~Chapter 14~

"Calvin." The male on the rock slab called, catching Lawrynces attention, "You look exactly like your mother.." He seemed to whisper, catching Lawrynce off guard.

Do I really look like my mom?..

"Come closer, Boy." He said, and suddenly I wasn't so scared of him.

He knew my mom... he knew her so well he still remembered her face to this day..

Lawrynce stepped closer, his eyes not leaving the Alpha's. Everyone in the room was watching them, even Elliott and Felix both had wide grins on their faces. Proud ones.

Lawrynce stopped walking when he was around three feet away. The man hopped down from the slab, bringing Lawrynce to realization that this man was around 6'7 in height.. a freakishly tall man..

"I get you have met my two of three sons, Felix and Elliott. You will be meeting my third soon. He's not by blood, but he's my son. I will have Finnian show you to the rest of the pack tomorrow. But, from your mothers request, we are all here to welcome you to the pack." Leopold said, looking around to pack while my eyes also traced the people and wolves surrounding me.

"But, I'm not-" I was cut off.

"You don't have to be." Leo said, a small smile on his lips, "Carden, please, step up."

Almost instantly on cue, a boy with pure yellow, almost gold, hair stood up and walked a few steps forward, looking back to a male sitting in the ground with his arms crossed. The male gave Carden a nod to go, and he did, walking forward to the other two.

Leo patted the short blond's shoulder and smiled, "This is Carden. Once human too." Leo said, the action causing Carden to flinch.

The boy didn't speak, but didn't seem too scared, content and hushed mainly.

Maybe, it was just his personality? And what does Mr. Leopold mean by "once"?...

"Carden will be your roommate along with his mate Gannon. The two do not like to be separated, so, you have to get Gannon too." The Alpha chuckled, "Carden has agreed to tell you anything you would really want or need to know, along with showing you around the cabin house you will be staying in." I looked to Carden, and the boy gave me a small smile in which I returned.

"My third son isn't here at the moment, so, he will be showing up late to the cabin." Leo said sternly.

Who's his third son? Where's he gone to?

Lawrynce's mind rambled off questions, and Leo chuckled, knowing the boy was confused.

"Carden can explain some things to an extent. Someone else will tell you everything you want to know. Family wise and pack wise." Leo's words said, getting through to my brain and causing me to nod in understanding.

Carden went back to his seat in Gannon's lap after he was shoo'd away. Now that Lawrynce was looking at it, the boy seemed to be almost like a female. Just not with all the characteristics.

"Everyone here is not in their third and true form due to the fact it may scare you. So, I have someone in mind that should be the one to show you that." Leopold sighed, looking over to his wife with a small smile.

"Anyways, youngin'!" His wife called, "I'm Petra. Leopolds mate, but wife in your case." She grinned, walking closer to the small huddle of two.

So, mate is a wife and husband situation?...

"And I'm supposed to be the one welcoming you to our pack, Calvin." Petra said, scruffing Lawrynce's hair, "Now, Finnian has a job of showing you around. Run along now." She said, giving off a motherly vibe to Lawrynce.

"Yes, ma'am." Lawrynce said and turned around, after giving a smile to the Alpha and Luna, going to Finnian who was standing in the doorway.

Finnian patted Lawrynce's back, laughing, "You were so tense I thought you were broken!" He said in between laughs, bringing Lawrynce to a side room in the cave.

The room had an animal skin for the door, some drawings on the walls, recognizable drawings.... These were Lawrynce's drawings incased in picture frames. The ones he had given Finnian over time..

"How did you get these over here? You wouldn't of had time. Didn't you have like a small place you were staying near my house?" Lawrynce asked, looking around the room. The bed was made of animal skins and the floors were too, probably so Finn's feet wouldn't get cold immediately in the morning due to the stone.

"I had time at night. Remember the phone call of me getting onto you? Yeah, I was over here hanging these up as we were speaking." Finn laughed, "You're kinda like a sibling to me.." He whispered.

Lawrynce grinned and nudged Finn's shoulder, "Don't get all sappy on me now. Do you have any socks?" I asked, pointing to my feet that had turned red due to the cold temperatures.

"Oh! Shit, we should have had this all laid out. I should probably take you to the cabin before I show you around the cave, it gets really cold at night in the back." Finn said, grabbing my elbow again and dragging me out of his room. "We definitely don't need you sick. It's a vulnerability." Finnian gave a nervous laugh as I continued to catch up and keep his pace. "Since we are naturally warm with fur in our animal forms, we don't usually get cold in our human ones. Have you ever noticed how I'm basically a heater when I touch you?" Finn asked, and I shrugged, "Sort of.." I whispered.

Finnian quickly maneuvered his way to getting Lawrynce on his back then shifted, quickly running up a part of the mountain, barely even a mile away from the cave, they stopped at a two story log cabin house. Lawrynce gawked, "Is this where I'm gonna be staying now?" He asked, earning a groan from the fox he was atop of.

I wonder if Finnian has a third form?.... or if it's just the wolves..

Finnian went to the porch and let Lawrynce off before he shifted back. Lawrynce looked around the yard, seeing the view he got from outside the tree's overlooking the mountains and a part of a frozen-over lake. The sun peeked from the clouds for a split moment, illuminating his face. Finnian smiled at Lawrynce and patted his shoulder, "Cmon, I can only shift one more time before I have to do the spell to keep my clothes on." Finn chuckled and patted Lawrynce shoulder, going inside the two doors that led to the huge house. Once Lawrynce was inside, his eyes gleamed. There was two pillars in the middle with green Christmas garland going up it, even lights mixed into it it seemed. There were two staircases that went up and curved inwards on both sides, garland with lights on the rails too. Through, the middle was doors that led into a kitchen. To the side of the left staircase was a laundry room, and to the right was a dining room. The living room was in the middle, a few couches on the sides and a electric fireplace under the right stairs. But, Lawrynce's favorite part was the eleven foot Christmas tree to the left of the living room. It's light from the all colored lights shining all over the living room, and bouncing off the ornaments. The lights in the garland suddenly came on, making Lawrynce awe with his mouth ajar. "There we go." Finnian said from the corner, he had turned on the lights for the garland.

"This is so beautiful..." Lawrynce whispered, "And it's still a little ways from Christmas.." Finnian chuckled and started walking up the stairs after he kicked off his shoes, "Well, you can thank Mr. Wolf for this one." Finnian sighed and left around the corner up the stairs. Lawrynce quickly made his way up the stairs and finding Finn in a room big enough for two. "Woah.." Lawrynce fawned, "This is so pretty!" He made a laugh almost like a giggle, seeing the mini Christmas tree identical to the one in the living room in the corner. There was two dressers one along the left and right wall, one closet in the middle, a balcony's doors beside the king sized bed, and a full bathroom next to the closet. "It even has a jacuzzi'! How do you guys even afford it?!" Lawrynce exclaimed, shutting the bathroom doors and going to the bed, but not laying on it due to his dirty clothing. The bed had a light blue canopy to match the white carpets and light blue curtains.

"Well, we don't really have to do much.... this world is a lot different than yours Lawrynce. Our kind gets paid to hunt, run other packs and make deals, and not to mention we are the biggest pack of them all. The Mindight snowy Mountains pack. Sounds childish, doesn't it? They all work for us, whatever they do we get something out of it. It's just the way of our world. I'm not good at explaining this section of our world..." Finnian sighed, bringing out new clothes from the closet. "This will have to do." He said with a monotone face, setting a plain, large, black shirt with a pair of black sweatpants. "Here's your socks." Finn had gotten socks out of a drawer and tossed them at my face, hitting me directly in the forehead. Out of that commotion, of me fighting with Finn after the action, I heard a door shut downstairs. My first thought was, "Maybe, it's the third son." So, I peeked out the door to look down the hall. But to my disappointment it was only Carden and Gannon coming in from the small meeting and up the stairs.

"Was you expecting someone else?" Finn asked from behind me, a clear face satisfaction.

He really is like a brother, he teased the literal crap outa me.

"No, I was just curious.." I muttered and pushed Finn out of the room, "Gotta get changed, I'll be out in a bit!" I gave a smart aleck eye roll and tone, shutting the door behind Finn.

I lied, I actually took a shower to warm myself up, then after I finished changing, I noticed the clothes were almost two sizes two big for me. But, they were going to have to do because I didn't have any more clothes. I'll need to get some...

Lawrynce went to the side door, sliding the door open and stepping out into the cold and snow covered balcony. A smile spread on Lawrynce's face, seeing the stars above him. It was a weird feeling. He was happy but there was also a negative emotion in the back of his mind. Maybe, the ones he was neglecting to show. Maybe, he was just on the verge of cracking?.. He was gonna break soon, and he needed to make sure he could hold himself together after. He didn't need anyone seeing him at his weakest... Being sad is worse than being sick. One he had a choice to be, the other he didn't. But then again,....being sad really isn't a choice, it's just there.

Lawrynce's eyes shimmered while they scanned over the night sky, the wind ran against his face quickly while the tree's whistled and brushed against each other. Lawrynce gripped the railing and bit his bottom lip, letting his eyes shut for a split moment before he opened them to see the mountains in front of him.

He was letting things sink in, taking a deep breath then letting it out.

Letting the negative thoughts make their way from the back of his mind to the front.

Letting his guilt corrupt him. Lawrynce's grip on the wood railing tightened. He let go of his lip and it quivered. He looked back up to the sky with tears pooling in his eyes.

I wonder if mom had my life planned for me..

I wonder if she can see me..

I wonder if I'm everything she wanted me to be..

Then the tears fell. My heart ached. And I shivered. I probably shouldn't be out in the cold, and I don't even know if this is happy tears, sad tears, or "help me, I'm stressed" tears.

I kept my breathing calm, trying not to hiccup as I let the tears fall into the snow on the railing.

I put a hand over my mouth and took a deep breath through my stuffy nose, then let it out, then repeated. My eyes were shut as I did this, and the unusual feeling of warmth caught my body. Then when I opened my eyes, the heat still around me. My breath got caught in my throat, my face covered in shock, I froze in fear.

Lawrynce didn't notice it at that moment, but the aura around him was glowing a deep red with a white outline around his body. It made the air warp around him and wave as his body emitted a burning heat that no one could feel.

I don't think I'm supposed to be seeing this..