Fated

Chapter Three: Worry

I stand up and stretch after pulling my clothes on again, both of us a little more relaxed now after releasing some pent up frustration. 

"Now, we need to actually study," I yawn, smiling a little as I move towards my pc once again and sitting at my desk, this time, determined to work.

"Fine by me," Isaac responds, a brazen grin on his face, "But - should we unlock the door first?" He winks at me.

My face turns a little red at this, so I move to unlock and open the door, "No distractions anymore then!" I grin back at him. 

Brrr, his phone vibrates.

He doesn't see my playful grin at him as he pulls out his phone and begins typing... That same look from earlier when he was in the car swarms his face. His friends must be up to no good again...

I wait a little, but his expression doesn't change as he messages back and forth with his friends.

"Isaac... Is everything okay?"

"Hmm?" His face snaps up and he closes his phone quickly, placing it face down on my bedside table, "Yeah, yeah everything's fine... Just the guys again." He scratches the back of his neck, "Don't worry about it though, everything's fine."

I can't shake the feeling that something is off, though. Maybe his friends are planning something seriously messed up right now...

My concern only grows as he stays silent, his expression still unchanging.

"Isaac, you know," I start, "If you need to go look after your friends, that's fine," My expression is serious - His friends are mostly harmless, but they can be really dumb. The like to pull dumb pranks and sometimes it goes too far. As the son of the Alpha, and the future Alpha of our pack, Isaac usually needs to be the responsible one and rein them in a bit.

"Yeah..." Isaac considers, his expression tight. 

His friends must be being extra dumb this time... 

Another moment passes as he considers my proposition, chewing on his lip, "Are you sure you wouldn't mind me bailing on our study time?"

I move back to him as he still sits on the large bed, and place myself on his lap. "Of course I don't mind. I'm a bit worried about your studies, yes, but... You need to look after your friends, and that's fine."

Isaacs eyes shine a little as I say that, but something else in his expression shifts as well, presenting a feeling I'm not sure I know... Some kind of stress, maybe? I don't know, but it's definitely something negative... Definitely something not right.

He takes a breath in and regains his composure, relaxing his expression again.

He pulls me in close to him, "Thanks, Claire. I'm so lucky to be with someone as understanding as you." He places a small kiss on my forehead.

"Do you have time to cuddle a little before you leave?" I ask, hopeful.

"Mm, yeah, that would be nice," Isaac pulls me from his lap and lies me beside him.

We lie on the bed together, just cuddling in silence for a couple of minutes. Something feels a little tense.

"Isaac..." I interrupt the silence, breaking my discomfort from the tension, "Have you been thinking about your birthday at all? It's coming up pretty soon."

A wolf's 19th birthday is a big deal. All wolf packs have slightly different bloodlines and heritages, so wolf lifestyles can differ from pack to pack, but one absolute commonality is that we all find our mates on our 19th birthday. 

However, some main differences between the different packs, are the ages we actually meet our wolves. In our pack, we are born with our wolves inside of us - they're always there (this does mean that the parents in our pack have an incredibly difficult time looking after their children, unfortunately. Looking after a toddler is difficult enough, but, a toddler who can randomly shift into a tiny wolf? Nightmarish). In other packs, the wolves spirit grows over time - some packs gain their wolves in childhood, others during puberty, and some even only meet their wolves on their 19th birthday.

I am grateful that in our pack, we always have our wolves. It means us and our wolves are closer than could be otherwise possible - we grow up together, learning together, and it can even make our wolves stronger, from growing and learning with us from birth.

As the main event for our pack member's 19th birthdays is finding our mate, a lot of focus is put on this at the celebration. Especially, in the case of Isaac, the son of the Alpha, and the future Alpha, she-wolves, and other wolves, from all over the country will attend, in the hopes of being his mate.

Lots of families attend also, to strengthen the connections between the packs.

I am a little worried... But I know I'm his mate, so - I know I have no real reason to worry...

"I'm trying not to think about it too much," Isaac responds, his face tight and thoughtful. The tension rises a little.

"It will be a nice celebration, and you'll meet so many members of the other packs. I think it will be fun!"

"Mm, maybe."

A moment of silence passes again. Isaac's face is tighter and that emotion I can't place is written all over him. I decide not to discuss his birthday anymore. Maybe he is too stressed to think about something so big right now.

"Are you stressing about the messages from your friends right now?"

"Um, yeah, a little," He responds in a slightly defeated tone. Exasperated, maybe?

"Well, you should go to them, then. I won't keep you back anymore!" I try to lighten the mood a little, "Try not to stress too much! Soon you'll even have your Alpha voice to be able to command them anyway!" I laugh at the ridiculousness of the idea of Isaac commanding that group of... - Well, maybe I should stop referring to them as idiots....

Isaac chuckles a little at that, and his mood lightens a little, "Okay, I'll go now then. Will you be okay studying alone?"

"Of course I will be, most people study alone, you know." I give him a funny look, "But I should call Sophia again anyway, we are supposed to hang out later, so I'll see what's happening."

Isaac's expression twists a little. Lying beside his chest, I even notice his heart quickens pace a little.

"Yeah, you should check in with Sophia and see if she's okay... Umm, I'll get going then." Isaac gets up to go, getting ready before lifting his still unopened and unpacked bag and throwing it on his back.

"Call me if you need a hand with anything?" I smile at him, a little worried about him.

"I will," Isaac bends down to place a soft kiss on my forehead.

After he leaves, I pull out my phone and call Sophia. 

'Line busy,' My phone calls out.

Weird... Sophia doesn't usually call to talk to anyone.

Deciding it isn't completely unheard of for her to talk to other people on the phone, I send her a text instead, asking her if she's still up for hanging out later.

She doesn't usually take long to reply, so I wait on my bed for five, ten minutes for a response. Nothing. 

I shake it off; she has her own life and she'll get back to me when she gets a chance.

Moving to actually study now, I sit at my computer and bring our untouched bag of snacks over to my side. 

A few hours go by, and I have been very productive, with no distractions from Isaac, having now finished my homework and caught up on one of my assignments. But I still haven't heard back from Sophia.

I decide to call her again, worried now.

"Hello?" Sophia responds down the line, her voice stuffy, clearly congested.

"Sophia! Are you okay? I tried to call earlier to see if you were still up for hanging out tonight. Is everything okay?"

"Oh, um, yeah, yeah everything's fine. Sorry I missed your call, I've been busy..." She trails off.

I stay silent for a minute to let her speak.

Sophia takes a deep, congested breath, "I umm, I don't think I can hang out tonight, Claire... I'm sorry! Maybe tomorrow night instead?"

"Yeah of course! I look forward to it!" I smile down the line at her, "But Sophia, you sound a bit congested, are you sick?"

"Mm, yeah, maybe, I'm not sure..." Her voice cracks a little, "I'll see how I am tomorrow I guess..."

"Well, rest up in bed tonight, take some soup and medicine and get plenty of sleep. Don't even worry about homework. You're already ahead of everything, so you can afford some time off. And umm - oh yeah, if you need me for anything at all, just call me whenever, okay? To get you meds, to feed you, or wipe your snot, just let me know!" 

Sophia laughs a little laugh, but, a pained laugh... Maybe laughing is giving her pain in her lungs right now, if she's sick...

"Okay, I'll let you know," Sophia sniffles, "Talk to you later, Claire."

She hangs up.

I hope she's okay. She doesn't get sick very often - I don't think I've ever even seen her sick before in my life...

I turn my phone notifications on loud in case Sophia contacts me for anything, and get dressed for bed.

Now that I think about it, I haven't heard back from Isaac recently either. Usually he texts me here and there until we sleep, but I haven't heard from him once since he left.

I send him a quick text to check if he's okay, and sit on my bed for a few minutes, waiting for a reply. Ten minutes go by, and I decide he probably just fell asleep after dealing with his friends.

Selfish as it may be, as I get into bed, all I can think about is Isaacs upcoming birthday. I can barely calm my excitement enough to fall asleep. After an hour of imagining his party, I finally feel myself slipping under...

Ding! My phone goes off.

A message from Isaac. I barely manage to read it through my drooping eyes, heavy with sleep; 'Claire, sorry I didn't message or update you on the situation. Everything's fine. I'm just tired. Talk tomorrow. xx"

'Mate' I mutter, drifting off for the night, my phone slipping from my hands...