His Purpose

Chapter 6

Arabella Pov

I was silent, as I listened in on the conversation. It’s not that I had changed my mind, I wasn’t planning on eating dinner with any of them, not when Isaac was there, but I was hungry and I was planning on walking around the dining room to the kitchen, hoping none of them would notice me. However, I stopped, listening, when I started to hear Nate and Isaac arguing with each other. It wasn’t uncommon to see them arguing. Over the past week, it has become pretty apparent that the two alphas were trying to amend whatever it was that was wrong with them, but at the same time they were clashing, their emotions strong, and their testosterone empowered by their alpha power making them almost explosive towards each other most of the time.

“Well, I was doing the best I could, Isaac! How was I supposed to know you and Tessa were fine? I’ve never led the warriors before! I don’t know how to lead wolves to war, that was never something I learned growing up!” Nate replied, his anger rattling the table.

I could see from here Tessa putting her hand on top of Nate’s hand, but he seemed to ignore her touch, not brushing her off but unable to stop himself from glaring at Isaac. If Isaac was paying attention he’d probably notice I was here now, but he seemed too angry to breathe in my scent, too angry to feel me close by to him. ‘What is going on here?’ I asked Misty.

Misty hummed in my mind, a soft smile on her lips. ‘I’m pretty sure you’re feeling impressed because Isaac is sticking up for the rogue children and the parents that weren’t given a chance to surrender before they were killed.’ she replied.

I scoffed, even as she giggled at me. ‘I don’t admire anything about that vulgar man.’ I said, rolling my eyes as she grinned.

‘It’s not his fault Nate drew a d**k on his face, he wasn’t trying to be vulgar, you have to get past that already.’ Misty said with a laugh as I crinkled my nose in disgust, remembering the time Isaac strolled onto the training grounds with a d**k plastered over his face. I thought it was disturbing, who doesn’t at least glance in the mirror before coming out of their room? The way everyone giggled like children over it, if my father was alive he’d have whipped everyone who so much as squeaked out a chuckle.

“I know, Nate. I know you didn’t know, I know you haven’t led them before. But that’s why you need to let me train you too. What if I die? What if I get kidnapped again? You can’t just keep relying on others to do this stuff for you, you’re the alpha of this pack and you need to start showing it. Let me train you as you should be trained. You never joined in with training, doing it all your own, and while I think you did a good job, you could be so much better. There’s nothing wrong with letting me train you.” Isaac said, sighing.

Nate was squirming in his seat, and I can see why. How belittling it would be to allow his little brother to train him, to make him look bad in front of the men and women to need to have more training. “I can’t help it, Isaac. I did my best with what I could. I didn’t have a dad to show me what to do or to train me, remember?” Nate asked, his voice strained in frustration.

“And I did?” Isaac countered, tapping his finger on the table. “I did everything myself, ask mom. No, mom was too busy doing all of it herself while we struggled to figure out what to do. The elites and the warriors raised me, Nate, and I embraced every bit of their teaching even after I surpassed them, and there was nothing wrong with that. There’s nothing wrong with getting help when you need it. A strong alpha asks for help, Nate, not hiding the fact that they need it. I thought you already understood that when you asked my elites to help you during the attack.” Isaac snapped at Nate.

“Getting help from them, and getting help from you are two entirely different things, Isaac,” Nate growled at Isaac. He was clearly getting tired of this fight, and how awkward it was for everyone else around them.

I watched as Isaac stood, his chair falling backward onto the ground and he glared down at Nathan as Nathan squeezed his fork tightly, glaring right back up at Isaac. “Yeah, because I’m such a bad f*****g person, right? Just say it, Nate. It was my fault, to begin with. I know, okay? I f*****g know it was all my fault. I know I’m f*****g useless. Thanks for making it obvious.” Isaac said, staring down at him.

Nathan looked down at his food, his shoulders lifting and dropping in a deep sigh as he pointedly let the silence that followed stretch. I watched with unease as Isaac’s eyes shifted from anger to hurt, and for a moment I felt a bit of his pain slipping through his walls, smacking into me as I tried desperately to push it away. Isaac turned around, his eyes lowered and his fists clenched, and he walked out of the dining room, stopping suddenly as my scent alerted him to me. I knew I should have left, I should have moved before he saw me, but I watched as his shoulders lowered in defeat, his eyes lifting to mine, searching my face for a moment, before looking away.

Without a word he turned to the side, moving past me, and through the back door to the training grounds. I stood there, torn, unsure what I was supposed to do as I watched the table slowly coming to life again once Isaac left. “There’s nothing wrong with you letting Isaac train you, Nate. He’s a great warrior,” Nathan’s mother said, disappointment clearly evident in her voice.

Nathan shrugged, and Tessa sighed, looking torn. I could tell she agreed with Wendy, but at the same time, she knew what I knew. How hard it would be for Nathan to allow the man who was in love with his wife to train him. To allow the man who ignored his own mate to save his brother’s. The four of us were probably the only ones who knew about Isaac’s feelings for Tessa, even if they were in the past, they were still there, full and tangent, hanging like a curtain between everyone.

I didn’t wait to hear what he said, because I didn’t want to. I turned around, intent on heading back to my room since I wasn’t hungry anymore, but found myself drawn to the door, my feet silently walking over the grass, which was slightly damp under my bare feet. I hadn’t expected to go outside and didn’t care to put shoes on before, and now the soft curl of the grass against my toes tickled me, the smoosh of the dirt wet under the soles of my feet told me I’d have to wash my feet off once I got back to my room. ‘What am I doing?’ I asked, even though I already knew the answer.

‘Our mate is hurt,’ She replied, even though she didn’t need to. I sighed, because I felt stupid for doing this. I told myself it was just to see, just to make sure, but I wasn’t sure what it was I was even needing to make sure. I followed his scent blindly through the dark, the training ground lights were all off since no one was out here besides Isaac, but the soft light from the crescent moon was spilling little pools of light here and there, making it at least someone visible as I walked towards him.

I heard him before I saw him. He was frustrated, the soft grunts and the smack of his bare fists pounding into the bag over and over again. He hadn’t taped his knuckles and there was blood splattering over the tight leather, spilling down his wrists and dripping down to the grass with every powerful punch. He didn’t even seem to notice the blood, or how it was making his punches slip every once in a while, his body leaning forward as he tried to catch himself before he fell. I don’t know how long I stood there watching him before he realized I was there, but after a few minutes he let out a soft shuddered sigh filled with sadness and the hint of a sob, indicating that even if I couldn’t see his face very well, I wouldn’t have been surprised if there were tears there, trailing little paths down his skin. “What is it?” He asked, his voice filled with sadness and uncertainty.

I curled my fingers into a tight fist, taking a deep breath, before looking at him. In the dark he was mostly invisible, just a dark silhouette barely shaded with the light, but his eyes were shining slightly, eyes that were a soft green, eyes that drew me in more than I would ever let myself admit. “You’re not useless,” I said. I blushed, glad for the darkness, and turned around, leaving him alone to muddle over my outburst. Good, I couldn’t help but think, taking a deep breath as I shook my head at myself in confusion. Let him muddle over it, because I have no idea what I’m doing anymore.