Chapter 1
Lyle's POV
(Lyle 7 years old)
"Stop!" I cried loudly while yanking away his grip from my hair, but failed miserably.
"No! Don't!" I tried prying his legs apart from both sides of my head since we're laying on the playground, but to no avail.
Ever since we were little, I remembered Adrian always bullying me for being too girly. He said I was such a wussy.
"Please stop! Adrian!" I was sobbing non-stop and pleading when I felt my scalp burning from the strong grip of his hands and heard another sound of scissors snipping. My eyes were red and puffy, while my cheeks were flushed red, stained with tears.
"Stop moving! I'm almost done with your hair. I'm cutting it so that you won't look so girly!" He said as his legs tightened around my head. I was beginning to feel dizzy from his lock, so I bit his leg hard.
"AAAGGGHHHHH!!!" He screamed and loosened his grip, giving me the perfect opportunity to stand up and escape.
"You big meanie!!" I cried and ran away from him like my life depended on it. Adrian got up in no time and ran after me.
"Stop chasing me!" I shouted as I heard his footsteps nearing me. I heard him giggle like a maniac, and soon I was tackled back to the ground with him sitting on my back.
"Let me go! Someone help me!" I yelled for help, then saw a familiar figure running towards us and yelling,
"Get off of him!" Malcolm threatened as he tackled Adrian off of me. Now, he was sitting on top of Adrian and butting heads with him. I can't help but cry seeing as their fists land on each other.
"Stay away from Lyle! You bully!" Fuming with anger, Malcolm delivered another blow on Adrian's face that made me see blood on his teeth.
"You are so dead Malcolm!" picking up the sand on the playground, he threw it at Malcolm causing him to cough and rub his eyes. Pushing him and flipping them over, Adrian was now sitting on top of Malcolm and punching him.
"What is going on here?!" I whipped my head to the side and saw Mr. Blake Thorne, who stood at his full height of 6'4. The Alpha of the pack and also Adrian and Malcolm's dad. Followed by their Eldest brother Bryan and Youngest sister Chelsea, who also happens to be my best friend and is about my age.
Mr. Blake and Bryan ran towards them and separated Adrian and Malcolm who were both breathing heavily and still glaring at each other.
Chelsea quickly ran over to me when she saw me crying and rubbed circles behind my back to comfort me.
"Lyle are you okay?" Her voice laced with concern. Looking up at her green eyes, I sniffled and nodded. I wiped my eyes and cheeks with the back of my hand and turned to the boys in front of me.
"Now what happened here?" Mr. Blake demanded as he looked between the two of them. He sighed as neither of them answered.
He turned to me and smiled sadly as he saw my tear stained cheeks and puffy eyes. He walked towards Chelsea and I, and stopped in front of us. He ruffled my hair before crouching down to my level.
"Hi pup, can you tell Mr. Blake what happened here?" He asked nicely as if talking to an injured kitten.
"Adrian was bullying me Mr. Alpha. He came out of nowhere, ruining my sand castle and then locking my head with his legs so that he can cut my hair. He said I looked too girly! My poor precious hair! Waaahhhh!!"
Remembering what happened earlier I started crying again.
"A-And I s-screamed for h-help so M-Malcolm tackled Adrian off of m-me and they s-started f-fighting." I managed to choke out in between sobs.
Turning his head away from me, he glared at his son, who was cowering in fear and squirming in his place because of the anger and authority oozing out of his father.
"You both. In the house, Now!" Yelled Mr. Blake. He looked at Adrian who was busy avoiding the glare of his own Dad.
"I'll let your mother deal with you Adrian." After the words escaped from his mouth, Adrian's face was full of horror and his body froze at the mention of his mother. His mouth was parted open and his eyes widened like it was going to come out of its sockets.
He was honestly terrified of his own mother. The last time she got angry at him for not finishing his homework and not going to school, she called him out for it but he only clicked his tongue, ignored her and continued playing. Next thing he knew, his game console was shut down because his mother cut the wire. His mom smiled cheekily at him and forbid him from playing anything for 1 whole month.
I remembered it because it was Chelsea who told me about it. We laughed after she said that that his older brother's mouth bobbed open and close like a fish out of water, and he looked like a tomato because of how red his face was.
Malcolm only snickered at the horror etched into Adrian's face. Upon hearing it, he scowled at him and gave him one last glare before following their father out of the playground.
"Lyle!" Malcolm called out and ran towards me. I got up from Chelsea's hold and met him halfway. I hugged him tightly and burrowed my face on his chest.
"Are you okay Mal?" I asked him and looked up at his chocolate brown eyes. A tear escaped from my eye as soon as I saw his injuries. He wiped the stray tear with his thumb and smiled down at me.
"I'm okay Lyle, don't cry." He cooed at me and held both my cheeks in his hands. I sniffled quietly while looking at him.
"I told you that I'll always protect you right? I'm your knight and shining armor after all" He puffed out his chest and grinned at me. I nodded my head and smiled warmly at him. I burrowed my face back into his chest and released a sigh.
"Thank you." I told him and he ruffled my hair and I heard someone clear their throat. I turned around and saw Chelsea standing with her hands on her hips.
"Not going to invite me in your group hug?" She narrowed her eyes towards us and we both chuckled. I extended my arms out and invited her in. She giggled and wrapped both us in a tight embrace.
"Ew Malcolm, you stink!" She said, causing all three of us to burst out laughing before pulling away from each other.
"We need to get your mom to fix your hair Lylie." I nodded at her suggestion and giggled at the nickname she called me.
"Come on, let's get you cleaned up Malcolm. Mom and Dad are probably waiting for us." Bryan said as he rested his hand above Malcolm's head and ruffled his light brown hair.
"And Chelsea can accompany Lyle back to their house. Right chels?" He asked Chelsea who squealed "Yes!" and jumped making her brunette curls bounce up and down.
"Okay then. I'll see you tomorrow Mal!" I gave him one last hug and waved goodbye before we separated ways.
~~~
A week has passed after what happened. When Chelsea and I got to the house that day, my whole family swarmed me upon seeing my appearance and asked questions like What happened?, Who did this to you?, Why are you so dirty?, What happened to your hair? And Where did you go?
Seeing me overwhelmed with all of their questions, My mom, Carla, ushered me to sit down on the couch of our wide living room with Chelsea seated beside me. When we were all seated, My dad, Derek, was the first one to ask me what happened. So, I began to tell them everything. After hearing it, My eldest brother Dustin, growled and massaged his temples to keep himself calm. My two older twin brothers, Jake, who is older than Xavier by a few minutes, got up from their seat.
Oh did I already mention that my family, especially my older brothers are very protective of me?
"We're gonna kill him" They said in unison, but before they can do anything, Dad grabbed both of their arms and pulled them back into their seats.
"I'm sure that Alpha Blake is dealing with it as we speak" Dad assured them while putting his elbows to his knees and joining his hands together.
"Oh, yeah! He also called Mom for backup!" exclaimed Chelsea. My mother released a sigh and shook her head slowly while silently laughing to herself.
"That boy is done for. Luna Rose is a force not to be reckoned with. Especially when she likes Lyle." My mother stated as a matter of factly, making everyone nod in agreement and slightly easing the tension in my Older brothers' bodies.
Luna Rose did like me a lot though. I remember when she used to make me flower crowns and put it on top of my head. She squealed on how cute I looked and pinched my cheeks.
"Honey, how about you take a rest and change your clothes. Then, we'll eat ice cream together with Chelsea and we'll fix your hair. How does that sound?" I beamed at her and nodded my head vigorously making everyone chuckle.
Before I went upstairs to my bedroom to get dressed, dad and my older brothers ruffled my hair and gave me warm smiles that melted my heart.
After a while, my mother called me downstairs saying that the ice cream was ready. I saw Chelsea scooping and munching on it already. This is the reason why she is always excited to go to our house, because she always gets sweets and ice cream from my Mom.
When we finished eating, we went straight to the bathroom to fix and style my dark blonde hair which I got from my mom. She professionally handled my hair since she owns a big salon and clothing company abroad.
I was very glad of the results. My old shoulder length hair was now cut short and she gave me a fringe that made my face seem smaller. It accentuated my blue eyes which I got from my dad that has a few purple streaks in it. They said that the purple streaks in my eyes were caused by a mutation. Not that I'm complaining about it though, it looks really pretty.
I was the only one in the family who inherited both Dad's blue eyes and Mom's dark blonde hair.
Dustin got Dad's black hair and blue eyes while Jake and Xavier both got Mom's dark blonde hair and light brown eyes.
When we got to the living room, Dad was on a phone call with the Alpha who apologized for their son's behavior. Dad and Alpha Blake were not only Alpha and Beta but they were also very close friends.
After all was settled, Chelsea was picked up by Bryan, her older brother who shares the same hair color as her but has brown eyes like Malcolm. Before she left I gave her one last hug and thanked her.