Pavel groaned loudly, "He is the worst person to wake up in the world! He almost took my head off." He paused before looking into my eyes, "You know, I never knew he had such a good left hook."
I laughed, "He only dusts off his martial arts skills when someone's trying to get him out of bed." I knew that from experience.
Pavel stood erect and smiled warmly at me, "You have ten minutes. Then Nathan's taking us to breakfast." I knew he was still angry with his dad, because he was calling him by his first name. I shook my head, but told him I'd be ready.
It only took me five minutes to change and finish all my bathroom stuff. I had even made my bed. When I got down to the kitchen I saw that I wasn't the only one who wished the morning had waited a few more hours to arrive.
Cassiel looked like he was suffering from a hangover. He had his head resting on his arm on the counter. Actually, he looked like he'd gone back to sleep.
I laughed at him and slid onto the stool beside him. "Rough morning?"
"Go away." Cassiel joked.
I burst out laughing and turned my attention to Nathaniel, who was leaning against the opposite counter with a coffee cup in one hand and a newspaper in the other.
"Where are we going?"
Nathan met my gaze over the pages of his paper. I automatically knew that he had no idea what I was talking about.
"Pavel said you were taking us out for breakfast." I explained dryly.
Realization sprang into Nathan's eyes, "We're going to that corner coffee shop."
Cassie's head sprung up and he was suddenly awake. "Lets go!"
I laughed as he practically dragged me out of the apartment.
CL
"Have you ever met Gabriel?" I asked Dave. When he nodded his head I continued, "Well, when I met him I wondered how one person could be so full of anger and hostility. So, I tried to figure out how he got that way." I angled my body so I was now looking at Nathan. "When I met Nathaniel, I found out."
Dave burst out laughing as he finished wiping down the counter. "You never run out of things to say, do you?"
"She likes to keep us on our toes." Cassiel came up behind me. I tensed for a second when his arm draped around my neck, but when I met his gaze I relaxed into his embrace. Cassiel's pent of anger had disappeared during our fight. Like always, he'd be alright. Nothing got Cassie down for too long.
I smiled at the bartender, "Plus, I like to annoy Nathan."
"Like that's hard!" Nathaniel had heard me, and called out his reply from across the club.
We all laughed.
A breeze hit my back when the alley door opened. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Caleb, followed by the boys, come inside.
Cassiel pulled on me until I was standing partially behind him. I rolled my eyes at his behavior, but couldn't blame him. With Sean here, we'd both be on edge. When I glanced up I saw Dave staring at us.
"Who's that guy?" He decided not to come right out and ask what was on his mind.
I frowned, "Sean. You should remember him. He was on your territory a few months back. We took him in."
"He's like our charity case." I jabbed Cassie in the ribs, but that didn't stop him from laughing. I looked past my friend and saw Sean's eyes glaring back at me.
"Is he the one who gave you those bruises?"
I almost tripped over my own feet as I spun around to face the bartender. My eyes had gone wide with fear and shock. "Why would you think that?" I knew my voice was too high pitched, but I couldn't help it.
"Cassiel just reacted weird when he came in." Dave replied steadily, "And so did you."
I quickly glanced over my shoulder. Nathaniel was glaring at us from across the room, so I knew he'd over heard Dave's assumption. I swore inwardly before turning back to Dave.
"No, he's not." I told him while fighting off the shudder that was working its way up my spine.
Cassiel's chest rumbled with a growl, "He's just an ass."
I flexed my jaw muscles before sending Cassie a warning look. He rolled his eyes at me, but dropped the subject.
Dave was studying me when I turned back to him. "You know," He was drying shot glasses as he spoke, "If he's giving you any trouble, there are an army load of people who'd take care of him."
"That's what I'm worried about." I said under my breath; just loud enough for Dave and Cassie to hear. "Look, Dave, can we just keep this between us?" If it were possible, Dave's muscles grew even larger as tension rolled down his body. "Please?"
Dave fixed me with a look. His eyes told me he was ready to commit murder. "If he does it again," He paused for effect, "there won't be any werewolf out there that can stop me from going after him."
I couldn't control it anymore, and I shivered.
My eyes were still locked on Dave's when the twins and Chris came over to us.
"Oh my god, you're never going to guess where we stayed last night!" Martin was practically dancing he was so giddy.
Martin finished, "The London pack house."
I slowly nodded. I had known they'd be staying there, because that's where Caleb lived. Their pack house was just like ours. It acted as a safe house to anyone in the pack who needed it. Caleb ran it for the London pack, while Michael ran ours. I didn't know if it was a Beta thing or not.
"It was so cool!" Chris added.
Finally, I tore my eyes off Dave and turned to the guys. "I'm guessing you had fun?"
All three of them broke out into huge crazy grins.
"Except Sean," Odolf told me, "Caleb talked to him about something and when he came back he looked a little spooked."
A wave of tension ran over my muscles and I averted my gaze to the London beta. He was standing beside Nathan. A smile was over his face, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. Then, as if he sensed my gaze on him, he looked back at me.
With that one look I knew that he knew something.
"What was it about?" I asked Odolf, while still staring into Caleb's eyes.
"I don't know. Sean didn't talk much after he came back." Martin replied.
Cassiel snorted, "Lucky you. Maybe he'll keep up the silent act during the drive home."
"One can only hope." I mumbled.
Chapter Eight
Cassiel stared at me the entire three hour drive. I could feel his eyes burning into the back of my head. The only thing I could do was stare out my window and ignore him and the unspoken questions.
I knew what was bothering him. He didn't understand why I wasn't getting Sean into trouble. I didn't particularly understand it either. I didn't even like the guy. On a good day, I could barely tolerate him. Most of me would like nothing more than to throw the first punch, but I couldn't.
It wasn't will power, it was fear.
The pack didn't forgive stuff like this easily. I had grown up with all of them. I knew what they'd do. After a fight they'd kick Sean out of the pack. Sure, that would solve a lot of problems for me, but what about Sean? I hated him, but I've met lone wolves before. It wasn't a good thing for a werewolf to be alone.
"I called Gabriel last night. He ranted enough to me, so he shouldn't be that bad when we pull in." Nathaniel didn't even glance my way.
"Have you ever met your brother?" I rolled my eyes at him, "He could have ranted until his face turned blue to you, but he'll still be waiting to pounce on me."
That was the only conversation during the ride. I turned my attention to the window while the boys, in the back, entertained themselves doing god knows what.
For that ride I got the passenger seat, but I wasn't sure if it was any better than being in the back. Sure, I wasn't getting car sick, but the tension radiating off Nathaniel was enough to make me feel uncomfortable.
After a while we finally made it to our driveway. I watched the trees fly by the window in a blur and closed my eyes when the morning sun flashed through the branches; into my eyes.
"How much do you want to bet that Gabriel is sitting on the steps of Quentin's house?" Martin quipped from the
back.
Three out of the seven in the car answered with an "I'm in". I didn't bother placing a bet. It didn't matter. Gabriel would either yell at me when I got out of the car, or later.
As we approached my house I got a feeling deep in my stomach that was akin to going to the dentist office. I sunk down in my seat and hid in the shadows. When Nathaniel pulled up into my driveway I snuck a glance through the window. Gabriel wasn't in sight.
"You owe me ten bucks." Cassiel said as he threw off his seatbelt and got out of the SUV.
I followed him while dragging my feet. I half hid behind my best friend as we went up the stairs and entered the house. From what I could tell, no one was home. There were no sounds coming from the kitchen, the television was off, and there was no music coming from the basement.
"Maybe he went back to the pack house." Cassiel suggested. I was grasping his upper arm and using him as a shield. He was just as tense as I was. We were both waiting for Gabriel to lunge at us.
I shook my head, "He wouldn't give up the opportunity to yell at me without there being consequences for him." I peered around Cassiel's arm as we continued slowly down the hallway. "He's around here somewhere."
Once we got through the hall, and stuck out heads into the kitchen, we relaxed. Gabriel wasn't in sight.
"I'm going over to the pack house." Nathaniel's unexpected entrance made Cassiel and I jump around in surprise. I landed in a fighting stance. Nathan eyed me with half amusement and half annoyance, "I'm making dinner. So come by at 6." Then he left.
I was about to relax again when Pavel burst into the house. "I need to talk to you!" He grabbed my arm. The sheer panic in his voice was the only thing that kept me from swatting his hands away from me.
He led me up the stairs to my room. Only when the door was shut did he let me go. "Nathaniel is staying here for the rest of the week!" He spun around to face me.
I could only stare at him. That was the reason behind his freak out? I rolled my eyes, "Pavel, you can't keep avoiding him forever?"
"Why not? You do." He pointed out.
I pursed my lips; annoyed, "I don't think that's completely accurate." I stretched out my words as I pondered over what he said. In a way that was true. I did tend to avoid Nathaniel a lot, but I had my reasons. Also, I wasn't his kid.
"Yes it is." Pavel cut me off and began to pace. "Look at last night. You were dead set against talking to Nathan."
I crossed my arms, "So were you." Then I sighed. This wasn't the time to get into a 'not uh' 'yeah uh' argument. We weren't four years old anymore. "Look, Pavel, we both have a lot to deal with right now. Why don't we just think about everything for the night at least? Then tomorrow we can gang up on your dad." I was joking about the last part.
Pavel thought about it for a second, "You'll talk to him with me?"
I nodded instantly, "Don't worry; I won't leave you to fend off the big bad wolf on your own." I teased.
Pavel left my room with a smile. I, unfortunately, wasn't that lucky. I had more problems to deal with. The first one was Gabriel. I hated this. I would have liked it a lot better if he'd just start yelling. I hated getting the silent treatment.
I let out a long sigh and fell back on my bed. I closed my eyes and let myself be surrounded by the quiet. There were only a handful of times when the house was like this. Normally the house was full and I couldn't hear myself think.
As I laid there I let myself think over the past few days. It seemed like everything was falling apart in my life, and there was nothing I could do about it. A familiar anger welled in my stomach and I pushed myself up so I was standing.
Then, while grabbing my boxing gloves off my desk, I headed down to the anger management room; where I could beat the crap out of the punching bag while trying to rid myself of the empty feeling.
CL
Sweat was pouring down my neck in droplets. Each trickle left a streak of liquid running down my spin. I had discarded my t-shirt a half an hour before and I was now only in a pair of track shorts and my sports bra.
I had taped my knuckles, which made my hands stiff, but at least it would protect my hands from getting battered. I hit the punching bag with exact precision and kept an even time.
A few times, to keep my movements diverse, I'd throw a few round house kicks to the halfway point of the bag. Once the bag would center itself I'd start again. Jab. Punch. Hook. And Again.
I had been so focused on my timing that I hadn't heard someone enter the room until it was too late.
"Elaine!"
I whirled around, still in my fighting stance, and threw a left hook at the intruder. Once I saw who it was, it was too late. I hit Cassiel in the stomach.
He grabbed my arm and successfully twisted me around. I moved with it and stepped on the instep of his right foot. When he doubled over I jumped out of his grasp. However, Cassiel was fast, and had the advantage of being taller than me, and seized hold of the pressure point in between my neck and my shoulder.
All he did was shove his thumb into the pressure point, and it had me on my knees.
"What are you doing?" We yelled in unison. I sounded angrier than he did. In fact, my friend didn't even seem to notice that I had attacked him.
Cassiel shook his head and released me, "Come on. We don't have time for this!" He grabbed my wrist and dragged me across the room. Within seconds we were running out of the back door and heading to the pack house. I hastily tried to match his pace, but his legs were a lot longer than mine. I had to run to keep up with him.
"What's wrong?" I instantly went into panic mode, "Is it dad? Alex? The pack? Is the battle over?" Different scenarios flashed through my mind. Each was more horrifying than the last.
When he didn't answer me I pulled on his arm, not hard enough to hurt him, but enough to make him stop.
"What's going on?" I was just short of glaring at him.
The sound of the pack house back door slamming open made me break eye contact with Cassiel.
Gabriel was in the doorway, "Elaine, good, hurry up!"
What surprised me was that he didn't sound angry. In fact, he sounded just as panicked as Cassiel. I took one glance at Cassiel before taking off across the lawn. I took the steps up the porch two at a time.
When I got to the door I understood. Or at least, I understood enough to know what the dilemma was.
As far as I could see Nathaniel wasn't at his breaking point yet, but he was close enough for red flags to be waving around in my mind. Gabriel moved out of my way and I pulled off my gloves as I crossed the tiled kitchen floor.
"Nathan," I let my presence be known before walking up to his side. Nathan was currently looming over his son with his back to me. The seams of his shirt were practically coming undone because of how much his muscles were growing. He had one hand pressing into the wall just above Pavel's head while the other was hanging in a threatening fist at his side.
"Nathan," I tried to get his attention by standing directly beside him, but he didn't even seem to hear me.
His eyes were practically yellow as he glowered at Pavel, who, god bless him, was standing gallantly in front of his father. I gave him some credit. It took a lot to stand up to Nathaniel.
I glanced quickly at Pavel, who was struggling to keep his composure, and Nathan who was fighting to resist his more violent side. No doubt that his wolf was telling him to slam Pavel, or whoever got in his way, into the nearest wall.
"Nathaniel," I channeled Alexander's voice; remembering all the times he had used the tone with me, "Back off." I didn't yell, but my tone said enough.
He still didn't pay me any mind.
"Dad, I have nothing to apologize for. You told me to speak freely, so I did." Pavel explained with only one crack in his voice.
I automatically dropped into a fighting stance. It was a good thing I was prepared, because Nathaniel's fist drew back at inhuman speed as soon as Pavel's mouth clamped shut.
I dove in between the father and son, and grabbed
Nathaniel's wrist. I twisted it to the left just before it made contact with Pavel. Nathaniel let out a growl and moved with me to keep the defensive motion as painless as possible.
Then, without warning, Nathan pulled his arm out of my grasp and grabbed my neck. I grunted in pain as my back was slammed into the nearest wall.
"Nathan!" I heard multiple people object, but I was barely listening.
My attention was solely on my attacker. Nathaniel's eyes were bright and deep. I stared into them, matching his intensity, but slanted my mouth towards the floor; in a mild act of submission. I'd admit it, I was scared.
The brightness of his eyes told me that Nathan's wolf had gained control. Nathan was a pure predator. There'd be no talking to him until he gained his control again.
"Nathan," My voice was timid and pleading.
Very slowly, recognition poured into Nathan's pupils and his grip on my neck became looser and gentler. He let out a gruff moan and hung his head. We stayed like that for a while. His breath was harsh and hot on my neck.
All of my muscles were tense and ready for another fight.
After a while, Nathaniel looked up. He gazed into my eyes and that's when I finally let myself relax. His eyes had returned to their normal deep amber and had lost most of their anger.
"I'm sorry." He pecked my cheek lightly before releasing me completely and leaving through the front door.
Once the door was shut I sighed heavily and turned my attention to Pavel. He hadn't moved from where Nathan had pinned him. The first thing I noticed was the amount of sweat forming along his neck. Then my eyes flickered to his face.
"Go sit on the couch." I ordered him once I caught sight of his expression. His features were twisted around in pain.
Pavel was clutching his shoulder as he walked past me. I followed him and ducked into the kitchen as soon as he moved out of my way. I grabbed an ice pack, pain killers, and a bottle of water.
Gabriel wasn't in sight, so I was able to relax, but then I noticed that Cassiel had gone missing as well. When Pavel's breath grew uneven and pained, I snapped out of my thoughts.
I put the water bottle on the coffee table and sat next to Pavel. "I thought we were going to talk to him together?"
Howl (Howl Book 1) Page 11