Brody slung his gym back over his shoulder just as he walked out of the large double doors which opened from the gym into the gardens. A footpath was laid out in front of him, and he walked along it slowly, feeling the cool breeze as it hit his previously sweat stained skin. It was the first time that he had gone to the gym of his free will since the incident with the window, and he sure as hell made sure that he didn’t even touch a free weight.
He looked up as he walked, but he knew what he would see in the moment just before he saw him. The connection told him that Nate was there, and when his eyes finally found what they were looking for, they weren’t disappointed.
Nate was standing amongst the trees, his green shirt and black pants almost allowing him to blend into his surroundings. The wind was a god send in Brody’s opinion, since Nate’s dark brown hair was blowing around his face in the wind. Brody was seconds away from just running over to Nate and pressing his lips to his mate’s, the memory of their last kiss lingering at the forefront of his mind.
He stopped himself from doing just that, knowing that the implications would be too much. A simple kiss could change everything in their lives, and Brody wasn’t going to allow them to be put into any danger of losing their futures.
He kept his pace painfully slow as he walked up to Nate, and as he got closer he was able to make out the two other people standing next to him. These two guys were the last people that Brody wanted to see with his mate, and yet there they were, Nate, Jace and Tye all talking.
Brody suddenly felt a protective urge rise up in his chest at the image, and he had to forcefully push it down. He knew that Jace and Tye would never hurt Nate, but that didn’t stop the feeling from persevering, regardless of rationality.
Nate’s gaze shifted and their eyes met. Brody looked at him blankly, not sure what to do. Did Nate want him to come over and what, hang out with the two guys who had tormented him for weeks? Brody sighed at his own immaturity, if they were Nate’s friends then he would put up with them. Only for Nate.
Nate responded with a bright smile, and to Brody’s relief, the three boys parted ways, and Nate started to walk over to Brody alone.
Brody smiled at this, taking a seat on the closest bench and swinging his gym bag onto the ground next to the chair. Nate joined him only seconds later, plopping down on the chair with his thigh pressed against Brody’s. It was a small move and a small touch, but little sparks ran up and down Brody’s clothed skin at the simple action and it made Brody smile for a second. The close proximity to his mate send relaxing feelings through Brody, knowing that his mate was safe beside him and not around Tye and Jace, also made Brody feel better.
‘Have fun working out?’ Nate asked.
‘Yeah, have fun with Tye and Jace?’ Brody asked pointedly.
Nate shrugged, ‘They wanted to apologise for what they said the other day.’
‘Did they now?’ Brody asked, sounding not too sure of their intentions.
Nate nudged Brody with his shoulder, his arm lingering against Brody’s skin for a few seconds, ‘Just forget about them. From the sounds of it, we shouldn’t be having any trouble with them from now on, and as far as I can see, that is nothing but good for us.’
Brody was still suspicious of their apparent change of heart, especially since they were apologising to Nate and not himself, but Brody guessed that guys like that weren’t going to be eager to apologise to someone that they didn’t respect, and Brody knew damn well that those two had no respect for him. Nate seemed to believe it thought, and so Brody nodded, ‘You’re right.’
‘I never thought I wasn’t,’ Nate chimed cheekily.
Brody huffed and rolled his eyes at his mate. Maybe Nate’s good nature isn’t as much of a flawless trait as I had thought, Brody wondered silently. Nate’s inability to see flaws in people was so Nate like that Brody would never dream to change it, but Tye and Jace never had good intentions with anything that they did, and Brody could see that. On the other hand, was unable to say the same thing about his mate. Nate always saw the best in people, and for the first time, Brody realised that in this situation it might have been not only one of his best, but one of his worst qualities.
‘Come on, Let’s go to my room,’ Nate smiled at Brody. He then stood and Brody followed suit.
The two of them started walking towards the accommodation building. There was more people in the courtyard now, a group of guys sitting under the shade of a tree. Brody glanced at them, but it was the two people behind the group that caught his eye. Jace and Tye were leaning against one of the trees, blank expressions on their faces as they both looked like they had been watching he and Nate. Brody’s gaze met Jace’s and the menacing scowl that was given in return was enough to send shivers running down his spine.
Brody knew in that moment that he had been right not to trust their words, and he was only a moment away from telling Nate when he realised that Nate may not even believe him. Nate had believed them when they had apologised, and for Brody to say something on the contrary would just upset Nate. He didn’t want to be one of those people who cut their mate’s off from their friends, even if Nate’s so called friends were undoubtedly appalling and horrendous people with personalities to match.
Brody quickly averted his eyes to the path that they were walking on, but he could feel those intimidating eyes in him regardless. Just forget them, Brody told himself, just walk away with your mate. Think about Nate, not them.
Nate opened the door for him, and Brody stepped into the lobby, feeling much safer the second that a solid wall stood between the two Alpha’s and himself.
They stepped into the elevator and Brody pressed the button, stepping back towards Nate. Suddenly, a warm hand was pressed against Brody’s and he smiled as he wrapped his fingers around Nate’s. Those warm, tingly sparks seemed to encase his hand and shoot warm feelings up his arm. He suddenly felt like they were in their own little world in the safety of the elevator, and one quick glance at the mirror inside the doors told Brody that Nate felt the same. Nate seemed to be looking down at their hands, his pink lips pressed into a warm smile.
‘I don’t think I’ll ever get used to how touching you feels,’ Nate told him in a whisper.
Brody blushed, about to reply when a small bing echoed its way around the small room of the elevator and the mirrored doors opened, revealing the hallway. Brody pulled his hand out of Nate’s warm grasp like it was on fire and he quickly walked out of the elevator. He hated himself for it, and he could feel Nate’s hurt at the movement like it was coming off of him in small waves. Nate covered it up well, walking ahead of Brody towards his door.
Nate opened the door with his key, and motioned for Brody to go inside.
Brody stepped around Nate, taking a few steps into his room. Brody tilted his head at what he saw. Nate’s bed was scattered with clothing, a suitcase laying in the centre.
He turned back to Nate, who had just closed the door and gave him an expectant look, ‘What is all this?’
Nate looked down at his feet for a second, ‘I was packing.’
‘Packing?’ Brody asked, and a feeling of dread filled his veins. He tried to keep his voice even and calm, but he knew that the amount of dread and fear he was feeling was surely enough to be smelt, especially by his mate. ‘You’re leaving?’
Nate stepped towards Brody quickly, taking one of his hands in his. ‘No, no, I’m not leaving.’ He assured Brody in a soothing voice.
Brody felt the panic subside, ‘Then why are you packing?’
Nate ran his free hand through his hair in somewhat embarrassment, ‘I was going to leave, but I’m not now.’
Realisation hit Brody, ‘You were going to leave because of me? Because of what I said last night?’
Nate nodded, ‘Yeah. I was going to clean this all up before you saw it, but I forgot.’
‘But why were you going to leave?’ Brody asked again, not hiding the accusation from his tone. He couldn’t believe that Nate would just abandon his responsibilities like that because of little, insignificant him.
Nate looked down at his feet for a moment, ‘I thought that you were going to reject me, and I couldn’t stand to be here and see you every day, knowing that you hated me. I figured there was no point in staying if I wasn’t able to be the leader of my pack anyway, I would need a mate to do that.’
Brody pulled his hand out of Nate’s, ‘No point? You are still the son of a council member, you can’t just throw away all that you have worked for because of me!’
Nate looked taken aback, ‘I didn’t care about that, in fact, I don’t care about that. I would leave this camp right now if you asked me to.’
‘How can you say that?’ Brody asked in shock and somewhat annoyance. ‘You can’t just throw your responsibilities to the wind like that!’
‘It’s not like I’m going to be a council member anyway!’ Nate retorted.
‘What?’ Brody asked, his voice suddenly going small.
Nate’s gaze met Brody’s, ‘No one is going to let me become the pack leader now, and that means that I can’t become a council member.’
‘Why can’t you become the pack leader?’ Brody asked in confusion. Realisation hit his face just a moment later. ‘It’s me. I’m the reason that you can’t become the pack leader.’ How had he not seen this before? Nate had a fate, a purpose, a destiny, and he had put a road block in the way.
Nate bit at his lip as he uttered, ‘Yes. Two Alpha’s cannot run a pack, it’s never happened before, I doubt that they would let me still become a pack leader.’
Brody’s face fell further, ‘That means I can’t either.’
Nate nodded sadly.
Brody’s fathers words echoed through his mind, they were the last words that he had spoken to him before he had left for camp; You are the last chance for this pack, and their fate rests in your hands. Go, learn and come back prepared, because we are going to have to fight tooth and nail to get this place back into running order. The rouges have taken advantage of the devastation left in the wake of Hunter’s death and they aren’t going to stop until we are all dead. The wolf council isn’t going to save us. You are the only one who can turn this place around.
Brody stepped back against the side of the bed, sitting down on top of some of the scattered clothing. His face was still and expressionless as he tried to comprehend the situation.
Nate stepped closer to him, taking his hand. ‘It doesn’t matter, they will find other people to run our packs. We can just….do something else.’ He shrugged, like it was no big deal.
‘It shouldn’t be this hard,’ Brody muttered. ‘I was kidding myself. I really thought for a second that we could be together, but I was wrong.’
‘No you weren’t!’ Nate responded, pulling Brody up from the bed so that they were standing face to face. ‘We can figure out a way for us to be together.’
A tear fell from Brody’s eye, sliding warmly down his cheek as he spoke, ‘I have to do what’s best for my pack, and so do you.’
Nate lifted his thumb up to wipe the tears from Brody’s cheek, ‘What about what we want? The Moon Gods wouldn’t have made us so perfect for each other only for us to be destined to be torn apart.’
‘What are we going to do?’ Brody asked with hopeful eyes.
Nate pressed a soft kiss to Brody’s temple, ‘I’ll talk to my father when he comes back before camp finishes. I will get him to sort it out for us. I won’t let anything happen to your pack, and I won’t let us get separated either.’
Brody looked up at him with big emerald eyes, ‘Promise?’
Nate nodded, a determination in his eyes, ‘Promise.’
Brody threw himself against his mate’s chest, wrapping his arms around Nate’s middle and holding him as close as he could. Nate responded immediately, pulling Brody close and burying his face into his hair. Brody felt so safe and warm in that moment, and he could feel the terrifying panic of thoughts of the future start to subside. He could feel Nate’s strength against him and he let Nate be his anchor in the suddenly uncertain world that they were lost in.
Nate pulled back, moving his hands so that one was pressed against Brody’s hip and the other gently caressing his cheek. ‘I only just found you, there’s no way that I’m letting you go.’
Brody truly hoped that it would be enough because right now it felt like it was them against the world, and Brody wasn’t prepared to lose this fight. Brody’s mind was always quick to put the pack first, but right then, looking up in Nate’s big, painfully honest eyes, and seeing how much he was cared for, well every other thought was tossed to the wayside.
‘I’m not going anywhere,’ he promised, hoping that by some miracle, he was able to keep it.