Chapter 5: Butterflies

I was in the same clearing I had met Zy and Dawn in, the silver of the moonlight still fighting off the shadows that were putting up an effort to bite at the light. My red fur seemed a shade duller, they said that happened when experiencing grief. One thing was off, though. The white of my paws now glowed silver like the moonlight. I looked around, wondering what guest would bring me bad news this time. 

This time I refused to call out in fear and I sat up, glaring into the gloom. I sat there for what felt like hours, waiting for someone to suddenly appear as the others had, shifting from darkness into a figure. After a few moments of feeling like I should say something, a dark brown wolf thawed out of the gloom. Its dark blue eyes examined me, a passive look within their depths.

"Who are you and what bad news do you bring me?" I asked, hearing bitterness in my own voice. A slight amusement passed over the wolf's face before they spoke.

"How do you know I have bad news?" I could tell by the gruffness in the wolf's voice that it was male. He was only a small bit bigger than me, my head coming to the wolf's snout.

"So you aren't denying it?" I sighed, staring at my paws, "What is it? Let's rip the bandaid off."

"Do not be so cynical," he said, "I bring news that may be viewed as good or bad." 

"Okay," I said cautiously, "And what may that news be?"

"First, you must know who I am," the wolf grumbled. I closed my eyes as the cracking of bones changing and reforming filled the small clearing causing me to cringe away. When I looked back, the wolf was gone and so was the boy that was supposed to be in his place. I snapped my head around the clearing when he came out from behind a tree, dressed in a tight grey shirt and topped off with a red leather jacket. He had familiar blue eyes I hadn't seen for a long time and a wolf missed. It was Hyde Garden, my first crush.

        

"Hyde!" I yelped, racing into his side and burying my head into his knee. He chuckled a chuckle that sounded like music to my ears.

        

"Hey Ruby," he said, rubbing behind one of my ears.

        

Hyde and I had an odd relationship . When I first met him, I fell in as soon as my eyes landed on him. He was a handsome boy, devilishly shy. I couldn't keep my eyes off of him. He soon noticed and then started to avoid me. With me being the annoying person I am, I confronted him and we became as thick as thieves. This was after I met Dawn, so the three of us became an inseparable trio. Though Hyde and I grew closer as we grew older, we never dated. One day, when the pack school was ambushed, Hyde raced into my dorm, warning me. Not only three seconds after he finished his sentence, he was killed by an opposing warrior. I became consumed by a fit of rage and killed every enemy that approached me as I held Hyde's bleeding corpse. The last time I saw his pale boyish face was at his funeral where I kissed his cold forehead and left him a white rose. Now he was standing in front of me, looking alive and well.  

        

"Hyde, why are you here?" I asked, looking up into those light blue eyes I missed for so long. The week after he died, I had nightmares that only had his icy eyes flashing in and out of darkness.

        

"I have to tell you something," he said, kneeling so that we were eye-level, "Sit please."

        

"Woof," I muttered, sitting down.

        

Hyde gave me a small smirk before starting, "I've been watching you since the day I died. Thanks by the way for watching over me when those warriors would have taken my body and burned it. Anyway, I saw what the Alpha said to you today. I have to tell you, Alpha Ryder might be your only hope of finding a mate. You have to learn to love him, make him love you."

"Wait, so Alpha Ryder is my only hope in finding a mate?" I asked, suddenly believing his words.

        

"Well, everyone else will run from you in fear," I could see a bit of regret in the depths of his eyes, flashing behind his cool irises. 

        

"What makes Alpha Ryder different?" I asked, skeptical.

        

"He has pureness in his heart unlike most. You have it too Ruby," he said, his voice soft.

        

"Oh," I said quietly, "So I can trust him?"

        

"Like you could trust me," he rubbed his hand on my head.

        

"What about Brandy?" I asked, suddenly thinking back to the way I wanted to run into her arms when I saw her, having the sudden urge to be comforted.

        

"Keep her close. She will be a spectacular friend to you," he gave me a sad smile, "I'm so sorry about Dawn."

        

"You can see her now too," I said, my voice cracking the way Dawn's had.

"You are so selfless," he leaned forward, his forehead pressed against mine. I felt the pressure of him slowly fade and with it my dream, taking me back to reality.

***

I sat up with a sudden shock, knocking my forehead on someone else's. Sitting in front of me was Alpha Ryder, smiling at me fondly while rubbing his forehead. My heart fluttered in my chest as I looked away from him. I remembered Hyde's warnings and felt suddenly awkward around Alpha Ryder.

"You look cute," he smiled. When he saw my bright, burning cheeks, he added, "No need to be embarrassed, I really mean it."

        

"Thank you Alpha," I said, clasping my hands in my lap.

"What did I say," he said, grabbing one of my hands and folding both of his over mine, "Call me Ryder. I mean, how would you feel if I called you Epsilon?"

        

"Sorry," I apologized, treading carefully over his feelings, hoping to keep them mutual toward me. 

        

"Why are you so polite?" he laughed, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles

"It's better to be polite than to be.. mean," I finished after a pause. He looked back up at me, his eyes glittering with the same odd emotion he had when he saved me from Raven.

"Good morals," he smiled, his other hand reaching for my face. He cupped the side of my face in his scarred hand, rubbing his thumbs over my  freckled cheeks, "Who taught you?"

"My mother," I replied softly, staring at the fuzzy blanket that pooled around my waist. The pillow I had clutched in my sleep was now scattered across the bed, forgotten. 

"She sounds like a wonderful woman," he smiled at me before adding, "like you."

"What time is it?" I asked, suddenly remembering that I had to go shopping with Brandy for a dress, if she would even get near me. 

    

"Oh, um," he said, frowning slightly, "Ten. Why?"

       

"I have to go shopping for a dress with your sister," I said, smiling slightly at the adorable puzzled look on his face.

        

"Oh, for the dance? I'll call her over," with that, he released my hand and walked over to a phone that was bolted into the wall. When he picked it up and dialed the number, he twined the long, curly, black cord around his pointer finger absently. 

"Hey. Come here. To the dorm, stupid. She said you were going shopping. Yeah, oh right. Hurry, the dance is at six. 'Kay, see 'ya. Love you too," as he hung up the phone, Alpha - Ryder looked at me and smiled distantly. He walked back over to the bed, but didn't sit down, only hovered far enough away from me that I couldn't touch him, "She'll be here soon."

    

"Thank you," I muttered. He nodded formally and walked into the kitchen part of the suite. He came back with two muffins, one with a huge bite out of. He handed me the one with the hits and when I gave him a funny look he snickered and handed me the untouched one.

"Eat up, you have to go shopping!" Ryder squealed, mocking Brandy in a fake high voice. I smiled and rolled my eyes.

        

"Do you have a brush I can borrow?" I asked, patting at my hair, searching for tangles.

    

"You think? All this isn't an accident," he said, gesturing toward his hair that was hidden under a navy blue beanie. I looked at him thoughtfully.

"Maybe," I said as his jaw dropped open in mock shock. His jaw formed a familiar smirk and walked back into his bathroom that was on the other side of a dark grey door. He returned with a dark blue brush that looked as though it had never been touched. 

"Here," he tossed it to me from across the room. He threw it a bit too high so I had to reach up to grab it, barely catching it as it slid into my palm.

"Caught it!" I stated proudly as he clapped, careful to not crush his muffin. As I ran the brush through my hair, wincing as it passed through every tangle, Ryder stared at me. He was thoughtfully munching on his muffin, it slowly diminishing into his mouth. I glanced at my muffin, still untouched. 

    

Finally I was satisfied by the state my hair was in and looked at the brush. Gold-red strands were twined through the bristles of the brush. I reeled back in disgust, wondering with that much hair on the brush, how I still had hair on my head. As I stared at it awed, Ryder strode over to me, stanching it away from me. I looked up at him in a fake pout and he smiled down, a brilliant white beam of pure sunlight, "Eat your muffin."

As Ryder took the brush into the bathroom to give it a deep cleaning, I grabbed my muffin and quickly devoured it, filling my empty stomach. I slid my legs over the side of the, bewildered when I found myself still wearing shoes. As I stood up, my weak knees buckled under me and I collapsed to the floor, rubbing my sore rear end.

Ryder raced from the bathroom and upon seeing me on the floor, bolted to my side, "What happened? Are you okay?" 

"I'm fine," I assured, "My knees are just weak."

"Oh," Ryder said, untangling himself from me, "Sorry."

"No it's fine," he smiled at me when I spoke and helped me to my feet. My hand was clasped tightly in his, fearing if I loosened my grip I would fall to the floor. 

"What the hell are you two doing?" I looked up, jaws gaping, and saw Brandy glaring at us. I let go of Ryder's hand in shock, looking back at Ryder, hoping he wasn't mad. He just looked bored all of a sudden. 

"I fell and he helped me up," I said, my voice quivering in shock.

"Uh-huh," Brandy said, good naturedly.

"Let's just go," I rolled my eyes, relieved that she wasn't mad at me.

"Alrighty then," as I raced over to her, I smiled and even though I had only met her, she held out her hand for me to take. I did, slightly hesitant and smiled at the familiar feeling of a hand in mine. 

"Bye Ryder, thanks," I said, turning around as Brandy pulled me away. When Brandy wasn't looking, Ryder winked, causing my heart to flutter violently.