Niel was invited for every meal, but he declined every single time. He didn't want to come eye to eye to the very person he hated the most in his life. Especially during a meal.
It was Sunday morning Niel was done with being cooped up in his bedroom. He had grew restless and wanted to release his energy. The teenage boy opened the door and was met by an familiar face. Only he couldn't put a name to it.
The unfamiliar person straightened his back and turned towards Niel. The male didn't speak and just stood there waiting for Niel, for a command or request. The teenage boy had no idea what to do so he just stated, "I want to run." When he didn't get an immediate response, he further clarified, "You know, to exercise."
The man nodded his head and made a gesture to follow him. Both of them moved through the pack house where Niel met multiple pack members on his way. All of them looked at him with anger in their eyes.
The man came to a sudden stop in front of a door that was slightly ajar. Niel could hear multiple voices from the room where the door lead to. They both entered and Niel was faced with again unfamiliar faces, except for one, Levi.
"Beta Barlowe, do you have some time to spare?" The male asked.
Levi looked confused but quickly restored that. "Uhm, yes, yes why?"
"The human wants to run."
"Ezra, please, lighten up. He has a name and one day you will be his subordinate." Levi said while he put a hand on Ezra's shoulder. It was upon hearing that name Niel remembered the werewolf. He was the one who announced the doctor. And the first one who looked at him like the others did, as if he was a monster.
The mention of Ezra being Niel's subordinate resulted into a growl from the wolf. Something Niel wasn't quite used to yet.
"All right, follow me Niel. Let's go on a run." After a quick change of clothes, which seemed rather difficult seeing as the werewolves were very large and big in comparison of Niel, they finally managed to get outside.
"Okay, some ground rules first, my dude. It's fairly simple, don't try to run away because I will catch you and I will have to report to Atlas and honestly I think if you run away again he will actually lock you up."
Niel nodded his head. "Noted."
"Good, now follow me. I know the good paths." Levi winked.
Both of them were running through the woods, enjoying the cool summer morning weather. For Levi it was a quite easy going run as the pace was too slow for him to feel it. Werewolves had great physic and great endurance. It was Niel who started to having a hard time when they were twenty minutes in. "Wait, wait," He said breathlessly. "Hold on." Niel had put his hands in his sides and leaned forward in a sad attempt to catch his breath more easily.
"I am sorry, I forgot humans aren't as well build like we are."
Niel couldn't respond, still trying to catch his breath. "Why don't you sit down for a bit." Levi pointed out at a fallen tree trunk. The teenage boy still couldn't respond but did as suggested.
Once he sat down Levi joined him. "Can I ask you something?" Levi asked.
Niel nodded.
"Why...why are you so against all of this?" His voice came out hesitant and it was laced with worry. Niel could not only hear it, but see it too. Levi looked tensed.
"Why do you care?" Niel didn't understand why the Beta would ask him something so personal. It was not him being involved in whatever was going on between Niel and Atlas.
"I care because your mate bond affects all of us."
"How so?"
"Well you know Atlas is the Alpha, right? And it is his job to lead our pack, to guide us through both good and bad times. But that task is hard for just one wolf. Of course, you have the Beta, me, and the Delta, Ezra, to divide some major tasks. Nevertheless, the Alpha needs also emotional support and that's were you come in."
Niel let the words sink in, having a hard time what to make it of.
"You see we as a pack are linked to one another and through the pack link we can communicate but we also can feel each other feelings. It's deluded otherwise you would grow crazy, but still you can feel a fraction of it and those feelings are mostly dominated by the Alpha's feelings. So when you ran away we all could feel the Alpha's anger... It's a blessing and a curse really the pack link. When we thrive as a pack we all feel euphoric, but when we don't, oh boy, we are more depressed than the average teenager these days."
The teenage boy had listened well, but it was too much for him. It was too much information to process. He sighed. There was so much he had to take account of, so many things he needed to understand. While he still was sorting out his own life, to give it a place in his heart he was cast out by his own family, that his soccer career never took off, not had even begun yet.
"This is too much," Niel muttered.
"But why-"
"Why? Because of all of this, I was kicked out by my own parents, hated by my whole school and everything I was taught to believe was shattered within mere minutes. How would you react? How would you feel when your whole life changed because you met one man?"
Levi became silent. Both of them let their words sink in. When several minutes had passed the Beta stood up. "Okay, let's head back. Breakfast is almost ready."
The men ran the same path back to the pack house, it was now even harder for Niel but he didn't mind. He needed to work out more anyway. He had sat still for too long and the teenage boy grew worried he might gain weight.
When they headed back inside Levi turned to Niel, "Go shower, I will get you for breakfast."
"No, that's-"
"Uh-uh, you are going to join us Niel. It will be fun, promise" Levi winked again and smirked while heading in the other direction.
Niel cursed inside his head. The last thing he wanted was to have breakfast with Atlas. He made his way to his room, followed by another male, it wasn't Ezra this time. When they arrived at the door, the male stood aside, guarding the room. Niel shook his head but entered the bedroom anyway. He took a quick shower and got dressed, it was the last pair of clean clothes he had taken from his home. The scent from his family home still lingered across his shirt. He stuffed the shirt in his face, trying to enjoy the scent, but it only filled him with sadness and homesickness.
It was then Niel had a great longing for his home, especially his mom. He missed his mother incredibly. He threw his shirt over his head and sat on the bed.
A knock on his door made him stand up. "Come in." It was Levi who entered. "All right, are you ready?"
"Do I have to?"
"Yes, come on." Levi put a hand on Niel's shoulder and guided him over the threshold.
With a big sigh, Niel was guided towards the dining room where a long table was set and full of food. At the head of the table was Atlas seated, some other people were there as well, Atlas' parents, Rain and Ezra together with others Niel didn't know about. The table wasn't fully set, only half of it was being used, so Niel wondered if this group of people had a special kind of meaning to the pack.
Levi kept Niel guiding to the seat next to Atlas, now he was situated across Katherine, which the teenager didn't particularly like. Luckily, Levi sat next to him. "I am glad you came to join us, Niel," Atlas commented upon his arrival.
The teenage boy just nodded his head and could hear a snarky remark from the former Luna, but he didn't pay any attention to it. Niel looked around the table. It looked as if people were waiting and he did it as well.
Levi noticed and whispered, "After the Alpha takes the first bite we can eat and right now we are waiting for my parents. They came to visit as well."
Again Niel nodded his head, not interested in talking. Katherine made another remark, "He is supposed to know this. How long is he here already, two weeks?"
"Mother, please, not now. Again." Right then an older couple walked in, which Niel assumed to be the parents of Levi. "Ah Beta's Berlowe, please join us and let us eat." When they took place Atlas filled his plate and took a bite. Right then the others followed suit.
Niel had questions about the 'Beta's' but he remained silent as he didn't want to embarrass himself anymore. While he ate all he was thinking about was the time. He made sure he didn't eat too much so he would be on time. Right when the clock hit 9.30 he whipped his mouth and was ready to stand up.
Atlas who was just happy his mate had finally joined them for a meal, was surprised when he saw Niel already leaving, and sadly it was against the rules as well. So he put his hand over Niel's so he wouldn't go any further. "What are you doing?"
"Uhm, well we need to go," Niel stated as a matter of fact.
"Need to go where?"
"To ch-" It was right then Niel realized these people didn't go to church like he did all those years, going to church on Sunday was engraved in his routine. It had scared him how he didn't realize he wouldn't go to church, how he watched the time as he would go like any other Sunday.
It was standard the Johnson family sat together for breakfast on Sunday mornings at 8.45 and they would be done at 9.30 and at 10.00 they would be in church. It went like that every Sunday of his now eighteen years of life. And it saddened him. That this final thing of his normal life was now as well taken from him.
He quietly sat down and muttered, "Nothing."
It felt wrong, so wrong according to Niel. He saw how time was passing by, getting closer to ten o'clock. Niel felt restless. Not going to church, this would be his first time.
When Atlas was done eating, Niel noticed it was only then people were saying their goodbyes and left. When just both Levi's and Atlas' parents and Levi and Atlas themselves were at the table, it was Niel who became the next topic to discuss at the table.
"So Niel, how are you adjusting to the pack life? Must be hard as you are so young still." Levi's father asked.
"Uhm..." Niel had no desire to talk, every single person in this room intimidated him. They were all huge, muscled and they all had a beast inside of them. Not to mention that Katherine disliked Niel.
"He is not adjusting at all - Atlas I already see you shaking your head - but we have to be frank here. We are in bad times with the pack and we need a strong alpha couple. Now you are mated to a human, which is already a disadvantage but he doesn't even try. He wines like a small child and we do not have time for that. He needs to at least learn our ways, to be accepted by the pack to have a united front against the attacks and so the king will take us seriously. We need his help and you know that." It was silent after Katherine was done speaking.
Former Beta Berlowe cleared his throat. "Can't Rain help Niel with his transition to the pack life? She is the closest to you, she must know everything."
Maddoxe sighed. "I love the girl dearly, I see her as my daughter but she isn't the most disciplined and doesn't agree with most pack rules. Rain wouldn't be the best influence on Niel."
The teenage boy felt him disappearing into the background. They were talking about him as if he wasn't there. While he still had to give it a place he wouldn't go to church anymore and his normal life was now officially over, these people were already dictating the rest of his life.
He looked down at his lap and played with the hem of his shirt. Meanwhile, Atlas began interjecting, "I think we need to let Niel adjust a bit further before we start training him as a Luna. He is already learning new things every day about the pack."
"I am sorry Alpha, but I have to disagree," Levi commented. Niel was surprised, he thought Levi would have his back, but clearly not. "Because Niel has a hard time adjusting I think it's better he knows why things are the way they are, like our rules, traditions, and values."
Niel looked carefully up and saw Atlas thinking. The Alpha wanted nothing more for his mate to feel comfortable and to be honest, he wanted Niel to focus on the mate bond first before learning about the pack, but that was selfish and the pack was the number one priority of an Alpha and he also didn't want to disappoint his parents.
"All right, I will find a suitable person to teach Niel." Katherine wanted to interject, disagree with her son's decision but Atlas held his hand up and silenced his mother. "I want to make sure the person is the right one for Niel and I will do it, mother. You don't have to worry about it anymore... Now let's go enjoy this beautiful day."
A/N: I hope you like the story so far, please let me know what you think of it.
Thank you for reading and have a nice day or night.