This story will have a sequel ;)
- Sian
Pip was once again the main topic of the institute. Nobody could stop talking about his surprising hidden talent. "I think you impressed everyone, even yourself," Krey said from the doorway of the bathroom, watching Pip dress after his shower. Pip had lost his balance twice while trying to put on his socks, and he had tripped out of the shower, almost smashing his head off the bathtub if Krey wasn't close to cushion his fall. Pip's clumsiness was both worrying and entertaining.
As Pip tugged on dark blue jeans, he welcomed Krey's eyes on his body like he welcomed heat after a cold day in the snow. They had been very intimate only the day before. He no longer felt quite as shy, not while Krey watched him as though he was the most beautiful human in the world. "I did surprise myself. I wasn't sure if I'd be the first to drop out, but I didn't think I'd even outrun you." Pip stopped to clock Krey's reaction. He had thought Krey might be jealous, or irritated that a human beat him. Krey only smirked.
"You impressed me." Krey's eyes flicked him up and down. Pip was fit and slim with the hint of muscle shaping especially his legs. "You outran the strongest wolf pack in England. What do you have to say to that?"
"Um... hard work pays off?" Pip smiled sweetly and pulled a knitted burgundy jumper over his head. "I would like to run with your pack more."
"We should get you some proper trainers first."
"Yeah um..." Pip awkwardly pulled at his sleeves. The life he left behind was constantly biting at his heels. "I-I checked my bank online. My aunt and uncle cleared out my money. I shouldn't have left my bank card."
Krey was good at hiding any emotion other than his anger. The rage fizzled through his features, hardening his eyes, tensing his jaw, and tightening his throat. "Let me get rid of them," he spoke calmly, despite his eyes summoning a ferocious storm.
"So- I c-can't afford shoes right now," Pip said, ignoring his comment.
Krey sighed, shoving his anger out of sight to hold his anxious mate in his arms. "Pip, you're a part of the pack now. Our money is your money, and you need new shoes. Maybe even a few pairs. You definitely need a new coat."
Pip smiled, resting his chin on Krey's chest. His warmth was everything pip wanted after a shower. Krey's arms around him was all the comfort he needed in the world. "Are you sure that's okay?"
Krey ran a hand through Pip's brown wavy hair. The front had curled from the heat of the shower. "Obviously. I'm not just gonna let you train in converse when we have the money to buy you proper gear."
He was frank, but Pip knew his tones rarely reflected how Krey really felt. "That's nice of you."
"That's me," Krey said bluntly. "Nice."
Pip smiled wider. "You're so sweet."
"Wait, no-"
"You can't take that back."
"I'm not sweet."
"Yes, you are. To me anyway. You can't deny that."
Krey held him tighter. "I couldn't treat you any other way. That's not just a mate thing. You're so fucking cute, it's physically impossible to be mean to you."
Pip wanted to comment about his aunt and uncle, the southern wolves who were trying to catch him, or even Mark. Pip very quickly bit his tongue. He buried his head against Krey's chest. Quite often, they hugged where they stood, no matter where they were. "You don't think I would have angered the other wolves by- I mean, they're not embarrassed, are they?"
"That a human outran them? No. They're more impressed than anything. In their eyes, you've proved yourself."
"And they would like me training with them?"
"Yes." Krey knew if anyone had a problem with it, they would be picking their broken jaws off the ground. "Maybe one day soon, we can go to Crescent Town and you can pick some shoes."
Pip smiled wide. He stood on his tiptoes and Krey leaned down to peck his lips. "I've been wanting to ask, um, are you any closer to finding the southern Alpha?" Pip was in lock-down, now that a crazed wolf was willing to plant traitor Beta's in everyone's packs just to ruin Krey Graymer.
"No. We've contacted every pack possible. Everyone has been looking, nobody has gotten any closer to finding him. It wouldn't surprise me if Jordan's death completely ruined him. I know I wouldn't be able to function if you-" Krey paused. Even saying it out loud hurt. "Well, I know the southern Alpha will be distraught. I don't know if that's a weakness for him or fuelling his fire."
"He's lost his pack now."
"Yes, and his Packhouse. The Shadow Pack have split their pack between houses. They're big enough to have over fifty in each house. I thought they would sell it off to other southern packs, but they want to keep an eye on those who are not allies, and pretty much all of those are in the south."
Pip nodded, showing he understood. "Will Mark and Victoria leave soon?"
"As much as I like Victoria, I can't be around Mark's scent for another day. They're going home today now that her Packhouse is full of wolves again."
"I-I suppose that's for the best." Pip had been more nervous than usual with Mark roaming the halls holding his head high and flashing a smug smile. Plenty of wolves wanted to wipe the smirk from his face, but nobody dared talk to him because he was mated to a member of Krey's family. Even with a large target on his back, Mark acted like he owned the world simply because he had the power to do so.
Krey then checked his watch and reluctantly uncoiled from Pip. "I have a meeting in two minutes about fixing up this shit hole of a Packhouse. I'll probably be a few hours. I know you'd be bored listening to me talk about paint, so feel free to roam the building or tuck yourself into a corner and read." Krey kissed his forehead and left the bathroom.
Pip followed him through the bedroom and watched him walk down the corridor. Krey always walked like he stalked prey, moving silently, as if each step was calculated. When he reached the stairwell, Krey turned his head, winked, then disappeared through the door.
Pip blushed and melted against the wall. Krey's demeanour was unlike anything Pip had ever seen. A simple wink weakened him at the knees, a simple brush of his fingers tingled every inch of him, a simple word from his low voice made Pip hot all over.
He swallowed hard and wrapped himself up in Krey's thick black duvet. Pip grabbed the book bound in pine green leather and sat by the window.
The window had been fixed twice in less than a week. Once to repair it after Jordan fell to his death, and once to repair it because Pip's belongings had been thrown to the stone yard below. Pip shivered when he thought about that being a warning.
To distract himself, he opened the book about the history of wolves, scoping the index for an interesting topic. Pip thought they were all interesting, even from werewolf births to werewolf politics. One topic stuck out to him and Pip turned to the back pages.
"Werewolf myths," he read aloud. "Some myths are fake, and some are yet to be proven to have authenticity, but all are popular talk among the humans." Pip skim read a few paragraphs about silver not being quite as fatal to werewolves and the full moon not making wolves transform uncontrollably. He then red a more interesting paragraph about human mates. "The legends say there is a way to survive if the werewolf dies. There are many different theories, and none have been proven to work." Pip shivered at the thought of ever needing to find a theory on how to survive if his mate died. "A popular myth is humans drinking wolf blood to survive-" Pip didn't continue when the thought churned his stomach.
He flicked through more pages, stopping on one with a paragraph that made him arch a brow. "human mate myths." Pip read through stuff he already knew to be true, like making a connection deeper than any humans would have with other humans, and feeling constantly in love and obsessed about their mate, just like how the werewolf felt. Pip gathered the author hadn't asked a human to confirm whether those myths were true or not.
He read aloud again, "For millenniums, bonds have been discussed to give humans a deeper insight to the world around them. Sharing a soul with a magical being has benefits, such as healing at a faster rate, though humans do not have stronger physical power, so countless believe humans are given spiritual strength instead. This myth is yet to be explored."
Pip returned to the first page. The book was written almost seventy years ago. He wondered what advancements had been made to those myths and whether any had a bit of truth to them. Pip wasn't prepared to dismiss everything he read in a book made by werewolves. If humans could shift into animals, every myth could be true.
Pip closed the book and stared down at the training wolves on the field. Some had weights, and yoga mats, and circuits to run around. Pip wasn't really focusing on them, he was centring on how free his mind had felt since he had connected the bond, like the confusing world around him was slotting into place, one day at a time. Maybe I am getting mentally stronger, he thought, nuzzling deeper underneath the duvet.