Five: Kyle

Of course, I was pissed that I was forced to leave the only place I had ever called home because the “adults” suddenly thought I was an angry teenager who needed to find himself and his wolf on the turf he belongs. I had to leave the house I grew up in, the friends I have known forever, and relatives who have seen me grow up all because my mother had a stupid idea. Well, as a result of her stupid idea, she wasn’t just uprooting mine and her life, but also the lives of my two siblings. So, if I was ignoring her, it was because I was refraining from jumping to the driver’s side and yanking the wheel from her hands. After all, if it were up to me, I’d take the first U-turn and drive us all back home.

A huge part of me was shit scared because what if everyone was right? What if being away from the Red Hills pack was driving my wolf mad? Would I just suddenly feel at peace when we entered the pack’s borders and feel all rainbow-y and shit? If that happened, would it mean I would have to stay back with the pack while my mom and siblings drove away back home? If I am the son of an alpha, I’ll have a legitimate claim on the position of the alpha, but will that ever work out? As an outsider, why would the pack members even accept me as their leader? How would my father feel that I had come from literally nowhere and now was claiming to be his son and an heir to his position? It was all so much messed up and my head was bursting from all the questions raging inside my head.

My mood reflected on the twins because they were also silently supporting my cause. They too, didn’t want anything to do with moving and uprooting our lives. I had a feeling their opposition stemmed more from supporting me because they were extremely loyal to a fault. Even though I could see us ganging up on Mom was hurting her, I was just too mad and upset to care about it right now.

I had been only caring about myself all this time, how everything affected me and my wolf. I’d never given a thought about Mom; how would she feel meeting a mate who had rejected her and her unborn son almost eighteen years ago? The closer we got to our dreaded destination, I could see her body stiffen and curl in itself, something I knew she wasn’t aware was even happening. In the last hour of the journey, she even stopped trying to force us into a conversation and I knew that the twins felt it too which is why they kept their mouths shut and waited for Mom to either blow up or calm down.

I could tell whenever we crossed pack boundaries because I could sense the different energy variations in each pack. When she asked us to stay in the car, I was beyond confused. If this was her previous pack, surely, she would know some people here, family and friends who would recognize her and invite her in good faith. I had no clue because she was being fidgety and taking extraordinary precautions. I waited before she was a good distance away before turning around in my seat and facing the twins. “Stick close to me, okay? Say as Mom says and don’t move out of our sights. Yeah?” They nod quickly and turn around to find Mom being circled by a group of fully grown werewolves, most probably a group of border werewolves, responsible for maintaining the border peace and making sure no one trespasses.

My jaw clenches and my wolf come to the forefront of my mind as I judge the best course of action if all these wolves were to attack Mom. She won’t be able to stop all those wolves at the same time and if the twins hadn’t been here, I would have leaped out of the jeep and joined her in the fight but I knew if all the wolves were to attack her, I would have to leave here and make sure that the twins were safe. My gut clenches as I realize that she very well knew the consequences of what could happen by walking in her human form into another pack’s territory but she did it still, for me. I watch with my sharp werewolf sight every twitch of the wolves and the man who has shifted and is talking to Mom. I release a breath when she turns around to give us back a small wave and smile. I unclench my fists and relax back into the seats.

I tuned out the playful sounds of the twins and focused on the taut stances of the wolves and my mom’s nervous fidgeting. If Dad had been here, he would have walked over to her and taken her in his arms, making her calm down and rocking her slowly.

I felt his presence before I saw him and I instantly knew why everyone was waiting. I almost gaped at his black wolf, so similar to mine and I resisted the urge to shift and check out how our wolves were different from each other, wanting to see something that would set me apart from the man whose DNA I shared and who had rejected my mom and I without a second thought.

I watched as the man in the basketball shorts and mom talked while my eyes involuntarily kept shifting back to the black wolf standing proudly ahead of them. I tried to somehow will the black wolf to look at me and shift so that I could see the face behind the person I have hated all my life, the father who didn’t want me and my mom. All too soon though, Mom came striding back towards the car and settled herself in the driver’s seat.

“What happened?” I ask as soon as she takes a deep breath.

I see the effort it takes to mold her features into a small smile. “Everything’s great. The alpha, um, wants to talk to us in his private office and then he will decide what to do about us.”

“What to do about us?” I ask dubiously, raising my eyebrows.

“His words, not mine.” Mom chuckles but I can see the effort it is taking her to keep up a cheerful persona in front of the twins. “Everything’s just great!” She mutters under her breath and I have no idea who she’s trying to convince!