The sun broke through our window. It was Friday morning. One week after Declan's kidnapping. We had informed the rest of the pack, the council and the Academy staff. Everyone was on the lookout, but it wasn't helping our case at all. We were still absolutely no closer to finding him than we'd been last friday night. Academy life went on as normal, but nobody in the Silverblood pack could focus on school right now.
Ben stirred in my arms. I smiled. His eyelids fluttered open. He turned his head to face me. "Hi," he said in a raspy voice.
"Hi," I whispered, slowly kissing him. I was gripping his biceps as his hands ran up and down my bare back. The skin on skin felt amazing. I deepened the kiss and was just about to suggest skipping the day when yelling was heard from the hallway.
Ben groaned. His pack was out of control. They were constantly picking fights with other packs and even amongst themselves. They were hell-bent on interrogating every person in the Academy. And of course... Ben had to deal with it all.
I sighed, lifting myself off of him and landing on my back on the bed with my hands shielding my eyes from the light. Ben rolled out from under the covers and stomped to the door. He kicked the door a few times. "Silverbloods, shut up!" he yelled angrily. The hallway fell quiet and I chuckled under my breath. Benjamin was not a morning person.
We showered and got dressed before we made our way to the cafeteria. Everyone fell silent as we entered. With all the suspicion and accusations going around, every pack was now assigned their own cafeteria to eat at. Okay, no. That was a lie. Silverblood pack had been assigned their own cafeteria. I was almost positive that everyone else was still allowed to eat wherever the hell they wanted to.
The Silverbloods distrusted me. They couldn't figure out why I was on their side and it angered them. They even blamed me for Declan's kidnapping. They argued that it had been my job to distract Ben while my so called 'buddies' did the job. What a bunch of assholes.
Ben and I sat down at a table. Someone in the room coughed. It vibrated through the otherwise silent room. Finally, Ben sighed. I raised an eyebrow as he stood up from his seat and jumped onto the table in front of us.
"Listen up!" Ben yelled to the deathly quiet room. I rolled my eyes. He could've whispered and it would've been heard. "This ends now. None of this is Finn's fault. None of what is happening can be stopped by Finn. I get that everyone wants someone to blame right now, but scrap him from your lists. He had nothing to do with Declan's disappearance."
"Why is he even here? He isn't part of our pack!" a kid yelled from accross the room. Loud cheers met his words.
Ben hesitated. I could see him searching for a lie. Then, his mind made up, he squared his shoulders. His eyes met mine. A silent question. Asking my permission to do the unthinkable.
My heartbeat sped up and my palms became sweaty. I wasn't ready. It could destroy my life. Time seemed to slow down as my thoughts spun in circles. The past week had been amazing. Ben and I spent hours upon hours talking. He trusted me with everything now. It was as if I'd known him my whole life. Just the way it was supposed to be. The room came back into focus as my head stopped spinning. I knew what had to be done.
I nodded at Ben, an encouraging smile upon my lips.
Ben was my soulmate. Ben was everything I had ever wanted and so much more. Ben was the love of my life.
"I've been hiding something from you all," Ben began hesitantly. "I found my mate." I had to fight to keep my laughter back as the gathered crowd let out a unified gasp. Ben fidgited with his hands and avoided all eye contact. His eyes found mine and he visibly steeled himself. "So, Silverblood pack, please welcome your second alpha, Finn Galager."
I hadn't believed it possible, but the room was even more silent than when we had walked in. Seconds turned into a full minute as people looked at each other, their jaws slack and their eyes filled with shock. Then, as if rehearsed, one kid stood up and started clapping. The rest of the table of fourth graders joined him excitedly. Soon, the whole room was engulfed in cheers and shouts.
I could see the shock on Ben's face. Neither of us had been expecting this. Somebody pulled me to my feet by my hand. I shot a quizzical look in our first cheerer's direction, but he ignored me and continued to guide me until I was next to Ben. It was a little awkward. Neither of us really knew what to do, but Ben suddenly just shrugged and turned to me. I held my breath as he placed his hands on my cheeks and kissed me.
The pack was going crazy, but I barely noticed and, as Ben went to pull back, I wrapped my arms around his waist and pulled him to me again for another kiss. From the corner of my eye, I saw Harry leave the cafeteria. I frowned and gently stepped away from Ben.
Once the cafeteria was silent again, I left in search of Harry. I went to the only place that I could think of. The clearing in the woods was still just as serene as the first time that I'd seen it. Harry was sitting at the edge, his back against a tree. He didn't seem to notice me until I spoke, "What's wrong, Harry?" He opened his mouth and I could see in his eyes that he wanted to deny that anything was the matter. I held up my hand. "Save it. If you're going to lie, rather don't open your mouth." I fell down next to him and crossed my legs.
Harry looked taken aback for a moment. He shot me a humorless smile. "You wouldn't understand," he said. I gave him a dry look. He smiled and sighed. "Fine. Here it goes. Declan... Declan is my mate. Before you ask, I've known for a long time now. I... I rejected him because I thought that I would never be accepted in the pack if they ever found out. And now... Now you and Ben just showed me what a completely weak idiot I was." My shock turned to protest, but this time he was the one who held up the hand. "Think about it, Finn. You and Ben had a lot more to lose. You put so much at risk. But you still knew that you had to at least try."
It was silent as I tried to think of something to say. I couldn't tell him that everything would be alright because we didn't know that it would. I couldn't tell him he wasn't a weak idiot because he didn't want to hear it. "Then here's what you're going to do." Harry looked at me with his full attention. "We're going to find him. We're going to save him. And when everything is over, you are going to fall on your knees and hope that he takes you back, you dumbass."
Harry's face erupted into a grin. I smiled back at him and rose from my spot next to him on the ground, brushing myself off. "Finn?" I turned back to him. "You're going to be a great alpha for this pack." I gave a curt nod and disappeared into the coverage of the trees before he could mock me about the tears in my eyes.
It didn't take long to jog back to the Academy grounds. There weren't any people around. I frowned and looked at my watch. Classes started in five minutes. Where was everyone?
I hadn't been accepted into Ben's pack yet, so I couldn't even use the mind link to contact any of them. I started wandering around aimlessly, hoping that someone would find me.
I spotted a few of Hunter's friends sitting on a bench in one of the hallways. They fell silent when they saw me. "Well, well, well. If it isn't the little fag, Galager," the biggest one said as he rose and walked in my direction. He was Hunter's future beta, but I couldn't remember his name. "Fancy seeing you here." His three friends, all warriors in training, flanked him in the next few seconds.
I gulped and assessed my options. I could run and look like a weak little brat. Or I could stay and maybe get my ass kicked. I debated my options silently while the four of them came closer. I steeled myself and let the doubt drain from my mind. I couldn't run. Not now.
"I always knew you were too weak to take over from your father. You would've run our specie into the ground. You don't deserve to serve on the Circle." The four of them surrounded me. I was trapped. "You know, I was secretly happy that our alpha decided to take matters into his own hands. Sure saved the rest of us a lot of trouble."
I froze. My hands curled into fists at my sides. The world came to a stop around me. I was focused on the idiot in front of me and nothing else. Everything else suddenly seemed meaningless. "What dit you just say?" I growled.
"Oh, nothing. Only that your daddy got what he deserved. Blackheart pack was happy to rid the world of the scum that you called your family. Too bad you were gone that night or you could've-"
His words were cut short when my fist connected with his face. I saw red as I pounced on him. "Oh, if only Declan had fought half as hard as you," the man underneath me sneered. I could feel hands on my body scrambling for something to hold on to, trying to pull me off of him. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think.
A loud crack filled the air.
Everything stopped. I sat back, watching the big man under me as his head lolled to the side. I'd snapped his neck. My teeth we bared in a malicious grin as I looked back at the three pale faces standing behind me. "Who's next?" I growled. The three didn't even think twice before they turned and bolted for the woods. I sprang to my feet, ready to chase them down.
"Finn." The all too familiar voice brought me back to reality. Ben was standing in the shadows, looking at the discarded body on the ground.
"Ben, you don't-"
"It's fine. Everything is going to be alright," Ben said, cutting off my explanation. We stood facing each other in silence for a few moments. Then, a sad smile spread across Ben's face. He stepped closer to me. There was only a feet or two of open space left between us. "I heard it all. I also recorded it all. They'll pay. I swear to you, they'll pay." He closed the distance and pulled me to him.
His scent calmed me as I hugged him close. I never could've imagined that I would feel this way about anyone. Ben was everything to me. I knew it had been such a short time, but I also knew I would never be able to let him go. He was my family now. He was my safety.
"We need to go," Ben said, stepping back from me after kissing me on the temple. I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Guess who came for a surprise visit and saw our performance in the cafeteria. I'll give you one guess."
"Mister Galager. Didn't think I'd ever see you here. I'm Michael Thorne. It's a pleasure to meet you, my boy," Ben's dad said as he stepped out of the shadows.