Mara was exhausted. She'd been running errands all morning, only for half of them to go bad. When she had discovered the alphas at Derek's after there to talk, she had been stuck hiding. It was five by the time she got home from following them, just to thwart any other immediate attacks. Once she was home they had spent the better part of three hours discussing the Alphas and the Darach.
It was already eight oclock, and she still had to feed everyone. She stewed on everything as her gaze drifted off to the window, watching the raindrops splash in torrents against the glass.
She sighed, and pushed herself up off the couch. She started walking towards the hallway, before she realized someone was already in the kitchen. She made her way through the dining room towards the sound of chopping, turning the corner to find Peter. She raised her eyebrows, and leaned against the doorway, crossing her arms. He didn't look up from the cutting board as he diced away at an onion.
"Since when do you cook dinner?" She asked, looking at the large spread of ingredients around him. 4 thick steaks, onions, garlic, wine, the makings for a salad, and potatoes. The counter was covered, but everything was carefully placed in order. Obsessive much. He squinted at his cutting board.
"Since you won't stop being upset with me and even the girls are annoyed with me now." He griped, as he finished chopping and scraped the onions into a bowl. He grabbed at the garlic, beginning to fiddle with it to get the peels off.
She rolled her eyes at him before standing straight and making her way towards the island. She took the other head of garlic, placing it on the board. She took the knife and placed it flat against the garlic, and rocked it back and forth with her palm. When she lifted it, and brushed the peels away, the cloves were mostly cleaned beneath. He looked up at her finally with a touch of annoyance.
"We're supposed to be a team. That can't work if we don't trust each other." She stated, pushing the garlic towards him. His expression softened, and he put his hand over hers.
"I'm just trying to protect you." He replied lowly, squeezing her hand. She squeezed back.
"You don't have to anymore. I'm not the spacey teen wolf I was when we met." Her expression hardened slightly as she held his gaze. He frowned for a moment, before pulling her into a hug. She was stiff as he wrapped his arms around her.
"I'm sorry."
She relaxed slightly, enough for him to hold her properly.
"Me too."
They sat there for a moment, before Mara pulled back and looked up at him.
"You want some more help?"
He shrugged and gestured to the layout in front of him, before turning towards the cupboards behind him. She rolled her eyes and took over the prep as he pulled wine glasses down and placed them beside her. He moved to the fridge to grab the unmarked wine bottle on the bottom shelf. He moved to place it beside the cooking sherry already on the counter, when both their attentions were taken to the front hall. They could hear someone thundering down the stairs.
Cole came stomping down and turned right towards them.
"I gotta go pick up Isaac." She stated, sounding a bit unsure. Mara and Peter looked at her with confusion. Mara tilted her head, leaning onto the counter.
"He's not with Derek?"
Cole shifted uncomfortably, looking towards the window as the rain came down harder than before. She looked back up at her sister.
"That's where he asked me to pick him up."
They stared at each other for a moment, but Cole's uncertainty was gone. She held her sister's gaze, jaw clenched, as Mara squinted at her watching carefully.
"Put a jacket on." Peter cut in, breaking both their attentions. They looked at him, and then they looked at eachother.
"Go. We'll figure it out."
Cole took off out the door the moment her sister was finished, ignoring the sound Peter's protests that it was pouring when Mara told him to put Cerberus outside.
She hopped in her truck, already fairly soaked. Derek's wasn't the closest, as it sat on the opposite side of Beacon in a more industrial area. Walking wasn't a smart choice for any of them considering what had happened earlier.
She pulled out of the driveway, and headed off on the flooded streets.
When Cole turned the corner onto Derek's street 15 minutes later, she could see Isaac's figure lit up by her headlights. She closed the short distance, watching him on the roadside as he looked up.
He started getting in before she even stopped, slamming the door hard behind him, and Cole took off promptly.
"Can you drive me to Scott's?"
His voice was quiet. She glanced at him for just a moment before returning her eyes forward to the darkness outside. He was staring down at his feet, with his hands balled in fists in his lap.
"You wanna tell me what happened?" She replied instead. She could hear his heartbeat raise for a moment, but he remained quiet next to her. She waited, as she focused on the light ahead of her.
"You can't expect me to just drop you off anywhere. Do you even know if Scott's home?"
Isaac continued to remain silent, so clearly he hadn't been able to get ahold of him. He was fiddling with the bottom of his shirt. Cole rolled her eyes and sighed. She pulled over in a sudden motion, jerking them both around until they came to a stop and she turned to look at him.
He still wouldn't look up at her. He was clearly very upset, if his face was anything to go by. His jaw was clenched hard. He had turned away to look out the passenger window.
"Look Isaac, you don't even know if you can stay at Scott's, which means for now you're stuck at mine because I'm not about to leave you in this storm. Which also means my sister is going to be expecting an explanation when we go back."
He looked over at her finally with a strange expression. He seemed surprised, but also angry?
"Why would you let me stay with you? Derek threw me out, aren't you his family? Why would you take me in?" He snapped, though half heartedly. Cole watched him carefully for a moment, while pondering her response.
"We may be related, but I don't technically share blood with the idiot. He was never meant to lead, and my sister blames herself that he is. Now we are all responsible for picking up the pieces." She replied finally, watching his reaction the whole time. Isaac searched her eyes for a moment, before looking down again as he thought.
"He said he couldn't handle me and Cora." Isaac stated simply after a few seconds past.
Cole watched him as she processed that information. Clearly the confrontation hadn't been so simple, but it was simple to see Derek had other motivations. His lack of sense baffled her, but she shouldn't be so shocked by then. He had always been a good soldier, a follower. She exhaled slowly through her nose, before turning back towards the road. She turned the keys, revving her engine to life and heading down the road once more.
Cole lead Issac through the front door, to be greeted by an incredible smell. Both wolves were almost drooling as they stumbled to kick off their shoes and find the source. They wandered their way towards the kitchen, finding everyone hanging out.
Leila sat comfortably leaning forward on the island across from where Mara was. She gave Isaac a smile and a small wave which he returned, albeit a nervous one. Mara was faced away from them at the stove, stirring something carefully in the pan, while Peter stood beside her, chopping things and throwing them on top of a salad. Peter sniffed the air, tilting his head up slightly, before he whipped around at them. She felt Isaac almost jump behind her.
"You're dripping on the carpet. You'll make it smell like wet dog."
Cole rolled her eyes, as Peter glared at her annoyedly. Mara spun around with a laugh to look at her. Both teens were soaked head to toe, and both were wearing t-shirts for some reason. She looked to Isaac who still had a very uncertain face on, mostly when his eyes caught Peter's.
"Hey Isaac." She caught his attention, and gave him a warm smile. He seemed to relax a bit as he returned the smile.
"There's clean clothes in the dryer." Peter cut in pointedly. "Go throw your things in the washer."
He gestured to the dripping bag over Isaac's shoulder. Cole rolled her eyes dramatically, as Isaac shifted uncomfortably. She turned around and motioned him the way they came in.
She directed him past the stairs to the basement door behind them. They descended the fresh wooden steps, each one creaking, into the cool concrete room.
It was unfinished, beams and pipes in the ceiling visible. It was half the size of the floor above, which still left plenty of room. The washer and dryer were on the far side of the room, past all the clutter.
Cole led Isaac forward as he looked around at the books off their shelves on the counters, and the various trinkets laying array. They stopped at the machines, and Cole reached in the dryer to sift through the clothes. She pulled out something for herself, and Isaac, leaving the latter on the lid of the machine after shutting it.
"You can wear these. Also the soap n shit is on top of the machine. I'm gonna change, so you can meet me in the kitchen."
Isaac nodded before reaching up to grab the detergent from where she said. Cole made her way towards the stairs, already pulling her socks off. She leaned on the table for a moment, before looking around at the mess. She turned back towards Isaac as she stood up straight again.
"Don't touch anything that looks cursed."
He whipped around to look at her, before looking all over at the objects. Cole just shrugged before making her way to the stairs and up. On her way up, she stripped off the rest of her wet clothing, and pulled on the warm grey sweatpants and black t-shirt she had carried. The rest she tossed to the bottom of the stairs before making her way back into the kitchen.
"I should bring home strays more often. It smells indescribably good in here." Cole quipped as she entered, walking over towards Leila. Mara turned to give a sideways look at her as she sat down, bringing plates to the island with her.
"What was Derek's excuse?" Mara asked, ignoring Cole's comment. Cole rolled her eyes.
"Some dumb shit that isn't true. Clearly Deucalion scared him and he's under the impression chasing everyone away is his best option."
Mara exhaled tiredly, placing plates at each stool around the island.
"I'll talk to him." She replied, turning to grab cutlery out of the drawer beside Peter, who was beginning to dish out food. Cole shrugged.
"I wouldn't want to live with him either." She added, unhelpfully, getting a grin out of Leila who hadn't looked up from her phone.
Isaac had finally made his way up, and Cole patted the seat beside her, while Mara and Peter sat across from them. Mara was kind enough to sit in front of him so Peter wasn't, though he seemed quite distracted.
Each plate in front of them was stacked as much as possible. The salad took up a small portion, though Cole's plate had none. The mashed potatoes covered in fresh gravy and mushrooms filled every crease surrounding the beautiful thick piece of steak. It was all still steaming.
By the time Isaac looked up again, everyone was already intently into their meal, so he started as well. He was a bit taken aback at the veracity he was witnessing. Peter took his time cutting up his meat and taking regular bites at a normal pace, while all three girls didn't seem able to shovel food into their faces fast enough. Peter was looking at them all with a touch of distaste. Isaac didn't think they went a moment with an empty mouth. He tried to restrain himself from doing the same.
Once dinner was finished and dishes were clear, Mara shoo'd everyone off so she could clean in peace. Cole retreated to her room with Isaac in toe.
Cole's room was surprisingly clean, and big. It was painted white, though the furniture held a dark theme. Her black bed sat in the middle of the far left wall, with a nice leather couch opposing it, with a large, curtained window above and a tv, adjacent. She had a desk covered in papers in the far corner beside her bed, the only mess to be seen. Her closet beside her couch seemed immaculate, as well as her soft violet carpets that covered the hardwood under the furniture.
She motioned him past her, inside. He walked in and she followed. She almost shut the door, before catching herself and leaving it open just a crack. She pointed him towards the couch.
"We don't have a guest room, so you can crash on my pullout."
He looked at her kind of shocked.
"Your sister's okay with that?" He asked, looking between her and the door like Mara was going to burst through it. Cole laughed at him.
"What are we gonna do, have sex?" Isaac shifted uncomfortably, and Cole laughed at him harder. "She's got a lot worse things to worry about than that."
Still snickering lightly, she made her way to her bed and promptly flopped on it. She rolled over, staring at the symbols she had painted above. Isaac shrugged, moving towards the futon. He gave it a strong tug, and it extended out. It already had pillows on it, as well as a heavy fur blanket. He dropped his now dry bag down beside, before sitting on the edge. He was getting lost in the blue oyster cult poster, when Cole cut through his thoughts.
"Excited for this weekend?" She asked lazily, still staring above. Isaac looked over at her, and then laid back himself.
"Not really." He replied, as he leaned into the surprisingly comfortable decorative pillows, throwing his feet up as well.
"It's gonna be fun, and we're going to kick ass on top of that." Cole reassured him, their new drills running through her head. Though having the twins in close proximity to them after the other day was concerning, they were a solid addition to the lacrosse team. On top of the other four wolves they had including her, they would be unstoppable at the upcoming tournament. Mara had barely agreed to let her go, but she had caved once Cole agreed to bring Leila and stay close to the team. They wouldn't risk doing something again.
She broke her gaze, rolling over to her dock on her night stand. Isaac watched her as she jammed her phone into it a few times before it sat still. She turned it down a few, before hitting play. The sound of soft rock drifted out of the speakers. She looked over at him.
"I'm gonna crash, and I sleep pretty hard. You can watch tv or do whatever. I don't really care."
With that, Cole promptly rolled over with her blanket, cocooning herself, and passed out.
I apologize for the sporadic updates. Ive just moved and cant get wifi for a bit :(
