Piper
I walked in the middle of Caleb and Zeke. My brother was still shaking when we got to the pack house of the Blood Star Pack. The fight was over. Dead bodies littered the floor; making me shudder. "Caleb?" I asked softly. He hummed in response. "Did anyone get hurt?" I wondered.
He frowned. "A few minor injuries" he answered. A frown made its way on my face. That's the reason I didn't want them to come here. I had a plan. Obviously, it didn't work out too well.
I didn't exactly think that Terence would hold Caroline and I at gunpoint and demand our mates to fight. I just thought that he would threaten us. Then I would distract him by pissing him off; resulting in he and my father hitting me. And while that went on, Caroline and Nick would get everyone off the territory and start a new territory.
It wasn't exactly a fool-proof plan. But I figured I would improvise if something went wrong. But then Terence came with the gun. And Caleb showed up. I glanced at my mate. Why did he even come? I'm not being ungrateful or anything. I'm genuinely curious. The note was made for him to hate me. He shouldn't have had a reason to play the hero.
"Piper!" relieved voiced rang in my ears. I looked up to see Thalia, Amanda, Grams, Kat, Emily, Caroline, and Kaley. Mustering up a small smile, I walked deeper into the house. Zeke drifted away from me and plopped on the couch, giving the girls a chance to squeeze the breath out of me. It was uncomfortable to be squished in the middle of seven girls. Seven!
I slightly winced and hissed through my teeth. My mate looked worriedly at me. 'I'm fine' I mouthed to him. Hesitantly, he nodded and sat on the couch next to Zeke. After getting hugs from the girls, I took in a deep breath- only for it to get pushed out of me. I was sandwiched between Mason and Sam as they wrapped their muscular arms around me. "We're glad you're safe, Pipes" they whispered softly- actually, Mason whispered it.
Then Sam whispered. "Yeah. What he said" I couldn't help but chuckle at his weirdness. After they let go, I was hugged my Toby. I instantly knew it was him. His hugs have always felt different. They felt safe and warm. They made me feel like nothing could ever get to me. Like nothing could hurt me.
Just how hugs should feel. But of course there are the hugs where you get the life squeezed out of you- which are just as good. After a while, he pulled away. I got a few more small hugs from Tyler, Nick, a few of the warriors who were glad that their Luna was okay, and even a few of the warriors of Nick's pack. "Okay!" Nick's voice boomed through the house.
We all turned to him as he stood about four steps up on the stairs. "Terence Walters and George Kingsley have met their deaths" he announced. Everyone nodded. "No details will come out about their deaths for the sake of a few important people" he stated. I knew he was talking about Zeke. I knew that Nick wanted it to be a secret because he's young.
People would be afraid of him. Zeke is twelve. He's not even a teen, and he's already killed. Twice. Both times for me. Both times with that gun. The first was at Mason's pack, I told him to hide in the closet; but he came out to help me. Then he shot Terence. To save me. He saved me.
But some people won't see it that way. They'll think he's evil. They would think that he's a monster. Someone following in his father's footsteps. But I know better than that. Zeke has a good heart. Some might say that I'm biased since he's my brother; however, I would still convince them that my brother is not evil.
And he definitely isn't like our father. Zeke didn't take pride in killing them. He was scared out of his mind. I'm sure that he didn't even plan on using the gun. He probably just brought it for protection- and it was useful. He has killed; but we all have. Just because he's younger does not make him some kind of threat. We were in a battle. He fought for the good side. He's the reason that we even won the fight.
"I will take over as Alpha. Theo will be Beta" Nick's declaration pulled me out of my thoughts. Everyone started cheering. Nodding, he walked towards Caleb, who stood up from the couch. "If you accept, I would be honored to have you as an ally" Nick stated.
We all quieted down as we waited for Caleb's answer. My mate stared at Nick's hand, not moving. I get why he didn't make an alliance with the Blood Star Pack; it was because of Terence and my father. But they're gone. He shouldn't have a reason to not make an alliance. The pack did nothing wrong. The Alpha and the Beta were just shitty at their roles. However, you shouldn't judge a pack by its leaders. Some of the strongest packs have young leaders. Some of the weakest packs are ruled by the strongest werewolves. The leader doesn't define the pack. Because the leader would be nothing without a pack.
Finally, Caleb placed his hand in Nick's as they shook on it. They did the bro hug thing and patted each other's backs. "Thank you" I heard Caleb whisper. Everyone else was too far to hear them. And Zeke was in his own world; so I was the only one that could hear their small conversation. "You're a good guy. Stay that way" my mate stated.
They moved away from each other and Caleb moved towards me. He lifted his hands up, and I pushed away the instinct to flinch. Caleb wouldn't hurt me. I mentally told myself. I was right. He cradled my face in his hands as he softly pressed his lips to mine. There were a lot of hoots and hollers, making me smile as we continued to kiss. "Okay. Okay. That's enough" Toby said, going into father-mode.
Laughing, Caleb pulled away and pressed a lingering kiss on my forehead. "You scared the crap out of me today" he muttered while pushing his face into my neck. I released a shaky breath before I started running my hands through his hair. "I missed you" he whispered. A smile made its way onto my face.
It hasn't even been 24 hours. And yet... "I missed you too" I replied softly. He kissed the side of my neck and I shivered at the contact.
Caleb pulled away with his face scrunched up. "You smell like Nick" he stated. I laughed and motioned down at the clothes I was wearing. I still had on Nick's shorts as well as his shirt. "You should only wear my clothes" he whined.
I rolled my eyes at his childish behavior. "Well, I didn't exactly bring any clothes with me" I reminded him. Still pouting, Caleb huffed. "You're such a baby" I teased.
"But I'm your baby" he replied. I raised an eyebrow. That sounded so weird. And disturbing. It would've been cute if I called him an idiot. But doing that with the word 'baby' doesn't work. "That sounded better in my head" Caleb admitted.
Everyone laughed at him. It was like we didn't just get out of a battle and kill a bunch of rogues along with our fathers. Yup. Something is definitely wrong with us. While everyone was laughing and started their own conversations, Caleb wrapped his arm back around my waist and snuggled his face in my neck. I sighed in content and moved my arms under his so I could hug his waist. "Aww. Look at the two of them!" I turned and saw Thalia and Grams gushing over Caleb and I.
They weren't even trying to be discreet about it. They were pointing and squealing. Thalia even went as far as saying that we're an OTP. But then she had to explain to Grams what an OTP is. Blushing, I rested my face in Caleb's chest; making him move his face off of my neck. His chin was on my head, arms wrapped around me, and one hand gently playing with my hair.
Sparks went off around my entire body. It felt tingly and amazing. His arms were warm. He wasn't squeezing me, but his arms weren't loose. It was perfect. "Poptart" he whispered softly. I hummed with my eyes closed. "Do you wanna stay here, while I take everyone back to the pack house? I can come back later" he offered.
Shaking my head, I slightly craned my neck to look up at him. "I wanna go home" I told him. A smile spread across his face as he intertwined our fingers before pressing a gently kiss to the back of my hand. Caleb told me that he would get everyone ready, giving me time to say goodbye. Of course, I started with Thalia. Then moved on to everyone I knew. Even the warriors that I didn't speak to often.
I knew that the whole pack helped, and I wanted to thank them. A few of the goodbyes were tearful; others were playful; and some were even sentimental. It took about half an hour to say goodbye to everyone. I got people's phone numbers and Thalia said we could finally stop using that burner phone. I was thankful for that. It was aggravating to constantly put minutes in that thing.
With a smile on my face, I gave the Blood Star Pack one last wave before walking off with Caleb and our pack.
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Eventually, we got back to our territory and once again; I was suffocated by a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay" Mandy muttered as she wrapped her arms around me. I hugged her back as she gently stroked my hair. "Go see Liam" she urged.
Nodding, I quickly jogged up the stairs to Liam's room. I burst into the room just like he does with me. "Pipes!" he exclaimed. He attempted to sit up, but winced and relaxed back into the bed. Smiling softly at him, I walked up to the bed and leaned down so I could hug him. "How dare you scare a crippled person like that!" he shouted as I pulled away from him.
"I was worried sick!" he yelled. A frown made its way onto my face as I eased onto the bed to sit next to him. "And I can't exactly move at the moment, so I couldn't pace around like a worried person would do!" he said in exasperation. Suddenly, tears welled up in his eyes and rolled down his cheeks.
I gently hugged him. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. And I promise it won't happen again" I stated.
Liam sighed and wrapped his arms around me. "Don't leave me Piper" he whispered. "My mom left. My dad left. I can't lose my sister" he mumbled. Neither of his parents 'left' him. They both died. And I hate that I could've put him through that pain again.
Tears streamed down my face as my arms tightened around him. I was thinking about protecting everyone. But I didn't think about how they would feel if I never returned or if I died. "I'm not going anywhere" I promised him.
Eventually, he fell asleep. It's part of the whole healing thing. His body wants to shut down so he has more energy to heal his wounds. Or some crap like that. I walked out of his room and gently closed the door behind me.
I gazed at the staircase that went down. I knew everyone was probably down there. But I went up to the Alpha/Beta floor, going straight to Caleb's room. My chest ached as I curled into his bed with the blanket draped over me. I buried my face into one of the pillows to muffle out my cries.
I didn't even know why I was crying. It could've been because Liam is still in pain from the rogues. It could've been because I was mad at myself for putting everyone through all that worry. It could've been the fact that my father died- no matter what happens, its hard to not be sad when a parent dies. It could've been Zeke saving me by killing Terence. It could just be everything.
One thing on top of another, on top of another. The problems are all stacked on each other. And the stack is taller than the empire state building. It's just too much. With each issue, the ache in my chest grew bigger and bigger. As the ache grew, my sobs grew louder.
"Poptart" a soft voice interrupted my thoughts. I attempted to calm myself down, which resulted in me panting, coughing, and hiccupping. Caleb gently rubbed my back before prying me away from the pillow.
He pulled me into his chest as he sat against the headboard. He softly hummed a random tune as he ran his hand through my hair. We didn't speak. He just held me and played with my hair as I cried. And that's exactly what I needed.
I didn't need him to tell me 'everything would be okay.' I didn't need him to help me deal with all of the problems. I didn't need him to coax me to stop crying. I didn't need him to tell me to get some sleep. I just needed him.
I needed him to be there. Knowing that my mate would be there was enough. I only needed his presence. It made me feel better. It slowly pushed the problems to the back of my mind. It dulled the ache in my chest. It allowed me to breathe like a normal person.
People say that one person can't change the world. However, Caleb changed my world. He took my shitty past and helped- is helping me cope with it. He changed my views on everything. He saved me from the monsters that haunted me in reality and in my dreams. He took my shattered world and made it whole. He took a broken, unloved girl and taught her how to trust again. He taught me how to love.
And I love him with every single atom that makes up my body.
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Hey, guys.
Sorry this update was kinda late.
I've been dealing with personal issues; so writing has become difficult. I'm trying to clear my mind to write, but its easier said than done.
I hope you guys are having a better weekend than me.
Love you!!!
Kayyyyzzzz Byeeeezzzzz
~A.J.