Not-So-Fated Mates

Chapter 19: The Surprise Guest

Layla POV

The second Isaiah had turned to look at them, she felt Drake tense beside her. Yet, as soon as she turned her gaze on him, he relaxed and his features showed no sign of tension. Did she imagine it? Or was it just a natural reaction? He hadn’t exactly hidden his dislike for rogues. She shook her head, freeing herself from the questions she had no answers to, and focused back on Isaiah, giving him a warm smile. “Hey, little wolf, how do you feel?”

“I’m okay,” he said, his eyes still on Drake like he was afraid he’d do something to hurt him.

“Don’t worry,” she said, walking up to him and gently taking his into hers. “Drake looks big and bad, but he won’t hurt you. Will you, Drake?”

“Unless you hurt someone, I have no reason to hurt you,” Drake said gruffly, staring back at the boy until he lowered his eyes.

She rolled her eyes and turned a glare on him, before turning back to Isaiah. “That’s Drake-speak for no, he won’t hurt you. He’s an alpha, they tend to act crabby like that,” she told him with a soft smile, ignoring Drake’s scoff as he continued to stand just behind her. “Do you feel good enough to come train with the pack? It’s okay if you don’t want to actually train, but I’d like you to at least come along so I can look after you, and afterward I can show you to the room we have set up for you,” she quickly amended when she saw his hesitation. He looked like he was thinking, so she gave him his time until he finally looked up at her again and mutely nodded his head. “Great. You ready to go?”

As he nodded again, she smiled wider and helped him off the bed, watching him carefully as he walked until she was satisfied he was stable. He wasn’t limping, which reassured her he was doing as well as the doctor said. Not that she didn’t trust Anders, but she’d needed to see it for herself before her worries would go away. Of course, he still needed time and proper nutrition before he’d be where he should be, physically, anyways. Mentally? She had no idea. With all he’d been through, it could be a very long time before he regained the ability to trust others, especially males. The idea of pack life probably still seemed scary to him, after how his own pack had looked the other way when his dad was abusing him.

Pack life was damn near essential to a wolf shifter. It was pretty much biologically built into them, which is why so many rogues, even the ones who weren’t kicked out of their packs for doing something wrong, tended to end up violent. Some were just plain mad, the loneliness driving them off of the deep end, to the point where they were no longer really human. Those rogues killed indiscriminately, and rarely if ever shifted to their human forms. Then there were the ones who were driven to rage, whether against normal humans, other shifters, packs, basically anything and anyone they felt was responsible for their plight.

Yet, she knew there had to be rogues out there, much like this kid, who weren’t violent, or out for blood or revenge. The reason most pack wolves had a bias against rogues was simply because the rogues that made themselves known were the ones that caused harm. Not to mention, pack wolves had a tendency to think their way of life was the only sane one, and anything else would cause them catastrophe. Yes, pack life was inherently part of them, but that didn’t mean there was no alternative to it. It didn’t mean any wolf who lived differently was either a whack job or evil. It just meant they were more likely to live in and even, to a degree, flourish in packs.

When she finally pulled herself out of her thoughts, she realized she’d led Drake and Isaiah all the way to the training grounds without even noticed. In fairness, she spent enough time here that the path was certainly engraved into her mind, so it was second nature to head that way. She stopped, turning to face Drake as Isaiah automatically turned with her, letting go of her hand. With a smile, she looked at the both of them and said, “Welcome to my domain.”

Drake chortled at her comment, looking around. The training grounds were located in what used to be the other half of the pack house yard, but, instead of natural growth and uneven ground, soft grass graced this area, which had been painstakingly leveled to minimize accidents. A simple wooden fence surrounded the area, separating it from everything else, and a large shed stood in the corner diagonal to the one that was closest to the house. The fence had a gate located just a few feet from the latter corner, which she quickly and deftly opened, compliments of years of going in and out of this very gate. She left the gate opened wide for when the rest of the pack showed up, directed Isaiah to sit right next to the spot she would take up while training everyone, before heading to the shed. It was locked with a fingerprint scanner and, considering it housed the majority of the pack’s weapons as well as all the training equipment, she was very glad Alpha Richard had taken every precaution with it. Pressing her finger to the scanner, there was a small beep before the door automatically opened.

“What can I help with?” Drake asked as he stepped into the shed behind her.

“We just need the training mats for right now,” she replied, pointing to a bunch of rolled up black mats directly to the left of the door. Drake simply nodded and grabbed three, stacking them up in his arms before clearing the way for her to grab more.

With his help, the training grounds were set up in no time. While they waited for everyone to show up, they sat next to Isaiah and talked. She tried to talk to Isaiah as well, but he kept his answers as short as possible. She smiled sympathetically at him, sensing he was nervous about being around the pack when he was already having trouble dealing with Drake’s presence. After a few more minutes, Chelsea and Jackson made their entrance, talking animatedly with a few of the pack members who were with them. As more people began to show up, Layla stood to greet them, as did Drake, though Isaiah continued sitting, ignoring everyone and staring out into the distance.

When everyone had finally arrived, Layla directed them to the mats as they began stretching in preparation for what lay ahead, chatting amongst themselves as they did so. She and Drake joined them, though they were positioned in front of them since she would be leading them through everything, and Drake was there to observe. Isaiah merely continued tuning them all out, though Layla noticed his mouth was tightened in what she figured was probably fear.

As they all finished their stretches, Layla stood to address the group. “Alright, guys, most of you know the drill. Let’s all stand and-” she paused mid-sentence as she caught movement in the corner of her eye. She turned to look, wondering who could’ve possibly been missing, and then gasped in surprise and horror.

What the f**k was he doing here?