Out of the Darkness
Four
Brianna
As Lexie's Second, my priority should always be making sure she is taken care of, that she has everything she needs, but how can I do that when my every thought comes back around to Dalton? He's been my mate for exactly nine days, and although he's supposed to be my perfect other half, we have absolutely nothing in common. It irks me to no end that he's almost all I can think about. When I was little and dreamed of what my mate would look like, Dalton wasn't who I imagined at all.
I have had a clean and easy life, up until recently that is. Dalton though? His fingernails are dirty, and the amount of grease he puts into slicking his jet black hair back has got to be enough to lube a car. From what I've been able to listen to, in the brief moments we've been in each others presence, his life has been nothing but drama since he was a young teen too.
Having already known he wasn't a good person before I met him has definitely clouded my opinion about him. As his new mate, I should give him the benefit of the doubt, but he left Keegan when he was most vulnerable. And I always thought my mate would belong to a pack, not be a Roamer. Someone who has ties, loyalty to an Alpha, the allusion of what it means to be apart of something.
But nope. Not my mate. Not Dalton.
Other than to complete our bond, we haven't had sex. To be honest, I could go without for the rest of my life. Dalton didn't care if I was pleased when we were finished. I even had to spell it out for him that it was my first time and needed him to be gentle with me. It was like he didn't understand why I had staved myself for him; knowing I would meet him one day. He wasn't rough, but there was no feeling behind something that was meant to solidify our wolves finding each other.
The whole time Dalton was on top of me, his head was buried into the curve of my neck. His hot breath would suffocate me as he put in little effort to truly get to know me. The entire experience lasted maybe five minutes. Not exactly how I wanted my first time to go.
When Valerio hurt his head, and Keegan took it among himself to protect the diamond while Valerio was in the hospital, I'll give Dalton some credit. He did stand guard of Keegan, along with Uncle Septimus, while he carried it, but simply standing next to Keegan isn't enough to forgive him of everything he did. Dalton, to me, is nothing more than an immature little boy. He's not the man I thought my mate would be.
My Dad says to give Dalton time, but I don't want to. Yet, I also don't want to die. Even though our bonding is complete, I can still reject my mate. Doing so would kill both of us within a matter of days instead of it taking months, but I don't want to cease to exist just because of who I'm supposed to be with. Now, instead of rejecting him, I just avoid him. I don't know how long mates can go without seeing each other, but I plan to make sure he leaves with the rest of the packs. Valerio doesn't want the packs here, and even though Roamers don't have an Alpha, they still have to listen to their Guild Leader.
Coming out the back door, I look around the pool area for my undesired mate. I know he's around here somewhere with the remaining packs. Dalton is always where the biggest group is. I knew from Keegan that his creator tries to be the center of attention, so he has to be around here.
A grimace of a smile settles on my face when I spot his black hair; glistening from the sun reflecting off the grease on the far side of the area. Dalton isn't bad looking, but he could use a serious makeover. Perhaps just some clean, pressed, clothes would do the trick.
I start walking towards him, thankful that his back is to me. Most mates can't stand being away from each other once their bond is complete. Every time Dalton has seen me since we mated, he's made attempts to get close to me. I always just use my magic to get away from him, expect for at Uncle Cauis' funeral. That one time, I felt like I was forced to stand next to him. What sucks even more is that I wanted to be comforted at the time, just not by him. I didn't have anyone in particular in mind to do the job, but anyone other than Dalton would have been better.
Rather than someone else being there, Dalton made sure everyone stood just a step too far away from us. I felt isolated, and his actions overshadowed what was going on. For that half hour, my focus should have been on saying good-bye to my Uncle.
Like I said, he has to be the center of attention.
As I get closer to Dalton, a funky smell floats my way. At first I think it's a skunk that has gotten into the backyard and has sprayed, but as Dalton turns around when he senses his mate close to him, I see a joint in his fingers.
So, not only is my mate a lowlife, he also uses inhibitors. Marijuana, to a human, is virtually harmless. To a wolf, it doesn't exactly harm us, but it is dangerous. Smoking weed disconnects us from our wolf of sorts. It completely dulls our wolf's senses, our wolf's alertness, and our wolf's ability to even come forward if danger is present.
Partaking in such an activity for a werewolf, more or less, is like giving a human a sedative.
Most wolves don't mess with the stuff. It's honestly mainly the Roamers that do because they don't have an Alpha to tell them not to. Dalton is twenty-five years old, the same age as Valerio, and although the age gap between us doesn't mean anything to me, Dalton is old enough to know right from wrong. You would think that putting his wolf, and ultimately himself, in danger would be the opposite of what he'd want.
Of course my mate fucks with it.
Without thinking, I slap the joint out of his fingers. I stomp on the embered end, and then scrape my sandal across the concrete, effectively ruining it.
"Don't ever let me catch you with that shit again," I growl at him, "or I'll tell Valerio that you brought it onto the property."
Dalton quickly looks to where Valerio is standing; just outside the pool's gate with Uncle Luke and Keegan. As I take a moment to look at him, I sense a heated conversation happening as Uncle Luke puts his hand on Valerio's shoulder.
Dalton and I look back to each other at the same time, and while Dalton smiles at me, I can't hide the anger I'm feeling towards him. I've heard stories of wolves calming their partying ways once they found their mate, but it doesn't look like Dalton and I will be among those statistics. To me, it seems as though Dalton plans to stay exactly who he is.
"Look, Sugar Plum," I cringe at his attempt at giving me a pet name. "There's no need to get your delicate panties in a bunch. I don't smoke it very often, and when I do-"
I step up to him, and in a hushed, hard tone, I interrupt him. "I don't care to know your habits," I snarl. "In case your head has been too screwed up from that shit to fully comprehend what's going on around you, let me make it clear for you. The entire werewolf community, as well as that of the witches, is in danger. And, just in case it somehow slipped your mind, your mate, a.k.a me, is both. I won't let you put myself or anyone else here in jeopardy just because you want to get fucked up."
At his stunned and open mouthed look, I take a deep breath, just trying to calm down. The two wolves Dalton had been talking to have lowered their heads, and its obvious they're trying to give us our space while I fight with him. Yet, the smirks on their faces as I look over Dalton's shoulder tells me they are, in fact, listening to Dalton being told off. And enjoying it quite a bit.
Taking another deep breath, I try to ask calmly as I look back to him, "Do you plan on leaving when the other Roamers go?"
Dalton is quite for a moment, and then he replies, "If you yelling at me is any indication of how things will go if I do stay, I think I'll just leave now."
I give him an angry, smug, smile. Honestly, I'm just relieved he's going. I know Keegan will feel better knowing he's not here, and even though he's my mate, I don't want him here. I want as much distance between us as possible.
Just as I'm about to open my mouth to encourage him to leave, I hear a loud growl. I turn my head, as does everyone else, and see that Valerio has shifted. I gasp, and then start racing towards the gate. I don't see anyone making a clear attack as I swing the gate open. It's just Valerio, Lexie, Keegan, Sophie and Uncle Luke.
"What happened?" I ask Keegan as I run to his side.
Keegan looks at me, and then behind me. His face turns to disgust for a second, and I know it's because Dalton followed me.
He sighs, and as he looks back to me, says, "Sophie brought Zombie back to life, and now he's in the wind."
As the words pass his lips, Valerio lunges towards Sophie. She dodges out of the way, but just barely.
"Valerio!" Lexie yells at him.
He ignores her, and as he moves to attack Sophie again, Sophie shifts.
Valerio
Lexie pleads with me to stop, but after what Sophie has done, I can't. The Warlock had taken care of Zombie for us, and now because of Sophie's need for revenge, she's endangered all of us even more. It was virtually impossible to find The Warlock and Zombie the first time; there's not a chance in hell we'll find Zombie now. More than likely, Zombie and Spencer have found one another, and there's no telling what the two of them could do.
If they get their hands on the spell for The Warlock's prison world, they could release him. The endless possibilities of what Zombie and Spencer could do rattles and bounces inside my mind as Sophie shifts. I growl, lowering my snout to the ground while my best friend takes form. My wolf, however, doesn't see her as that.
Instead, my wolf sees nothing but a threat. For the last few months, ever since I learned of The Warlock and his bombs, all I've felt is rage. It's been one thing after the other since that day, and each situation just got worse than the last. The anger I've been feeling has only been growing. I've been riding a thin line since I came back to life, and now I've literally been forced over the edge.
Why couldn't Sophie, for once, leave things as they were? Very few victories have been won against The Warlock's coven, and him killing Zombie had been one of them! Her selfishness is worse than Braelyn's! How have I not seen this my whole life? Anything Sophie wants, regardless of who is affected, Sophie gets. Clearly giving Sophie Aunt Nikiya's magic had been a mistake.
Even as I half-ass attempt to regain some composure, my wolf lunges for my cousin. Both of us growl, and somehow I can still hear Lexie shouting my name. Sophie and I go for each other's throats, and both of us bite into a small portion of it. Being bigger than her, the motion of my leap sends the two of us rolling with me on top of her. As Sophie rolls onto her back, she uses the leverage to get her hind legs underneath me, and then kicks onto my stomach hard. I'm tossed off of her, head over first, and then I slam onto my back. Sophie and I scramble to our feet, turning our bodies to face each other.
Before I can attack her again, Lexie steps between us. Facing me, and spreading her arms out beside her, she yells, "Stop!"
I see a barrier between Sophie and I go up. Unable to control myself, I scrape at the ground with my right paw, lower my torso, and growl at Lexie. The heartbreaking look that washer over her face is like ice water being poured over me. It dawns on me that the stance I just took against her, my own mate, was an attack.
My throat closes as Lexie's carmel eyes widen. While her face falls, along with her arms, I begin to hate myself. I whimper inaudibly, and then turn around before taking off into the woods.
Sophie
When Valerio hits the tree line, Lexie continues to stand there with her back to me. I knew Valerio's reaction was going to be bad; Lexie and I both did. Him attacking me though was something neither of us expected. There has only been one time that Valerio has lost control like that, and that was the night he claimed Lexie. But that was because his wolf pushed him to claim it's mate, not anger. As far as I know, Valerio has never lost control.
Slowly, Lexie turns around. Tears form in her eyes as her slim figure trembles slightly. Brianna steps up to her and wraps her arms around her shoulders. They whisper something, but because of the blood pumping furiously through my ears, I can't hear them. After a moment, Brianna lets go, steps next to Lexie, but keeps one hand on her back. Brianna waves her free hand, taking down the barrier Lexie just put up.
Lexie looks at me, and says, "I'm sorry for how he reacted. I should have told him in private; without you there."
"It's fine," I tell her. "He wasn't trained by my Dad. I could have taken him."
Lexie's eyebrows go up, but she doesn't reply to me. Instead, she looks to Brianna, and says to her, "I'm going to go find him and talk to him. Can you and Keegan watch things here until we get back?"
Brianna looks at Keegan, and then together they nod their heads. "No problem," Brianna responds. "Take your time."
Before Lexie leaves, she looks at me, and suggests, "Maybe you should leave and keep trying to find Zombie. If Valerio wants you back, I'll make sure to be the one to contact you."
I nod my head at her, still feeling horrible that I lost him in the first place. I didn't plan on coming back here until I had found him, but I understand Dad's need to talk to Gavin and I. My younger brother hasn't been seen in almost a week, and I know Valerio promised to find him, but I've never known Gavin to disappear. I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried about him, but I have too much on my plate with finding Zombie that I don't have the time to look for him.
As Lexie fades away, I look to where Elena and Holden are still standing. Their eyes are glued to the scene before them. I know Elena well. Anytime Mom was requested for a shopping trip, I always went with her. It didn't matter where in the world the werewolf was that requested it, I always went. Elena requested one at least three times a year.
Mom and Elena were almost as close as Mom and Aunt Esmerelda. Other than Dubious' wife, Elena requested Mom's presences the most. For Elena to be Dad's new mate makes me feel uncomfortable. Mom and Elena are so much alike, and not just in looks. Their mannerism, the way they carry themselves, and sometimes even their voices sounded similar.
I don't want to lose my Dad, but like I told him earlier, him being with anyone other than Mom would be too hard. He didn't make his choice because of me, or what I said, but because he feels the same way. I could see from the time when I was a little kid how much my parents loved each other. Maybe other wolves would be happy if they find another mate, but not my Dad.
Not after what he originally had.
At least neither Elena nor Dad have to officially reject each other for a year. It's not a long time to accept that my Dad is going to die; and that time is being cut even shorter by my own stupidity.
I turn around to Dad, and tell him, "I'm going to get some clothes on, and then go find Zombie."
"Come find me after you're dressed," he replies, "I'm going with you."
Thanks for reading!
~Stefanie