People Like Us (bxb)

-Alex’s POV-

Nathan recounted the events that happened that afternoon while sitting on my lap. How the Southwind Pack was attacked by demonic wolves, how they drove them off, and the irregularity.

“So, what happened next?” Elder Olivia probed.

“I heard Terui’s voice in my head.” Nathan answered, eliciting a dangerous growl from Raphael. A low growl escaped from my own throat, but I quickly shut myself up. A dangerous thought flitted across my mind, sending shivers down my spine. My wolf spirit reared its ugly head and howled with a promise of danger. I shoved it to the corner of my mind.

“But that is not possible.” Philip interjected. “Once they have rejected each other, it is not possible for them to communicate with each other since their connection has been broken. Are you sure you did not imagine it?”

“I’m definite. But to be honest, it doesn’t exactly sound like Terui? It was his voice, but it was much more…feral?” Nathan scrunched up his cute face while piecing his words together. I leaned in and licked the back of his earlobe, making him tense in surprise. A small, almost inaudible moan escaped from him, but it did not escape from my wolf. My wolf has been extremely agitated ever since that tiny connection he had with Terui earlier in the day. Thankfully, all these teasings seemed to calm him down a bit.

“It is most likely Terui’s wolf then,” Raphael spoke up. Everyone looked at him in surprise.

“Care to explain?” Philip asked. I guess even the World’s librarian do not have all the records.

“As you all know, all beings have a mate. It was how we were created.” Raphael explained. Hastie and Nathan nodded; it was pretty much common sense. “Shifters are usually more sensitive to this connection due to our animal spirits. However, just like humans, their behaviour differs depending on the environment they are in.”

“What do you mean by that?” Elder Olivia questioned. It was the first time she had heard of this.

“Werewolves, or wolf-shifters, are generally able to handle a mate’s rejection long enough to find a second mate. This is due to wolves living in packs, there is the pack to help pick them up, to share the pain. Although, this may not be the case for lone wolves and rogues.”

“I see!” Hastie piped up. “Because they do not have anyone to help them get through it.”

“Yes. Especially in the case of solitary animals. If we experience rejection, even if our human part accepted the rejection, our animal part may not accept it and will do anything to re-establish the connection or die trying anyway.” Raphael concluded. My eyes twitched. He dares to try and get in the way of Nathan’s happiness again?! This time, my wolf snapped to attention. A harsh growl ripped from my throat just a second before Philip slapped a white paper over my eyes.

“Alex!” Nathan screamed.

“Calm down!” He whispered harshly in my ear, pressing the paper firmly over my eyes. I hissed at his antics and gripped his arm. Philip may be a Librarian but he wasn’t a fighter. “Your eye colour changed.”

I froze. No. Not after so long. I was doing way too well for this to happen.

“Take a deep breath, I’m going to remove the paper.” Philip commanded and I listened. There was no point in arguing with him, He was the best in dealing with cases like mine. I sucked in deeply, and that was when it hit me. The earthy scent of the forest after a night rain with a hint of lemongrass. There was no way I could ever mistake this scent. My wolf yipped happily at the smell. When Philip finally removed the sheet covering my eyes, he gave it a good look and sighed with relief.

“What was that!” Nathan shouted at Philip, visibly upset and shaking. My heart and wolf did a little flip knowing that our mate cared enough to stand up to my beta.

“I’m sorry for scaring you,” Philip apologized with a 90-degree bow, his blue hair now messed up from all the moving around. “But ever since the death of his first mate, Alex’s wolf has become extremely protective. Hearing that your ex-mate trying to contact you angered him apparently.”

“And you slapped him with a piece of paper to calm him down?” Raphael questioned, narrowing his eyes towards me. I flinched. It doesn’t seem like he knew about me, but that gaze meant that he knew something was up.

“Well, not really.” Philip answered, bringing the paper up. “It’s scented paper.”

“Scented paper? How does it help?” Hastie asked. Philip smirked and my eyes widened. I quickly rushed towards Nathan to stop him from listening.

“It has his mate’s scent, obviously.” Philip stated. I tripped in my haste and fell face flat on the ground. I groan in embarrassment as I picked myself up, but I was probably having it better than Nathan.

“Huh! Wha…How…Wa…Hold…” Nathan spluttered, frantically looking from side to side. We both felt each other’s embarrassment and our brains decided to fry themselves at this moment. If this was a cartoon, smoke would start pouring out of our ears.

“How did I get your scent?” Philip teased. “Well, my dear future Luna, I can’t reveal my cards to you.”

Nathan whined adorably and I couldn’t help but reached out my hand and pet his head. My wolf huffed in…adoration(?) when Nathan relaxed under my touch. Hastie let out an ‘aww’ at the sight.

“But, in all due seriousness, if Terui’s wolf is willing to go to such lengths just to ask for help, he may be in great danger.” Philip reckoned. I stiffly nodded my head while my wolf was too busy making happy noises about his mate. For an ancient beast, feared by gods, to be gushing over his own mate like a domesticated dog was just…odd, to put it nicely. My wolf snapped at me and bared its fang before going back to gushing over his mate.

It was just then, an owl fluttered in and perched onto Elder Olivia’s shoulder. It nuzzled against Elder Olivia’s hair before opening its beak and dropping the parchment onto her outstretched hand.

“So she does use an owl.” Hastie muttered while looking dazed. Elder Olivia shot her a glare before rolling out the parchment. Her eyes grew wide, the blood drained from her face.

“This is bad. Elder John Tucker had returned to the council. He killed the other Elders.”