NB: Kudos to my editor,
wildheartedangel
for staying by my side throughout my writing experience; giving comments and editing my work with patience and efficiency. I really appreciate it. Also to my blog readers who encouraged me to actually write this sequel out –thank you. J
This story's time line is situated somewhere after
Into the Vampire's Lair
and before
The Hunters
. If you haven't read those and don't wish to, it's okay because I think this story can stand on its own.
With that said, I enjoyed writing this chapter very much and I hope you'll like it!
-Alice-
***
Alex was ten years old and he
hated
to play tea parties with his sisters and their silly girlfriends. Why oh why had Aunt Sydney and Aunt Fiona both had girls?
"Come on Alex, stop being such a baby," said his eldest sister Clara. Alex pursed his lips as an answer.
That
was another thing he didn't understand. Why was it being born ten minutes after Clara and three minutes after Mira meant he was the youngest? They were all ten years old and he was much much bigger than both his sisters!
"But you're still a baby. You carry that stuffed panda everywhere." Alex turned towards the voice and shot out a chilled look –one that he had learned from Uncle Alaron.
"You shouldn't be reading people's minds. It's rude," he stuck out his tongue and hugged his panda closer.
The blonde girl with sharp green eyes simply shrugged.
"Just ignore him Keona. It's a
girls
party anyway," said a strawberry blonde girl.
"Faith! You're supposed to be my cousin. You can't side with her!" said Alex in exasperation. Faith was Uncle Dominic's and Aunt Sydney's daughter and by blood relation alone should have been in his camp.
But before she could reply, the door opened and two more girls came shrieking in, jumping on the beds with glee. Alex wrinkled his nose in disapproval.
Girls
shouldn't behave like that.
"Oh, I'm sure you know all about girls, Alex," sniggered one of the new addition to the group. This one was called Naira and her giggling cousin was called Marine. The two of them often came to visit to play with Keona, their other cousin. Alex didn't mind Marine; she was nice for a Vampire but he hated the other two to the guts. They were younger than him by three years but he got bullied by them all the time.
Almost on cue, Naira bobbed towards him and peered at his face with her big blue eyes -eyes she inherited from her mother. It winked at him as wolf eyes usually do but Alex didn't like it one bit... even if her mother was the one who'd always patch him up when he was injured.
"Papa won't like hearing you say such things," warned Keona unapologetically. Alex snarled at her for he knew she was reading his mind... again. Alpha pup or not, Alex stuck out his tongue at her.
Alex was ten and he
hated
girls.
***
He really
hated
girls... okay, maybe not all girls but just two of the most annoying little brats in the entire world.
Alex was sixteen –almost a man, in his opinion –and he just had his ass thrown into the lake behind Uncle Dominic's house.
It really sucked to grow up with girls for he had no male peers to spar with. They were learning hand to hand combat for god sake! He'd never dare lay a hand on the girls and of course they used that to their advantage... like now.
Dominic was frowning when Alex finally pulled himself out of the water.
"You're not going to learn anything if you only block attacks," he lectured.
"But Uncle... she's a girl!" he cried, pointing to Keona who was rolling her eyes at him.
"She's a girl who can obviously read your attacks even before they happen. And you were so obsessed with blocking her that she literally pushed you until the edge of the bank."
Alex heard a giggle. Why are girls always giggling?
"And you... you know you're not supposed to use your abilities during sparring sessions," warned Dominic; his lips set in a straight line of disapproval. He knew that Naira was the one who had mentally 'pushed' Alex into the water. Keona on the other hand, never displayed her abilities outside the confines of her home.
"But he's not my sparring partner. Faith is. That doesn't count," Naira said defiantly, grinning to the other girls.
Alex heard his own two sisters giggling. They were such traitors.
***
When Alex was eighteen, he decided he had enough of girls to last him a lifetime. That was why he was going to beg his Alpha not to send him to the same university as them. He'd
die
.
After knocking on Eian's door, he waited for it to open and was surprised when cool green female eyes greeted him from behind the screen.
"I'm here to see your Dad."
Keona didn't answer him but lifted the latch then disappeared. Alex always wondered how she could be so cold when her parents certainly weren't. Or maybe she reserved that only for him.
"Alex baby is that you?"
He winced. Fiona had been calling him that since forever. He was not a baby!
"Uh, yeah. I'm here to see Eian..."
A minute later, Fiona appeared; a warm smile on her face. "Come, have a sit first. I want you to try something I've been experimenting with."
Alex froze. If Fiona was experimenting in the kitchen, that was always bad. She seemed to have picked up a liking for cooking but somehow cooking didn't like her back. But when she handed him the tray of cookies, he took one so as to not hurt her feelings.
The sweet, buttery cookie melted in his mouth in an explosion and his hand reached out for another.
"Good?" she asked excitedly. "Kiki helped me with it. I think it's wolf magic or something coz every time I do it myself it turns out terrible!" she laughed.
Kiki?
Alex laughed out loud in his head and instantly regretted it. The hand holding his cookie suddenly decided to feed the cookie to his nose instead.
"Keona..." It was a warning tone.
Alex looked up. Alpha, his savior! Immediately the hold on his hand was gone.
Eian took a seat beside his wife, opposite Alex and looked warily at the tray of cookies on the table. Sending a furtive glance to his wife, he picked up a cookie and dared himself to eat.
"Keona helped her make it," said Alex; that statement alone sufficient to answer Eian's unspoken question.
The two males grinned.
"So why have you come here today Alex?" asked Eian.
"I'd like you to consider sending me to another university... preferably out of the country."
Eian raised his eyebrow. That was a very daring request, for Eian never let the pups wander further than the UK.
"Are the universities here not of your standard?" he asked calmly, aware that his protective vibe was brushing on the young wolf.
"No they are not." That was a direct challenge but the Alpha wolf admired the boy for his spine. "They do not offer me independence from my sisters and most definitely do not distinguish me from any other packmates. I will have the same education as them and the same experiences as them. I want more."
Eian leaned back against the sofa and observed the boy before him. What had he been doing when he was eighteen? Eian paused to think... oh yes, he had been in one of the many territorial wars in France. But back then, children became men at a much younger age. This boy... was still a pup and against all his logic, he knew he should not allow him to leave the country.
But instead he asked, "Where?"
"America."
"What! No! That's so unfair Daddy!" this came from the fifteen year old teenager stomping down the stairs; her blonde hair flying in her face. "I asked you first and you said no!"
Eian didn't bother to turn. They had talked about this many times and she knew his stand on the issue. She was his baby and since Fiona was a Vampire, she had to abide by the 100 year rule to have another child. There was no way in hell that he was ever going to let Keona out of sight.
"Sweetheart... don't raise your voice like that," said Fiona, getting up to calm her daughter. Alex watched with interest at Keona's sudden outburst. She wasn't one to display emotions so openly and if his ears served him right, he could hear her sobbing.
One point to Alex.
Satisfied, he looked back at his Alpha and waited for the verdict.
"Since you're now eighteen and officially an adult; you do not need to consult your parents on your decision. However, you should let them know... but I say yes."
Alex's smile was so wide that Eian couldn't maintain his stern look anymore. The boy's warmth as he hugged him melted whatever controlled anger he had for his daughter.
"Thank you Alpha... you don't know how much this means to me. I won't let you down."
Eian smiled. "Prove it to me first then I'll believe you."
***
Of course Eian wasn't going to let one of his pups live in a strange land all on his own. He knew there were wolf packs in America; some of which were probably part of his step-family but they held no loyalty to him.
Picking up the phone, he called Alaron; hoping to entice his brother-in-law with a plan.
"Hello? Give me a minute... Marine! You better clean up this mess before your mother gets home or else!"
Eian could hear Marine shouting something and stifled a laugh. The girls were entering the puberty age and as Pearl warned him –PMS.
