching me before they finally fell onto Zach, who nodded distantly.
And so he did, Zach kissed Adrian who instantly responded, being pulled from his lost mind into his keeper, the best distraction for a Soul Waker.
We thought they would stop as soon as Adrian was out of his stupor, but they didn't, and I found myself clearing my throat when it went on just a little too long, not that that worked, it never did.
I sighed as I turned to Adam, ignoring the two boys making out beside me. Adam's eyes fell back onto me in amusement, the sides of his mouth twitching up as he did so.
"So, what now?" He asked, he was letting me take charge, the ball was constantly in my court, and as an Alpha, I had no idea how he didn't mind that.
"I'd like to talk more with you in private," I said, although I could already feel the events of the day catching up on me, but I forced myself to push back the tiredness for now.
Adam smirked at my words, his eyes slowly raking over my body, and I wasn't too pleased when I had to repress a shiver.
"Just talk," I reconfirmed with raised eyebrows, pulling a chuckle from his lips, but I found myself smiling anyway, I couldn't hold it back.
"Maybe we could go for a walk?" I suggested, the only reason we made it out of that bedroom earlier was because everyone was waiting for us, we wouldn't have that this time, so the thought of being in there alone with him now was worrying.
"Sure, this way." Adam led me out of the building, we followed a trail into the woods, neither of us speaking as we stepped into the trees, it was already dark out, leaving an eerie feel to the place, but it didn't bother me.
We kept walking for a while in silence, taking in the nature around us as the cool night breeze helped to relax me.
"It's beautiful out here," I commented, my eyes scanning over the tall trees, leaves of all different colours, the dirt paths and multicoloured flowers, the moon slowly beginning to cascade over us, illuminating the forest in its beauty.
"Hmm, it is. What is Galtolga like?" He asked, I could hear the curiosity in his voice, and for some reason, hearing him say the name of my world made me happy.
"Over the years I've come to realise it looks straight out of a fantasy book, I think you'd like it, the skies hold colours of oranges, reds and purples, the nature spreads out for miles, grassy lands with beautiful flowers of every species, tall buildings of different colours reach high into the sky, and then of course, we have the castle."
"I suppose that's where you're situated?" Adam smirked teasingly, his eyes pointing towards me as we walked, his arms swinging by his sides.
"Indeed...that's where all the good stuff happens," I winked, quickening my footsteps.
Adam laughed, now behind me, he quickly caught up, a smile sitting happily on his face.
"So who are Adrian and Cameron to you? I'm impressed at their reflexes," he stumbled over the last word, his eyes sparkling suddenly, as if an idea had popped into his head, but he didn't say more as he awaited my answer.
"Adrian likes to call himself my right-hand man, he is my best knight, before Cameron came along it was just him that worked so closely with me, he's kind of like my beta, and Cameron is a soldier, he was specifically born into that role, soldiers are very rare, and until Cameron showed up, it was believed they had been wiped out," I explained, "they're also my best friends," I smiled.
"Showed up?" He asked, confused.
"I'm afraid that's Cameron's story to tell, not mine." He nodded in understanding, before the twinkle from earlier came back into his eyes.
"So...Kaden," I supressed a shiver at the way he said my name, my eyes lingering on him with curiosity. "How about a race?" He suggested, the smile on his face wider than before.
"You want to race me?" I asked in disbelief, he shrugged in innocence.
"Can't blame me for being curious about my mate, I want to know what you can do," he smirked, the confident air surrounded him, challenging me.
"You know, it's never wise to challenge a King," I teased, watching the smile on his face only grow wider.
"Is that so?" His eyes sparkled, reeling me in.
I couldn't help but smile as we held each other's gaze for just a bit longer, before the both of us sprinted off into the woods.
It was easy enough to put some distance between us, and the wind rushing through my hair felt freeing, a heavy weight was lifted from me as I felt like I was flying, again I felt light.
"No fair," Adam laughed from behind me, "I'm limited in my human form," he defended, though even I wasn't using my full power yet, I'd say we were pretty equal, but I humoured him anyway, enjoying the moment we found ourselves lost in.
"Then shift," I teased, turning around so I was now facing him, my feet barely touching the ground.
Adam gaped at me in surprise but it didn't last long before he was smirking again, it was barely a moment, if you blinked you would have missed it, his shift was fast, not caring about his clothes being destroyed in the process, and now instead of Adam's human form running towards me, there was a big black wolf in his wake, but his demeaner was no less friendly, the sparkle still shone in his eyes, except now he was fast, really fast.
He caught up to me in a instant, I turned back around, the challenge back in play as I watched him overtake me.
His wolf was beautiful...
His paws hit the ground heavily, practically pulling himself forward as he moved, the breeze ruffling his fur, and making it look way softer than it needed to, I hated to admit it, but I was a bit star struck by his wolf.
Adam couldn't communicate with me anymore though, and it took way too long to realise I was losing, way too stunned by the wolf in front of me to notice, or care.
Until we came sprinting into a clearing, a large grassy area, circled by trees, the moon shone perfectly on the area, lighting it up, the stars shone brightly above, and in the centre it was so quiet, just the sound of the breeze reached our ears, I'm sure I would have admired it more if my eyes weren't on something else already.
Adam shifted back just as quickly as he had before, a deep laughter leaving his lips as he grinned at me in triumph.
"So, I'm faster than you and stronger than you," he grinned, his words making me instinctively laugh.
"Sure thing, Adam," I rolled my eyes, the smile refusing to leave my face.
"I just beat you," he defended, though his tone was light, his smile never faltering.
A part of me wanted to let him believe he was faster than me, but the King in me was far too stubborn for that, so I did something I wouldn't usually do.
I used my powers.
Before Adam even had time to realise what I was doing, I was out of the clearing and back again, this time with a singular primrose in my hand, he still lay on the ground on his side, catching his breath, as I appeared knelt down on one knee in front of his face, the flower outstretched towards him, a smirk ever so present on my face.
Adam blinked multiple time, trying to get his eyes and brain to catch up on what just happened, his mouth parted slightly in shock, before his eyes finally fell on the primrose I held out to him.
He took it gingerly, twirling the flower around in his fingers.
"You went easy on me," he accused, with a frown that had me rolling my eyes.
"I did no such thing," I sat back so I was now sitting on the floor with my knees bent leisurely in front of me, I kept my eyes trained on his face, so they wouldn't be tempted to stray elsewhere.
"Well you didn't move that fast when we were racing," he grumbled, his eyes drifting over to the trees.
"I was...distracted," I confessed, instantly bringing his eyes back to me.
"Distracted?" He questioned, his tone doubtful. "Distracted by what?"
"The scenery," I said, glancing around us properly this time.
"Liar."
Our eyes locked, and his again held a challenge in them.
"How do you know I'm lying?" I smirked, not at all bothered that I'd been caught out.
"I can hear your heartbeat, it skips when you lie," he told me, I almost couldn't believe I didn't know that.
"Now that seems like cheating," I laughed. "Why are you listening to my heartbeat? It's almost like you were expecting me to lie."
"At first I did, your heart was always calm around me before, but you and your friends lied a lot, I understand why now, but before I didn't. Then in the bedroom earlier when you took your guard off, I could hear your heart beating loudly, it was the first time I'd heard your heart race like that, and I really liked it. Your heart's beating like that now," his voice was slow and quiet, a small smile lingered on his lips.
And for the second time ever, I felt myself about to blush.
"Must be all the running," I blamed, my eyes looking anywhere but at him.
He laughed loudly, his eyes burning into my skin, "you can't lie to me."
I smiled but still refused to look at him.
"So, what were you distracted by?" He asked again, I was still tempted to lie, even if he'd know, it was less embarrassing than the truth.
"You," instead I said.
"Me?" He smirked proudly, almost willing my eyes to return to him, and so they did.
"Yes, you."
"Why was I distracting you?" He was so loving this.
"Your wolf is very beautiful," I whispered, and that was all it took to see those burning red eyes again.
I'm not sure how long we sat like that, getting lost in each other's eyes, but from how late it was getting, I knew we would both be tired tomorrow.
"We should probably head back," I finally spoke, my voice harsh.
"It won't take us long to do that," he smirked, and I couldn't help but laugh.
We finally forced our eyes away from each other, Adam standing from his seat on the grass before he outstretched his hand for me to take.
Tingles shot through my hand and up my arm from where my hand grabbed his, and he pulled me up from my own seat, I could tell from the look on his face that he wanted to pull me harder than he did, I could see the intensions of wanting me to crash into his chest in doing so, but he held back and I could only smirk knowingly at him. He smiled innocently.
"You know, Adrian wouldn't even look at me until I put my clothes back on, and even then I had to reassure him I was dressed multiple times, AND the guys had to confirm I was telling the truth."
I laughed, "we are loyal to our keepers," I grinned.
"I like that. To be fair, I don't think I'd be too happy if any of the other guys were naked around you," he frowned at the thought, as I watched in amusement.
"I wouldn't look," I assured.
"You didn't look at me."
"That's what you think," I teased, watching his eyes grow wide, before he smiled warmly.
"Hey, Kaden, thanks for today, and I'm sorry about earlier, I know you didn't have to tell us anything so I'm really grateful you did, and I just want you to know, I'm gonna fight for you too," he spoke with confidence and seriousness, a completely different mood from how our night together had gone.
"Thank you, Adam, that means a lot." This whole time I had been so unsure on if what I was doing is the right thing or not, so I think I really needed to hear him say that.
His hand brushed against mine, dragging my eyes from the ground to his smirking face.
"Race you?"
I laughed as we once again went racing off into the woods.
I don't think I've ever smiled or laughed this much in my life.