Alpha

Nothing was said, but everyone simply looks at Ryder and I like a couple. Not much between us has changed besides occasionally stealing kisses in the woods or behind closed doors when no one is around.

Nyx and Nox have really gotten used to being around us all. We've learned that she's the social one of the pair—she’s always chatting with someone and quickly befriends the whole Pack. Nox, on the other hand, is more shy. He always kind of keeps to himself when the group hangs around, content to watching.

Rudi and Eyulf broke up, much to Zeeva's delight. While she's very tasteful in her advances and understanding of his pain, it's obvious—even to me—that she really wishes that he would hurry up with getting over Rudi and move on to her. Nox seems fascinated with Rudi, on the other hand. She's really the only one he really interacts with enthusiastically besides his sister and me. I notice that Rudi has taken notice of his interest and is very interested in him. It gives me a bad feeling that she'll take advantage of my cousin's kindness, but my newfound happiness has given me a resolve to stay out of it.

Lovett is still alone, content to be a lone wolf in a Pack full of love and drama. I often tease him about that, but he simply doesn't care. He and I have grown even closer, and he and Ryder have a new found friendship. They aren’t going to be finishing each other's sentences any time soon, but they get along and no longer want to rip each other's heads off when they walk into the same room, much to my pleasure. And while my brother is trying to move past this, I can tell that it's been hard on him. He feels guilty for not being there for me when Damien took me and not being able to protect me when he hurt me. I can hardly blame him for any of what happened, but he's as hard on himself as I am on myself. I know he's trying to move past it, but I sometimes see a darkness in him that wasn't there before—or at least that I never noticed before—and I force myself to keep an eye on him.

I pity Cannan. He sulks everywhere he goes. While he was never the most pleasant to be around, he used to be so full of life, especially after he mated with Susanne. Losing her left a gaping hole that is yet to be filled. I try to talk to him every now and again, but he's so distant—from everyone. He simply doesn't want to be around people—or werewolves, should I say. While I can empathize, I'm afraid for him. I've fallen into that pit of despair, but I had Lovett to help me drag myself out of it. No one really seems to care about Cannan anymore. He's sort of just there in everyone's mind. He even gave up his room and opted for the couch, saying how he didn't want to stay in the same room with any of us. In his mind, I know that we’re all traitors.

Nyx just kind of bunked with me, both of us wanting to get to know each other. Lovett moved out of the room he shared with Ryder, allowing Eyulf to move in. He and Nox share Cannan and Susanne's old room, leaving a very unhappy Rudi to stay with Zeeva. Neither of them are ever in there when the other is there except at night, simply because Rudi is still seething, and Zeeva wants to avoid conflict if it's presentable, a trait that she shares with Eyulf, I notice.
* * * * *
Ryder dramatically explained to me in rehearsed but very epic detail how exactly the house was so wrecked one day when I asked:

"A little while after you left, I was trying to just keep calm and relax. I was just lying on my bed, practically twitching with anxiety as I thought about how to handle it if Damien came for me. He was alone when you guys met him, so I figured I'd just have to deal with him. And then the front door was kicked off of its hinges.

"I listened closely." He pauses, miming his actions as I raise my eyebrows to display my amusement. "There were three distinct sets off foot steps—one light and relaxed and two heavy-set and loud. I gulped, pacing the room and wondering what to do. Of course, idiot that I am, my room was the only one with the closed door so it was the first that they checked. I pushed the dresser a little forward as they approached, crouching down and squeezing myself into the tiny space that I barely fit into. The door opened, and I threw the dresser at them, using the two legs on the side that I was on for leverage.

"It hit Damien but missed his men. He was launched into the wall, and the men came straight at me. We sparred for a while until they knocked me to the floor. I was disoriented when my head banged against the wood, allowing them to slam their fists into me, especially on my face. Finally, Damien got tired of watching them pound me.

"'Men,' he said, 'grab the boy and let us be off. That girl will be back soon.'" He had mimicked Damien's accent quite well and mockingly. Perhaps too well—he used to try to mock me before we became close, and he was never very good back then.

"Ryder," I interrupted slowly and dangerously. "How are you so good at copying French accents?"

He glanced at me sheepishly before averting his eyes. "I may have made a few jokes in the past at your brother's expense, copying his accent when I did."

I rolled my eyes at him, and he shrugged. We laughed, and he continued. "Anyway." He clears his throat to continue speaking in his dramatic tone. "They both stood and grabbed each of my arms, careful to slam me against the walls a few times when leading me out of the house. I was pretty messed up, and didn't bother fighting back until I thought I had a chance. In the living room, I pulled a similar maneuver to the one you saw in the forest before they took me away. I kicked the one guy, but rather than punching the other, I kind of turned my body and shoved him." He moved as he talked, trying to show me what he was doing.

"The guy I'd pushed landed against the couch and pushed it over, I'd shoved him so hard. I broke one of the legs off, using it as a weapon in addition to my strength. They in turn regrouped and strode towards me. They were fast and strong for humans, so together, they were able to take me down again. But they didn't stop at that. They grabbed me and threw me at the table. I knocked it and the chairs over, and they kept coming.

"One of them, I don't even know who, kept kicking me in the stomach while the other fell to the ground by me and beat my face to the point that I'm pretty sure it was broken, but it kept painstakingly trying to heal itself despite the continued abuse. Finally Damien intervened, and I rose to my feet, my broken ribs and nose beginning to repair, slowly and painfully. They grabbed me again and led me out of the house.

"I could barely walk as we left. I focused all of my energy on healing, and then I heard you. That gasp snapped me back into it, and I just wanted to get to you, to comfort you, to stay with you, to take you somewhere where none of this would ever hurt you again. I knew that we had the plan, but in that moment, you were all I had. I went into attack mode again, and if Damien hadn't almost slit my throat, I would have run at that moment, snatched you up, and taken you away from all of that.

"But he got me, and I knew that fighting back would result in my death, and I didn’t want for you to go through that, so I fought to keep my head—in more ways than one— and allowed the goons to take me away, and that was that."

I just stared at him after he finished talking. I remember the tiny amount of self control he used to be able to exercise, so the fact that he was able to regain his head despite it telling him to do something else shows just how much he's grown since we first met. Once I snapped myself out of my shock at how much he really does care about me, I began to kiss him as a thank you for caring so much about me. I briefly pulled slightly away, a playful smile on my lips.

"If you ever destroy this house the way that you did, I will personally whoop your ass."

"Yes, ma'am," he whispered back, a wicked grin pulling at the corners of his own mouth. And then we were lost again in each other like we were since we got back.
* * * * *
Lovett and I spent a lot of time together when we got back, too. He told me about his time spent in Damien's manor, and described how he discovered his ability to touch steel when I grilled him:

"Well, when I first got there, I didn't touch anything. As dumb as it may be, I didn't touch the bed or the dresser or the sink, especially not the walls. I even refused to make any physical contact with the toilet for fear that that may have traces of steel. Call me paranoid, but I didn't want to end up with your scars." He glanced at me and laughed at the annoyed look he received. "Sorry.

"One day, I woke up, and I had moved in my sleep so that my hand touched the wall. I immediately freaked out and examined it for any damage, but there was nothing there. I shrugged it off, figuring that the steel look was just an extra touch to scare us. After that I was a bit more relaxed about what I touched. I finally started sleeping in the bed and washing my hands and body in the sink. I figured everything was just there to scare us. And then you came along with that master plan of yours." He poked me, and I blushed in response.

"When they came flooding into my room with those guns, I didn't know what to do. There were five guys there that I was facing, and I knew for a fact that those guns were steel. I backed up against the wall, and when I touched it with my back, they all looked at each other all surprised. I was confused, but they quickly shook it off, so I ignored it. I managed to take down two of them, but a third got a shot in. It hurt like a bitch, obviously, but my skin healed over the wound, and it was better after five seconds. I knew they had to be steel—I’d heard it when Ryder was shot. There's nothing else that can hurt us, so I knew that they had come in with guns loaded with steel bullets. They just didn't work on me.

"By this point, all of them where scared out of their minds. Steel was their only defense—what were they without it? I, however, was thrilled. I went at them, taking them all down by biting down on one of the guy’s guns like I did later with Damien's. I clawed at that guys face, and he fell, clutching his bleeding and badly scarred head. The next guy insisted on shooting me as I tried to get him—an inconvenience until I managed to get him in the throat. The third obviously didn't know what to do with me. He couldn't kill me, and he was all alone. I attacked him, but I made sure that I didn't kill him. I'm not a complete monster." He smiled and winked at me.

"So why do you think you're able to touch steel?" I asked after a few moments of silence.

"I don't know," he responded, the question obviously bothering him. "It's convenient, but it's just one of those things that sets you aside from everyone else. It makes me the odd one out."

I laugh at him. "Lovett, we're werewolves. Only about three in every twenty people on this planet are werewolves. On top of that, we are probably the only two half-breeds out there. And you're the odd one out?" I teased.

He chuckled along with me. "Well, I guess it's not the weirdest thing. The weirdest thing that's happened has been me reconciling with Ryder. I mean, where did that come from?" He winked at me again, and I punched him playfully in the arm.

"I don't know, maybe mama's God finally got bored with all of that macho crap that you guys strutted and decided to force you guys to play nice for all of our sakes."

He rolled his eyes at me. "Yeah, that must be it."