4

I let out a deep sigh as my parent's laughter filled the room. I stared at my untouched plate of food. My parents spoiled me carelessly. It wouldn’t have taken them any minute to notice that I wasn’t eating if they weren't all over each other.

My mum was telling the story of her trip all over again for the third time that evening. She had said it when she first arrived, again when she was helping lay out the table, and now when we were eating. I glanced at my father, who had a wide smile on his face as he was eating. I noticed his eyes never left her face, I had a feeling he wasn’t listening to any word she was saying. I stared at them for a moment. Would it be like this for me and Theodore? I shook my head visibly as if to dispel the thought in my head, but it lingered.

I stabbed at the meatball repeatedly, my mind wandering off again. Theodore had left before I arrived, and it had hurt me a bit. Maybe I was the only one thinking about him. It wasn’t the mate bond or anything. It was all in my head, and I had made a fool of myself going to look for him in the mall and getting worked up.

“Iris, you haven’t touched your food!” It was Gertrude. She came up from behind, carrying a bowl in her hand. Her words got my parent's attention.

My mother turned to me with worry in her eyes. “Are you well bloom?”

I nodded. “I am fine”

My dad reached across from the table and took my hand in his. “Are you sure?”

I looked up at him and decided to seize the moment. “Mom, it is dad...”

“What?” he exclaimed.

“He won’t let me attend meetings with him. I think it’s because I am a girl, he doesn’t see a reason for me too...”

My mother turned to my father, who had a look of surprise on his face. “Now that’s untrue” he argued.

“He didn’t let me join him in today’s meeting”

“You had a meeting today? You didn’t tell me about it...” my mother questioned.

“With an alpha from another pack,” I added.

“Honey?”

“My love, of course, I was going to tell you” my father explained. “I was just so engrossed in listening to you tell me about your trip, I didn’t think about anything else. Of course, nothing I did could be more fun than what you did. You helped avert a crisis and save several lives. Nothing beats that, and did I say your voice is like soothing music to my ears...”

I groaned internally. This was going way out of plan. This was not where I envisioned the conversation going.

My mother’s cheeks turned red. “That’s so sweet of you honey”

I cleared my throat aloud, drawing the attention back to me.

“Our baby Iris is a vital member of this pack and deserves to be a part of our meetings just like anyone else does. Except very necessary, she should always be a part of it...”

“Of course she always is. This didn’t seem too important to bother her or anyone...”

They began smiling sheepishly at each other.

“Can I be present at the next meeting with Theodore if there is any?” I blurted out. My question was followed by silence. I tried to keep a passive expression on my face like I was making a casual request that didn’t mean anything. I opened my mouth to explain further, but my father interrupted me. “Of course, you can, my dear.”

I let out a huge sigh of relief. I watched them for a moment and exchanged glances. I tossed my spoon on a plate. “Just go to your room already” They got to their feet immediately and planted kisses on my cheeks.

“Goodnight bloom” before retiring to their room. I almost got to my feet when Gertrude asked. “Where are you going?”

I had forgotten she was here. “You might want to finish your food first”.

I sat back.

***

Just like I had expected and hoped, Theodore had come back for a meeting. This time around, it was a full house meeting. My mother and father were present. The beta of our pack and Tristan. Every other important member of the pack too. Theodore was accompanied by the three men I had met at the mall. Father had announced earlier that the meeting was going to take place later at night.

I made preparations earlier. Tiana helped me with my hair and picked out a dress. It was a hectic task, but I finally settled for a flower-patterned black playsuit and sneakers. Tiana didn’t like anything she had, so I gave her my bum shorts, which she had a hard time fit in because she was bigger than I was and an off-shoulder wool cardigan.

When we were done, we stood side by side and peered in the mirror. “We look like we are trying”

Tiana shook her head. “Trying too hard for that matter”

“We should tone it down a bit” I wiped the sultry red lipstick from my lips. I frowned at my reflection. “The lipstick really made my green eyes pop” I whined. I ruffled my curls a bit so they didn’t look like they had just been done.

Tiana looked at me in the mirror. “I mean, I totally get why I am doing this, I am definitely hoping I can get Tristan's attention. What about you, Iris? What’s the catch? What has been up with you? You have me genuinely worried.”

I looked at her. It was unfair that I had kept her in the dark about everything, with no explanation for my behavior. “I liked the Alpha...”

“I knew it!” she exclaimed.

“Was not that hard to figure out...” she squinted her eyes. “Wait...liked? Past tense?”.

I nodded. “I thought it was something. it turns out it was just my ovulation or raging female hormones. Could be anything at this point...”

“Really?” She didn’t look like she believed me.

“Yes I mean, I do think he has the looks, but almost every other wolf does...”

Tiana licked her lips and shut her eyes. “I feel you sister, it is getting harder to crush on only Tristan...”

I burst into laughter at the serious look on her face. “It was mere infatuation. It couldn’t be more than that. I’d know.” I smiled at my reflection in the mirror. Even then, I knew I was lying to Tiana and myself.

***

I arrived at the meeting alone because Tiana needed time to change. I didn’t want to be late at all, not after my father had granted me the request. Father had opted for something informal. It was an outdoor meeting with a large bonfire in the middle. My playsuit didn’t seem like such a good idea anymore. There were coolers on the side. A few members of the pack were present, my mom, Tristan, and his family, and a few members of his pack also.

As soon as I walked in, Tristan was the first to notice. He spared a brief glance at me and looked away. Sometimes, I wondered about the moment we had shared in the woods and if I had hurt him with my words. I brushed the thought away anytime it came. He had hurt me first by drawing away and ruining our friendship, and nothing would change that. Then he looked at me, the man that had plagued my sleeping and waking thoughts. The man who in a few weeks had turned me from being calm and collected girl to losing control of my emotions.

I had successfully concealed it from my parents, Gertrude had her suspicions, and she noticed the changes in my behavior. Even if I tried to downplay what I felt for him to Tiana, I knew I was unable to convince her.

His grey orbs lit up as he looked up at me, I could see the smile in his eyes before his lips curved into a smile. He bit down on his lips and looked away. I froze where I stood, hoping no one had seen him look at me like that. My heart was beating loudly in my chest. Could it be possible? Did he like me as much as I liked him? Surely, he couldn’t have looked at all the ladies that arrived at the meeting with that captivating smile and gaze of his.

“Iris” my mother called my attention. I didn’t realize I was standing there looking like a fool. She gestured for a seat next to her. “Come on here” I bowed my head and walked towards her.

Not too long after, Tiana showed up. I looked at her in surprise. She didn’t change out of the clothes she had earlier on, nor did she wipe off her makeup. Her blonde curls had been tied up in a high ponytail. She attracted stares as she walked in, even more so as she tried to squeeze her way and sit beside Tristan. It didn’t make sense to me that she didn’t change like she said she would, but I tried not to think too much of it.

My father was the last person to arrive. It was weird how we always had to wait for him to be ready even though mom and I were the women. We stood to our feet when he entered. He dramatically cleared his throat. “Thank you.”

That was our cue to sit down. He sat on the other side of my mom.

“Thank you all for coming and being a part of this meeting. Not to waste your time any further, we have an alpha from out of town. An Alpha of the dark moon pack...”

‘Dark Moon pack’ I played with the words in my head.

“...I will leave the floor open. He has some things to say to us.”

That drew my attention back to reality. I took notice of every move he made. His voice captured me immediately after he introduced himself. I shut my eyes and sucked it in. I was a few inches away from my mom. She would notice any reaction from me.

He introduced his companions and delved into his story, “I have come to seek your help. Every one of you, members of the Blackwater pack. I wouldn’t have come here if the problem was not bigger than us. My pack has been threatened. Our entire existence threatened...” He paused. It was still, everyone was already captivated by his voice.

“The hunters...”

There was a small gasp. We had all heard the rumors. I turned to look at my parents. They looked unfazed by it all. Their faces didn’t hold any shock. I put two and two together. These reports about hunters were not just rumors. They were real, and my parents knew about it. That was the reason for the extra measures we were taking, the closed-door meetings my dad was having, and my mum on that trip. I glanced at Tristan’s dad, his expression mirrored theirs. I cursed inside. I had been too oblivious, I was so caught up in mundane things. I had forgotten about my role as my father’s heir and my duty to my people.

“The hunter stories are not just stories spread by rumor peddlers. They are as real as you and I are. They are as real as the flames of this fire. Lots of werewolf packs in the east have been completely obliterated by these hunters. They are skilled and fierce, armed with silver to the teeth, out to kill...”

There were whispers in the crowd. I looked around and thanked the heavens that there were no children.

“Most of these packs had been carefree...” He sucked in a breath. “My father was carefree...” he looked up at me. His eyes were sad. My heart broke, and I knew the words that were coming next. “They killed my father in cold blood. They wiped out a good number of our pack...” He looked away immediately. “The few of us were able to escape to safety, and we have stayed in hiding ever since. We have nowhere to run to. We are running out of supplies and with no roof over our heads. The children are falling sick. I didn’t know which pack was safe to run to. However, I heard the stories of how you managed to keep things under wraps, how you run this large pack with humans loitering in this town...” He was looking at my father. “I knew you were the safest bet. For the safety of my pack.”

Father held his gaze for a moment. “I deeply apologize for the loss of your father.”

Theodore nodded.

“It is unfortunate that the humans feel threatened by our kind and attack us.” He turned to look at the rest of us. “I did not call this meeting to put fear in your hearts. I just wanted you all to know the situation of things with other packs as it concerns us” he squeezed my mother’s hand. “We have heard enough sad stories. I am tired of the long faces and the scared eyes. We should drink tonight and feast. It is a full moon. For a moment, let’s forget about our fears and worries and bask in the power of the moon goddess. Cheers to that.”

I was the first to clap. Then my mother, and soon the rest of them joined us. My mother gestured towards the cooler. “There is a cold beer and marshmallows for everyone”

Many people grabbed a bottle. The conversations started small at first, but soon, everyone joined in. People were conversing in different groups. I took a moment to digest all that had been talked about. I tried not to focus on it, but it was scary to think that our safety wasn’t so assured anymore. I looked across at Tiana, she was engrossed in a conversation with Tristan, I glanced at Theodore, and his eyes were fixated on me at the moment. I looked away. I turned to look at my parents, as usual, they were talking affectionately about something. I stood up and took a stroll. It was a much-needed one. There were a lot of things on my mind.

I stood away from the rest of the pack, but not far away, I could hear the hums and sounds of their voices and loud laughter. I had been sheltered all my life. I knew nothing about my duties. Yes, I had done my fair share of training, but that was as far as it went. To think that packs were being wiped away by hunters was scary. I knew I had to step up, I knew I had to do...

“Hey”

I spun around immediately to see Theodore standing behind me. “What’s on your mind?” he asked.

“A...a lot” my voice faltered.

He extended a hand towards me. “I see you didn’t get anything. Care for something?” He had an extra bottle of beer, a fresh stick of marshmallows, and a lit one.

I hesitated.

“You might want to think about it quickly before the fire goes out?”

I smiled at him and took the items from his hand. I took fire from his lit marshmallow. I shielded it with my hands, and the fire increased. I momentarily panicked because I had not expected it. He took my hand and blew out the fire immediately. We stared in silence at the blackened marshmallow. “I don’t think that’s edible anymore.”

I looked up at him from underneath my long lashes. “Thank you.”

He nodded and handed me his own.

I shook my head. “Thank you, I am fine.”

“I insist”

I didn’t want to argue any further and so I took it from him. “Thank you”

He watched me for a moment. Suddenly, the night air felt too hot. He didn’t bother to be subtle about it. I felt the weight of his scrutinizing gaze, I couldn’t look up at him, so it was impossible to tell what he was feeling. I wish I could tell what he was thinking. Was he checking me out? Or was it much more than that? Did he feel the pull that I felt? Was it the mate bond?

“I am sorry about what happened to your father and your pack.” I blurted out.

His expression dampened.

“I am sorry” I apologized immediately.

He glanced at me, “It is okay. I try not to let it bother me every time, but it’s hard not to. It is really hard.”

I leaned closer and enveloped him in an awkward hug. I pulled away immediately, not giving him time to hug me back. I had felt down with emotions when I heard the story of what had happened to him. At that moment, that was the only one that could comfort him. I could have sworn my wolf whined in delight as my body pressed against him. However short it had been we were in the comfort of the hands of another wolf who wasn’t family or friend.

“I am sorry.” I blurted out again. It was the third time I was apologizing. He made me a nervous wreck. I couldn’t tell if it was for what had happened to him or for hugging him. I walked away, I could hear him call out to me, but I didn’t look behind. I could not look him in the eyes again, not in a long time.