Shadow wolves: A burning desire (Book 5) - Complete

Chapter 6 -All the changes.

Fiona

“What a sight.” Nightmare purrs.

“Nightmare!!” I reprimand her.

“Fiona!! He is our mate. Who left our pup for others to raise and didn’t come to look for us? URH!” Nightmare growls. He stands there for a second not moving, as if the fact that he is standing still will make him disappear.

“I think you dropped something.” I feel my heart racing. He slowly puts his sweats down on the cupboard, putting on his jocks, then his sweats before leaving the room without saying another word. Now with all the feelings I already have boiling in this cauldron of emotions, you go and add lust for my mate!

Okay fine, I have to be honest. I don’t know what happened to him either. I can also feel anything through our bond and wonder about it for a while. I thought that not feeling anything meant that the bond had been broken, but I was the one in a cage… It wasn’t like I could go in search of him. Images of his perfectly rounded ass jumping in front of the others again. Oh, hell I can’t!

“Matt! MATT!” I shout, and he pops his head around the corner, looking like a puppy with his big eyes.

“Yes?” He frowned.

“Did they give me any sleeping pills?” I sighed.

“Nope, why?” He steps into the room, crossing his arms over his chest.

“No reason,” I sighed.

“Do you need some?” He tilted his head to one side.

“Yeah, kind of.” I shrug. He walks into the bedroom, scratches around his drawer, pulls out a box, and hands me two tablets. Then he walks to the bathroom and comes back with a glass of water.

“Anything else?” He frowns. I look up at him, thinking that I was nasty towards him.

“No, thank you.” I shake my head, and he carefully helps me shuffle down the bed, so I can lay down, then tucks me in, closes the curtains, and leaves.

“Matt?!” I shout again. Turning around, he grabs onto the door frame and leans against it.

“Yeah?” I can hear that he is trying to stay calm.

“You’re staying, right?” My voice waivers.

“This is our house. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll sleep on the couch for now.” His voice sounds softer before he pulls the door closed slightly and disappears. The tablets start making me feel sleepy, and I yawn, feeling the darkness pulling me in.

Erik

After training, all of us go to the packhouse where we have lunch. As usual, after lunch, we have to do our homework under the watchful eye of Mrs. Greywolf. Once we are done, we usually go to the games room and play until it’s time for bed… Yes, bed… Mrs. Greywolf doesn’t want a bunch of hooligan teenagers running around the packhouse at all hours of the night. Only this time when I walk into the kitchen, she looks at me with surprise.

“Boy! What are you doing here?” She frowns.

“What I usually do here.” I was sounding a little snarky at first. “I’ve come for lunch and homework and stuff.” I start wondering what I had forgotten.

“No, you don’t, not anymore. You go home for lunch and homework, and you only come for stuff if your father says so.” She sighed.

“What?! No, you are wrong. Nobody told me anything like that.” I feel the anger rise from deep inside.

“Well, I’m telling you now. Get your ass home before your father phones me.” Mrs. Greywolf orders. I turn around and leave the packhouse. Kicking a rock on the way home, I can’t understand why all these changes have to happen all of a sudden. Even the guys are now treating me differently. Keeping quiet when I walk in. As if they have a secret that I’m not supposed to know anymore. My father used to be a pack beta, and now he isn’t anything anymore. Walking in the front door, I smell grilled cheese and my stomach growls.

“Again? Dad, can I go have lunch at the packhouse? At least there we get things like veggies and sh!t. I need to do a project for school with the other guys and then maybe play some video games after?” I try to find my way back to the life I know … Grabbing a part of my sandwich, I look at him as if he has no other choice but to say yes.

“Erik, what did I tell you about your language!? And since when do teenagers eat vegetables? Come to think of it, why did you come home in the first place if you normally eat lunch there and do your homework there?” He frowns.

“Mrs. Greywolf kicked me out.” I drop my bag right in the middle of the kitchen floor on my way to the fridge.

Matt

I nearly trip over the damn bag on my way to the dining table where I was getting ready to work on some things Anthony wanted me to look at.

“Dammit Erik! Pick up your bag! What if it was your mother who fell over? She would have broken a bone if she fell over!!” I sound angrier than I meant to. He turns around with a fury in his eyes. I know… Fiona… Now I have two of them in the house… Hellfire! Why am I being punished like this? Oh, yes, I abandoned my son and didn’t look for my mate…

“But it wasn’t mom, it was you. I guess you won’t let me go then. I’ll be in my room. Don’t bug me.” He spits venom my way and I just stand there stunned with my coffee in my hand watching him grab his bag and stalk off to his room. I don’t think I am capable of doing this… Give me a full-grown wolf to fight any day. Teenagers? I think they scare the living s**t out of me!! Walking over to the table, I grab my phone.

“Yes Matt, is everything okay with Fiona?” Meg sounds worried.

“She is fine, she is sleeping a bit… After she nearly bit my head off, thank you.” I roll my eyes.

“Good.” She sound amused.

“Good? You ran and left me in the line of fire here. Erik also nearly took my head off now. How… what… Help Meg!” I beg, and she bursts out laughing on the other side of the line.

“Hang on, I need to put you on speaker.” She laughs, and before I can protest, I hear Anthony on the other side of the line.

“Hey bud, how are those training plans coming along?” I can hear in his voice that he has no idea what’s going on or what I told Meg.

“What plans? I’m just trying not to get killed by my mate and my son. Did you know he has that same hellfire stare she has?” I throw my hands in the air.

“Yeah… It’s so cute that he takes so much after his mother.” Anthony sounds amused.

“Seriously Ant. He has to move back to the packhouse. At least there he will have his normal routine and his friends around him, and not bite my head off around every corner.” I roll my eyes.

“Hey! We have more than enough of them here to deal with, thanks. You only have one. Deal with him.” Meg orders.

“You must be kidding Meg. Remember, I haven’t had kids since he was a baby and even then, he was taken care of by Fiona and then you guys. I have no idea what I’m doing, and I keep on sounding like my mother!” I start feeling panicked and can hear it in my voice. They both burst out laughing.

“Hey bud, seriously, none of us know what we are doing, even having them around us all these years. They are a strange species, teenagers. One minute they love ya and the next you are their worst enemy.” I hear them moving around in the background working with paperwork.

“What are you guys doing? Can I come to help? Erik’s home so he can look after Fiona.” I try to get out of the house.

“We are busy, no we don’t need your help, work on those training plans, I need them a.s.a.p, and you have to help your mate and look after your teenage son. They tend to f@ck up when there is no adult supervision around.” Meg sounded distracted, and I knew the conversation was nearing its end.

“Yes, what she said.” Anthony pipes up and I roll my eyes.

“Traitors. You lured me here under false pretenses. Now you are making me work like a Beta.” I bit back, but I knew it wasn’t going to work on the two of them.

“Well, you are one, aren’t you? OW!” I hear him and can imagine Meg punching him.

“Okay, buh-bye, we will discuss that later, we are very busy.” Before I can say anything else, she hangs up the phone. What the hell is up with those two? I give up. Sitting back in my chair and staring at the laptop’s blank page with the blinking line staring back at me.

“Dad, where’s mom?” I heard him coming the moment he opened his door, and started dreading the conversation already.

“She is resting. She had a taxing morning what with coming home. Things are going to be tough around here for a while. We will… I guess I will have to be patient with her. She has been through a lot buddy.” I try my best to explain. Erik walks over and takes a seat next to me. The boy is almost as tall as me at twelve years old. What did Megan feed him? Putting his hands flat down on the table, he looks at his fingers.

“What was mom like when I was a baby?” I watch as he blinks away the tears.

“She was the light of my life. She loved you more than life itself. She was one of the pack’s best warriors, and I’m sure once she is all healed up, she will become that same warrior again. She sure as hell kicked my ass.” Thinking back, I can’t help but laugh, bringing a smile to Erik’s face.

“You said she was the light of your life. Don’t you love her anymore?” He frowns.

“She is my mate. I will love her until the day I die. But something happened the day she was taken. I couldn’t feel her at all. I didn’t feel her die, I didn’t feel her alive. I just felt nothing. Usually, with a mate bond, you will know when they die. I just felt this black hole.” I try to explain while he sits there looking at his hands for a moment, then stands up.

“I may not like you, but I want to help with mom. I will make lunch.” He nods the same way Fiona does when she’s decided. A completely different person than the spoiled brat who walked into the house half an hour ago. Apparently knowing his way around a kitchen, he cooks chicken and makes a salad to go with it.

Finishing just in time when Fiona walks into the living room looking a bit dazed. I jump up, and he runs over, both of us wanting to help her, but he is on the side of her free arm, so I let him take her to the dining room table. He sets the table while I pretend to be working.

“Don’t mess this up. Don’t mess this up. Don’t mess this up.” I type pretending to be busy, but it’s all I can think about at that moment.

“Dad…” Erik says, standing there with everything to set the table for me.

“Oh, okay. I’m joining the two of you I guess.” I tried to smile.

“Of course. Our son won’t abandon the family as his father did.” She bites with that fire still burning in her eyes, seeing regret flowing over her face immediately after she said it. But she doesn’t apologize. Erik brings us lunch, and we all sit eating silently.

Fiona

I’ve missed out on so much that I don’t know where to start. He is such a good boy, taking care of me and Matt. Esmeralda must have taught him how to cook because the only thing Matt can make is grilled cheese sandwiches, meaning he didn’t make lunch. Oh, and bacon and eggs. He can make a mean breakfast, but you get grilled cheese with your breakfast. I guess I will start at the most obvious, seeing that the two of them aren’t talking.

“What did you do today, Erik? Did you go to school or did they give you the day off?” I smile. Erik huffs with a smile on his face.

“Aunt Megan give me a day off school? She doesn’t even give us off on snow days when normal kids can stay home. I had training today, which was good. Then Mrs. Greywolf chased me out of the packhouse and told me I had to come eat lunch at home from now on. I also have to do my homework on my own at home. It’s really unfair. Everyone else gets to help each other with the answers, but I have to do it all on my own. I don’t even have a phone like human kids, so I can’t copy off the others. They also get to play games in the gaming room after homework. I get to hang around my room decorated with puppies and stare at the roof.” He looks up realizing I stopped eating.

“I… I don’t.” I am shocked. That was a lot!

“I will take you to buy a gaming console and TV after lunch. If your mother promises not to bite auntie Meg’s head off again, so she can come and keep her company,” Matt offers.

“Wow, really?” Erik lights up.

“Sure, can’t have you hanging around looking for trouble after you have finished your homework,” Matt grins.

“I don’t know Matt. Maybe we should discuss this first.” I sigh. I don’t know if this is such a good idea. I’m sure there is another way to work this out instead of buying his love with gifts.

“I already told him he can have it. What do you want to discuss? Why can’t he have it?” Matt frowns. I sit there thinking about it, feeling confused. I would have liked to have the time to discuss it and decide together if it would be the best choice.

“Please excuse me. I don’t feel so great. I think I want to go lie down again.” I get up and they both jump up to help me, but I stop them, supported by my cane, I find my way to the bedroom. Is this the way it’s going to be? I’m fragile, so I can’t make any decisions?