Outliers

AINSLIE

Allister and Joaquín hunched over the huge wooden desk in Allister’s office, muttering quietly to themselves, while I sat slumped beside them. I couldn’t hear a word they were saying, not that I was at all interested; today had been long and boring and I found myself falling asleep. The warmth of Allister’s office and his presence beside me were too relaxing. My head dipped, eyelids falling despite my attempts to stay awake a little longer, until my head dropped to lay against Allister’s bicep. The muscles contracting beneath me as he stiffened, but despite the little physical contact we had shared up until now, he said nothing about our new position.

It was only when someone knocked meekly on the office door that I summoned the effort to sit up once again, my back straight and my hands folded neatly against my lap. Allister glanced towards me only briefly, his expression unreadable, and seconds later a man entered the room sheepishly, his eyes focussed on the ground with his broad shoulders hunched forward as if to try to make himself smaller. An impossible task given the size of him.

Joaquín’s younger brother, I realised, faintly recognising him and noticing the resemblance between the two men. I had only met him once before, for a few seconds, and he had seemed just as unassuming then.

“All the packs have settled in their cabins. Alexa’s turned in for the night already. She said she had a headache.” His voice was soft - softer than I would have expected a man of his stature. He was shorter than Allister - almost everyone was - but still towered over me. Like many men up here in the cold, he was stocky, strong but soft, unlike the sharp, trim muscles of the other men I had seen arrive today from the other packs.

“What’s wrong with you?” Joaquín asked, offering his brother an odd look as the shy man shifted on his feet, eyes still directed towards the floor. “Matías?”

Matías’ light brown cheeks tinged pink. He murmured something under his breath, too quiet for me to hear. I thought perhaps it was just because my human ears were too weak and that he was speaking loud enough for his brother and Allister to hear, but Joaquín’s frown grew deeper.

“What did you say?”

Matías cleared his throat, his blush deepening as he murmured louder, “I found my mate.”

Mate. A wolf’s other half, as I understood, was something to be celebrated. I didn’t understand much more than that, as with a lot of things associated with wolves, and it was proving to be a constant reminder of all that I had missed over the last few centuries.

“What? Who?” Joaquín asked in mild disbelief. Even Allister appeared to sit up straighter beside me, a frown on his face.

“I… uh, I didn’t speak to him. He came with Colorado.”

The curly-haired boy with a scowl on his face. I’d seen him staring at Matías in a peculiar way for longer than could be considered normal upon Colorado’s arrival.

I had noticed him standing beside Thane and Emily with a scowl, and that other male that had had an expression to match. Thane, too, had looked equally brutish, his expression one of distaste and perhaps anger. Everything I knew the man to not be. Not that I knew him all that well.

“Nero,” Allister provided, his words clipped. Matías’ eyes widened slightly at that bit of information. His blush deepened, and he shuffled on his feet, hands wringing nervously.

“I thought Colorado didn’t have mates?” Joaquín said tersely, looking to Allister for answers. It seemed an odd statement, considering what I knew of Thane and Emily’s relationship.

“I… I heard Colorado were cruel. Is-” Matías winced, interrupting before Allister could explain anything - not that he seemed at all inclined to say anything at all right now. “Is he cruel?”

Allister remained silent, appearing conflicted, and I saw that silence weigh heavily on Matías.

***

“Ainslie.” Thane regarded me with surprise. The towering man - that looked so much like his father, ergo, entirely too intimidating - stepped back, holding the door open. I saw his eyes dart over my shoulder, as if expecting to find Allister there. It was true that I didn’t often go anywhere without Allister or someone else to chaperone me as of late, but this time I had managed to slip out without anyone noticing - the stress of whatever these ’Alpha Meetings’ were, clearly affected everyone. “Are you wanting to come in? It’s freezing outside.”

“Please.” The tip of my nose and cheeks were burning from the temperature. I still wasn’t used to how cold it was here. I thought I had known the cold, back in England all those centuries ago, in the woods with nothing but Allister to keep me warm. But the air was different here in Alaska; sharper and less forgiving.

As I stepped inside, the faint sounds of voices greeted my ears. I recognised one of them to be Thane’s companion, Emily.

They would already know I was here, like most wolves often did with their enhanced hearing and sense of smell. I found it unnerving to know everyone in the pack could always sense me coming. There was no way to catch anyone by surprise.

The conversation didn’t stop though, and as I followed Thane further into the cabin, the voices grew louder.

“He must think I’m such a prick,” a male voice groaned.

“No one told you to act like a total dick-head, like Adriel.” Emily said. “I don’t act like that.”

“I do not act like a dick-head. It’s called being mysterious,” another male, with a deeper voice, uttered sharply, defensively.

“It seemed like a good idea at the time!” The first male spoke again, distress clear in his tone.

“Yeah, well, now your mate thinks you’re a prick, so how did that work out for you?”

“You’re not supposed to agree with me! You’re supposed to say, ’No, Nero, of course he doesn’t think you’re a prick.”

“Seems unlikely, given the situation.”

“Fuck you.”

My eyes widened at that, and I glanced back at Thane in shock. I had stopped just before the doorway, hesitant to enter, as I didn’t want to interrupt them if they were in the middle of a disagreement.

Thane only rolled his eyes, though, murmuring, “They’re always like that. Don’t worry.”

[this isn’t really a ‘bonus chapter’ but a small excerpt from the sequel I’m planning, so it’s written in the perspective of Ainslie and not Emily. Sorry it’s not longer but I don’t want to give too much of the sequel away just yet as I haven’t finished planning it! It’ll probably go through some changes in editing before it’s in the sequel, but I wanted to give you all a little taste of Nero and his mate because I’m absolutely in love with Matías!]