Chapter Two: In The Same Boat - Landry

Following Beatrix’s instructions, I get up and shower off the stress and bad memories, then get myself dressed for the day. When I’m finally decent, I go to the kitchen and freeze in the doorway as I register the scent of fresh orange juice and… no way! I’m over to the oven in a flash, my mouth salivating as I open the warmer and take in the four delicious-looking breakfast tacos in their own little holders. There’s a glass of freshly squeezed OJ on the counter next to the oven with a handwritten note placed against the glass, so, I pick it up and read it.

Good morning Snuggle-Wolf!

I didn’t want to wake you and thought you might be hungry, so I made your favourite breakfast tacos and some juice. There’s more juice in the fridge. Hope you have a great day; I’ll see you after work!

All my love

Pixie x

I smile from ear to ear as I read the note over and over, my heart swelling with happiness at this amazing and thoughtful gesture. I carefully place the note down, grab a pair of oven mitts and take the tacos out of the oven. I sit at the table as I pick up the first taco and inhale the smell of homemade tortillas accompanied by egg, bacon, cheese, and tomatillo salsa. I take a large bite and moan as the flavours burst in my mouth. It’s moments like this I’m reminded of how much I don’t deserve Jennifer, but how grateful I am to have her in my life.

She has all the reason in the world to hate me and she could have told me to stay out of her life after what I did, but she gave me a second chance to make it right. She opened her heart to me and now we share a beautiful quaint little cottage in the woods on her pack's territory, or I guess I should say OUR pack's territory. I renounced my birth pack – the Alpine Pack – and was initiated into the Invictus Pack so I could be with Jennifer, and I’ve never been happier. It’s not that I was unhappy in the Alpine Pack, Alpha Lucas is an amazing Alpha, but I just didn’t feel like that was where I belonged. Here at Invictus with Jennifer, I truly feel I belong, and honestly, everyone has been so welcoming. I’m happy, I’m in love, and I am waking up to breakfast tacos. Life can’t get better than that.

I quaff down three of the four breakfast tacos and leave the fourth for Matthan to enjoy later. I can already see him wagging his tail with the excitement of getting to eat one of these yummy tacos. Our spirit wolves gain all their nutrition from our bodies, so it’s not as though they need to eat or drink to survive, but he still deserves to enjoy things for himself so letting him eat one in wolf form just seems fair. When I would secretly make food at home, Matthan was my taste tester.

'Oh, remember those chocolate chip cupcakes with the gooey salted caramel in the middle and maple bacon buttercream? That was heavenly! You should make that for Jennifer! She would love it. Super sweet just like her,' Matthan says giddily.

'That’s a great idea! I would just need to get the ingredients first,' I tell him.

I pack up the remaining taco and put it in a container in the fridge, make my way out of the cottage and start walking through the woods heading towards the packhouse.

Originally when I started working at the packhouse it was as punishment for what I had done to Jennifer – I expected and deserved far worse if you ask me – but since officially joining the pack, I’m now a paid employee. It’s actually a really good job. I’m surrounded by good people, I do whatever task Maggie or Alpha Amelia instructs of me, and I get paid $13 an hour, so I’m doing better than most people in America in terms of pay. I don’t even have to pay rent or utilities because that’s taken care of by the Alpha. However, I hear they’re upgrading all new and pre-existing homes to make them more environmentally sustainable. I think that means going solar or something, but don’t quote me on that.

As I reach the packhouse, I hear running feet gaining speed behind me and I catch the scent of fresh sawdust. I attempt to move out of the way, but they are more agile than me and before I know it I’m hitting the carpeted floor hard with a groan as the weight of a muscular body lands on top of me.

“You really need to start doing more training Green, you’re too easy to take down,” chides the familiar gravelly voice.

“Says the guy who has been training since he came out of the womb,” I groan, trying to buck him off me with no success.

“I don’t get it. You said your dad is a warrior in your pack, you’d think he’d train you more,” he says getting off me and offering me his hand.

I roll over, take his large hand, and let him help me to my feet. Michael Grigoryan was the first friend I made at Invictus. I’d like to say it was Alpha Amelia, but I don’t want to sound presumptuous. Michael is twenty-three so he’s a bit older than me, as I’m eighteen, turning nineteen in December. Michael is 6’4, not overly muscular but defined enough to make the women notice. He has sort of latte-coloured skin, dark black curly hair that sits like a soft nest on his head, deep dark brown eyes that make the girls swoon, and his perfectly chiselled features don’t hurt either. He also has a stubble goatee and stubble framing his jawline. I’ve met his parents and sister, and I can tell he has a lot of his mother’s Armenian features.

That’s another thing I love about Invictus. They have so many mutolupus’ – among other species – from countries all over the world, who have moved here because they found their animai. I think that’s so cool. Not that we didn’t have that back home, it just seems even more common here, so I get to meet a lot of interesting people.

“I’d rather we didn’t talk about my dad, thanks,” I say as I dust myself off.

“Right, sorry,” he says apologetically, “Much on today?” He asks, changing the subject as he slings an arm around my shoulders and walks me to the dining hall.

“Only what Maggie or the Alpha give me, so I don’t know yet,” I shrug.

“Yeah, fair. How does Maggie not scare you? She scares the shit out of me,” he says with a shudder.

Maggie is head of the packhouse staff and runs a tight ship. I was originally pretty scared of her too, but I’ve come to learn she just takes her job very seriously and respects the position she’s been given. It’s her job to make sure everyone who enters the packhouse is fed and made to feel at home, and she takes care of the ranked members, so she has a lot of pride in her work, and she sees someone’s poor work as a reflection of her leadership. So yeah, she’s a bit tough, but not unreasonable.

“She’s not so bad once you spend more time with her,” I assure him.

Michael gets himself a big plate of food at the buffet and we sit facing each other at one of the long benches.

“So, Nare and I were going to go out to this club this weekend and we’re hoping you and Jennifer would tag along,” he says as he bites into some bacon.

“You do remember Jen and I are under twenty-one, right?”

“Oh, that doesn’t matter. The owner of the club is a sanguidae, so the place mostly caters to supernaturals,” he says conspiratorially, “He’s pretty lax about the age thing unless you’re human. It’s a bit of a drive away, but it’s worth it.”

“I don’t know,” I say unenthusiastically, “Jen and I just aren’t really club-going people.”

“Aww, please? It’ll be fun!” He cheers, giving me a tap on the arm.

“I really appreciate the offer, but it’s just not our scene. Sorry,” I say kindly.

He shrugs, “Well, can’t blame a guy for trying. Maybe another ti–”

In 0.5 seconds Michael’s entire body has gone rigid. He shuts his eyes tight, his fists clenching tight enough to see the white of his knuckles, ready to tear through his skin. He looks tormented, and I immediately know why. I know that expression all too well.

I glance around and look over his head, out of the dining hall and towards the front doors of the packhouse where I see Jane Lahde greeting… no way! That’s an irshiust! Wait, I remember her. I saw her attending the pack funerals with another irshiust the other month. Even from here her golden eyes stand out like gold jewels and the gold glitter in her skin catches the sun and compliments her soft mocha skin. I perk up my ears to listen to their exchange.

“H-How can I help you?” Jane asks with a nervous stutter. Not every day you greet a member of the Delegation. I’d stutter too.

'Me three,' Nods Matthan in agreement.

“I was hoping for a word with Alpha Amelia,” the irshiust whose name I can’t recall says with a warm smile. I really hope we’re not about to have another war. The pack is still healing from the last one.

“Of course,” Jane says with a respectful nod, “She’s in the entertainment room with the other ranked members. I could escort you if you like,” she offers, stepping aside to let the woman pass.

The woman enters with a kind and gracious smile on her face, “That’s quite alright, I remember the way there, but thank you.”

“My pleasure,” Jane says, visibly relaxing and giving the woman a smile.

The woman walks off, seemingly floating on air and Jane closes the door slumping against the wood. I don’t know if she sensed me watching, or if she sensed Michael, but she looks over in our direction and I immediately try to act like I wasn’t watching.

'And make it even more obvious that you were. You would have been better off just acknowledging you were watching. You weren’t the only one shocked to see an irshiust,' says Matthan.

'We both know it wasn’t the irshiust that got my attention,' I say as I glance back over at Jane to see her still looking in our direction, but I know it’s not me she’s looking at. Her eyes are focused on Michael’s back and the broken look in her eyes causes a horrible pang in my chest. She takes a deep breath, lowers her head, and walks away and I turn my attention back to Michael who is still rigid as a statue. I let out a deep sigh.

“It’s not just her you’re hurting,” I say gently.

His eyes snap open, glowing an intense dark brown and I can tell he’s struggling with his wolf right now. Been there. Done that.

“Stay out of it Landry,” he warns.

“No one understands what you’re going through better than me, but are you sure this is what you want? Rejecting Jennifer was the biggest mistake of my life, and it doesn’t matter how happy we are, I’ll never be able to take that back. I’ll live with the memory of that pain for the rest of my life, and I know she will too,” I say, unable to keep my anguish at bay.

“It’s not the same damn thing. You rejected Jennifer without even getting to know her. You rejected a beautiful and kind soul. Ask anyone around the pack and they’ll tell you what a bitch Jane is. Never even showing respect to our Alpha,” he spits.

I wince at his brutally honest remark about me rejecting Jennifer. I can’t argue with that though, I won’t even try.

“The Goddess pairs people for a reason. Maybe being with you was meant to make Jane a better person. I mean, she sure seems to be trying to be a better person. Maggie has given her some of the worst packhouse jobs and Jane hasn’t complained once. She really seems to be trying,” I try to tell him.

“I don’t care if she donated all her money to charity and served in a soup kitchen every day. I don’t want her anywhere near me or my sister after what she did. Maybe I can forgive the bitch stuff, but what she did to Nare, that I will never forgive,” he says bitterly.

I sigh and nod my head, “I won’t say another word.”

Michael and I kind of bonded over our rejection pain, but he’s right, our reasons were different. I rejected Jennifer because the moment I scented that she was an Omega, all I could hear was my dad’s voice in my ear telling me how weak and useless they were, and I could see him disowning me if I accepted her. I got scared and I panicked and did the unthinkable. I regretted it immediately. I never hated her, nor was I disgusted by her. When I saw her I felt like I was floating. She was – and still is – the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. I rejected her out of fear and ignorance. Michael rejected Jane out of anger and love for his sister. No one hated Michael for what he did. In fact, many have praised him. I, on the other hand, was pretty much hated by the entire pack. I still get the side-eye from people, not that I blame them.

'They can keep their eyes to themselves or lose them the next time they want to give you the side-eye. They have no right to judge, they don’t know your life or what you’ve been through. They don’t know the crap your dad put in your head. They should only judge what you did afterwards, which was to work tooth and nail to make amends. That speaks to your character. Your mistakes don’t define you, it’s what you do after,' says Matthan very animatedly.

'Why did you never yell at me or cuss me out after what I did? Why didn’t you hate me?'

'Because I know you better than you know yourself. I know you fell in love with her the moment you laid eyes on her, just like I did. You’re a kind and caring young man and I knew you’d make it right. Of course, I was mad and hurt, but I wanted to give you a chance to do the right thing,' he says comfortingly.

'What if Alpha Amelia had never done what she did?' I gulp.

'You would have come back and made it right. Not a doubt in my mind,' he says confidently.

I smile and give him the mental equivalent of a hug as he nuzzles me through our bond, 'You’re the best friend a guy could ever ask for.'

'Back at you, Lan.'