“Sure,” I agree, suddenly positive again.
“Who’s going?” “All of us,” Nate answers, his eyes fixed on the screen.
“Except Dad.” “Mase, want to come too?” Danny asks.
“Let’s go,” Mason agrees.
“Hold on a second, let me just finish him off,” Nate says confidently.
“You wish!” Danny retaliates.
Sensing an opportunity, I look at Mason and Connor respectively, and then I nod my head at Nathan and Daniel.
They smirk, and a silent agreement passes between us.
I count with my fingers to three.
Then the two of them scream and jump on the two guys playing while I run to the TV and yank its cable out of the wall.
I hear their protests, and it’s like music to my ears.
“Man, I was this close to beating the shit out of Danny!” Nate complains.
“Get off, Con!
You broke my console!” Danny yells.
Mason, Connor and I laugh about it for about seven seconds, until Nate and Danny start fighting back, and a wrestling match begins.
We don’t need to voice the teams this time, because it’s pretty obvious.
However, we don’t get to do much, because it’s less than a minute later when Mom yells at us.
“How many times have I told you not to fight in the living room?
Everybody out!
Go for a run!
NOW!” The five of us freeze and exchange awkward looks.
Sometimes, I swear, Mom can be scarier than Dad.
“We’ll continue this outside,” Nathan announces, to which we all agree.
We scramble off each other, pushing and tripping one another while doing so.
What can I say?
Boys will be boys.
We can’t really help it.
Five minutes later, we’re out from the back door and taking the path that leads to the woods a couple miles away.
On the way there, Nate and Danny have an argument on who was supposedly going to win the video game.
“Dude, I had you cornered like a little mouse,” Danny is saying.
“Oh please,” Nate objects.
“I had like seventeen exit routes.” “That’s not logically possible,” Connor comments, obviously trying to get on Nathan’s nerves.
He’s always been the easiest to rile up.
“Whatever,” Nate exclaims in anger.
“Once we’re done with this, I want to continue our match, and then we’ll see who wins.” “We’ll know who will win this particular match, but the one you started at home, we’ll never know who won that,” Mason adds with the same intent as Connor.
“You guys are such assholes,” Nate complains.
“And you’re a p-” Danny starts to say but suddenly stops.
We’re almost at the edge of the woods, and we all freeze.
There’s a fresh werewolf scent emanating from the left side of the clearing, and it’s none of ours.
I recognize a couple of the signature scents, but the other five are unknown to me.
This can only mean one thing.
When I glance in the direction of where the scent is coming from, I can see the pack house in the distance, some five miles or so away, lit up in the dark night like a lone street lamp.
I never knew it’s this close to our home.
They must have just gone into the woods, or else we wouldn’t have detected their scent from so far away.
Damn.
I was really hoping I would be able to let loose a bit.
Guess it’s going to be a hot shower after all.
“You guys go ahead,” I tell my brothers and start to back up.
“You could use a free night.” “No way, Mickey,” Mason is the first to object.
“We’re not going if you’re not going.” “Yeah,” the other three back him up.
I roll my eyes in a show of indifference and gesture at the pack house.
“They live here, now, which means we’ll probably run into them a lot when we go for a run,” I remind them.
“We all know there’s no way I can shift in front of them, unless I want Dad to kill me.
Do you really want to keep your wolves bottled up for so long?” There’s a moment of hesitation.
“What about you?
Where are you going to shift from now on?” Danny asks.
I shrug.
“I’ll just do it in my bathroom,” I say, like it’s no big deal.
“It’s not the same,” Nathan points out.
“Well, what else am I supposed to do?” I snap.
“You can’t keep your wolf bottled up either, Michael,” Connor tells me.
“I’ll be fine,” I insist.
I can tell they’re about to object one more time, but we suddenly freeze again.
The scent is getting closer and it’s right in front of us now.
As one, we turn to the trees and see them walking out in our direction.
I can make out Logan and Cade, but the others, like I said, are strangers.
A few seconds later, we’re standing about seven feet apart.
There’s something about the way they’re all huddled close together, with Logan front and center.
That makes me anxious, like I’m tensing for a fight, although no one’s acted hostile yet.
I avoid looking at them as hard as I can and instead stare at the ground.
“Hey,” Logan starts, and he sounds much more relaxed than he did earlier in the diner.
“You guys here to shift?” We exchange looks and come to another silent agreement, although I don’t like it.
We can’t separate now, or else it’ll look suspicious.
“Actually, we were just taking a walk,” Mason says calmly.
“Oh,” he says, sounding surprised.
“Well, would you like to join us?” Although he said it normally, I can tell he’s being extra polite by inviting us to shift with them.
I can’t stress enough how unusual it is for a pack as big and powerful as theirs to invite strangers to share things with them.
It makes me wonder again why Logan is going against all the rules of conduct I’ve grown up knowing about packs like his.
“Thanks, but we’ve been out here for a while now, and we should really get back,” Connor declines as respectfully as he can.
It just serves to add more tension.
“Are you sure?” he checks, sounding almost disappointed.
That’s when I make the mistake of looking up and my eyes instantly meet Logan’s.
In the dark, it’s even harder to tell what color they are.
The heat I felt in the diner rises again, and it’s even stronger this time, because neither of us breaks eye contact.
I’m too intimidated to look away, but I don’t know why he won’t.
The others, my brothers and Logan’s pack, all notice the staring match and feel the thickening tension between the two of us.
I know that I’m going to have to be the one to break it.
“Yeah, we’re sure,” I say, and my voice sounds strained.
It’s just so hard to talk normally when he’s staring at me like that.
Especially since I can’t look away, and my body feels like it’s in flames.
“No need to be so territorial,” Cade says.
There is a warning in his voice.
They’ve misinterpreted the reason for the tension.
But at least I know now why Logan won’t look away; I’m practically challenging him by looking straight in his eyes.
I’m thankful that Cade spoke, because it finally gives me something to look at other than Logan.
The beta’s hands are locked into fists like he’s preparing for a fight.
I need to calm the situation down.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to give you that impression,” I say honestly, and I’m glad that my voice sounds steady and sincere.
“It’s not about territory.
We’re just not used to running with anyone outside our family.
You can relax now.” All at once, the SMP members seem to deflate, except for Logan.
Then they notice that they listened to someone other than their alpha and resume their rigid postures.
But when Logan’s shoulders relax and a small smile appears on his face, they slacken again.
“Some other time, maybe,” he says, and it’s the closest to friendly I’ve ever heard him sound.
“When we’re more used to each other.” I don’t want to dispute him, and I especially don’t want to keep looking at him, so I just nod and glance at my brothers like I’m telling them that we should go.
Thankfully, they follow my lead and nod their heads in respect for Logan.
Then, we all turn around and walk away.
Judging by the lack of footsteps, I can tell they’re still standing in their spot, watching us leave.
We don’t dare say a word to each other in case they’re also listening.
It’s only when I see our house that I look back.
They are just silhouettes in the dark now, and they’re retreating to the trees; all but one.
When we get home, we’re too exhausted to say anything to our parents, so we mutually agree to put it off till morning, and each one goes to his room.
I lock myself in my bathroom, draw that much needed hot bath and do what I said I would do; I shift.
It’s not as much of a relief as it would have been if I was out in the open, but it’s all I can do.
I prance around in my bathroom for a while, thankful that it’s quite big, and even play with the water in the tub a little, pretending it’s a pond or a river.
But then my fur becomes so soaking wet that it’s almost heavy.
I repress the urge to shake it off, mostly because I don’t have the energy to clean up the bathroom afterward, and I just shift back.
All things considered, the hot water did relax me and eased all of the tension from my shoulders.
I have to come to terms with the fact that, for the time being, this is going to have to be my only method of blowing off steam.