Chapter 9
Not every pack member had last names because they usually took on the pack name, but there were some exceptions, like the Grey’s.
The Grey’s were the family of wolves who ran the restaurant. Since the restaurant was called The Grey wolf, they took on the name as to be easily identifiable.
Melissa Grey was never very friendly with me. She was Jasper’s age and had gone to school with him, which made me wonder if maybe she had a crush on him and didn’t like that I was always with him. Or maybe she was a human hater too.
I felt her eyes from across the room before I saw who it was. She came and dropped a menu in front of me.
“Are you alone or?” her dark eyes drifted over to the empty seat across from me. She had this pretty auburn colored hair that most of her family members had and she kept hers up in a ponytail. Her shirt had the family logo and of course was grey.
“No, Jasper will be out in a second” I answered. I know she saw him with me it was a stupid question to ask. She plopped a second menu down and walked away.
Upon Jasper’s return I leaned over the table to whisper to him, “Your girlfriend’s here.” He knew the joke because I pointed out to him that she might like him. He wasn’t interested though.
“Stop,” he chuckled.
“I’m just saying if my body shows up in the woods one day it’s probably her who killed me...or Devran now too I guess. Maybe they’ll work together as a team” I rambled on until she popped up again.
“Ready to order drinks?” she asked, and I could see Jasper holding back a smile from what I had just been saying.
When Jasper’s sister Grace was done with her meal she walked over to us to say hello, or so I thought. “Don’t” was all she said and it was directed at her brother.
“I made sure he didn’t go over there,” I told her. “Yeah, but he was mindlinking me talking shit” she popped her hip out, annoyed.
“You were?!” I asked, obviously not having known. He shrugged at me, “at least the twerp couldn’t hear me” he reminded me it could’ve been worse.
“Anyways, don’t forget to tip your girlfriend well” Grace joked, causing me to almost choke on my drink with laughter. Jasper glared at her first then me.
“You got her in on this now?” he huffed.
“Oh stop, everyone knows she likes you” Grace waved him off. She said bye to me and skipped off before her brother could give her anymore shit. When my friend paused for a minute I could tell he was receiving a mind-link from someone else.
“Hey, Gran wants you to come down to the Pack House. She might have something for you” he answered my unasked question. I wasn’t thrilled I’d have to go to the house but I was excited that she might have found me some place to live. We paid our bill and took the short walk home.
Inside the house was busy with chatter. We didn’t walk into the busy rooms. We headed straight for the back hall which was quieter and where Gran usually did her knitting.
“Gran,” I greeted, to let her know we were there. She was facing away from us in her chair. “Come on in kids” she waved us to sit across from her.
“So, I have a temporary fix” she started out. “And the reason I say temporary is because the Nealin boy will be coming back from his training sooner or later, but I should probably ask first, do you know Nealin?”
The name sounded familiar but it took me a second to remember why. “Oh, the lead warrior?” I asked. I had met him just recently. He was the man with the scars on his face.
“Yes, that’s the one. It’s just him and his boy and Nealin senior lives out in the woods by our borders so their house is empty right now” she pointed out.
“No wife?” I asked. Her face turned somber then.
“No honey, she was killed when Nealin junior was about five years old. A rogue attack, it’s where Nealin senior got those gruesome scars...trying to save her” she sighed.
I brought my hand up to my mouth in shock. I hadn’t realized there had been attacks like that in the past. Where people lost their lives. I suddenly felt sorry for the man I had met.
That’s probably why he said he’s had those scars far too long for anything to be done about it. He probably meant the emotional scars that came with it. I felt awful that the man had a constant reminder on his face and neck. It was so noticeable it couldn’t just be overlooked.
“And you asked Nealin?” Jasper inquired.
“Briefly, yes. He said it’d be good to put the place to use. It’ll feel lived in when his son returns home. The boys’ always been lonely” she explained.
“Do you know Nealin jr?” I asked Jasper. “No, not really. We didn’t hang out in the same circles” he shrugged.
“When the boy comes we’ll hammer out the details, but for now, what do you think?′ she asked. I hesitated a moment. I felt strange accepting such a generous offer from a total stranger.
It’s true the house was just empty right now but still it was never quite my own space. I was always intruding on someone else’s.
“I think it’s a good idea, Mira. It’s close to the Pack House too. I’ll be just down the block” he nudged me. “Could I see the place?” I asked.
“Sure honey, you’ll have to get the keys from him, so maybe Jasper can go out on a run and head to the border for you” she explained. Damn I was hoping I could have a look tonight just so I knew I had an actual plan here.
“Yeah, I can do that for you tomorrow,” he agreed.
“How far is it? I think I’d like to go and talk to the man myself. At the very least thank him.” Jasper thought about my words for a second then nodded. “Okay, we can do that but it’s a couple miles walking” he pointed out, testing to see if I’d still want to make the journey.
I knew it would be faster for his wolf to run but I felt it was only right to look the man in the face whose house he was generously lending me. “Yes, I can do it” I agreed to the long hike.
“Do what? Why is she here?” a deep voice interrupted. We all turned to the doorway to find our future Alpha lurking once again. How the hell did he even know I was in this house?
“Mind yourself, Devran,” his grandmother warned. He swiped a hand down the dark stubble of his face and turned his attention toward me. Jasper was already alert and ready to defend me.
“I’m just tying up some loose ends before I move” I explained, not looking him in the eye. He walked over and we all stood up. I was still looking down though.
His large hand went under my chin and he forced me to look up at him by tipping my jaw up some. “Moving where?” he asked.
Jasper took a step forward but I blocked him. Devran dropped his hand from my chin.
“I’m going to be temporarily moving into your lead warriors house. It’s currently unoccupied” I cleared my throat and tried to sound more confident than this mousy tone I kept using with him. I was immediately submissive and he knew it.
“Nealin’s house?” his brows furrowed for a second then smoothed out. “Yeah, his kid isn’t going to get back for at least a month or something,” Jasper explained. I heard Devran ‘hmm’ as if disapproving.
“I’d rather you not inconvenience my men. For that you’ll stay here” he stated, shocking us. He just told me to stay? No way in hell.
“I don’t think I agree,” I said aloud. His eyes snapped over to mine and his nostrils flared. He liked being in charge; he didn’t like my challenging that.
Why would he want me out then tell me I’m inconvenient and need to stay. That’s bizarre and unnecessary.
“Dev, she’s right. You’ll only be more agitated to have her around rather than her having her own living space” Jasper sided with me. He turned his attention to his friend now.
“Do you speak for her or something? Every time I try to address the girl you come in talking” he snapped. Jasper’s fists clenched at his sides.
“What’s your issue dude? Ever since you got back you’ve been a huge dick” Jasper spat. Gran looked at me with unease and I gave her a ‘what can we do’ face. She was about to try and intervene when Devran’s voice echoed through the room.
“Maybe it’s because you forgot where your loyalties lie. You dare challenge your rising Alpha for a human. What the hell is that shit?” Devran snapped.
“This is exactly why I’m leaving” I said in a low voice, but it was enough for them to hear me. They both looked down at me.
“I don’t want to be a burden. I’m trying not to be and you’re making it harder by fighting me on this” I continued, but not in a snappy tone. I was just quiet.
“Fine, leave” he dismissed me and the idea. I nodded and was about to walk away when he stepped in my way again. “You may get your things tomorrow,” he added.
Jasper grabbed hold of my wrist and dragged us both away. I could feel Devran’s eyes burning into the back of me as we walked off.
“Don’t forget tomorrow’s the new moon and ceremony. I want you there” he side eyed me to see how I’d react. “Crap we can’t get the keys tomorrow. It’s ceremony day” I sighed.
“We can go, it’s two hours there, two hours back. Plenty of time” he waved me off. “I’m only going because you’re stepping into your new position and I wanna see that. I’m only going for you” I told him, even though he knew.
“You da best” he teased my hair. I swatted him and once I got to the Pack House doorway I said goodnight. I knew I was just going to walk over to Melanie’s for the night. Hopefully my last night. I could use the space.
Devran would be the death of me.
-
At Melanie’s we were sitting on her bed talking about the events of today. She was happy with her perfect dark brows and I was complaining...which I felt like I was doing a lot of lately.
“I have an ongoing theory,” Mel slyly added. “What?” I asked, knowing it’d be something ridiculous.
“I think Devran is attracted to you. I think it makes him angry that he’s attracted to you because you are a human and that’s why he acts like such a dick. It’s got nothing to do with you. I think this is all about him” she stated with confidence. I gaped at her.
“What the hell gave you the impression that he was attracted to me? He’s literally had murder in his eyes for me since the moment he looked my way” I reminded her of that day he’d first seen me.
“Fight me on it if you want but it’s my theory and I’m sticking with it” she threw her hands up in surrender. When I didn’t say anything else she decided to continue.
“Fire in the eyes can mean more than one thing” she cackled, entertaining herself with my misery.
“You’re as delusional as he is,” I grumbled. I flopped down on the mattress and groaned.
“He wants you out, he wants you to stay, sounds like an internal battle for something doesn’t it?” She started with a sing-song tone.
“I’d literally rather sleep in the woods than listen to another second of this” I interrupted her. It was late and I needed the rest for my hike in the morning.
When I settled into bed, so did she, so we shut the lights off. We were silent for a moment until she whispered, “He wants to bang you.” I hit her with her own pillow.