*****
*Kaden*
Something was weird… Off? Nah… Odd… As expected, Jayden and Corey were seated at opposite sides of the table, but we had been eating breakfast for about half an hour and Corey had yet to glare at or insult Jay while Jay just stared down at his plate and I just knew he was hiding something. Both of them hadn’t said a word since we all woke up. Corey hadn’t even spoken to the girls, Trent or Sean. They were both obviously hiding something.
“So… What did you two get up to last night? No fighting, I hope.” Izabella said what we were all thinking.
I watched from Jayden to Corey to see their eyes flicker up from their food at each other.
“No, no fighting.” I heard Corey let out a short chuckle and Jayden bit his lip looking down as he let out a nervous chuckle of his own.
I narrowed my eyes. When we had walked in last night they were seated at opposite sides of the room doing nothing. Yes, NOTHING. Kind of like when you’re doing something bad, your mother walks in and you pretend you were doing absolutely nothing.
“Oh? Then what did you do?” Trent asked.
“Eat… and… stuff,” Corey mumbled.
“‘Stuff’?” Sean asked.
“Why are you all asking so many questions?” Corey shoved a spoon of serial into his mouth before saying something that was muffled by his food which sounded like a random mixture of the letters ‘m’, ‘h’ and ‘n’.
“What?” Sean frowned.
“He said, ‘it’s not like we did anything.” Jayden mumbled before he looked up, “I-I mean, fought or whatever…” He added quickly. I was very confused. What the hell was he talking about?
“Way to make them ask more questions.” Corey frowned at Jayden.
“You weren’t doing any better,” Jayden mumbled before he got up. “Let’s go for a run!” He said.
I looked at him. “You? Run? You want to exercise?” I said slowly before I looked at Corey, “What the hell did you do to him?!” I asked getting a little annoyed.
“Nothing! But let’s run anyway. A shift would be good.” Corey said.
“Yeah,” Trent said.
Everyone agreed except Izabella. “I’d rather just walk… My wolf isn’t too keen on shifting today anyway.” She shrugged.
“I’ll walk with you.” Sean changed his mind instantly. Izabella smiled at him.
“You don’t have to, you can –” She was saying.
“I want to. We’ll catch up to you guys.” He said taking her hand.
We talked as we finished our breakfast before Corey, Hayley, Trent, Jayden and I left while Izabella and Sean took their time to follow.
*Jayden*
I had not seen the others in a while. Corey’s grey and black wolf was bigger than everyone else’s, but Kaden was still growing. Alphas and Betas were always huge.
My wolf was a dirty dark brown right now because Hayley had tackled me into some mud, usually I was grey, my back a darker shade than the rest of my body.
We were playing hide and seek, very childish. Corey’s idea. He was a weird Beta, but I liked him. He didn’t seem mad about the kiss… So maybe he wasn’t? I hoped he wasn’t…
I was close to a river now and avoiding getting caught by Corey by paying close attention to his pull. It was a bit of a cheat, but it was unintentional so not my fault and he also had the pull to track me. I was crouching low moving further away from Corey towards the river but stopped when I heard voices.
“Izzy, talk to me.” I listened closer when I heard Sean, moving towards the voices slowly until I was behind a tree.
“I am talking to you.” She giggled softly.
“No, you know what I mean. What’s going on? You’ve been really distant lately and you’re quieter… Tell me what’s wrong.” He said. I looked behind me uncertain about whether to leave because it seemed like the conversation they were getting into was private but ended up not moving at all.
“Nothing’s wrong, Sean. I’m fine.” She said.
“No, you aren’t and I can see it – you know I can feel it. You also know you can talk to me about anything, Izabella. I can help you.” He said.
“No, you can’t.” She said. I knew I should not have been eavesdropping, but I peeked around the tree to see the pair seated on the grass beside the river. “I miss him… I miss him so much…” She whispered. Who?
“Adan?” Sean spoke softly, Izabella nodded.
Adan was one of Izabella’s older brothers. I remember that he got killed in one of the battles a while ago against these beings called Travellers that could live in other people’s bodies.
“He was supposed to be at our graduation… And Luke’s birth… But he wasn’t…” She whispered, “And that’s because of me…”
“Izabella, don’t say that. Adan would kill you if he heard you say that, it’s not your fault.” He said.
“I know he would, but it’s true… And I miss him so much, Sean. It’s not fair. I shouldn’t have…” I backed away as I heard her sob
I looked away as he hugged her. Why hadn’t she spoken to Hayley, Trent or Corey – or even Sean – earlier if it still hurt her so much?
I cried out when someone tackled me into the clearing. ‘Found you!’ Corey linked to me. I wanted to laugh but felt choked up having heard Izabella’s talking and he looked away from me hearing her sniffling. ‘Izabella?’ He growled, ‘Why are you crying?’
“No reason…” Izabella said quickly before Sean could answer, “Race all of you home!” She shifted, her clothing ripping as she did.
“Izabella! Wait, stay close!” Sean tried to call her but she was gone. Sean frowned. “Damn it! Why doesn’t she ever listen?! I’m the fricking Alpha!” He shouted frustrated before he shifted.
‘Not yet. And even then don’t get your hopes up.’ Corey growled at him.
I chucked before I went running in the direction Izabella just had.
*****
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