Chapter 35
Julian
“I don’t believe you,” Aiden gawks, dragging a hand over his mouth. I stay silent as I watch him with mounting regret. “Atoms were the first things we learnt.”
“It just didn’t stick,” I defend, looking between him and the textbook. “I can never remember which is the Atomic Number—or what it is for that matter.” My words taper off, becoming quieter as each one makes his eyes grow a little wider.
“I didn’t realise you were this bad,” Aiden mutters, raking a hand through his dark hair. “I thought we’d map out the areas you need help in. I didn’t realise you don’t even know the basics. Scratch that, you know nothing.”
“I wouldn’t go as far as to say nothing,” I defend.
“Julian,” he says, and I already regret this. “What’s a Transformer?”
I frown. What on earth did science have to do with those movies he’d made me watch a few weeks ago? “Well, I can’t explain them very well, but there are the Decepticons and the Autobots—”
“No! Goddess! Not the movie!” Aiden exclaims, which only deepens my frown. He’s the one who asked. “You’re too far gone. Why did you choose to study all three sciences if you can’t even do one?”
“I don’t know,” I reply with a shrug. Truth be told, I’d been chasing my old dreams of being an astronomer, but I soon regretted that when I discovered how severely the sciences and I disagree with each other outside of my areas of interest.
“You should drop one or two when you’re back in school,” Aiden suggests, expression imploring. “I know you like astronomy, but there’s so much more to physics that it might not be worth it. And I can help you the most in biology.”
I nod, trying not to let my thoughts linger on the current status of my education.
A week has passed since we got back and discovered that my parents had once again acted on my behalf. Pissed didn’t begin to cover it. And that anger has had nothing but time to simmer.
Luckily, like Aiden said, the school recognised me as a legal adult and were in the process of re-registering me. Slow, bureaucratic hell. In the meantime, Aiden goes to school for the both of us, then comes home to teach me what I missed.
He doesn’t complain. He doesn’t try to skip classes, or drag his feet when leaving. Every day, he goes, pays attention, and then comes home to share it all—because he knows it matters to me, even though it’s the last place he wants to be.
It means more to me than I know how to express.
“Okay, I think we can end it here for today,” Aiden says, or begs, really. “What do you say?”
I nod, chuckling as he slams his book shut and shoves it across the table.
“Now,” he snaps, making me jerk when he slaps his hand on the table and leans close. “I’m going to ask you something, Jewels, and I’m going to need you to say yes.”
“Okay …”
“As you know, there’s a party tonight.”
I groan and pinch the bridge of my nose.
“Yeah, yeah, I know. We only just got back, we can’t leave the pack for unserious business—except, yes we can. It’s literally our pack, and things are really fucking good here. Everyone loves us.”
It’s na?ve to say that everyone “loves us,” even if it sort of feels that way. We’ve become a power couple—and by extension, a power pack—as we’ve navigated the merge.
Aiden, the natural mascot, knows just about everyone, which gives us clear insight into what they need and areas that need tweaking. I’m the one who turns that insight into plans, then mobilises our resources and people to see it through.
“It’s for one night and it’ll be after we’re done all our work,” he says, still making his pitch. “If you’re worried about people finding out, I’ve got the perfect escape route.” His dark eyes gleam mischievously. “Let’s go party, Jewels.”
“It’s a dress-up party,” I deadpan.
“Costume,” he corrects with a sing-song tone. “And I’ve got something planned for us.” He grabs my hands and shakes me. “Come on, Jewels.”
I groan as I look at him. He’s pouting, and a man can only be so strong.
“I’ve never been to a party,” I remind him.
“That’s perfect,” he muses. “I’ll pop your cherry.”
I roll my eyes while Alex snickers. His humour is, sadly, a perfect match for Aiden’s.
“I don’t know, Aiden,” I say. “I don’t like things like that. I’d rather stay home and read.”
“You’ll grow as a person.”
“It’s dangerous,” I counter.
“I’ve been to a million. They are not dangerous.” He slips the puppy-dogs on again. “Please, Jewels—for me.”
Goddess, I’m weak.
“Promise you’ll stay with me,” I say, already regretting this. “I don’t want to be sitting on some dirty couch by myself.”
I haven’t even finished my sentence before he’s yanking me into a hug.
“Promise!” he shouts, making me wince as he shakes me like a rag doll. “You’re going to fucking love this, Julian!”
I’m not too sure about that, but a piece of me lingers on what he said about me growing as a person. He wasn’t being entirely serious, but he isn’t wrong.
I like who I am just fine. I’m smart, strong, and even though my life isn’t what I expected as a kid, it’s one I’m happy with. But since Oliver died, it’s been the same routine on repeat—school and pack work, with no care or time for what I wanted.
I’d been okay with that before, because I owed it to Oliver to be the best alpha I could, even if that meant putting myself on the back burner. But lately, the days of my parents’ nagging have been replaced by days with Aidan, and watching him has changed everything.
It’s impossible to spend time with someone who breaks rules so boldly, who says fuck you to everyone and everything that tries to stop him, and not start craving more for yourself.
I wanted out of my box, out of the same ol’, same ol’.
I want more, and I know this is only a party, but it’s also a chance at that more. Or at least, a step towards it.
“Alright, we have to go now,” Aiden says, releasing me to shove our books into his open bag.
“Why?” I ask, cringing as I watch the violation. Aiden’s too focused on getting us out of the pack’s beautiful new library to notice.
“Because,” he drawls once we’re in the elevator, “make-up takes a long time and Isabel said we have to be at her place by seven if she’s going to do both of us.”
My brain short-circuits. For a few reasons.
First, there’s the fact that Isabel is apparently going as well, which likely means that Beckett is too.
Second, there’s them apparently taking full advantage of only needing permission from one of their alphas to leave the packlands.
Third, there’s the fact that Aiden already made arrangements before I even agreed to this party, and last of all—“Make-up?”
“You’ve never put a little something on, Jewels?” he teases as he slides his shades on. “Now that I think about it, I wouldn’t mind you in lipstick—something I can ruin when I use your mouth.”
Heat floods my face, and the smug curve of his lips tells me that was the point.
“Do you ever stop flirting?” I ask, exasperated.
“Can’t,” he says earnestly, but then that racy smile of his makes a reappearance. “I’m Juli-sexual.”
“Juli-sexual?” I repeat, laughing as we step out of the elevator and head out of the packhouse.
“Yeah, I’m only attracted to blue-eyed, long-blonde-haired smartasses,” he says, batting his lashes exaggeratedly, tugging a snort from me. “And the sort of smile that makes the world stop spinning.”
He grins at me, and I smile back as I catch his hand to tug him to me. “Cheesy.” I mumble before I kiss him softly.
By the time we reach Isabel’s place, I’m almost convinced this isn’t a terrible idea. Almost.
Like me, she moved out of her parents’ home once she became a delta, and now she lives in a small house with a few other deltas and warriors.
I expect one of them to answer the door, but it’s Isabel herself—rollers pinned to her head, one eyebrow thicker than the other, and powder caked under her eyes. Well then.
“Huh,” she chuckles. “You actually got him here, Calderon. You crazy son of a bitch.”
“Can you still do Julian’s make-up too?” Aiden asks as we follow her into a bedroom, which looks like a tornado just passed through and left nothing but her make-up gizmos tossed around.
“If he’s actually coming,” she replies before her thinner brow lifts. “Are you?”
“Reluctantly.”
She grins from ear to ear and claps her hands together. “In that case, tonight shall be one for the books!” She takes a swig of something clear from a cup, gags, then focuses on Aiden. “Only problem is I didn’t prepare a separate look for him.”
“Same theme as mine,” Aiden replies, producing a crumpled paper out of his back pocket. I try to get a peek, but he pushes me back. “Aht, aht! No spoilers,” he says, handing it over to Isabel.
“Did you draw this?” Isabel asks, eyes darting over the page.
“Yeah.” He sounds casual, but in our bond, I can feel the restlessness that immediately ripples through him. I didn’t know he was drawing again.
“It’s perfect for Julian,” Isabel says as she grabs two big pots of black and white substances, “especially with how you’re going to look.”
“Can I really not see?” I ask, taking a step forward that immediately gets me shoved into the only chair in the room.
“I already told you, Jewels,” Aiden whispers as he grips both sides of the armrests and leans down with a sly smile. “No spoilers. It’s a surprise.”
I blink up at him, tempted to push. Well, if I can’t ask about that …
“So, you’re getting back into art?” I ask as gently as I can.
Aiden visibly stiffens before he kisses my temple. “One step at a time.”
I nod and smile at him when he draws back. One step at a time was good with me.
“It physically hurts me to stop this,” Isabel cuts in, “but I have to get ready too, so…” She flashes an apologetic smile at Aiden before she focuses on me. “Since you’re already sitting, I’m going to start with you, Julian.”
With weirdly pointy paintbrushes in hand, Isabel steps towards me like some sort of evil scientist and actually snickers. I glance at Aiden, but he’s no better with the way he quietly backs away.
“You’ll be fine,” he says, and I realise he’s heading for the door. “I’m going to go and try to find you a suit.”
“You guys are going to look so damn good,” Isabel declares with a deafening squeal.
When my ears stop ringing, I peek at my mate. “Suit?”
Aiden makes a zipping motion over his lips before he disappears, leaving me with the menace I chose to call a friend.
“So,” I start nervously in an effort to stall the inevitable, “are Emit and Beckett coming?”
“I’m not sure. I assume they would be ’cause Emitt is going and these days, wherever he is, Beckett seems to be,” she says nonchalantly, but I know her. When she catches me staring, she forces out a laugh. “It’s fine. They just don’t talk to me like they used to.”
“Does it help if I told you they’ve been doing the same thing to me?”
I wasn’t particularly close to Emitt, but Beckett was my best friend. He’s friendly to everyone, but he only ever stuck with me. Now, it’s me and Emitt, because when he’s not at my side, he’s with him.
“Not really,” Isabel admits with a pained expression that makes Alex whine. “You have Aiden, so it’s different. I don’t really have anyone else.”
“I’m sorry, Isabel,” I say lamely. I don’t know exactly what to say since I’m not one for social dilemmas or heartfelt confessions. “Maybe we can do more stuff like this?” I suggest. “Or just hang out?”
She brightens, just slightly. “That’d be nice, Julian.”
“Good,” I reply, making a mental note to invite her with me the next time I’m doing something on my own.
With that, Isabel begins to transform me into whatever entity Aiden came up with.
We catch up while she does. Life as a delta in a pack as big as ours rocks, and her housemates are all great.
Slowly but surely, they’re becoming friends, and that’s heartening to hear considering Beckett is going M.I.A.
It’s almost an hour later that we hear Aiden coming before we see him—big heavy steps and a gleeful snicker I’d know anywhere.
“I found one!” he shouts as he bursts into the room. He’s holding one of my older suits like it’s pure gold. It would probably be a little too tight on me, but he looks thrilled.
“Mind if I trash it?” he asks, and I shrug.
“Go crazy.”
The smile Aiden sends me is blinding. He pulls the blazer out first, ruffling it before he dabs it with paint and some kind of powder.
Isabel makes her finishing touches to my face, which I’m guessing is a zombie.
They work quietly, both ultra-focused on their tasks, while I endure the torture of sitting perfectly still without a book.
“And I’m … done!” Isabel declares as she carefully blots a wet splotch of something onto my nose.
Aiden abandons my wrecked suit to join her side. “Damn,” he whistles and pats her shoulder with a proud smile. “You are seriously gifted.”
Isabel preens and dramatically flips her hair over her shoulder. “Oh, I know.”
“Am I free to look?” I ask, afraid to hope as I rise from my chair only to be pushed straight back into it.
“Aht! No. It’s time for hair now,” she states, and those words—they cut deep within my soul as I watch her switch out make-up for hair products.
“No,” I croak, but Isabel ignores me, so I try my mate. “Please, Aiden.”
He just shrugs. Useless. “Sorry,” he says, hands in the air. “I’ll go work on mine in the meantime.”
I sob, and they laugh at my expense.
“Stop complaining, Julian. It’ll only be a minute. You already have some natural waves, so I just need to put something in it to dry it up a little,” Isabel explains while she attacks. “Your hair actually grew a lot.”
I look down, and she’s right. It’s well below my shoulder blades now, but I hadn’t even noticed. I could use a trim, but I don’t dare mention it in case Isabel decides to help.
“You next, Aiden!” she shouts as she pulls my hair onto one side. Combing it with her fingers before she finally steps back. “I really am good.”
Aiden stumbles out with his hair set into a slick quiff that oddly suits him. I stand and he takes my place, but not without pointing to the suit waiting for me on the floor. “Get ready. She’s only doing my mouth, so it won’t take long.”
My mouth?
I don’t even question it. I just grab my suit and slip into the attached bathroom.
I turn from shutting the door and almost fall on my ass at my reflection. My brain struggles to compute it—it’s me, but it isn’t. Isabel’s painted a skull over my face, one so stark it looks like a mask.
Thick black circles hollow out my eyes, stretching above my brows and curving over my cheekbones, making the blue of my irises stand out more than usual, almost to a scary degree. The lower half of my face is all shadows and teeth. A dash of black on my nose completes the illusion.
I barely recognise myself. It’s me, though. And for my first ever party, I’m apparently going to be some kind of snazzy skeleton.
Goddess, be good.