* gosh finally weekend *
EROS
A deep frown formed on my forehead as I tried to gather everything I had heard about Ryker Cromwell. The Ethereal was our rival pack so we always kept tabs on whatever was going on in the North, although not as much as in the West, where the Night Walkers ruled. And to be frank, we had monitored Ryker's older brother, Walker Cromwell, since he was supposed to be their next Alpha so the younger brother had never been our interest until recently. Being put in the spotlight, I could only remember that Ryker used to be the easy-going, devil-may-care second son, the one who had always had more fun with parties and ladies because he had been born knowing that he would never have to inherit the responsibilities. Until the unthought-of had become reality and he'd had to step in his brother's shoes.
I heaved a sigh. Xyrra was right. Someone like Ryker was definitely out of her league. The guy clearly liked experienced girls, not that Alana was experienced either. I bet if Alana had not been Ryker's best friend since they were five, he would not have been interested in her. Although I half suspected that one of the reasons why Ryker had chosen Alana was because of his newfound role as an Alpha and the fact that he wanted someone he could trust to be his Luna. Of course, he stupidly had not realized that just because he hadn't been able to find his mate for seven years, it did not necessarily mean that she was not out there.
"Ryker loves a good party." I cleared my throat. "From what I've heard, he used to indulge in many worldly things including ladies. But now that he has become the Alpha, I think he left all of those behind."
"Not the parties though," commented Xyrra, leaning her back on the wooden column so she was facing me. "There will be a Halloween party at the packhouse next Friday. Trish invited me to go shopping for a costume with her tomorrow."
Who? "Trish?" I followed suit and leaned on the opposite column, crossing my right leg.
"Dmitry's cousin."
"Ah, the Beta." I nodded. Everyone knew the Russian pack warrior, Dmitry Vashkov, and the infamous story of leaving his pack to become Ryker's Beta although we have never known the real reason behind his odd decision.
Xyrra bit her lips nervously. "I will get a good costume but I don't think that will be enough."
It wouldn't be. "How's your kissing skill?"
"W-what?" Xyrra blinked. "I guess it's okay?"
I could not believe I was asking Xyrra, my best friend, about her kissing skill when I wasn't even supposed to think of her that way. "Have you gotten any complaints so far?" Somehow I managed to blurt that out and ask her.
Her face scrunched up as she tried to remember then her cheeks flamed once again. "Brett may have said something."
I would fucking kill that son of a bitch. Ares nodded his agreement, 'And I would help you.'
"What did he say?"
"He said I didn't use enough tongue and I was rather stiff," answered her before shaking her head and groaning out to air her frustration. "I'm not cut out for this. I'm gonna screw this up."
Her beautiful face looked dejected and I gave her a rueful smile. I felt really bad for her. If only there was a way for me to help her. But Xyrra seemed to think ahead of me as she blinked once again and then tilted her head up so her eyes met mine. "You should show me."
Ares stirred while my heart nearly stopped. "What?"
"You have to show me, Er, so I know how to do it properly. So I can be better at it."
Pretending not to hear the pleading in her voice, I asked her, "Have you kissed Ryker before?"
She nodded and my heart broke. "Yes. You knew this already. I've told you, haven't I?" She shook her head and brushed a lock of hair falling on her forehead away. "But we were both intoxicated, he probably didn't notice how bad I was."
I was sure that I shouldn't do this. Young Seb had been one hundred fucking percent right. I shouldn't have come here. If I kissed her, the line would be crossed and I wasn't sure if I could go back to how we were before it happened. Then there was Crystal. I knew she and I have broken up and even if I kissed Xyrra, technically it wouldn't be called cheating but what would that make me? How about all the speeches I had given Young Seb last week about how we had to stick to our destined mate?
Her hand found mine and my line of thoughts ended instantly. All the cons vaporized into thin air.
"Eros."
I dropped my gaze and watched her hand on top of mine before looking up to meet her eyes.
"Will you show me how? You could teach me, Er."
I could, but I probably shouldn't.
Against my better judgment, I found myself moving forward and closing the gap between us, then captured her face with my free hand. "Okay." I leaned in and brushed my lips against hers as I continued, "I'm going to kiss you but don't think much about it." I sucked in a short breath, suddenly unsure whether I would survive this. "Just feel it."
I felt her nodding before I let my mouth take hers almost in slow motion. Her lips parted after a moment and I took that as an invitation to deepen the kiss. My tongue found its way into her mouth and when her eyes fluttered closed, I closed my eyes too, surrendering to the feel of her lips against mine. I heard her soft moan and could feel my body gripped by desire. Our mouths moved in perfect sync which made me think that Brett was truly a dumbass for saying that she had needed to use more tongue or that she had been stiff because nothing was as tender as Xyrra's lips right now.
The kiss was perfect.
Right before I was drowned in her kiss, I pulled away and I could feel myself growing semi-hard from only one simple kiss. I was practically panting and having a difficult time controlling my breathing however once I managed to do that, I told her, "That's all you need to learn now. I'm sure he will kiss you at the party especially since every pack member will be present. His hands might touch your waist, your back, or if he was being bold, he might even go for your boobs. Yet don't let him bring you to his bedroom or yours, don't have sex with him." I swallowed the lump in my throat and held her gaze. "At least not now."
Xyrra nodded, her lips tucked into a small smile. "I must leave him wanting more."
I smirked like a proud mentor. "Precisely."
* * * * *
XYRRA
Afterward, I was going through my mom's old stuff which Dad never put in a box — he always said that he couldn't do it, and I suspected that he actually was still hoping that by some miracle, my mom would spring back to life and we could be a family once more. With werewolves and witches, everything seemed possible, after all. I didn't move any of her makeup and creams on the dressing table or her clothes from the cupboard but I found a small pendant in one of the drawers along with a key with the letter 'G' and 'A' engraved on it. I picked up the pendant instead. It seemed to be made of aquamarine and it was beautiful. I decided to take it with me and Eros helped me put it on the chain of my charm bracelet. Even though I had very little memory of my mom, this brought warmth to my heart. It almost felt like she was here with me and that I was not alone.
"By the way, Er, do you happen to know where Ryker's brother is?" I asked casually. Since Ryker has made it his mission to keep Trish, my only source of information, away from me, I figured I should ask Eros. Just in case he knew or had heard of it before.
"Not really but I'm pretty sure he's buried somewhere in Cromwell's land." My best friend shrugged. "Posh families usually have their own private site for burial."
I stopped while I was in the middle of rummaging through the drawers. "Wait, so he died?"
Eros lifted his brows. "Yeah. How else do you think Ryker became the Ethereal's Alpha?!"
"I heard about Alana being Ryker's brother's mate and I thought that maybe his brother left so that Alana could be with Ryker, you know. I thought he abdicated it or something." Now that I've said that out loud, I realized how silly it actually sounded. Even my dad had dueled with Alpha Sinclair in order to be with my mom so surely Ryker's brother wouldn't so easily give Alana up just because Ryker was his younger brother.
Once we were done checking the bedroom, we went to the basement. Eros was going to check the electricity meter while I wanted to do some cleaning. My dad had never allowed me to go to the basement, always saying that the place was dirty and that I would sneeze so much due to my allergy to dust. Yet when we walked down the stairs, I noticed that the basement was actually very clean and neat — with the exception of dust here and there. Behind the staircase, there was a room and I was curious what it was for. However, when my hand touched the doorknob, Eros's hand caught my wrist.
"You don't want to go in there, Xy." I frowned. "Why?" The more he told me I couldn't go, the more I became curious and wanted to take a peek. His face fell and he shook his head. "It's not a good sight." "What is?" I tightened my hold on the knob. Eros sighed loudly. "It's where your dad punished Atlas."
"Atlas?" My furrow deepened. "As in my dad's wolf?" I asked, both surprised and disbelief. "Why?"
"Because of what happened to your mom. Your dad can't remember it and he believes that Atlas hides the truth from him. That Atlas was actually the one who killed your mom." His grip loosened and he finally dropped his hand. "I hate seeing it but he asked me to witness it so I could inform Alpha Leon."
"What did—" I took a sharp breath to calm myself. All these times, I only knew my dad as a kind man. Even though everyone told me that he had killed my mom, deep down I desperately wanted to believe otherwise. And right now, Eros was telling me that he had been punishing his own wolf. I couldn't imagine what or how had done that but I'd be damned if I didn't at least try to find out. I'd already known from the start when I'd decided to find out the truth that there would be some dark secrets, some ugly truths that I wouldn't like but had to live with. "What did he do to Atlas?" I asked once I'd calmed myself down.
"Xy, you've always had a good image of your dad, I don't want to ruin that. He is a good man, Xy, but he has been through a lot of stuff. Horrible stuff and maybe it has crippled him over time but he is a good man. Still."
I wanted to know the truth. The whole truth. Even the ugly ones. "I ask again, what did he do, Er?"
My best friend looked away. He ran his hands frustratedly through his hair then let it cling to the back of his neck for a bit as he dropped his gaze to the ground. "He shifted and used some silver."
"Silver?" At first, I didn't immediately get what he meant but then I remembered the articles I've read online. Silver would harm werewolves. A silver bullet shot in the heart would actually kill them.
Eros gave a nod of confirmation. "Silver knives and some arrows but mostly he used silver knives and made several cuts on his torso or thighs. Any place that wouldn't be seen."
He didn't have to explain it to me, I understood instantly that the last part was meant for me. My dad had done some self-harm on parts of his body that wouldn't be exposed so I wouldn't see those injuries. I briefly closed my eyes and when I opened them, I turned the knob and pulled it wide open before I stepped in and faced whatever nightmare was waiting for me inside.
The disinfectant scent was the first thing that hit my sense of smell. It almost smelled like a hospital in here, without a doubt due to the overuse of alcohol and disinfectant products. Dried blood was on the ground and some were on the wall. In one corner there was a medium-sized card box and next to it was a wooden table. As I walked closer, I noticed that there were three knives, one of them seemed to be a steak knife and another one looked like a butter knife. The last knife was quite big that I was sure it was not meant to be on a dining table. All knives, however, had the rivets and handle covered in wood which was probably designed to make it possible for my dad to hold them in the first place. There were two arrows too, both had patches of dried blood on the tip. They were in different shades almost as if those arrows had been used and then pulled out and then used again without cleaning it. However, the knives were clean and perhaps just like Eros had mentioned, my dad had used the knives more often and that was the reason why they were cleaned.
My hand reached for the cardbox but once again, Eros prompted me. "Xy, you really don't want to open that. I can easily tell you what's inside." I waited for him. "A bottle of povidone-iodine to disinfect the wound, some cloths, a box of tools, and a few—" Eros shook his head.
"A few—what?" I insisted although I was holding my breath as I waited for his answer. Even I was not sure if I wanted to know.
My best friend drew another breath. "A few containers to store pieces of Atlas."
I frowned, not understanding what he was referring to. "Pieces?"
Eros shrugged. "Most of the time, it's his nails."
"Nails," I reiterated like a robot.
"Your dad did some de-nailing on Atlas sometimes." When he noticed my confused look, he explained, "You know, the process of extraction of the nails from the fingers and/or toes."
"Oh, gosh." An image of a copper-furred wolf flashed in my mind and I felt my heart aching for my dad's wolf. "What if Atlas didn't do it? What if all those tortures are for nothing?" I shook my head, not approving of this kind of punishment especially when there was no solid proof that Atlas really had done it or the reason behind it.
"I've told him the same thing, Xy," said Eros with a deep sigh. "But I've told you, my pack is different. With mafia blood in our bloodstream, we tend to do horrible things. What your dad did is actually not that uncommon in the South."
I swallowed hard and moved my attention back to the knives. The butter and steak knives oddly felt familiar. I could almost recognize the engraved pattern on their blade. "I have seen these two before." I heard Eros curse out and quickly looked up.
He shook his head. "He brought you to the shop where he bought these knives. You were only seven or eight at that time." He stared at me with a solemn expression on his face. "We made that wooden cover but when he first bought them, it was all silver and he couldn't grab them so he asked you knowing that you are human and it wouldn't affect you."
I extended my hand and grabbed the butter knife. I trailed the blade with my fingers however the second my skin made contact with the silver, there was this warm, tingling feeling and I instantly dropped the knife back on the table. "Ouch, that hurts."
My eyes found Eros's blue-green eyes but he looked at me with a frown and narrowing eyes as if I had done something wrong that he did not approve of. But it was his next question that sent chills down my spine. "Xy, are you sure you're human?"
* * *
A/N: is she? NatyIvinova (and I believe some of you as well) would've said something along the line of "I knew it!" :DD