What We Left Unsaid

“Well, I need another beer. Want one?”

“Oh, no thank you, Zee.”

“You need one, Dude?”

“Hell yeah! Thanks, Man!” There was a grin on the longer-haired man’s face as he downed the last little bit of the beer in his hand, but his lips quickly tugged down when his mind finally registered the fact that two green little eyes were staring straight at him. Placing the bottle down on the deck beneath him and groaning softly, he let his head roll to the side so that he could fix a bored look in the redhead’s direction. “It’s only my third one; don’t look at me with that contemplative expression!”

“I was only thinking it’s nice to see you two getting along again; that’s all!”

And he felt like an idiot. “Oh,” was all he said for a moment, mulling that over before shrugging a shoulder in response. “Well, we’re guys,” he added in explanation, “so... we get pissed, throw a few punches, and then get over it. Actually, that might be a werewolf thing, come to thi-- oh wait, no. It’s definitely not a pureblood thing, so it’s a guy-- fuck it! It’s a thing. And fucking fine, goddamn it! It’s totally not my third drink. Are you happy now?”

The woman beside him was laughing softly by the time he finished his statement, and the sound of her amusement paired with the way she tried to cover up her smile with her hand ended up bringing a wide smile to his lips. Having a few days to not worry about an attack or anything was well worth the inconvenience of having a Council member in town, as far as he was concerned, because it’d been a while since he’d seen her so relaxed and happy; it’d been a while since he’d seen anyone in the pack so relaxed and happy.

“You’re a good alpha, Kat,” he found himself telling her, not entirely sure where the thought came from but at least sure he was stating the truth. “I mean that, and I know a lot of us -- all of us -- seemed a little unsure of that at first, but we’re idiots. You and Matt are pretty much perfect alphas.”

She was clearly uncomfortable with his praise, and even in his slightly drunken state, he should have known to speak a little more indirectly, but she still gave a soft smile in response. “Even if we didn’t make you beta?”

He couldn’t help the loud laugh that fell from his lips at that particular comment, and it took him a good moment before he was able to actually respond. “Yeah,” he told her, chuckling again for a second, “even considering that.” He sobered for a moment after that, brow furrowing as he looked back at her. “You know I’m cool with that now, right? I’m a dominant guy, and hell yeah I wanted to compete with Zacky for that, but it’s not like it’s the end of the world or anything. Zack’s going to be a good beta, and so will Ava.”

From beside them, the smallest of the lounging wolves gave a yip of agreement, causing the redhead to laugh again. Still, when she looked back at him, Brian could tell she seemed a little bit skeptical. And, knowing her, he knew she wouldn’t actually voice that skepticism.

“This is more normal, Kat,” he told her after a moment, giving a large gesture with one of his arms to the yard, deck, and house around them. “They fight and bicker, but the majority of the time everything is actually a lot calmer. I mean, they don’t necessarily get along, but they coexist just fine. You’ve really only seen them when they’re at their worst, but in normal circumstances, when both of them are not in particularly vindictive or pissy moods, everything’s much more relaxed. And, yeah, I’ve been kind of vindictive, too, but it’s just... I never wanted her to be in this situation, you know? Hell, I never wanted Zacky to be in this situation... And it sucks, because I love them both, and I want to side with them both, but I can’t, and I just... I feel like a goddamn awful friend. I-- I don’t even know right now.”

“Fuck, I’m sorry, Bro!”

He practically jumped in his seat when he was interrupted, his head snapping to the side and his gaze instantly landing on his fellow guitarist, who was leaning against the doorway and very obviously had been for the last minute or so. Brian couldn’t help but shoot an irritated glare in the redhead’s direction, but she didn’t appear even slightly apologetic for not telling him they were being overheard.

“Seriously, Syn,” the other man continued, drawing his attention away from the woman and back to his bandmate, “I’ve been a bigger dick than usual lately, and I’m sorry about that. I know how you feel about her, and I know how you guys feel about her, too,” he added, green eyes shifting to look at the three wolves that were lounging about on the deck and very obviously eavesdropping. “She and I... we put you guys in an awkward position, and I’m sorry about that. I wholeheartedly stand by my belief that she does not deserve half of the affection you guys have for her, but I get that it is what it is. I’ll... well, I’ll try to be less of an ass about that to you guys; it’s obviously not helping. And I’ll make sure we keep our issues to ourselves, because you guys shouldn’t be dragged into them. Just... you have to back off, too, okay?”

He was up on his feet, and though he tripped a little bit on the clothing pile that the others had apparently decided to put next to him, he was at his friend’s side in only a minute, pulling him into a tight hug that was long overdue. “I love you, Man,” he told him, “and that’s mostly the alcohol talking at the moment, but you’re actually not a half bad guy.”

“Oh, fuck you, too!” his friend responded, feigning offense even as he laughed and did his best to wrap his arms right back around Brian. Beer bottles clashed, and no hands clapped on his back, but he got the message loud and clear.

“Now give me that, alright? I can’t deal with this one over here without another beer; she judges.” Soft laughter from the woman in question and snorts that sounded suspiciously like canine laughter brought another smile to his face as he pulled back, grabbed one of the bottles, and made his way back over to his lounge chair. He dropped down into it and took a deep swig before he decided to switch the topic back to something he was more interested in discussing. “So, who’s winning right now? I got distracted. Jason! She holding her own?” One yip in response told him that she was. “That’s my girl!”

“Oh come on, he never gives it his all, and we all know--”

“Oh, he’s not really holding back right now, Zee,” the woman interrupted, nodding her head in the direction of the two wolves in question. “When he’s holding back, his tail lashes. He needs an outlet for the extra energy.”

For some reason, the lead guitarist found that little fact funnier than the beta joke. Dropping his head back for a moment, he let out a loud laugh before he looked back at the redheaded woman. “You’re creepy, you know that? How do you know that shit? How do you pay that much attention to things to notice that?”

She only blinked back at him. “He’s my mate.”

A vicious round of snarling had their conversation momentarily dying away, everyone turning their attention back to the two wolves that were right in each other’s faces a good few yards away. At first glance, the larger male appeared to be losing, but only because his white coat made the muddy and blood-stained patches much more noticeable than on the brown coat of the smaller female. Upon closer inspection, though, it was obvious the male was the one making the offensive moves. Not that that really meant anything when it was those two fighting, he knew. She always preferred the defensive maneuvers as a wolf.

A moment later, the growling was back to normal and Brian’s attention was back on the woman beside him. He was just about to strike up a new conversation when a loud, pain-filled cry filled the air. He flinched, setting his jaw and stealing a glance toward the fighting wolves, not at all surprised to see that the larger of the two had a pretty rough pin on the smaller. Because boy was she crying out.

And then there was a loud growl, and the lead-guitarist was glancing to the left, just in time to see both of the silver-tinted Berrys jumping up in front of the smallest wolf to block his movement. “Leave it alone, Johnny!” he warned, having to shout a bit in order to be heard over the continuous yelping. One of his hands instinctively lifted to rub at his temple, that sound not at all something he was comfortable listening to. Hell, that sound was something that was very obviously making them all restless.

“He’s not supposed to be actually hurting--”

“It’s fine, Kat,” he attempted to convince her, though his tone clearly displayed his discomfort. Clearing his throat, he tore his gaze away from the struggling pair and looked back at the redhead just as a particularly loud yelp reached his ears and he was forced to visible wince.

“You sure?” she questioned. “Because I’ve seen Zacky nearly rip her leg off and she’s never made that noise.”

“That’s because it wouldn’t work on him,” Brian replied easily, before extending a hand and gesturing in the man’s direction. The shorter guitarist was sitting up and leaning forward in his seat now, gaze locked on the fight before them and left leg bouncing in obvious agitation. “Look at him! She makes one cry of pain and he’s chomping at the bit to run over there and bite her himself.” His comment earned a middle finger from the man in question, but no actual objection. “She’s fine, Kat,” he continued. “That trick of hers only works on Johnny.”

“And sometimes him.”

“Fuck you, Zee!” The yelping finally died away a moment later, and was quickly replaced by snorting and playful growls that signaled the little fight was over. One glance at the way the white wolf was bouncing around in front of the brown one, nipping at her ears and lashing his tail, was all it took for him to be laughing again, one of his hands slapping down on his knee. “Damn it, Ava! He did the exact same thing he did last time, didn’t he?”

Jason gave another single yip of confirmation, and Brian was shaking his head disapprovingly.

A much louder yip announced the presence of the alpha as he made his way onto the deck, his tail swishing victoriously before he leapt rather gracefully up onto the lounge chair where the redhead was now sitting up. Her legs were out of the way just in time for the large canine body to drop itself down and stretch out, large head resting on the woman’s lap. Her fingers were running through the white fur pretty much immediately, and the alpha pair just looked so damn perfect together.

“Fuck off!”

Brian’s head snapped to the right again, eyebrows arching at the irritated way the beta male was lifting one of his legs and launching a relatively violent kick in the direction of his mate. But the little brown wolf dodged the blow easily, a less-than-fierce growl slipping through her lips as she bared her teeth mockingly and danced forward again. She spun around in a little circle, tail smacking the Italian man right in the face and earning a much more fierce growl from the male.

“Rinaldi!” Zacky growled, hand clenching into a fist. But he didn’t get a chance to launch it, because the little brown wolf was a few yards away by the time he got himself in a seated position. Blowing out an agitated sigh, the rhythm guitarist started to lean back in his seat. “You’re a fucking bitch.”

Brian almost opened his mouth to warn his friend, but decided instead to lift his beer bottle up to his lips and watch as Ava launched herself across the deck, paws slamming right into her mate’s chest and sending the both of them and the lounger backwards into a clamoring mess. And then there wasn’t any more time to consider saying anything, because a dark black wolf was sprinting after a little brown one, and all Brian could do was roll his eyes and lean back into his seat.

“Yeah, this is more normal.”

“Well... at least nothing got broken this time.”

“Except he just wasted a perfectly good beer! What an inconsiderate asshole.”

Another laugh.