In the end, Nowhere turned out to be a dilapidated building on the last street near the forest. Practically all that remained of it was the structure, from which it was clear that it once had two floors and a flat roof. Where the windows used to be, only large, square-shaped holes remained, and in some places, the branches of nearby trees even found their way through them. The grass around the entire facility was tall, indicating that no one had taken care of it for a long time. Just like the surrounding houses.
"Fire," Michael answered Evan's unspoken question. With the new knowledge, his view of the surroundings also changed. The two houses adjacent to Nowhere were in even worse condition, as more or less only piles of burnt wood remained, which could hardly be seen through the grass and bushes. And every time the autumn sunlight fell on certain places, Evan saw something glinting among the debris, probably the remains of windows. Everything around him was immersed in black, standing out among the colourful nature.
Just as someone once left it, so it remains to this day. All the remains of the buildings, all the destroyed furniture, and Evan could have sworn he saw something that looked like a teddy bear in the distance.
It was quite poetic, calling this place Nowhere.
"How did you find it?" This time, Evan managed to say the question before one of them guessed it. The three of them stood in front of what used to be the door, taking in the surroundings. Well, Evan watched the surroundings while the other two watched his reaction.
"We were curious children," Michael answered him again. His answer was blunt, but Evan didn't expect anything else as he watched him frantically search his pocket for a lighter with a cig in his mouth.
Brown eyes turned their attention to the second cousin, waiting for further explanation. Their eyes met almost immediately as Ryan's eyes were already following him. The ink-haired boy gave him a smile, and Evan's wolf echoed inside him, warming his soul. He had no choice but to lower his head so that Ryan wouldn't see the blush that appeared on his cheeks.
"Our favourite game was the adventure hunt. We explored all the places behind our yard, and behind Michael's, so we wanted to see something new. So, we decided to make a treasure map. Of course, we didn't know anything about making maps, so we drew Michael's house, the pack house, Matilda's shop, and Rock Pop Diner on it. Then we connected everything with lines and created others that went around these points. One of the paths led to the treasure. At that time, we had no idea what our treasure would be. And as you can see, in the end, this came out of it." Ryan opened his arms as if to grab both corners of the demolished house.
"Once we stuck a flag up there, but apparently lightning struck it." Michael shrugged, pulling the cigarette from his mouth to exhale the smoke. The lightness of his tone made Evan laugh. Only Michael could make the lightning strike seem like a small thing.
"No one else knows we come here, so you have to swear to keep our secret." Conversely, Ryan's tone was serious, and Evan wasn't sure if he was being genuine or joking.
"Like pinky promise?" The corners of his mouth twitched in a hint of a smile, but he immediately masked it with an overly serious expression. Ryan stepped closer to him and held out his hand with his little finger cocked.
Evan knew exactly what was coming when he touched him, but despite the alarm going off in his head, he hooked his own into his little finger. His heart immediately raced, and his soul (or maybe it was his wolf) screamed for him to come closer. His mate's touch was something Evan thought he would never get used to. His hand was on soft fire, trembling with pleasure, and he quickly pulled his hand away and held it to his chest as if he had just injured himself.
Fortunately, before Ryan could comment on that, Michael moved to Evan's side to hand him a lit cigarette. He didn't hesitate and put it straight to his mouth, ignoring Ryan's disapproving look. He took a deep breath of nicotine and turned his head to exhale the smoke. He narrowed his eyes in pleasure as he savoured the bitter taste on his tongue. He never thought he would smoke and although he had no plans to buy a pack, he did enjoy a puff from Michael every now and then. Maybe being friends with him wasn't such a bad idea.
"Didn't know you smoked," Ryan muttered softly as if he wasn't sure he wanted Evan to hear it.
"Michael's a bad influence." Evan shrugged. The said boy snorted and took back his cigarette while rolling his eyes.
"In that case, you're the worst." Michael turned to his cousin. "Since we spend the most time together," he added when he saw the confusion on his face.
"Oh wow, a real bad boy," Evan didn't hesitate to tease him right away.
Once again, he failed to gauge his reaction as Ryan gave him a mischievous smirk and even added a wink. Evan opened his mouth blankly, this time unable to hide the blush that flooded his face.
"Fuck each other or be mad at each other. Fucking decide already." Apparently, it wasn't just Ryan's touch that could make his heart skip a beat. Michael's words did it without a hitch.
"Says the virgin," Ryan was the first one to react. Despite his words, his face also couldn't hide the embarrassment.
"Nothing wrong with waiting for your mate." Michael shrugged and took a drag from his cigarette, unfazed by Ryan's remark. Evan's eyes sought the chocolate ones again, and he was beginning to think their eyes were like magnets, constantly attracted. Despite the pleasant feeling inside him, Evan quickly turned his head and saw through his peripheral vision that Ryan had done the same. He had no idea what was going through his mind, and Evan was starting to worry that he was giving him too many clues to find out who he really was. That is if he didn't already know.
"I'm not saying it's wrong. You started this topic," Ryan addressed his cousin with a shrug. Sighing, Evan ran his right hand through his hair before deciding to rejoin the conversation.
"Mates are stupid, anyway." Although he knew that his opinion was controversial, he did not expect that both of them would immediately take it and be outraged. Two pairs of eyes pierced him through and through, one with pure confusion and the other with something akin to disgust.
"Don't you wanna have a mate?" There was pure curiosity in Ryan's voice as if he had never encountered such an opinion before. Evan wasn't surprised. Growing up in a pack meant constantly hearing about how amazing the mates were and how they would change your whole life for the better.
"I knew you didn't care about the pack, but I didn't think you were that stupid to not want a mate." You could clearly read the outrage on Michael's face, but Evan's almost mirrored the same. He hated when someone reminded him of his lack of interest in the pack, especially when they had no idea where it came from. The pack didn't care about Riley, so why should he care about them?
"If my mate is going to have the same bigoted views as our pack, then I don't need him in my life," Evan spat out, not realizing he had used specific pronouns.
He only realized his mistake when Ryan pointed it out. "Him?" Luckily, he didn't have to react to that, as at the same moment Michael decided to pick up something else from his statement. "Bigoted views?"
Evan sighed, wondering if it was worth commenting on.
"I just..." he began, but he had no idea if he could find the right words so that they would at least understand him a little. He bit the inside of his lip, cracking his knuckles nervously. He thought that spending the afternoon with them would make him forget his worries for a while, but unfortunately, he remembered other ones. The ones that were the source of all his problems and questioned his own existence. Quite ironic that he mentioned them in front of wolves. One of them even his mate.
"We're not here to judge you." Evan felt the tingling sensation on his shoulder, which was only associated with one person. He raised his head, and the magnets came together again. He had never been so close to him and surprisingly it didn't make him nervous, quite the contrary. A strange peace filled his insides.
"I am." Michael made his presence known. They both looked up at him, but he was looking at the dilapidated house in front of them, stomping the cig butt into the ground with his foot.
"Let's go inside," Ryan suggested with a sigh, not waiting for an answer. He strode to the outline of the door, and Evan and Michael quickly joined him. Once inside, Evan discovered that the house had not been completely demolished as the stone steps looked almost intact.
Following the example of the cousins, he fearlessly put his foot on the first step and then another and another until he was on the stone roof. Michael sat down first, spreading his legs out in front of him, his palms resting behind him on the cold floor. Ryan took a seat on his right, and Evan hesitated for a moment before Ryan beckoned him to him with his hand. His gaze wandered to Michael for a bit, but he didn't pay attention to him, so he walked past him and sat next to Ryan, leaving enough space between them.
"So, bigoted views?" Michael began the subject, though his face was still directed towards the sky. Before he could react, Ryan grabbed his sleeve and pulled him to the ground with him. Evan gave him a confused look, but Ryan ignored him. He folded his hands behind his head and laid back on the ground like it was the most comfortable thing in the world. Evan decided not to protest and followed his example.
"I don't see myself living in the pack once I graduated." Staring at the sky, the words slipped out before his mind could process them. Of course, they immediately attracted the attention of his companions, who turned in his direction. Evan noticed this but decided not to look at them and focused on the white cloud resembling a cowboy hat.
"Why?" As he assumed, it was Ryan who asked him. Evan sighed, thinking through various possible answers, choosing the one he thought would offend them the least. In a way, it was a test. Not his, but Ryan's since his reaction was the key to whether the two of them would ever have a chance in the future.
"I don't want to stay in North Hallson, surrounded by people who know me, or rather wolves. Wolves have traditional opinions that I simply cannot identify with." He paused for a moment, and Ryan immediately took advantage of it.
"Like what?"
"Every decision you make must be in the best interest of your pack," Evan answered automatically, thinking of Riley and how he was faced with a decision between their pack and his mate.
"I don't see what's wrong with that." This time it was Michael who took it upon himself to answer.
"You choose a profession so that you are beneficial to the pack. You always stay nearby if the pack needs you. You choose who you will be with, depending on whether the pack allows you to," Evan listed examples off the top of his head. This time, however, he turned to Michael to see his reaction. Their opinion about the pack was diametrically different, and that was the main reason why they never found common ground.
"The pack would never forbid you from being with your mate." It was ironic that Michael had chosen this point to comment on. Looking at his serious face, Evan laughed. Briefly, ironically, so that he would know that his answer was far from the truth.
Michael's brow furrowed, his expression somewhere between outrage and confusion. Evan shook his head at him and returned his gaze to the sky. However, it wasn't just the two of them lying on the ground, and Ryan had no problem making his presence known.
"You have a concrete example, don't you?" One sentence was enough to make Evan stop laughing. The memories of Riley's departure were nothing to bring a smile to his face, not even an ironic one. He felt the absence of his favourite cousin every day.
"I do," he confirmed quietly, but he had no doubt that the wolf's ears had no problem picking it up.
"What? What do you mean?" With one flick, Michael was in a sitting position and thus in Evan's line of sight. Ryan evidently sensed that this was not an easy topic that was suitable to be dealt with lying down and followed his example. Watching the two boys in front of him, Evan couldn't decide whether to trust them or not. They weren't his friends, but then again, Evan's real friends were humans, so he couldn't tell them.
"Our family decided that Riley's mate was a danger to the pack and let him choose between them and him." At the speed he said it, he wasn't sure if they even had a chance to catch the whole thing.
"Who's Riley?" Evan sat up with a sigh. He didn't expect Ryan to remember Riley, but he also wasn't sure he was ready to explain the bond they once shared. On the other hand, Michael and Ryan were the ones who should have understood it the best, since the two of them acted more like siblings as well.
"His cousin." Apparently, Evan didn't even have to explain since Michael beat him to it.
"Why did they think he was dangerous?" It was obvious that Ryan was trying to choose his words carefully, not knowing where the boundaries were.
"He was human," Evan replied, and there was a moment of silence between them.
"That's fucked up." If anyone had ever told Evan that Michael Saunders would be on his side, he would have laughed at him. But his words were loud and clear, and Evan had no idea how to respond.
"What the hell is wrong with that?" Looking at the scowling Ryan, Evan's heart pounded like it had so many times before, but this time it wasn't because of his presence or his touch. It wasn't surprising that Angie agreed with him, but he never would have thought that his mate would share his opinion. Evan's friends were human, his boyfriend was human, and apparently, there was nothing wrong with the relationship between wolves and humans.
A smile appeared involuntarily on his face.
.
.
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A/N: I found that the readers of this story are divided into two categories - those who root for Ryan and those who like Kieran. You honestly confused me with this one, and I started to rethink all my plans for this story. Where do you belong?
Team Ryan
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Team Kieran