(ALMOST 18 YEARS AGO)
Their paws hit the ground harder dirt flying behind them as they ran. Each trying to get ahead of the other, trying to out do the other. Their thoughts filled each others minds as they sent playful jabs back and forth to one another. "Come on Omega! I told you you couldn't keep up!" She sent the thought his way and his tongue rolled out in wolfish grin. He began to move faster quickly earning the lead in their little race. They continued down the path. She knew they were coming to an end but couldn't get the lead as it came closer she finally made a decision. "A girls gotta do what a girl's gotta do!" she sent to him as a warning and lunged forward knocking the other wolf to forest floor rolling together, playfully nipping at one another.
"That's cheating Jas" he nipped her shoulder as the two wolves rose to their feet.
"It's not if I give you a heads up!"
"What heads up?"
"Don't be a sore loser." She thought to him as he nudged her shoulder with his nose. They fell at a steady pace.
They went separate ways to shift back to human form. Jasmine hunched down low behind a tall hedge and began to shift forms. At this moment it felt like fire was spreading across her body burning through her flesh to get inside. She could feel her bones start to shift back and her fur was beginning to retract. A few muscle spasms later she was finally done. Her breathing was heavy but she was no longer in pain. She felt as if she had just done her morning workout. Changing always felt like that, in the process it's miserable but afterwards you feel the wonderful effect it gives. Being slightly exhausted she waited a few moments before putting her clothes on. After a seconds rest she quickly changed and sprinted up the path to find her mate. A few seconds after she began her quest, she found herself rolling in the dirt with a largeman laying on top her. The one she had been looking for had knocked her over and was now smiling down at her with those beautiful emerald green eyes she loved so much. She found so much in those eyes.
"You're such a defenseless little thing aren't you? Someone could just snatch you up. Good thing you're the Alpha's daughter or you'd be slaughtered out there." Giving her a mischievous grin he jumped up off of her and began to run towards the meeting hall. She smiled to herself and ran after him. They continued this game of chase until all the sudden an ear shattering sound of the bells rang throughout the packs village. Wasn't really that loud they all just had sensitive ears. Jasmine stopped dead in her tracks. "He is gonna kill me."She hung her head low as her mate's hand gently cupped her chin and pushed her head up to look at him.
"Another pack meeting." He said quietly, barely above a whisper but she knew that he was hurt. His family ranking was so low that no one even wanted the Souza's at a pack meeting. Some 'social creatures' she thought.
"You know what? How about we go by the lake and have a swim eh? Missing one pack meeting won't hurt my father any. Might be good for him to be let down a couple times. He won't have such high expectations from me anymore."She looked up at him with big blue eyes and a wide smile hoping that he'd take her bait. But he wasn't having it.
"You've missed five meetings in the last three months. And the fact that you're in cahoots with the lowest ranking omega in the pack pretty much kills the Alpha." She let out a low growl.
"He has no reason to judge you. The ranking system is outdated and needs to be put to bed. Yes we need leaders but there is no reason to call a whole family weak based on one individual. Besides if we were ranked on individuality you have the marks of an Alpha." He could tell she was getting wound up. Her voice began to rise. "The least would be what a lead warrior? With your skills in combat it's ridiculous that they wouldn't consider you for training. All of its bull crap. You are more equipped to be Alpha then Hank is! They-" He held up his hand to cut her off.
"Hey it's alright, i'm fine. The jokes on him. I'm dating the Alpha's daughter." He ran his thumb over her lips and smiled down at her. She looked into his beautiful green eyes. Full of warmth and strength. He leaned down and gave her a soft gentle kiss. She smiled against his lips and returned the favor. A second ear splitting ring broke their trance and they were pulled back into reality. He nudged her towards the courthouse.
"Go, I'll meet up with you later." He started jogging in the opposite direction, then spun around so he was facing her and yelled out "I wanna hear all about Miss Gina and the crazy brutes!" He flashed her one last charming smile and then disappeared into the woods. She shook her head and ran towards the courthouse, her senses picked up the bad odor of sweaty werewolfs and stinky diapers. She could faintly hear the old bags begin to gossip.
Jasmine slipped in through the back door. The building was old and worn out. It had 3 levels. A basement, upstairs and a middle floor. The front of the building had wide glass doors you could see Marvin's laundromat. The building was old but was one of her favorite places. They had all major activities in this building and since she was the alphas she's been to almost every event. She knows the whole town like the back of her palm, which is good for sneaking around. Not that she did that sort of thing, it's not lady like. She creeped in through the short hallway leading into the lobby. It was crowded with men and women of all ages. She felt a hand grab her arm and start pulling her to the basement.
"Come on stinky." A very feminine voice whispered. Jasmine smiled as she ran down the stairs. The two girls quickly walked to the hidden girls bathroom. The girl plopped down in a rounded chair, slipped of her sandals and tucked her feet underneath her. She pointed to the stall behind jasmine.
"A brought some new ones. I figured that way people wouldn't think you didn't have any clothes." Jasmine smiled she used to have a blue dress that she would hide down here so whenever she was running late she could just throw it on and be good to go. She looked over the collection and saw a black long sleeved mid thigh, a lavender laced spaghetti strapped and lastly a simple white summer dress. She shook her head, these dresses did not come from her closet. She threw on the black and walked out of the stall.
"So do you think Hannah's gonna care if i wear her clothes?" She looked to her best friend. The girl just shrugged.
"Hey it's to better the cause. Besides she likes you better than me anyways i could never steal her clothes."
"That's because you're a midget Soph." She wasn't a midget, she was 5'2 barley and very petite. She had ash brown hair that fell right below her shoulders and big brown eyes. Her skin tanned to almost perfection and she had a little button nose to top it off. She was absolutely adorable. Well on the outside anyways, she was fierce and didn't take crap from anyone. The two had known each other all their lives. They even claimed each other as sisters. Even their parents would say that. Sophie and Jasmine were almost inseparable and knew everything about each other. Hannah would use to say that they were mated.
"Yeah well you two amazons are the same size. Besides your clothes suck." Sophie smiled and all Jasmine could do was shake her head. She went for her boots when she got hit with a tissue box. She turned to Sophia and glared at her.
"DO NOT ruin my outfit with those beaten down boots. Flats are in the corner." Jasmine rolled her eyes and picked up the simple back flats with a small black tied bow on them. She slipped off her socks and slid into them. She stood in the mirror to see that her hair was all wind blown and could see leaves and grass in her hair. Sophia grabbed a brush and began to help her tame the beast. The two silently fixed her hair and Sophia started to get restless and began bombarding her with questions.
"So Cams not coming?" Jasmine shook her head. Sophia looked at her through the mirror, saddened eyes.
"Jas when are you gonna tell your dad?" Jasmine wasnt planning on telling her dad. She dreamed though, dreamed of the day her real dad came back. Not the obsessive Alpha he's become. Her old dad, who would have respected them, would love Cam. She remembers the days when he loved everyone. Now he was cold to the bone. He didn't care about anyones happiness. Jasmine doesn't even think he cares about his own. He says everything he does is "for the good of the pack". He used to call them family, treated everyone equally. It didn't matter if you were the lowest ranked he would go to your house and have a meal with you. She misses that man with all her heart. She used to be her father's daughter. He took pride in her. "You're flaws only make you stronger if you perfect them" he would say. Everyone would say how she was practically the spitting image of him. That no one could deny that he was her daughter by the way she talked and carried herself. They still say those things just a lot more quietly now. She even looked like him, dark hair, blue eyes and pale skin. But now that's all they had. Another bell rang through the building pulling her out of her thoughts.
"Come on, we gotta go find a seat." the two girls ran up the stairs and unto the auditorium. People were still standing around talking to one another. Thank goodness, Jasmine thought as she sped walked down the aisle to sit beside her mother. Her younger sister had her face buried in their mother's soft honey blonde hair. Ava looked just like their mom. Soft curly blonde hair, hazel eyes and naturally blush cheeks. The resemblance was incredible, even though Ava was only five years old, but still. Her mom leaned over to kiss Jasmine's cheek.
"Hey baby."
"Hey mama." She laid her head on her mother's shoulder opposite to Ava.
"You tired much?" Her mother gave her a wicked grin. Jasmine couldn't help but turn red.
"Uhh I went for a run before, I lost track of time." Her mother nodded.
"Yeah sure. I'm surprised Cam didn't have you here early." Jasmine's smile faded.
"He didn't know about it." Jasmine looked to her mom, she could see the anger start to rise. The last two years have been painful for them all, but mostly her mom. The man she fell in love with is no longer the man she's mated to. But Jasmine knows her mom's love runs deep for anyone who earns it. No matter how bad things got she would never leave him. She shres the same foolish dream as her daughter.
"Well maybe he can come over and have dinner with us tonight. Your father will be in a council meeting and besides I've really been craving that special lasagna he makes. Whatever he puts in that just makes me hungry."
"Are you sure you're just not pregnant?" Her mouth formed a small o shape and then turned into a grin.
"Are you saying I'm fat?" The two laughed at each other until they heard Lance Peterson begin with the opening speech. Jasmine just looks forward and tunes everything out. Nothing she hasn't heard before. The meetings drone on and on, Jasmine wasnt paying attention until towards the end when her father said her name.
"And in return my son Hank will be mated to the daughter Elliot the Alpha of Broken Timber Pack, he will take the position as Beta. And my daughter Jasmine will be mated to the Alpha of the Silverton Pack. These alliances are made for protection and assurance for our future. That is all for this meeting, until next time you're all dismissed."
(PRESENT)
I read carefully over the email again.
Hey kiddos,
So have you thought anymore on my offer? Your last email was pretty vague and didn't even touch on Washington. Yall know you mean the world to me. It would be a fresh start for everyone. You already know who would be selected as Alpha no surprises. Destiny and I would love it if ya'll would be apart of this pack. So once you finish up there just give me a call and if Derek wants to be apart of this new pack then he will. And y'all are welcome anytime but if you want the position as Alpha you better call quick Mel. You have until fall comes that gives you three months babe figure it out…
The rest of the email talked more about him and my parents and how this is what they wanted yada yada yada. I love Paulie and if Derek wants us to leave I will gladly call him up and say hey we're in. I thought that is how this would go. I didn't think Derek would want much to do with us. Especially after talking to the Cains. It would be good for us. To build a real home with people who understand us. We wouldn't have to run anymore. We deserve that. I was lost in thought when a ding came from my computer pulling me from my thoughts and looked to see that I had a new message. From d_souza. Hmm who could that possibly be?I took a deep breath and opened it.
Souza's
I have given it a lot of thought about whether or not I want to hear the information you have and who you are. Honestly I don't want to care. I do want to know more about the experiments. So if you have more information on them I would like to hear it. Tomorrow at Dawn's Cafe, 2:30 only the alpha.
Derek S.
He was smart having only one wolf to worry about, making sure we didn't do anything stupid like hurt him or his companion. Who I am guessing will be his mate. It was tomorrow so I had time to prepare the documents. I didn't want any lies with this. I quickly informed Paulie to let him know I would try and make a decision by the end of this month giving us plenty of time. I set the laptop away from me for a second, what if he wants nothing to do with us? Doesn't matter we found him, we're gonna talk to him that's what dad wanted us to do. I pulled at my bracelet lost in thought once again.
What about my mate? Ugh! No don't think about that! Focus on the goal! I told myself.
The door to the room opened and two huge idiots fell through the door. My son riding on the back of his "noble steed".
"Bentley get off of him he doesn't like it when you do that." Cyrus, our male dog, whimpered when I pulled Bentley off of him. Cyrus loves that boy to death and if he wanted to sit on his back like a horse he would be a horse. As soon as Bentleys feet hit the ground the two raced to the kitchen. Luna lifted her head up from the bed to look at the two lunatics. She huffed and laid her head back down on her paws. I looked back at my brothers.
"When I meet with Derek tomorrow you two need to stay here with Bentley." Luke went to protest "We are not letting you go by yourself!" I used my "Alpha" glare and he automatically backed down. "That was a condition he listed so don't question it. I will meet with him and we'll go from there." Bryce nodded and walked to the small kitchen area. Luke looked on the verge of a change and he probably needed it to because he was too upset, he needed a good run. Sensing this, Luna stood up and padded her way over to him pushing her head underneath his hand. He looked from her to me and just walked out of the small room with Luna trailing not far behind.
I sighed and spent the rest of the day getting ready for tomorrow. After getting the stuff together I felt exhausted it was already past 12 so I curled up next to my son and fell fast asleep.
The trees dance to the wind's song as I ran through the woods my paws hitting the dirt from beneath me as it flew in the air. A familiar scent tickled my nose. My tongue slipped out in a wolfish grin. As I ran faster knowing I wasn't alone.. The scent filled my head and danced across my thoughts. Attacking all logical thinking I had once been proud of. I spotted a flash of black fur in the trees no longer kept hidden amongst the branches. I came to a halt and made sure he knew I was in on his little secret. I couldn't change as fast as he could nor would his be as painful as mine. He came into view. No longer a panther prowling through the woods but was a boy on a hunt. He looked right into my eyes never cowering to my killer glare. He came closer in result I bared my teeth at him. A low teasing growl slid from my throat. All he could do was laugh at me. That there pissed me off as he came even closer with his hand stretched out as if he would dare to pet me. I snapped at his fingers. He gave me a dirty look and I let my tongue slip out in a wolf grin again. He came closer this time I didn't move a muscle. I felt fingers bury themselves into my fur. I pressed my body into his hands only to realize that I was no longer in my wolf form. His hands cradled my face and he leaned closer his brown eyes staring right into the deepest parts of me that no one's touched before. A small smile started to form on my lips, I leaned to him our lips skimming each other h-
"WHA POW!" something small came into contact with my ribs. Trying to push the pain away. I opened my eyes I saw a laughing Bentley rolling around all over the bed. I sighed and pushed myself up on my elbows looking around the room, Luke was passed out on the floor and Bryce was sprawled across the bed. They would not sleep in the same bed at the same time so they do different things were winner gets bed and loser has to fend for himself.
I looked at the clock to see it was still early so I decided to go for a short run. Getting up out of bed Bentley immediately ran to the "kitchen" for breakfast. I always thought about what it would be like to live in a real house where everyone gets their own bed. That's what Paul was offering. Hopefully after today I could give an answer, but right now all I could do was take it one step at a time. I walked in the kitchen pulled out a box of cereal and some milk. The motel room provided a small makeshift kitchen. I poured him a bowl (styrofoam from the dollar store) and placed it in front of him he digged greedily in. I just rolled my eyes and sat down next to him and went through my emails again. I got another one from Paulie, one from Lucy and two from the supernatural clinic about Bentley.
I quickly opened one from the supernatural clinic. The first one just explained different health care plans we could use, but considering we might be joining Paulie's pack then who knows. The next one went over Bentleys medications. It was hard for them to actually prescribe us anything for him. Especially since his biological parents were not the same race. It's very rare for a person to express two traits of supernatural genes. Plus he's a mix of two different extinct supernaturals doesn't really help. His mother was a Benandanti and his father was a Xana. They were one of the first in the Phoenix Project. Considering they were both successful the Edison Group decided there should be a second test. Whether or not the first generation could have children. What they found is that by altering the genes there would be many problems. Their first baby died and then the mother died giving birth. It was very stressful on the mother her body wasn't equipped for having children. From my understanding all the other subject couldn't even get pregnant. I looked over to Bentley and watched as he took his spoon and pretended it was an airplane. I smiled at my son and leaned over to kiss him on the head. He looked up at me with those big brown eyes and smiled back. He wa one of the reasons I wanted to be a doctor, well a supernatural doctor. There is no telling on how many experiments have been going on and with all the genetic manipulation it's becoming harder. My mother specialized in werewolf medicine and loved it. I just hope that once we get this over maybe we can finally settle down and start our lives.
After ending my day dream about the future I decided to go for that run. I quickly got dressed and grabbed a water bottle. Luna was at my heals following me out the door. I started at a slow pace then went on full blast with Luna staying close to my side. I could sense the excitement in her run. Her tongue rolled out of her mouth and hair was pressed down against the wind. We ran until I caught my foot on a rock and flew forward. I lifted my hands in front of my face to prepare for impact. I could feel the dirt and pebbles in my skin as I layed there on my stomach. I didn't wanna get up. I just wanted to lay there forever and sleep. The burning in my legs made my decision easy. After a few peaceful moments lying in the dirt I began to felt uneasy. Like something was watching me. I went completely still and tuned in to my surroundings. I could hear Luna's shallow breaths and the birds flying from branch to branch. I inhaled deeply as many different scents rushed to meet me. One in particular was very familiar, not the sweaty dog or Luna sitting next to me. Not the wonderful smell of nature but something else my fogged brain couldn't register. I jumped at the sound of a falling branch. I turned to see it lying only a few few feet away and looked up to see a figure moving in the trees. I stood up so fast that my head started spinning and I almost fell over. I could hear Luna begins to whine and finally regained my balance. I looked up at the tree to see that whatever was their was long gone by now and honestly I didn't have the energy to care.
Bet you'll care when that 'thing' comes back to get you.
I glanced at clock for what seemed like the hundredth time since I got here.
You've only been here for five minutes
Well it feels like forever. The small cafe wasn't completely empty but had such a comforting atmosphere. It's actually the same cafe where I first spotted Derek in this town. I wondered if he had remembered that little detail. I don't think so hopefully it's just a coincidence. Just like how I also spotted another person on that day. I shook my head trying to shake the thought away.
Keep doing that, people are gonna think you belong in a nut house. Besides you can't stop thinking about it. He's practically bound to your Soul now.
I sighed, that's not the point. I've never met this boy and my mission isn't for him it's to give Derek all the information necessary and then be on our way.
Yeah like it will be that easy.
It will if I don't think about it and pretend it's not happening.
That's what you said about the changes but you still turned.
That's completely different. That is who I am, it my nature.
He is apart of you. He is in your nature. You aren't very smart.
That was rude.
Well you're the one that called yourself stupid. All this conversation is just you talking to yourself.
"Would you like a refill?" I looked up to realize a that was not the voice inside my head talking. I smiled and nodded.
"Water please." The blonde teen nodded and walked off with my cup in hand. I could feel my phone buz in my pocket and I looked down to see a text from Bryce. It was a video of Bentley and Cyrus playing in the creek not far from the hotel. Bentley had his pants rolled up and was barefoot stomping in the water. Cyrus was prancing around getting mud all over Luke. I couldn't help but smile at the pissed look on his face. Then a giggling Bentley running right into him. So giddy with laughter that he doubled over. Luke picked him and holding him over his head. Bentley held his arms out and pretended to be an airplane. He had such a soft spot for his nephew. Both of my brothers did. They could be those intimidating guys you'd ever meet but for him they fold so easily. They're very protective but in most cases werewolves who belong to a loyal pack are. All three of us would lay our life down for the other. We were family of course but we'd do the same for Paulie. Being apart of a pack is being in a family. A short ding that notified me I have a new email pulled me from my thoughts. It was another one from the Supernatural Clinic. I frowned at my phone hoping it was only some type of family deal and nothing serious. I went to tap on the email when a male voice said "What a jerk, ugh to stand up a pretty girl like you? So how late is the douche?" I finally looked from my phone to the stranger sitting across from me.
He had spiked up blonde hair and dark almond shape eyes. His dark blue jacket really set well with his tan skin tone. He wore a cocky smile that sugged at each corner of his lips. Finally it dawned on me who this boy was.
"He's actually not late at all." I said small smile playing on my lips. I might as well go along for a bit. I deserve a little fun.
"Really? Do you think he'll mind if I keep you company?"
"Hmm I don't know." I looked him right in the eye and gave him the sexiest smirk I could muster. And his cocky little smile faltered. Werewolves aren't just big and dumb. We are smart and intelligent creatures. The supernatural world doesn't give us enough credit. Right now I had this boy right in the palm of my hand all because I understood body language. It might not seem important but it's the key to almost everything. Werewolves can sense danger. We can tell when someone is lying, if they're afraid, excited, annoyed, pissed all these things without them saying a word. It's second nature to us but we also know how to manipulate those feelings. Just like I know that the boy in front of me had the intention of trying to get me to fall in his charming little game. Little did he know that it only comes natural for me. It's easy for us to intimidate the crap out of someone, or to make them feel at ease. Right now I was gonna settle for flustered.
"Uh… So does your.. Umm?" I broke eye contact and leaned back in my chair smiling at him. I reached for my cup that was placed on the corner of the table. I looked over at the waitress she nodded to the boy in front of me and lipped 'you go girl' and gave me two thumbs up. I smiled and looked back to Simon.
"So are you the plus one Derek brought?" I was actually expecting him to bring his mate along but it was his choice. Simon finally snapped out of it and gave a sheepish smile.
"Ugh no actually, he doesn't really know that I know about your guys meeting." I raised a brow at him and he took a deep breath.
"I heard him and his girlfriend talking about it and I wanted to meet you for myself." I nodded. That's understandable, if my brothers had a family no one knew about and their were asking them to meet up I'd be cautious too.
"So are you really Derek's sister?"
"Biologically speaking? Yeah."
"How do you know that Derek is really related to you?"
"My parents have been following y'all around for the majority of my childhood. If Derek isn't who I think he is I'm gonna be seriously pissed. Besides if Derek wants a DNA test I won't object." Simon nodded and went to ask another question before I held up my hand to stop him.
"Look I promise I'm not trying to be rude but I'd rather that all your answers should come from Derek. Its his business to tell you not me." He nodded again and started to stand before he sat back down.
"Can you please not tell Derek that you saw me? I don't want to intrude on him just yet. Like you said it his business."
"Of course."
"Thanks."
"No problem." Right before he left her turned back around and stuck out his hand for me to take. I did and we shook hands as he said.
"I'm Simon by the way." I laughed a little.
"I know my family has been stalking you remember?" He scratched behind his hand and murmured "oh yeah". He gave a final wave and slid out the cafe doors. I shook my head at the whole situation and turned to find the blonde waitress sitting across from me. What is with people doing that?
"That boy is so cute!" She squinted her nose and smiled at the last word. Her voice was a high pitched lacy tone. It sounded innocent and sweet. That exactly what she looked like too. Her blonde hair was pulled up in a quick pony. Her big brown eyes were framed perfectly in light makeup and her little button nose gave her an adorable cuteness. I could tell she was small, maybe 5'3 at the most? Not to the bone skinny but I bet a lot of the girls at her school thought she was.
"So did you get his number?" I finally realized that I hadn't said anything yet. I let out a small laugh and shook my head,
"No he's not really my type." I shrugged it off like it was no big deal but she thought it was.
"Ugh he is my type!" She fell back in her chair dramatically and gave me a sad smile. "He is on the basketball team at school almost everyone knows who Simon Bae is."
"You go to school with him?" I asked now fully invested in the conversation. She nodded.
"Yep Willow Park High. I know he lives in a really small town my friend Chloe lives like 5 minuets away from him. Which is convenient for her considering she is dating Simon's brother. It's not really a town though it's more like a neighborhood. In a way I guess."
"What do you mean?" My eyebrows drawn downward.
"Well it's a new up comming place. It used be full with old nude people." The girl shivered and went back to explaining. "Apparently this big company bought it and wanted to start building it up. It already has a small clinic and cute little library but other than that they are still building. They wanna make their own school and markets. All the kids their are really close and they got bussed into our school. For a while they were doing there own thing but the district got nosy and stepped in. But it is what it is and now they go to Willow Park." She smiled and went to say something else when a soft chime came from the door. We both turned to the sound and saw a small blonde girl walk in. The girl in front of me leaped to her feet and ran full force at the other teen.
"Chloe! I didn't know you were stopping in?" The smaller blonde looked a little dazed but finally was able to get her ground and smiled at the girl infront of her.
"Yeah, Derek and I are actually coming to meet someone…" She trailed off looking around the small cafe to try and spot me. She pulled her eyes away when a tall teenage boy with pitch black hair touched the small of her back leaning in her ear to whisper, I hadn't even noticed him. But through the waitresses talking I couldn't listen in not that I really needed to because immediately after the boy stood up straight the blonde haired girl's eyes snapped to mine.
"Huh that's funny Simon was just in here a minute ago. He was actually talking to the redheaded girl in the back. Do you guys know her?" Chloe turned to her friend.
"This is my first time meeting her." For some reason I got the feeling she was wrong. I recognized her sent and not from the mall either when we talked to Derek. I mean it registered deep somewhere but I couldn't place it. You know her. How though?
"Well she is really easy to talk to. She lept me blab on and on. Didn't say a thing she seems really nice. Anywho my break is almost over what'd you say I get you your regular huh?" She smiled at the couple Chloe nodded her thanks. The girl nodded and walked back behind the counter.
This was it, this is the final act. After this little meeting Derek might never want anything to do with us. I took a deep breath and kept myself in check. Derek walked behind Chloe and pulled her chair out for her, she murmured her thanks and sat down giving me a warm smile. Chloe expressed warmness and even though she was still cautious she was friendly. Derek on the other hand was closed, cautious on alert. Which is understandable but I tried to show friendliness and caution as well. I wanted to make sure this went as well as it could. The girl came over quickly with their drinks.
"Here you go." Chloe looked up to her friend.
"Thanks Gracie." Gracie? That seemed to match perfectly. The waitress, Gracie, turned to me.
"Do you want anything else?" I smiled.
"Yeah actually can I have some hot chocolate?"
"One delicious cup of hot chocolate coming up!" She spun in her heel and left us. The tension was awkward. Chloe seemed friendly enough but Derek was making this really weird. He wouldn't even look at me. He kept staring at the wall behind me. Chloe looked like she was about to say something when Derek finally spoke up and cut her off.
"What information do you have?" Straight to the point. I reached around me to pull the two containers I had brought. They were decent sized and one was blue the other was green. I pointed to the blue.
"The blue one has all legal documents, medical records, birth records, information on the experiments, Associations my family has been affiliated with. It also has pack information and people you can contact for anything. Of course you don't have to but if you needed a reference it's all there. Family lineages werewolf learning studies. My mama was a doctor for werewolves and made sure that we knew our bodies so everything you need to know about why we change and how it works is all in there. I converted most of it to hard drives. It's kinda hard to carry around tubs of info all the time. History and Pack info is all in there. Your biological family information is in there. So factbox basically." I then pointed to the green box. "That is all personal stuff. Letters to you and your dad and your brother. Pictures of us and my parents made videos, multiple. The went deep into this box. They wanted to let you know what happened and how they felt and who they really are." I looked at him and saw his eyes fixed on the green box.
"Look you can do whatever you want with them. But I can't keep them, I can't get rid of them. It's all yours so here you go." I said scooting the boxes closer to him. I looked to Chloe to see her eyes trained on Derek a worried expression on her face. I started to gather my things when Derek said.
"What happened to them?" I took a deep breath.
"They were killed." A look passed over his face and he looked to me.
"When? How?" He looked so perplexed. He looked at me and I knew I had to swallow down those tears and tell him what he needed to know, what he deserved to know.
"My mama died when I was 12. These men lit our house on fire and trapped her in." He nodded as I continued on. "My papa died 2 years ago he was on a mission and it went south."
"On a mission?" I bit my lip. How far should I go into this? I can't lie to him but I don't know who he is or who he'll tell.
"My papa was apart of this 'organization' against Cabals and companies experimenting and enslaving supernaturals. More like a secret agency if you will, S.P.A"
"Spa? Where you get messages that's real clever." I rolled my eyes.
"Supernatural Protection Agency. S.P.A." Derek nodded. I waited for Derek to say something else but he didn't so I decided that it was time to let go.
"Derek, my pack and I understand who your real family is. My parents have been telling us since the day they found out they would never raise you. Mr. Bae is your father and Simon is your brother. We aren't here to force you to be with us we just want you to know that we are here for you."
"Do you know who the Cains are?" I involuntarily shivered. "I'll take that as a yes then." He said flatly.
"Yeah I heard they were looking for ya. Unfortunately we had the displeasure of meeting them right after you did. Theo Cain is my father's biological father. It's all explained in the letters."
"So what now? You've delivered the boxes to me. What's next?" I shrugged.
"Well that's really up to you. I mean if you want us to leave we'll go. You have a life here a family here we wouldn't want to ruin that for you." He looked right into my eyes. It amazes me how his eyes are the exact same as my dads.
"What does your pack have?" I shrugged again.
"We have options." I said. He nodded and looked over to Chloe. As he did so I found that Gracie had put my hot chocolate on the small table like she did earlier, I didn't even notice. I reached over and picked it up and brought the cup to my lips, the drink wasn't really hot anymore but still delicious. I was pulled from the sweetness when I heard Derek's chair squeak against the floor.
"I'm gonna take these to the car." And hauled of both boxes. Chloe perked up and looked me right in the eye.
"I'm Chloe Saunders and I know Derek hasn't really said that he wants you in his life but I think it'd be good for him. We don't have any werewolves nearby and no resources have made actual contact with him. I was hoping that you would come to a cookout at my house tomorrow around noon?" I blinked a couple times and wrapped my head around it. She was basically telling me to stay a little longer but it wasn't Derek telling me. Hey the mates the next best thing right? I shook my head a little.
"I don't know it's gotta be up to Der-"
"I would like for you and your whole pack to come." I was shocked by his statement and smiled. Might as well.
"Okay, we'll be there."
