"Hey." I smiled over at Oliver and Liv as they approached the group. Blake had arrived a minute or so earlier but Ryder was late, which was no surprise.
"Hey." Oliver grinned at me while everyone stared curiously at the two of them.
"Guys, this is Oliver and Liv," I introduced. "They are new."
"Olly," he corrected, holding out a hand to Liam.
"As in Oliver and Olivia?" Caroline asked with a grin and they both scowled.
"Yeah, our parents picked Oliver for a boy and Olivia for a girl and didn't bother to change it when they got both," Liv huffed with an eye roll.
Everyone introduced themselves while we waited for the last arrival. "Hey losers!" Ryders voice yelled and we all turned to see his familiar grin. He hauled me into his chest and squeezed the life out of me before frowning. "You totally got laid today," he announced.
"Ryder!" I scolded, slapping him lightly. It was no secret from my friends anyway after Liams very accurate acting but I barely knew Olly and Liv.
He held his hands up and laughed. "Sorry." He turned and gave Liam a weird bro hug thing and I honestly wasn't at all surprised they were friends - they were both assholes. "And who are the random strangers that are joining us?"
"How welcoming of you." I rolled my eyes. "This is Olly and Liv, they are new to the pack. This is Ryder, he is rude and annoying and you should ignore everything that he says," I told them.
"Including when I tell you that when Ella was six she was running away from me and we-?" I cut him off by clamping my hand over his mouth and glaring. He held up his hand in surrender and laughed when I reluctantly removed my hand. "Wet herself," he blabbed and ran.
"Ha I remember that." Jordan giggled. "She cried when she told me."
"Jordan!" I shook my head while she froze, realising she had blabbed. "Ryder you are dead!"
"Wouldn't wanna be you right now," Mason chuckled, raising an eyebrow while Ryder backed away.
"You're human?" Olly stated, glaring in his direction.
"He is, he knows and he keeps the secret," I told him, shaking my head. "You don't have to worry."
"You trust humans?" Liv scoffed and I narrowed my eyes at her.
"This one." I nodded.
"Can we go? Its a million degrees and there is no shade here," Lexi groaned before we all started through the woods, picnic baskets and water bottles in hand.
We arrived at the lake at around midday - the perfect time to cool down while the scorching sun blared in the sky. I immediately stripped down to my bikini along with the rest of the girls and glanced up to see Zach's eyes darken as they examined my body. I shuddered beneath his intense stare and had to turn away.
"Race you to the lake!" Ryder exclaimed. I met his eyes and then Zach's before charging full speed towards the water. Slightly ahead of me, Zach launched himself off the bank and I followed behind him, the cold water slamming against my skin.
"Oh my god!" I gasped as I emerged from beneath the surface. It felt like my whole body was encased in a freezer. I swam over to where Zach was treading water and nuzzled against him in an attempt to warm up but even my human radiator was ice cold so I pulled myself out of the lake to lounge on the grass.
After a couple of hours of flitting between sunbathing in the intense heat and then swimming to cool off, the boys decided on a game of football. I frowned as Zach kissed my cheek and then made his way over to the rest of the guys. Meanwhile, the girls were diving into the picnic baskets and Lexi blasted music from her phone.
I dropped down beside Jordan and watched the guys from the corner of my eye. My mouth watered a little as they charged across the grass, shirtless and glistening. "God this is a good view," Liv laughed behind me.
I smirked over at her and noticed the rest of the girls watching them too. We chatted for a while while watching the boys and picking at the food around us. "I love this song," Liv stated, stealing yet another strawberry. We had a huge platter of them and I am pretty sure between the two of us, we had demolished over half.
"So do we!" Lexi squealed, shaking her hips where she sat opposite me.
We couldn't stop laughing as we all sang along at full volume to the music blasting from Lexis phone.
****
"Ok, ready?" Zach asked me, holding a strawberry between his thumb and finger.
I nodded. "Yep." He grinned before tossing the fruit into the air and I watched it fall perfectly in line with my mouth. I sealed my lips as sweetness flooded my mouth before Zach was pressing his lips to mine thrusting his tongue into my mouth.
"Ok well before they started making out, did you see?" Lexi huffed beside Liam who was pulling the two of us apart.
"I know what to do, I just fail every single time," Liv grumbled.
"Here," Zach grabbed a strawberry and sat opposite her, "maybe you just had a shitty thrower."
"Hey!" Olly exclaimed.
"Ok, three, two, one." Zach tossed the berry and it flew over and straight into Liv's open mouth.
"I did it!" She cheered while Zach moved to sit back beside me. "Oh, do I not get the steamy make-out after?" She frowned mockingly and Ryder bust out laughing.
"Not a chance," I mumbled, shaking my head. Zach smirked down at me, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear and pecking my lips.
"So, did you guys move here with your parents?" Jordan asked the twins and their laughter quickly died.
"No." Liv shook her head. "They didn't love their children enough to stick with them," she huffed.
"Been there," Lexi muttered.
"Me too," Liam growled, flinging his arm around a pouting Lexi.
"Me too," Caroline scoffed.
"Jesus, do any of you have parents?" Olly asked on a laugh and I couldn't help but glance at Zach who's arm curled around me.
"Um... I do," Jordan mumbled, having two perfectly happy parents who were alive and in love.
"Yeah, me too." Blake grinned sheepishly, almost guiltily.
"I have a mom." Mason shrugged, holding Caroline against him.
"Dad," she said.
"Mom." Lexi said.
"Neither." Ryder shrugged nonchalantly although I knew that wasn't the case. His parents were killed when my mother was taken. His dad was trying to protect my parents and his mother was killed along with many other pack members while trying to defend our territory. Ryder always acted as though it didn't affect him but I knew to this day he still visited their graves on the anniversary of their death.
"Neither." Liam glanced to Zach who shrugged in agreement.
I leant into his hold a little further and sighed. "Neither." His hands found my hair and I felt his chin on the top of my head while he ran his fingers through the drying locks.
The twins looked to each other lovingly before Liv huffed. "Well, I guess neither anymore. But our little brother is cute." She smiled happily at the mention of Luca.
"How old is he?" Blake asked.
"Eight," Olly replied and Blake nodded.
"My little sister is eight. Maybe we should introduce them." He smiled and the two nodded.
Before anyone could speak, my phone was ringing. "Hey Aiden," I greeted my brother, leaning against Zach and taking his hand in my free one.
"Hey Ella, I was just calling to say that dad found his brother," he explained and I tensed.
"He did?" Zach squeezed my hand for support when my voice wavered a little.
"Yeah, its your choice on whether he can leave El. I said I would ask you before I made a decision," he assured me.
"Is he there?" I held my breath waiting for his answer.
"Yeah he is."
"I want to speak to him."
A couple of seconds later his voice boomed through the phone. "This is a surprise. I didn't think my daughter would be demanding to speak to me anytime soon." He sounded genuinely confused but I was still irritated.
"I told you, you aren't my father!" I snapped. "I wanted to tell you to go ahead and kill the bastard. I don't care. But do one thing for the child you made and stay the hell away from me. Once this is over, I don't ever want to see you, hear from you, know you. You got that?"
He sighed. "I got that."
"By Dean," I growled into the phone.
"Bye Ella."
I looked to see Zach mirroring my expression. "You trust him?" Zach asked.
"Nope." I shook my head.
"What did he say?" Mason frowned.
"He knows where his brother is and he is going to kill him and hopefully then I will never hear from him again."
Zach's arms tightened around me and he kissed the shell of my ear. "Baby, don't worry, he doesn't have any reason to try and contact you ever again."
He was right. I knew he was right and while a massive part of me hoped he was right, a small - no, a minuscule - part of me wanted him to be wrong.