Wow I'm glad people liked it so much! As requested here's the next chapter :)
An: Danny knows about everything supernatural. Stiles hasn't started doing anything bad yet, not sure if I will work that in or not, it will be minor if so though because this is an Ethan-centric fic :)
"Wow thanks guys. I'm feeling the love... HELLOOOO are any of you listening?! No?" Stile huffed angrily at the four werewolves that seemed to be ignoring him. The pack had decided to sit outside for lunch since it was pushing 72 degrees.
Scott and Isaac were laying down on their stomachs on each side of the twins who were leaning up against the tree they were all under. Ethan was just about asleep on Aiden's shoulder, he had tried holding a conversation with Stiles, but he didn't have the energy to keep up with the hyper-active teen's constant babble. Aiden was staring at his phone anticipating a text back from Lydia who was playing hooky by going to the mall with her mom.
Scott was spacing out with his chin resting on his folded arms. Isaacs face was buried in the crook of his elbow and his slow even breathes indicated he was probably asleep too. Just then Danny and Allison walked up and took in the sight of the four tired wolves.
"Rough night?" Danny asked with a chuckle, gazing at his sleeping boyfriend and thinking how innocent he looked asleep. Aiden rolled his eyes and elbowed his twin in the ribs. Ethan promptly woke up and tumbled sideways at the sudden movement. He propped himself up on his elbows and glared at his brother who smiled at him innocently.
Danny walked over and sat down next to his boyfriend. Ethan smiled at him and tilted his head up to kiss Danny and Danny leaned down to meet him. Ethan then quickly made himself comfortable with his head in Danny's lap.
"You could say that," Scott said, answering Danny's question. "We were at Derek's listening to him and Peter tell us everything they know about Kitsunes. I mean I don't think Kira is bad or anything but there are a bunch of different kinds and if the Oni are looking for one we need to be ready since one must be around. They finally let us go at like 11. We are meeting at his loft later to spar and stuff if you guys wanna come."
Allison and Danny both nodded, they usually sparred with Stiles and Lydia so they would be able to defend themselves. Granted their werewolf boyfriends would never let anything happen to them, but none of the humans liked being totally vulnerable. Allison had started tracing patterns on Isaac's back, waking the other beta and he shifted his head, copying Scott's pose, with his chin on his arms.
"So cross country then sparring when we are practically zombies as it is? Derek and Peter are not gonna be happy." He muttered cynically.
Stiles rolled his eyes, "How are you all so tired? 11 isn't that late plus you guys were all curled up puppy-pile stile. Looked comfy, can I join next time?" He laughed as all four wolves looked at him surprised, Allison and Danny joined in his laughter, having gotten the picture this morning when Stiles forwarded it to them.
Danny took pity on the wolves and pulled out his cell, showing the picture first to Ethan who groaned and blushed slightly. He then showed the other three who all turned slightly pink.
"Thanks Mom," Scott muttered, knowing they would never live this down.
"Awe come on it's cute! And isn't that normal in packs? When I first found out about werewolves I did all this research and it said that werewolf packs share a lot of characteristics with regular wolves. Wolves in a pack are always brushing up against each other and nuzzling each other, reassuring each other that everyone's okay." Allison said.
"Don't look at me I still don't know much about the whole pack thing, Derek never did a good job at explaining these things," Isaac responded to his girlfriend, playing with a blade of grass in front of him.
"She's actually right," the answer came from Ethan, "Our first pack was like that everyone was really affectionate. And that's nothing compared to a real puppy pile, when we were little there were seven of us all about the same age and I swear every time I turned around I would get tackled and them bam instant puppy pile with everyone jumping in." Aiden nodded in agreement with his brother.
"How many packs have you guys been in?" Stiles asked curiously. Ethan tensed up instantly, Danny looked down at his boyfriend concerned and started running his hand through Ethan's hair soothingly. Aiden's eyes didn't leave Ethan's face, he shifted his leg to brush his little brother's the contact making him relax slightly.
"Was it something I said?" Stiles asked nervously, picking up on the tension that suddenly settled over the pack. Aiden sighed.
"Let's just say some packs are better then others and we like this one the best since the one we were born into," he said, looking at the human sternly in a warning to drop the subject.
"So anyone watch the Patriots game last night? Who won?" Isaac asked in an abrupt change of topic. Danny picked up on the change and answered, "They beat the Broncos 24-7."
In near-perfect timing, the warning bell signaling that lunch was over rang. Aiden was on his feet helping his brother up in a second, not letting his forearm go until Ethan looked him in the eye and nodded that he was alright. Ethan helped Danny up and the two walked off to Chemistry.
Allison and Stiles headed for the gym and Aiden fell into step with Scott and Isaac, the trio making their way to English. As luck would have it their English teacher was absent and didn't leave any work behind to the three wolves sat together in the back and talked.
"I don't wanna pry, but do you know what Ethan's nightmares are about? With both of your reactions I'd guess they happen fairly often." Scott asked, looking concerned for his absent beta. Isaac looked just as concerned. Aiden sighed.
"I can't tell you everything, some things are strictly Ethan's business and if he decides to tell you that's up to him. When we were five a rival alpha showed up and challenged our dad. Dad was never one for a fight but this guy would not be swayed. So they fought, the battle raged on for hours. Ethan and I were supposed to be home with the pack nanny like the rest of the pups. But we heard our dad howling and we snuck out the window when the nanny wasn't paying attention." Aiden's eyes were glazed over as his mind replayed what he was telling the other two.
"We got there just in time to see the other Alpha tear our dad's throat out. Ethan ran to our moms side as she kneeled next to our father's body, howling, it was the scariest thing I had ever heard, I swear the ground shook with her pain and anger. Then she launched herself at the new Alpha and everything dissolved into chaos as the adults of our pack fought the other guy's pack. I couldn't find Ethan, then I heard him scream and I ran toward the sound. The new Alpha's mate had him pinned to the ground and was slowly scratching down his chest."
Scott and Isaac looked at each other then glanced around the room to make sure no one was paying attention to them as Aiden growled lowly, caught up in the memory of the she-wolf hurting his baby brother.
"I ran at her, she wasn't expecting me so I knocked her off balance and slashed at her eyes. I grabbed Ethan and we ran. We ended up hiding in a tree in the middle of the woods for two days. When we thought it was safe we made our way back to our pack house. There was blood everywhere. They were all dead. After the fight in the woods the other pack went to the house and killed the nanny and all our playmates. We gathered some stuff from our room like clothes and a few things Ethan wanted to take like pictures of our parents. I emptied the money from my dad's safe and we left. We convinced a woman to buy us bus tickets and we never looked back."
Isaac and Scott sat there in shock, neither knowing what to say in response to hearing the tragic end of the twins' pack. Aiden shook his head to snap himself out of his reverie and glanced at the other two.
"We eventually found another pack that took us in, but things only got worse from there." His tone had a note of finality to it, signaling to the other two that they wouldn't be hearing anymore from him, not right now.
"So he's always had nightmares since then?" Isaac asked, sympathizing with the other beta, he knew exactly what it was like having a traumatic past. Aiden nodded.
"Sometimes I think the only reason I've never had them is so I'd be able to take care of him ya know? I mean he's the only family I have and I've been looking out for him forever. I'm always so focused on making sure he's okay that my mind never really has time to dwell on the shit we've been through. He's my anchor," Aiden said softly, talking more to himself then the others by the end.
Aiden's phone vibrated on his desk and Ethan's name popped up on the screen. Aiden unlocked it and read the text. R u okay? I felt it. Aiden smiled at his brother's concern. They had always had this bond and could sense each other's emotions. He quickly typed out a reply. yea I'm good. We need 2 talk later.
Ethan wasn't paying attention to the teacher drone on about ionic bonds. He had felt his brother get upset about something and made sure to check in. He felt better when Aiden answered so quickly but his mood quickly dropped reading the text. He had a frown on his face as he answered. Uh k... Am I in trouble? O.o
"Everything okay babe?" Danny whispered, putting his hand on Ethan's thigh. Ethan looked up at his boyfriend and smiled, "Yeah I think so. Just something Aiden said that's got me thinking." Danny nodded in understanding and laced his fingers together with his boyfriend's before turning back to the teacher.
Glancing down at his phone Ethan felt his blood run cold. told Scott and Isaac abt old pack. Ethan's emotions flashed so quickly it was enough to make his head hurt. There was shock, confusion, anger and most prominently, pain. Why would Aiden do this to him? Before he could respond his phone went of again. Relax I only told them abt dad. Not the other stuff, okay?
Ethan relaxed a little at that. He could handle them knowing about their parents that was something he had accepted a long time ago and could deal with. It was what happened in his next pack that he could never tell anyone. He panicked at the thought.
"Ethan?" Danny asked concerned, looking at his boyfriend in confusion. Ethan glanced down and realized he had been squeezing Danny's hand. Hard.
"Sorry." Was all he said, right then the bell rang. He pulled his hand free of Danny's and was out the door in a second, forgetting his chem textbook on the table. Danny stared after him in surprise, deciding to give him some space and check on him later he grabbed the book and headed for his next class.
Ethan was in such a daze as he hurried towards the exit that he didn't even realize Aiden was in front of him until he was on top of him. Literally. He ran full force into his brother and they both toppled over.
"Ethan it's me it's okay," Aiden said soothingly, hating the fearful look in his brothers eyes. Ethan quickly got off of him and helped him up. Aiden grabbed onto his shoulders and tried to calm him down, "Hey you're alright. I'm sorry I freaked you out I shoulda been more specific." Ethan relaxed at the close proximity to his brother and tried to slow his breathing down, he hadn't even realized it was hard to breathe.
Aiden quickly pulled him into the locker room and made him sit on the bench, not even looking up as Scott, Stiles and Isaac came in behind them. "Ethan look at me come on focus on me. Deep breaths. In. Out." Aiden instructed, placing Ethan's left hand over his heart and breathing deeply. Ethan struggled to match his brother's breathing, finally managing it after a moment.
He groaned at the headache the sprung up in repercussion of his panic attack. He leaned forward with his head on Aiden's chest and whimpered. Aiden wrapped his arms around his little brother and growled lowly, a reassuring sound not a threatening one. It was now that Aiden took notice of his Alpha and pack mates. "He's fine." Aiden said, hinting that they go back to class.
Scott nodded as the other two walked out, "I'll cover for you guys if you wanna head home." Aiden nodded and Scott left the locker room.
"I hate this," Ethan mumbled, pulling away from his brother and rubbing his temple.
"Sorry I triggered it," Aiden said guiltily, referring to the conversation from before.
"You have nothing to be sorry about. I'm the one that can't handle my own fucking memories," Ethan growled, eyes flashing ice blue.
"Come on let's get outta here," Aiden answered, helping him up and steering him towards the door, "We can talk about it back at the house."
Wow this chapter is a lot longer then I thought it would be I just started writing and couldn't stop! Please let me know what you think :) my mind is running wild with different ways to take this story so a new chapter should be up soon once I settle on a direction to go with. Reviews are much appreciated :)
An: I know Ethan seems like really dependent on Aiden and highly emotional which is unusual for him but that's mainly from lack of sleep and all the stress of the last few days, he'll be a little more himself come later chapters, I kinda got carried away with the whole angst-thing and my mind ran rampant with it. Sorry if he seems too OC.