Chapter 6 - Finn/Mike

Finn POV

Tommy is finally getting back to normal.  It has been a couple of weeks since his terrible nightmare, and luckily, he hasn’t had another one.  Well, I haven’t left his side since he had the nightmare, so he hasn’t had the chance to have another one. 

I’ve also talked with the elders, along with the Supreme Elder, hoping to find some kind of solution for him.  Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to come up with anything.  Of course, the Supreme Elder only gave me another riddle, but I haven’t been able to figure it out, either.  So, it isn’t any help. 

Through the years, I have been getting really good at her riddles, but this one has me stumped.  How do the stars being aligned help me to figure out what to do?

Ugh….

I wish this was something Kane could just put his hands on Tommy and heal him.  Unfortunately, Kane can only heal physical injuries and not emotional or psychological injuries. 

Shane nudges my arm as we walk down the hallway towards the cafeteria.  “Hey, is it safe to plan our little celebration for beginning our second year at college?  Or do we have to wait a little while longer?”

From the other side of Shane, Dee peeks around Shane’s chest and looks at me.  A faint frown decorates her face.  “Yeah.  Can we finally go?  I really want to go there, and it is killing me that everyone else has gone, but not us.”

I turn towards my other side, where Tommy is walking.  He stares back at me with a blank look on his face.  I’m going to take a wild guess that he isn’t quite ready, but we have to start taking baby steps to get him back on track. 

Isn’t the old saying you have to learn to crawl before you can walk?  Well, this would be like him learning to crawl.  I hope he doesn’t hate me for this.

Since Tommy isn’t saying anything, I turn back towards Shane and Dee.  “Sure.  How about this Saturday evening?  Let’s get there before it gets too crowded.  Then Tommy and I can leave when it starts to fill up.” 

Dee instantly flashes us a smile and starts to slightly bounce on her toes.  “Yes!  Now I just have to figure out what to wear!”

At the same time, a smile pops out onto Shane’s face.  “Thanks, man.  I’ll make sure to keep watch over Tommy, so no one messes with him.  If I must, I’ll use my werewolf abilities.”

Well, I don’t think things will get to that point, but I’m glad he is willing to protect Tommy.  Plus, I think Tommy and I can figure out what is going to happen sooner by reading everyone’s minds if needed. 

I smile back at Dee and Shane.  “Okay.  Is 7pm too early?  I don’t want to get there too late and the place already be filled.”

Bouncing in front of Shane and flashing a brilliant smile, Dee’s eye sparkle as she chimes, “7 sounds good.”

Shane nods his head.  “Yep.  Let’s go with 7pm, and I’ll pick everyone up.  We don’t need to take multiple cars.”

A low growl instantly spills from Tommy. 

Didn’t I just get done telling them Tommy and I would leave first, so they can stay longer?

I shake my head.  “No.  Tommy and I will go in one car and you two can go in another.  If we take one car, then we all have to leave at the same time, which isn’t going to happen.  When Tommy says that he needs to leave, we will go.  We can’t wait around for you two to finally feel like leaving.”

The gleam in Dee’s eyes instantly fades as she jets out her lower lip and pouts. 

Shane remains silent as he shrugs his shoulders. 

Well, I guess that is settled then.  Now, I just have to get Tommy there and hope he doesn’t freak out right away. 

***

As I walk into Wyatt and Kane’s apartment, I turn around and look at Tommy, who is trailing right behind me.  “Hey, Tommy.  Are you really alright with us going to the new bar?  I know I kind of pushed you into it, but if you are really feeling uncomfortable, we can tell Shane and Dee that we can’t go.”

Tommy sighs and shakes his head.  He tosses his bag towards the dining room table and heads for the kitchen.  “It is all right.  I don’t think that it would matter when we go.  I’ll still be uncomfortable, but I can’t keep putting it off.  At some point, I have to take a leap of faith or I’ll never start to conquer my past.”

He pauses for a moment and looks back at me before he walks into the kitchen.  “I’m not going to say demons.  To me, demons mean my past has some sort of physical shape, but it doesn’t.  Instead, it is only images and scenes that have been burned into my mind.  You can’t physically fight your own memories.”

Well, Tommy has a point. 

I stand in the middle of the living room and watch him turn and walk into the kitchen.  Even after he has disappeared, I still stare at the kitchen door.

I wish I had the prefect method to help him.

I slowly shake my head and set my bag on the other side of the table from Tommy’s bag.  “Tommy, can you bring me some water while you are in there?”

“Sure.  Not a problem.”

I get my books and things out of my bag and set them on the table.  My memories of my past flicker through my head. 

Every day, I remind myself that I’m so lucky that Mason and Ben found me in the office building.  I don’t even want to think of what my life would be like if they hadn’t.  I know one thing for sure and that is that I wouldn’t be going to one of the best universities in the country.  Shoot, back then, I wasn’t even going to high school. 

I was just a thief who used his hacking abilities to keep a roof over my head and to keep people from finding me. 

To even think about hacking now almost makes me cringe.  I still use my IT skills, but not for hacking.  From time to time, I use them to help the pack with some computer issues. 

To think, if I asked my sixteen-year-old self what I would be doing now, I’m positive that I wouldn’t have said that I would be getting a degree in graphic design.  Shoot.  My only thought back then was how I was going to get my next meal and how can I do it without getting caught. 

Tommy sets my water next to my laptop, before he turns and gets his books out of his bag.  

He and I aren’t that different.  Well, his abuse was much more severe than mine, but we were both mistreated and abandoned by our families and our packs.  His pack has been completely destroyed with no one surviving, while I still have some of my old pack members, like Shane, whose family was living in the human world instead of with the pack.  That is the only thing that saved Shane and his family. 

Shane has no idea of how lucky he actually is. 

I have never asked Wyatt, but I’m pretty sure he told the alliance packs what my old pack did, along with Tommy’s old pack.  Wyatt may not have directly told them to destroy Tommy’s old pack and mine, but just telling them about what they did to us was enough to seal the pack’s fate. 

I mentally shake my head.  I need to focus on my homework. 

I sit down on the chair and pull out one of my books. 

***

Alpha Mike POV

Ring…ring…ring….

I glance next to me at my desk phone.  A sigh slips from me as I pick it up and chime.  “Hello.  This is Alpha Mike.”

“Hi, Alpha Mike.  This is Alpha Dan of Twin Moon pack.”

I tilt my head as I rake through my mind on who the heck Alpha Dan is.  While still trying to figure out whether I have met him before, I reply, “It is nice to hear from you.  Is there something you are needing?”

He chuckles lightly.  “Going straight to business.  I like that.”

I shake my head, as I still can’t place who he is.  “I find that it makes things easier.  So, is there something that you need my help with?”

I rest my arms on the desk as I wait for his response. 

He clears his throat.  “Well, I heard you are needing someone to take over as your beta, so Beta Malcolm can retire.  I have a couple of boys who are around your age.  They are both alphas as their second gender, and I think they would do a wonderful job.”

I quickly open my file of alliance packs and find Twin Moon pack on the list.  My gut twists as I look over his pack’s information. 

What should I do?  Can I even refuse if he is an alliance member?

Mentally, I sigh.  “All right.  When can I meet them?”

The line goes silent for a few seconds before Alpha Dan clears his throat.  “Well, they are both currently enrolled at the university close to our pack.  If you could get them transferred to SM University, then they could come to your pack on a regular basis and you can see whether or not they would work out.”

There’s the catch. 

Hesitantly, I reply, “Well, I can’t promise them to be transferred to SM University.  I’ll see what I can do.  What are the boys’ names?”

“Owen and Jimmy.  Alpha Mike, I’m sure one of them is exactly what you are looking for.”

Well, I don’t know about that, but I guess it wouldn’t hurt to see what these two are like.