"You guys better be nice, okay? He doesn't understand much yet."
"We'll be nice, jeez."
"Yeah, not like we haven't known each other for what, our whole lives? We aren't gonna rag on your new friend, Ry."
Waking up to the sound of strange voices had a quiet growl slipping from my throat as I sat up, hunching over in a defensive position. When I realized no one else was in the room, I focused my attention toward the door, baring my teeth a few second before a quiet knock sounded on the other side.
"Hey, Tanner? Are you awake?"
It took my sleepy mind a moment to remember what awake meant.
"Yes," I replied as I slid out of the bed. I hadn't taken off my shoes last night as I'd seen Cole do every time he went to bed, but I guess I had been worried someone else might eat them before I got a chance to. They were comfortable anyway, so they didn't bother me when I slept. The door opened right as I straightened up. To my surprise, there were two new people standing behind Ryder who followed him into the room. They were all wearing smiles so I carefully put my own on and waited for someone else to speak.
"Hey, Tanner, these are my friends, Warren and Macon."
I looked over the two new people and eventually forced a smile as I realized they were the two people with Ryder the night he'd rescued me from the snow.
"My name is Tanner."
Their smiles widened a little, and they held out their hands for me to shake, which I learned from Cole when I was still a wolf. I put my hand in both of theirs quickly, then turned my full attention to Ryder, giving him a real smile.
"Thank you for let me stay here last night."
He nodded and gestured his friends out, then for me to follow as he headed for the kitchen and the other two dropped onto the sofa. When we stepped into the kitchen, I noticed the strong scent of meat and licked my lips as I saw it sitting on a plate near a new pan.
"Do you like bacon, Tanner?"
Oh! I remember that. Yes.
"Yes," I shouted as I walked over and grabbed a piece, then promptly began tearing off a big chunk with my teeth. When I got around to chewing it, I noticed the look on Ryder's face and paused.
"I would say I'm surprised you just ate a piece of raw bacon, but I'm really not. You like it that way more than cooked, Tanner?"
Do I?
"I like both," I mumbled around the piece I was still needing to chew. That made Ryder nod and smile before he turned to the stove and got the pan heating.
"Alright, I'll leave you another uncooked one, then fry the rest, okay?"
"Mmph," I replied as I chewed up the rest of the strip I'd just put in my mouth, before grabbing the other and inhaling it, too.
"Hey, Ryder. You wanna practice after breakfast since we're all here anyway?"
The sudden shout from the living room had the hairs on the back of my neck bristling, but I bit down on the growl trying to come out.
"Sure," Ryder shouted back, drawing my attention back to him with curiosity.
"Practice?" I asked as I leaned over to get a good smell of the now-cooking strips of bacon in the pan.
"We play music, Tanner. Remember I mentioned my band last night?"
Oh, yes. He did say that word last night.
"What is a band?" I asked, still not really understanding. I knew what music was, but it didn't hold my interest like peanut budder or a good ball did, so most of the time I just ignored it.
"It's when people get together to make music," he replied, nudging me with his hip so I'd scoot out of the way and he could tend to the food. Instead of paying attention to his words, I focused more on what he'd done to get me to move.
I wanna do it, I thought as I waited for him to put a new batch of bacon in the pan, then bumped his hip with my own. When he stumbled to the side, I realized I'd done it a bit too hard, but it was still fun. I actually found myself laughing when he straightened back up and stuck his tongue out at me.
"That was a cheap shot, Tanner."
I ignored his chastising tone and nudged him again, then pinned him against the counter near the fridge with a happy grin. He definitely learned fast because this time he didn't bother trying to make me move at all. In fact, he just relaxed and smiled up at me.
"You're going to make the bacon burn if you keep me here," he noted before sneaking a glance around me toward the pan. Immediate panic filled me at the thought of that delicious food being ruined. I turned abruptly, only to feel Ryder give me a hard shove. Since I wasn't expecting it, I stumbled and tripped, dropping to the floor for a moment before jumping right back up. He seemed shocked I'd recover so quickly, but one didn't just shove a werewolf and get away with it. I started toward him again, but he quickly pointed to the pan and began fishing pieces of bacon out of it with a weird tool to put on the plate with the others.
"We can play around later, Tan. Gotta get the cooking finished."
Tan.
Blinking back unexpected tears, I turned away toward the sink and sniffed a few times, trying to get myself back together. Hearing the name Cole had sometimes called me when he was happy made my heart hurt for reasons I didn't understand.
"H-Hey? Tanner? What's wrong? Did I say something that upset you?"
Ryder's worried voice stayed near the stove for a few moments as he cracked eggs into the pan, but then he was squirming his way between the sink and me. The move was bold, especially when I wasn't feeling very good emotionally, but when he wrapped me in a gentle hug, I melted into it and let my wolf whimper against his shirt since it muffled the sound.
"It's okay. I'm sorry, Tanner. I didn't mean to make you upset."
"Is okay," I reassured him. My thoughts were just going places they shouldn't so it was really my fault for getting upset over something as simple as a change in my name.
"Can eat food now?" I asked, not wanting to dwell on the situation any longer. Ryder smiled and quickly nodded, patting my shoulder twice before getting down plates and filling them with eggs and bacon. He handed me the biggest portion and then headed into the other room with his friends' plates, returning a moment later to get his own and gesture me to follow.
The room fell into an uncomfortable silence when Ryder and his friends sat down on the sofa and I took the extra chair near them. I could feel eyes on me as I ate, but I kept myself from looking up in fear of becoming aggressive. I really liked being there with Ryder, even if we didn't communicate very well yet, but I knew there was something there. I could learn there. Maybe one day I could even fit in there. Somehow make them my pack.
Yeah right, I thought to myself as I finished crunching into the last of my bacon.
"Hey, Tanner? Do you want to listen to us play?"
I glanced over to Ryder at his question, noting that his two friends were already getting up to put their dishes in the kitchen.
"Okay," I replied, seeing no reason to decline. While I really wanted to learn, singing had words in it and it would probably help to just sit and listen. So, with a content smile, I got up and sauntered into the kitchen, putting my dish with the other dirty ones in the sink before following Ryder and his friends out to another part of the house. It was warmer than the rest and a bit dimmer, but it was surprisingly clean at the same time. I remembered Cole having a similar room in his house, but it was always a mess with stuff everywhere. I walked over to sit beside Ryder, then waited patiently for them to begin.
"We won't turn on the electric guitars this time so it won't be too loud," Ryder told me with a smile, though I had no idea what a guitar was. I kind of knew what electric was, but I was fuzzy on the actual meaning. All I knew was that it made the lights turn on and food to cook. Oh yeah, and if you rub yourself on the carpet too much, it happens and makes your fur look all funny. I was about to sink into that memory when I heard sounds beginning to echo in the room. At first, I couldn't make much of them besides what I do from most music I've heard, which was basically noise. However, as Ryder actually began singing along with it, I felt myself compelled to do the same. His voice drew me into the song, making my mind repeat the words even though I barely knew what most of them meant. By the time they had played that specific song twice, I was singing along... and by the third time, I was singing alone, though I didn't realize it until they stopped playing. I blinked up at Ryder, then looked behind him to his friends, then back to him.
"Um, I am sorry..." I mumbled, embarrassed I'd ruined their practice. Expecting a reprimand, I looked down at my feet on the floor, but then my chin was suddenly being tilted up by Ryder's hands, allowing me to look into his extremely excited eyes.
I'm confused. He is happy I bothered them?
"Tanner, can you do that again?" he shouted as he knelt down in front of me. The gesture immediately had me wanting to growl and pin him to the floor, but I bit it back and tilted my head in question.
"Can I do what?"
"Sing! You were singing with me. The words you were saying. That was called singing. Can you do it again? That same song?" he shouted, making me fidget.
"I can," I said awkwardly.
"Yes! Alright, we're going to play that song again. Sing the words you know to it, okay?"
I nodded to Ryder's excited instructions and did as told when they began to play the song again. The words came so naturally to me even if I didn't know their meanings. It was like the song had its own meaning and the words were just a small part of the bigger puzzle. It felt amazing being able to make such nice sounds while at the same time making Ryder smile like he was.
I love this.
It was several months later, which I've now learned came within seasons, that we were finally getting our chance to play music for many more people. I wasn't really sure if I wanted to be in front of so many humans, but my control over my wolf had been getting better and better during the time I'd spent with Ryder. He'd taught me a lot of words and also numbers. He also taught me what was generally normal and how to hold conversations without getting angry... most of the time. Well, he thought it was anger, but I knew it was just my dominance trying to come out. That had been my biggest problem at first, but when he taught me how to like, I learned that he was okay with the dominance when we were in his bedroom. After our first night liking each other, I must say, I had felt a lot less of my dominance surging forth the next day. Ryder had noticed it as well, and from that day on, we tried to like each other as often as possible.
As I walked into the garage room we used to practice, I could already tell everyone was very excited. Ryder ran up to me with a huge grin, and I wrapped my arm around his waist, pulling him in for what I've been told was a kiss. Our lips met for a moment before I turned my attention to the person in the room I didn't know. Visitors were not something I liked, but since Ryder had told me he only let nice people come over, I did my best to behave and not pin anymore against the wall like I had the first time...who'd run out screaming the moment I let him up.
"Hello," I said as I extended a hand toward the man, just like Ryder had taught me. The man, who was wearing a fancy-looking black suit smiled and took my hand. I squeezed it carefully, being sure not to hurt him like I had done to Ryder the first few times he'd tried to teach me that there was more to a handshake than just putting your hand in someone else's. Judging from the man's face when he let his hand drop back to his side, I hadn't broken anything.
Yay!
My eyes quickly darted to Ryder, who gave me a happy smile and a kiss on the cheek, before I returned my attention back to the man.
"My name is Derrick Marsano," he said. I recognized his tone and that I should reply, so I quickly did so.
"My name is Tanner."
Ryder had asked for my last name for some time after we'd met, but he eventually dropped it when I began getting angry when it was mentioned. I knew I was part of the Cliff Royal pack, and Cole had told me that I could use either of those names as my last one if I'd wanted to represent my kin...but I didn't want to, ever.
"Nice to meet you, young man. I've been looking forward to hearing the band since I was sent a video of you practicing two weeks ago."
I smiled at him, then turned to Ryder, who grinned and nodded before running over to grab what I now knew was his guitar. I grabbed hold of the microphone, which was used to make me sound louder, and took a few deep breaths as Ryder and his friends Macon and Warren began playing the music. When it was my turn to come into the song, the words easily flowed through my mind right past my lips. By the time the song was finished, I was panting, still not quite used to singing yet, but the new guy, Derrick, was already running over to me and shaking my hand.
"Perfect," he shouted with enthusiasm before turning to the guys who were walking over and clapping his hands. "I am going to make you four famous."
The guys cheered and jumped on me, and Ryder gave me another kiss. Derrick raised a brow at that but just shrugged it off and joined in the hugs and handshakes, excitement taking over.
~Cole~
"..."
"Oh hush," Doc grumbled at me.
"I didn't say anything," I reminded him.
"I might be a human, but I'm not an idiot. I treat werewolves, and you're annoyed staying still while I check out your eye. You guys can never just stop and smell the flowers for a minute."
"Intuitive, but I don't like flowers," I replied with a hint of sarcasm. He popped me on the nose with his tweezers before using them to tug off the last of the bandage I had been wearing over my eye for the past ten months. Normally, wolf injuries healed quickly, but for some reason, when they were inflicted by an alpha, it took much longer to repair.
"Alright, follow the light," he said calmly as he waved one of those annoying eye lights in front of me. My right eye followed it easily, but I could feel my left one only moving out of instinct to follow the other.
"Okay, I'm putting this in front of your right one, try to follow the light," he said again before pressing a black spoon-like object over my right eye and moving the light again, but I saw nothing.
"Um...well, good news, it's not infected and has healed nicely. Bad news...you're blind in that eye."
Doc Wolf put his tools down, and I sighed, blinking my bad eye normally for the first time since Tanner had tried to kill me ten months ago. My chest constricted at the memory of those events. I was just beginning to get depressed again when I felt Doc's hand squeeze my shoulder.
"I know you wish it had turned out differently, but I'm sure he's just fine wherever he is. You fixed the reason he was doing so poorly out there, so I wouldn't be surprised if he has his own pack now, as alpha."
"Yeah, I know. I'm just worried... I thought of him as a son, even though he was here for such a small amount of time," I replied quietly.
He smiled and led me out of the office.
"I'm sure he'll contact you one day. Alphas don't just forget favors."
That was true. We had a pretty strong instinct to repay what was owed, but I wasn't sure if I'd ever even see him again. Bah, worrying about it right now isn't going to help anyone, I need to get down to the university before my class begins without me. Those kids will definitely run after the fifteen minute rule if I'm late.
"I'll see you later, Doc. Thanks for all the help with my eye... and Tanner," I shouted as I stepped over to my car.
"Take care of yourself, Cole," he returned with a kind smile. I nodded and climbed into my car, backing it out of the parking space as Doc headed back inside.