I woke up because of a terrible buzzing filling the room, my head hurt and my arm was sore. I thought the buzzing was my alarm, so I swiped at the screen without looking. Well, it was quite a surprise when my phone suddenly said: “Reid?”

I was immediately awake, taking my phone and quickly realizing that I just started a video chat with Matt. Well great. Matt was sitting in his bed with a plate of Chinese food in his lap. I looked at the time, three pm, he must have just come home from his classes.

“Are you still sleeping?” He laughed as he looked me over. Yeah, I looked like shit… My hair was mussed and there were deep bags under my eyes. He looked amazing though. His blond almost golden hair was ruffled in the lazy fashion he liked so much. He had a light blue shirt on, making his eyes look even deeper and darker.

“Uh… Yeah, long night,” I said, yawning. “Why are you calling? Everything alright?” I asked, still kind of confused. Damn aftereffects of the cadrac venom.

“Yeah, I just wanted to check up on you. How are you doing?” he asked very seriously, obviously worried about me. It felt nice. Really nice. Such a damn difference from the reaction of the pack.

“I’m not a kid.” I scowled at him anyway. I couldn’t possibly admit how much I liked that he cared. “I don’t need a babysitter.”

“I know, but still.” He wasn’t discouraged, he didn’t get offended. He just kept smiling that kind smile of his… “Are you---” He stopped dead as the body I didn’t realize lay next to me moved. Lowell groaned in his sleep and hid his face in my side. I was obviously being too loud.

Of course, he came to lay with me. He used to do that a lot as a kid, being too scared to sleep alone in his room or just keeping me company when I didn’t feel well. Like right now. He was a submissive wolf; it was his nature to stay close to a hurting pack member. Of course, Matt didn’t know that… His smile shattered to pieces and his eyes flickered with hurt before he hid himself behind a wall.

“A long night indeed. Guess you needed to blow off some steam, hm? I get it,” he said, trying to go for neutral but still sounding angry. That kind of surprised me. I have never seen him get… jealous. We were fuck buddies, for years. I mean for the last two years I didn’t really sleep with anyone other than him, but we weren’t a thing… right? Oh, I was too tired to think about this. Yet for some reason, I didn’t have the heart to let him hang up on me when he was that hurt. So I quickly turned the camera to Lowell. “That’s my brother, Lowell. He’s… taking the death hard. So, he slept here.” I thanked the Gods that Lowell looked so much like me.

“Oh…” was all Matt said, obviously stunned. “Your brother… You never told me you had a brother.”

Actually, I had two. “I don’t like talking about my family,” I admitted quietly.

“Let me guess, they’re hard Christians?” He guessed with a smile.

I laughed; I couldn’t help it. “No, they’re really not. But yeah, they weren’t exactly happy about the whole gay thing…”

“I’m sorry to hear that… Will you be okay there? When’s the funeral? And when are you coming back?” he asked and asked. I bit the inside of my cheek, not sure what to say. Thankfully I got saved by my alarm going off to remind me of the pack meeting.

“Hey, sorry I have to go. I’ll be fine Matt, no need to worry about me…” I waved and hung up when he did the same, telling me to call him. Well, that was horrible… I would have to be more careful next time. I got up, slowly as to not wake Lowell up and quickly made my way into the bathroom. I needed another shower. I took off the bandage on my arm and rinsed off the crumbling paste. The nick was fully healed and the blackened flesh was turning pink again. It still felt sensitive, but it didn’t hurt.

Lowell was still peacefully sleeping when I walked out of the room. Good, he would try to stop me from going to the meeting, but I had to. I ran down the stairs and into the kitchen. Holly was there cooking something. My mouth immediately watered at the scent. She wasn’t the maid or anything, but she always took care of the pack house, no matter what. Everyone loved her cooking, so no one argued.

“Hello, Holly. How’s Jack?” I asked as I quickly pulled some mayo, cheese, chicken, and lettuce from the double fridge, making myself a quick chicken sandwich.

“He woke up and Alpha got him to turn back human. Now he’s sleeping again,” she informed me, watching me closely. “You feeling okay?”

“Yeah, good, thank you.” I smiled and just as quickly as I got down, I ran back upstairs, eating my sandwich.

Alistair’s office was right at the end of the long hotel-like hallway. The door was closed and the room was made from a soundproof material so I couldn’t hear anything. But I trusted Yuri and he told me they would be inside. Luckily the door was never locked, no one was stupid enough to come barging in on Father’s meeting. Well, I always seemed to be the exception in everything. I walked right in like I owned the place, chewing my sandwich.

“Sorry, I’m late. Needed some food first,” I told the frowning faces. Alistair’s office was big and the walls were covered in bookshelves and filing cabinets. He sat behind his big mahogany desk in his black chair, looking like the King of All. Behind him was the only wall without a bookshelf. Instead, there was a huge painting of the Ghealach family… Alistair sitting in a chair, as majestic as ever. A little boy with ice blue eyes and black hair sat on his lap. Lowell couldn’t have been more than two, he was smiling happily though. On the left, there were Trystan and Akira, only eight years old but already with serious expressions on their little faces. Then on the right, next to Father, with one hand on his shoulder was mother… It has been so long since I have seen any photo of her. She was beautiful, with jet black hair and crystal blue eyes, her smile kind and loving. Her other hand rested on the shoulder of a six-year-old boy, she was holding him close to her and he looked quite content in her arms. His mossy green eyes were happy for once. Oh, I loved mother dearly… I was always her favorite and I was damn happy by her side. Fuck I forgot the painting was here. It stopped me dead for a second before I got my composure back.

Apart from Alistair, there were other people here. Trystan of course, Nikolai, Katashi, Diego, Ryan, Dyson, Yuri, and for some reason Marc, Colwyn, and Akira. No one except for Yuri seemed happy to see me. Not even Nikolai and Katashi approved of my rude arrival.

“So, have you figured out what’s going on yet?” I asked, leaning on the door, quickly finishing my sandwich.

“This doesn’t concern you. It’s pack business,” Diego barked harshly at me. I had to admit the unwelcome stung. But I managed to keep an unfazed expression.

“I cared about Bran, someone killed him. This is my business,” I argued, absolutely sure of myself.

“Reid. You weren’t invited here, leave,” Trystan said, sounding like he was scolding a little kid.