The Family Of Man

Lya

I stood naked in the hallway of the alpha wing. My room was completely empty of all my things. My clothes had been moved out, the bathroom had all my stuff taken out of it, and the book on the Wulver Pack was gone.

'Well that didn’t take very long,' I grumbled to Tala. 'I didn’t realize we had pissed him off that bad.'

She just chuckled, but provided me no guidance of where to maybe go.

I heard the door to the packhouse open, so instead of being caught with my pants down - or off, for that matter - I slipped back into what was apparently my old room. As much as I didn’t want him to see me completely naked at the moment, I really hoped it was Oliver so he could tell me where my clothes were.
The door to my room creaked open and I shrieked when I realized it was decidedly not Oliver. This guy bore almost no resemblance to him, either.

“Well this is quite the greeting, but I’m married,” the guy said nonchalantly. He had a pleasant lilt to his voice that at least made me feel like he wasn’t mad.

“I-uhm-I… where’s my stuff?” I blurted.

The guy chuckled. “The only thing I can tell you is you’re standing in my room.”

My eyes grew wide and my jaw dropped. Oliver had mentioned I had been put in his brother’s room. “You’re Thom.”

“The one and only,” he confirmed. He set his bag down and rifled through it, finally pulling out a shirt he handed to me. “I take it you’re Lya?”

I just nodded, still bug eyed. I was slowly growing accustomed to nudity not being a huge deal here, but it was still unsettling that the guy who had just seen me on full display was the brother of the person I was fucking.

Thom ushered me back out the door. “If I know my brother, your stuff will be in his room.” He stopped outside the door to the room Oliver and I had ended up in the other night.

I sighed in annoyance before pushing my way through. Just like he said, my stuff was all neatly laid out on the bed. I assessed how little I had left from my recent shopping spree. At the rate I was tearing out of my clothes, I’d have to buy more soon. Thank goodness cheap, fast fashion was the rage for werewolves - it made replacing everything easier. I quickly changed before heading back to knock on Thom’s door to return the shirt.

“Thanks,” I mumbled as he took the shirt from me. “Sorry.”

“Not a problem,” he assured me. “But let’s not tell Ollie about this encounter. I haven’t seen him in a few years, and I don’t feel like fighting with him.”

I just nodded and rushed off, making my way outside with 'A History' clutched to my chest. I found the path that led down to Marjorie’s, but I followed the stream along a barely visible fork I missed the first couple times. I wandered along slowly, enjoying the tranquility. The trees broke and I walked out onto a sea of bluebells, going right up to the edge of the water. I smiled to myself. This place was perfect. This could be my new place.

I found a rock and sat down, dangling my feet in the water. It was still chilled from snowmelt, and to be honest, it would probably never get comfortably warm. But I could handle some frostbitten toes in exchange for some peace.

Hours passed by blissfully. The sun was beginning to set when I reached the final page. I laughed to myself. It was a little cheesy, but it was a creed. A promise. And one I figured I was intended to uphold.

The Wulver is destined to be the silent protector residing in the shadows. The guardian of peace and the unsung bringer of hope. The gladiator of goodwill.

And then it ended.

I’d need a whole other book to answer all the questions this one created.

The book had only gone over the origins and works of the pack, how they were responsible for the rise of hunters, and then chronicled the exodus of the Wulver Pack from their territory to living among the people, hidden in plain sight. Were they still a pack? Where were they now? Were they upholding their promise? How much guilt did they carry? Was I expected to fill a role with them? How did I go about doing that?

Cody had alluded to it, but no one had told me for sure, but it was painfully obvious this pack was where I was from, and I could tell Tala was proud of us and who we were.

She was puffing her coat and preparing for whatever battle called on us.

I resented my dad a lot for the way he left my family. But just maybe there was a bigger reason for it. I didn’t even have his number anymore. Equal parts starting my new life and closing his access to me. But right now he was the only connection I had to what I was supposed to be about, and I was in need of some guidance.

I took as much time as I could to get back to the packhouse. I really wasn’t prepared to deal with the wrath of Oliver. I wasn’t sure why I was so certain there would be wrath. Oliver had had plenty of opportunities to show me a side of him that included wrath, but I had never seen it. Just maybe he wouldn’t be angry. Just disappointed. But that was worse.

Light poured out of the giant windows of the packhouse. Gathered around the kitchen island were the person who tried to use me as bait, the person who had just seen me naked, and the person who was my mate and was potentially furious with me. They were laughing, smiling, and seemed so genuine and happy. They were a family.

I smiled to myself and snuck through the patio entrance to Oliver’s room. I didn’t exactly feel like crashing the reunion the three musketeers were having. Oliver had mentioned Thom would be here for a few days - I’m sure there would be other opportunities to make a better impression.

I’d take the excuse to not face Oliver yet. I knew I had made him mad, and I was not sorry in the least. Even if he wasn’t going to tear into me, that conversation was going to be a long one. Sure, Trevor was also there, but knowing all sides of the story, it was really hard to be angry at him. Especially when I would have done the same. From the sound of it, it didn’t seem like it was his doing that landed hunters on my trail, anyway.

Someone slipped into the room. I ignored it, knowing exactly who it was. Ever since I marked him, whatever that entailed, his presence and proximity had become even more overwhelming. I thought it was bad before, but now I just felt like the little red string binding us had shortened, the tension of distance becoming a physical, painful feeling - much more dramatic than before. It would take some time to get used to that part.

I was putting clothes away in an empty drawer I had found when his arm slipped around my waist, pulling me into his chest.

“You didn’t really think you could just sneak in without me noticing, did you?” Oliver murmured against my ear.

“One could always hope,” I said, spinning around to face him. His grip didn’t loosen, leaving us much too close, but I didn’t have it in me to pull away. “Why’d you move me to your room?”

Lips fluttered against my cheek. I tried my best not to sigh and sink into his touch, but I was failing. “What’s the point of putting you in a spare room if I’ll still just track you down every night?”

I offered no response. He wasn’t wrong. The night terrors hadn’t reared their ugly head recently, but there was no denying I slept much more soundly with him by my side, and who was to say where the line between fitful sleeps and night terrors was.

Oliver leaned down and kissed me, and I quite happily let go of the little bit of self control I was maintaining. This was not how I envisioned the conversation going, but I wasn’t about to complain. Maybe we could just skip the fighting part.

Oliver pulled away abruptly. “Thom is making dinner. Come on.”