“This is so stupid!” I growled at the big man in front of me. He had light brown hair and kind chocolate-like eyes. He just smiled and went back to cutting the meat. “I don’t wanna cook! Cooking’s for girls…” I pouted; my lip still torn from the fight I got into this afternoon.

“Is it? So, if you ever live alone, you’ll what? Starve?” he asked, not scolding me, just simply curious.

I stared at him feeling a bit stupid but I hid it behind my anger. “I’ll hunt,” I argued even though I knew he was right, so I kept stirring the weird, but nice smelling sauce in the pan.

“No need to be angry, my boy.” He laughed. ‘My boy’ the words both enraged me and melted me. I wasn’t his son, yet he was the closest thing to a father I had. “You know how this works, you fight, you get in trouble, you cook.”

Truth be told, I didn’t hate it that much. But I would be the joke of the pack if I ever admitted it.

“Not fair, Marc started it.” I frowned and felt my eyes flicker to grey briefly, before going back to green.

“Yes. But you’re the Alpha’s son, you’re supposed to be the smart one and figure out a non-aggressive way to deal with him,” he said, looking down at the cutting board, not at me. Irrational anger bubbled up inside me. Father said something similar, something about being the bigger man, something about growing up, about not being a child, about being more like Trystan…

“But just between you and me…” he said suddenly and slightly crouched next to me, so we would be on the same eye level. “Marc is an idiot. He shouldn’t have picked on you when you’re clearly more dominant. You needed to show him that you’re not weak, that you’re no punching bag of his. But next time, just make sure no one catches you and don’t leave marks.” He smiled, mussed my hair, and put the meat into the sauce. At that moment I loved him more than anything. Because he understood. Everyone just yelled at me for breaking Marc’s nose, they didn’t care why I did it. But he knew, he understood… Bran could always understand me…

I woke up with the early sunlight shining right into my eyes. It happened every morning when I was younger and for a second I felt disoriented and confused, almost convincing myself I was going to be late for my lacrosse practice. But then the bed creaked and I remembered I haven’t actually played lacrosse in over ten years.

I yawned, stretched, and went into the bathroom. The dream felt heavy in my mind as I showered. I had many similar memories… Every time I was mad, sad, or simply not feeling okay, Bran was there to help, he always made time for me. And now he was gone… Now I would never get the chance to thank him for those little moments.

I went down to the kitchen and saw there were many pack members gathered here for breakfast. So many I actually stopped on the last step and did a double-take of all the familiar faces. Of course, Trystan and Akira talked quietly in the corner, I guess their little habit of plotting together didn’t disappear when they got older. To my surprise, Colwyn stood by their side as well. I recognized him only because he still had the same scar over his eyebrow as when he was younger. He was no longer the same wiry, wimpy, awkward kid though. He grew quite well into his big hands and now he was almost as broad-shouldered as me.

Holly was cooking breakfast in the kitchen with Lowell and Scott, while all the pack warriors stood by the coffee pot, drinking their shares of caffeine. In ten years they haven’t changed much. I easily recognized the brute Diego, the always arrogant-looking Ryan and Dyson and Katashi who were the only warriors I respected. Nikolai stood with them as well and talked quietly to Yuri. By them stood another man, smaller like Lowell with salt and pepper hair and brown eyes. It took me a while to realize it was Ivan, Yuri’s younger brother. Which meant the woman with brown hair and blue eyes, hugging him around his shoulders was Nadia, their sister. Damn, she grew up nice…

And then my eyes found something that made me stop. Something that brought forth even more memories. For once memories that didn’t make me mad or sad. Sina was here. She was Katashi’s daughter, though she didn’t inherit much from him. She had wavy black hair and ice-blue eyes, she had just a hint of Japanese features on her face that made her look incredibly gorgeous. That combined with the perfect body and very confident attitude made her the dream of every man and the nightmare of every woman. She was my first lover… She was even more beautiful than ten years ago, though I wouldn’t sleep with her now.

And right next to her was Hiro, the first boy I ever kissed and wanted to do more with. He was her brother – don’t judge me. He had dark brown hair and deep blue eyes. He was still a bit short but more muscular and more manly for sure. I waited, wondering if the rage and hatred I felt towards him when I left would come back. It didn’t. I couldn’t care less about him anymore. Neither one of them was looking at me, they stood near the window and talked quietly. I debated if I should go and say hi, but decided against it. I didn’t part with either of them on good terms.

I made my way to Yuri and his family. The second Ivan’s eyes fell on me a bright smile appeared on his face and he ran to hug me. Yep, just as small and somewhat more fragile than the rest of us. Of course, it wasn’t much of a disadvantage since he was a submissive wolf, just like Lowell, so he would hardly ever need to fight.

“Hey, kiddo.” I smiled at him. God, he grew up so much… I remembered all the times he begged to play with me and Yuri no matter what we were doing. Of course, we made fun of him, rolled our eyes, but we both loved him and in the end, always took him out with us.

“Reid! I thought I would never see you again.” And my name quickly brought everyone’s attention right to me. Most of them didn’t seem happy. Diego, Dyson, Sina, Hiro… Yeah, they didn’t offer much of a welcome.