Nathan and his sisters were an hour late to the party—he had to wait for his sisters to dress up, changing between one dress to another. Therefore, they sort of missed the pack-pledge, and they still have yet to recognize their future step-family.
Step-family, is that even right?
His mood sensors were acting up weirdly ever since he was at the Main House. He felt hotness rising in and out of his body, and every once in a while, he found himself losing control in shape-shifting.
He knew he was happy reuniting with his sisters. Zooey couldn't let go of him—they had been very close before the girls traveled abroad for college. Both she and Clarissa managed to attend the ceremony since apparently now was their study week. They'd catch a flight to London in a week to finish their finals and returned home again for their semester break and the wedding.
Nathan closed his eyes and brought his hand to massage his head—when he opened them again colors started to fade from his vision.
Then he saw it—half a body hidden behind a column among the crowd, the pair of eyes was too familiar, too beautiful for him to forget. Nathan noticed Keith running aimlessly through his monochromatic eyesight ... he breathed in and attempted to grasp control over his sanity again. He blinked, and his eyesight normalized ... thank God.
Zooey, her hands still wrapped around Nathan's neck, muttered as they both moved vainly in a tune of some random pop song, "Nate, are you okay?"
"Didn't really feel so good ... must be the food." Nathan stopped trying to dance, and when he came to look into his sister's eyes again, he saw a worried look.
"Uh, you should find somewhere to rest or something," Zooey said. "Kinda noticed that you're sort of ... out of it."
"Yeah, maybe I should." Nathan eyed around the room packed with people again, and he couldn't spot Keith.
Zooey let him go, and grabbed a glass of orange juice from the mini bar near them, taking a sip. "I want to see some old buddies here ... you go save yourself, brother."
Nathan kissed her sister on the cheek before he took a quick move to locate Keith in the room. There were too many people conquering the huge hallway it seemed almost impossible to find his mate here. He wasn't surprised to Keith's presence in the ceremony; after all, Nathan knew that he and Jordan were good friends. But he was sure Keith didn't know that he lived in this pack; had Keith noticed him here?
Their last encounter made Nathan feel like shit. He'd stay up in his lonely nights thinking how impossible it seemed to ignore the mate bond developing inside him for Keith. The more he tried to suppress the feelings down, the more the desire to see Keith came storming inside his head.
He navigated Dan's house vigilantly, searching for every room, restrooms and every corner; this place was his playground as a child, so he knew every part of the Main House well. Nothing ... yet.
Sometimes he wanted to disbelieve what his mother had been theorizing, that he was a psychic. But through readings and researches he knew for a fact that he was one. What happened to Ravelle explained everything—there was circle of magicians that were still active in present to enslave people like him; they called them the mind-readers, to be exact.
The term was legitimate, though. After encountering Keith, Nathan found himself able to control the mood exuded from the people surrounding him—he felt like a vessel with a lid now, having the capability to let the mood shift in and out of his head. Most importantly, as he recently discovered, he could hear words in faint noises in his head whenever he touched someone.
The magicians couldn't detect him now; Nathan found out that no matter what he was, he was still a fledgling, cracks and holes remained around his ability. The magicians specifically detect the psychics' bloom and whereabouts and through divinations—a magic system of making prophetic predictions about the future—and Nathan knew he was safe as long as he was left to be an incomplete immortal.
This means that once he developed a mate bond—reconnected to another half a soul that he was meant for in his life—the missing holes and gaps inside his mind-reading abilities would be filled. He'd become a full-fledged immortal and his identity would pop up in the magicians' oracle.
His investigation brought him tragic discoveries, too. Some people of his kind were enslaved and kept for breeding like animals, although most of them found themselves ways to end up being crazy, like Ravelle, if suicide became an impossible option due to immortality. The circle of magicians, though banned by the Custody, was still active in hiding, marching on to hunt more slaves for their own benefits.
Nathan wanted to turn around and return to the hall when he reached the back side of the house near the kitchen, but he heard sounds and painful moans coming from the pantry and it caught his attention.
The pantry's door was opened, and as Nathan entered he felt as if air escaped his lungs.
"Keith, what the fuck?"
Keith, sprawled on the floor with cans of booze all around him, was muttering inaudible things. He was obviously drunk, looking like he almost blacked out in a pool of spilled beer around him; Nathan almost couldn't stand the scent of booze reeked inside the room.
He reached forward to close the cooler ahead of Keith and squatted down. Finding his mate so close to him made the ache in his head to burn like fire. How could he resist not being with a mate that looked so perfect and so near to him?
Nathan almost couldn't forgive himself for making Keith believe the lie he told him. He remembered the way Keith's smiles faded that day, replaced with a look of anguish and disappointment as if he regretted knowing Nathan completely.
"Come on," Nathan said, "let's get you out of here." He slid one of his hands behind Keith's neck and another one under his knees. Nathan carried Keith up, putting his mate's head near to his chest, as Keith continued muttering gibberish things along the way. Keith wasn't that heavy, but it required quite the amount of energy to lift him too. He stalled and peeked outside the pantry before he stepped out and moved towards the crowd.
Keith blabbered again, looking too drunk right now. Nathan hoped as hell he wouldn't have alcohol poisoning or something, assuming by the amount of cans he'd seen. Was Keith an alcoholic all along? He didn't seem the type to Nathan, although seeing him hiding in a pantry secretly chugging down beers said otherwise.
"What?" Nathan asked, slowly moving to the front side of the house having Keith mumbling near his body.
"You're a fucking dick, you know that?" Nathan heard Keith say, and he let out a sigh.
"Oh God," Nathan groaned, figuring out how to speed past the guests without drawing too much attention. He took a deep breath and hurried against the dancing people in the center hall of the room. "We have to get you out of here."
"Don't touch me or I'll fucking break you in half ..." Keith muttered, and that made Nathan chuckle.
"I'll give you all the chance to break me all you want once I put you to bed," said Nathan. "Don't worry."
Some noticed and gasped, and Nathan smiled to those he knew. His plan was to walk straight to his house and put Keith to bed, probably return back to the party to enjoy more of his time.
Or stay in bed and cuddle with my mate ...
"No," he said to himself. Nathan had to draw as much as distance with Keith despite its impossibility. He knew how hard it would be, but he had to try. He reminded himself that the threat of being captured by the magicians would also cost Keith's life if they were united as mates. Nathan didn't even know Keith, and he wouldn't risk a life of someone he'd just acquainted.
He walked swiftly to the door when he heard a woman gasp and his father blocking him with a shocked look.
"Oh God, Keith!" the woman—Claire—let out a cry. She reached out to rub Keith on his forehead, her other hand closing her mouth. "W—what happened?"
"What happened to Keith?" Dad asked, and Nathan gasped, utterly surprised.
"He ... he passed out ... drunk," Nathan said. "I found him in the pantry with beer cans all over—wait ... Dad, you know him?"
Nathan noticed that Dad was sort of tipsy as well. "Oh, we only met just now ... that looks serious ... you should totally put your stepbrother to bed or something."
"Wait, what? Stepbrother? W—what do you mean?"
Only Nathan exactly knew what it meant, and this discovery felt like a hard slap in his face. How could he forget that he'd be living together with Claire's son after Dad's marriage with her? Oh, perfect, he also realized that while Clarissa and Zoey were staying over their semester break, he also needed to share his bedroom with that particular stepbrother, who was apparently Keith.
Keith. His mate.
Fuck.
Claire looked like she wanted to burst into tears. "Oh, Nathan, I'm sorry for troubling you, but can you please take care of him for a while? I ... I don't know he can be so reckless—this is not him—"
"No, no, it's fine," Nathan said. "He'll be fine with me now."
"Thank you so much," Claire said, and Nathan proceeded to walk outside of the Main House to his own place.
If his mother found out that Keith was the particular person that he had a mate bond with, she would certainly force him to stay with her and her husband. That would be heartbreaking, but it could help too. Maybe he should consider staying with Mom, instead of being roomies with a boy he desired and couldn't have.
His head started to spin—Nathan slowed his steps to take in a few breaths. Suddenly, he saw familiar faces running outside the Main House, including the Alpha. Nathan opened his head to sense the atmosphere, and he was right; something happened. The air felt so heavy with tension and anxiety. Nathan followed the crowd walking to the back side of the Main House. He heard noises and commotion, followed by shouts and sounds of punching and kicking and his heart sped up.
Two men appeared from the commotion, carrying Jordan, who was unconscious. They walked in a rush as they passed by Nathan.
Nathan saw Jeff running, feeling a wave of tremor coming from him. Before he disappeared into the house, Nathan called him out, "Jeff!"
Jeff stopped his tracks, turned around and walked to Nathan. "Yeah?"
"What's the matter, man?"
"Jace ... he got in a fight with Theo." Jeff wheezed, out of breath from all the running before he could speak again. "They were arguing in the backyard, but things got physical when Jordan interrupted, and Theo smacked him down. Jordan looked like he hurt so badly—blacked out instantly. Now we're probably going to find Theo's father to fix him up. Dan's about to stop Jace and Theo now."
Nathan instantly wanted to join his friends and helped calm Jace down, too. Lately, Nathan noticed Theo starting to behave like a prick after Jace and Jordan publicly mated. Jace and Theo used to be good friends—they were in the same circle at school, both of them being the school popular sport jocks.
But apparently Jordan was not the only one knocked out.
"Met your stepbrother there, I see," Jeff said. "What's up with him?"
Nathan smiled, and he didn't know why he did—maybe the whole stepbrother thing amused him. "Drunk."
Jeff breathed in, and he felt more relaxed now. "Figures."
"Gotta go, Jeff ... have to put this kid to bed."
"What a sweet, sweet bro you're becoming," Jeff teased, and if Nathan's hands were free, he'd already smack Jeff in the head.
Nathan tried to walk as fast as he could to his house, but his place was not that close from Dan's. He was already out of breath when he got to the front yard, worried that he might drop Keith out of his grip even before they reached his bedroom. He stopped his tracks for a while to breathe, and he was certain Keith would freak out and break free of his arm if he suddenly woke up.
Nathan entered the house and switched a few lights on. He ran up the stairs and walked to the end of the hallway, where his bedroom was located. He rushed inside and placed Keith gently on his twin bed before he proceeded to turn on one of the bedside lamps. He didn't want to wake Keith up, but his mate looked like he could be asphyxiated in his clothes.
Nathan started on the shoes first, gently unlatching Keith's sneakers and put it right under the bed. When Nathan proceeded to pull out one of Keith's socks, he felt him twitching, and Nathan stopped immediately.
"Asshole," he heard Keith mutter again. "You're a fucking asshole."
Feeling certain Keith wasn't conscious, Nathan tugged out the sock without no hesitation. "What did I ever do wrong to you, Keith?"
"You're not straight ... you're gay as fuck."
Nathan stopped his movement once again. He heard me, didn't he? Maybe you're just pretending to be drunk.
He peered slowly over to Keith's face—his eyes were still closed, his face flushed. Nathan's heart started to catch on speed; he slowly landed his fingers to pinch Keith's waist; maybe that'd tickle him. Keith gave out no response.
"You're right, I'm not," he whispered. "I have to bullshit you for now. I'm sorry."
Nathan took a deep breath. If Keith was pretending all along, he wouldn't hold his ground any longer now.
He reached out to unbutton Keith's collar—the shirt looked too tight around Keith's body Nathan wondered if he didn't suffocate in it. A rush of nerves strolled into his head, blood running wild from his brain downwards, making him hard. Oh, God—kill me now. There was a sleeveless undershirt, and Nathan knew he'd just leave it there.
But he didn't feel like he should leave Keith's pants on. Nathan unbuckled the belt, trying hard to ignore the hardness in his pants now. He never felt like this before, the urge to touch himself imagining his mate invaded his mind. Everything felt so sudden and peculiar to him, and his heart pulsated more to the thought of it.
He took a heavy breath, tugging the belt off the loop of Keith's pants and set it aside. Trying not to look at Keith, now only in a sleeveless shirt and a boxer brief, he walked to the door, yawning. He knew he should return to the party, maybe join the boys find out what had happened to Jace, or have some friendly talk with Claire—the night was still young, anyway.
But he was tired. It didn't help Nathan when he turned around to stand at the door, realizing Keith had already curled up like a shrimp on the edge of the twin bed. The empty space next to him was summoning Nathan, and he wanted to rid all the desire inside his head now.
He knew he was failing the moment he took one step forward back into his bedroom. More when he shut the door off.
Fuck it—I'm just going to lie down there, that's it.
He approached the bed, already stripping down to only his boxer brief. Nathan took off his wristwatch, his eyes pinned down onto the sight of his mate, sleeping peacefully, already emitting light snores. God ... you're pretty as hell, kid.
He sat down on the edge of the bed, feeling unsure of what to do next. Next, Nathan lay down right on the edge of the bed, feeling stiff with awkwardness. He pulled out the covers from underneath him and Keith, covering the both of them, before he reached to turn off the lights right next to him.
He was right beside his mate. This felt like a miracle, considering the days he'd been thinking about Keith in restlessness, wondering about what he had to do for their future together.
Nathan looked to his side, and peaked up to catch a glimpse of his mate's face, shone dimly by the moonlight coming through the crack of blinds of his bedroom window. Keith looked pure and innocent in his sleep—there was nothing astounding about the physique of his oval face; there were some light freckles on his fair skin, his eyes were roundish almond, he had pointy narrow lips and had a noticeable touch of dimple chin. But this was the face that he wanted to kiss so bad, the person he wanted to unite and share a mate bond with for eternity.
He hated himself more to the fact that Keith had been hurt by his lie; he wondered how many nights Keith had been up thinking in confusion after what he said to him before the finals started. Sometimes, Nathan wanted Keith to break him, to let Keith hurt him as much as he wanted to.
I'm sorry, love. Nathan returned to lie down back to his spot, turning to his left side where Keith was asleep.
Just tonight, he thought. Nathan scooted closer to Keith, and his scent alone could drive Nathan into madness.
He pulled the covers higher before his hand draped over Keith's abdomen, pushing his mate right into his embrace. And, miraculously, Keith melted into his arms, his movement natural and automatic.
Nathan had never felt so good until now. His head scurried over to lie down on Keith's pillow right behind his mate's neck, sniffing the scent of him and Nathan drifted off to a hell of a good sleep.