In the arms of no one

Chapter Three

Tiernan's POV

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"Mo-oomm! What did you do with my trainers?!" I yelled from my wardrobe door. I look around, biting my top lip, trying to see if there is maybe a corner that I might have missed. It's four days before Christmas and I wanted to go out and do some gift shopping. Yeah I know, I should have had all my shopping done ages ago, but I really didn't have the time.

Between spending time with my family, my girlfriend, Alpha training duties, which is a hell of a lot more than the list implies, school and pack training, I don't have much time for anything. So now, here I am four days away from Christmas without any presents and if I don't get a present for my girlfriend, I'm dead or I might as well be.

My girlfriend, Bianca Stevensen, is amazing. She'll make an awesome Luna when the time comes. But officially, I won't find out if we're mates until my birthday in a few days when I turn 18, which coincidentally is the same day as Christmas. If you think that means that I got double the presents or anything epic like that growing up, you would be wrong. Because I didn't. Sucks to be me, I guess.

Anyway, back to my beautiful girlfriend; she and I have been together for nearly two and a half years. Her father, who has been one of my father's best friends since they were in diapers, is the Beta of our pack. Her mother is a human from - uhh I want to say Australia but I'm not sure, it might be the neighbouring country of New Zealand. I wouldn't dare voice my confusion over which country she belongs to out loud, because the last time someone got her country of origin wrong, Female Beta Elizabeth kicked his a$$ so hard he couldn't sit for three days. That's practically a lifetime of pain for a werewolf. It was made worse because the warrior then became the cautionary tale that was spoken of so often that the guy decided to request a transfer. I mean, I don't necessarily blame the guy. He did get his butt handed to him by a female human and all because of a tiny mistake.

Even though I'm confused about the country that the accent comes from, I'm not confused about how sexy I find it. Just don't tell Bianca I said that. She'd gross herself out as well as myself, if she thought that meant I found her mom sexy. Because I dont. Ew. No!

Anyway, I am completely in love with Bianca, the way her pretty red hair falls down her back in long curly waves. Her gorgeous green eyes, her soft pouty lips and, oh man, don't get me started on her body. Sometimes, I want to sink myself into that sweet body of hers so deep, that I can't find my way out again. But we agreed that we'd wait until the moon goddess confirms what we already know. That we are destined mates. But that doesn't mean we haven't done other things. I've placed my fingers and mouth in and on places that I wish my c0ck could go.

The small jump in my pants makes me grimace a little, because now is definitely not the time to be walking around with a fricken hard on.

Besides the fact that Bianca is beautiful, she has all the traits that I admire in a Luna. She's honest, polite, patient, kind, strong and caring. So many more attributes that make me feel grateful to have her as more than just the friend I grew up with.

Fisting my dark brown hair in my hands, I walk out of my wardrobe and yell once again. "Mo-oomm! What did you..." the loud projection of my voice dies down to nothing when I spot my mother standing next to my open bedroom door with my sneakers in her hands, a cheeky smile on her face and her sparkling blue eyes shining with mischief.

"You left them in the gym, and no one wanted to touch them because they stank so badly."

Narrowing my eyes at her in offence, I grit my teeth in irritation as I growl in conjecture, "O-oorr, no one wanted to touch them because they knew they were mine and didn't want their heads chewed off."

Throwing my shoes at me, my mother flips her dirty blonde hair and laughs loudly while stepping away from my door. As she makes her way down the corridor, she shouts, "Nah T, I think I got it right. Smelly a$$, old shoes only your mother or Bianca loves you enough to touch."

"Hey!" Scowling, I rush to the open doorway, feeling self-conscious that she would yell something like that out for any one else on the third floor of our pack house to clearly hear. It's at moments like these, that I have to wonder if parents have a built-in 'must roast the children in front of as many people as possible' button, that we - their unsuspecting, innocent children, know nothing about.

With a final wave in my direction, I watch my mother disappear around the corner of the long corridor as I lean against the frame of my door with a fond smile lighting up my face. Despite how embarrassing my mother or father can be. I know how incredibly lucky I am in life. I love my family and I love everything about my life. I wouldn't change a thing.

My mom and dad are Alpha and Luna of my pack, the Orion Moon Pack, making me the future Alpha of the pack which then makes Bianca future Luna of the pack. Again, I understand that there is still an IF to consider, but I'm so sure that she's my future, I can feel it in my bones.

My mom, Melody, is a beautiful and amazing mother and Luna to our pack. Cheeky, understanding, strong and honest. A woman with great integrity, who is also not afraid to stand up for herself or others. Everything that a good Luna should be. She looks a lot like my Grams with her dirty blonde hair, clear blue eyes, wide medium lips and small pert nose. I've heard people mention more than once over the years, that my dad hit the lottery when it came to Luna's, and I'm not ashamed to say that I agree with them and no, I'm not biased, so you can cut that sh!t out.

My father, Damien McKenzie, is a tall, robust giant of a man, with dark brown hair and light brown eyes. He is a very loyal and hard working man, who would do anything for his family and pack. So much so, that he gets out there and works just as hard and long as his warriors and pack members do.

His philosophy is "You are never too high up in the hierarchy to work alongside your pack members."

It's not uncommon to find him or his Beta, Gamma and Head Warrior working in various places on pack grounds. From cooking or cleaning in the pack house kitchens before and after pack meals, to building houses, performing maintenance duties, running security or boarder control on our lands with the pack warriors, or working alongside the day care workers in our child care facilities. If our Leading Four aren't participating in meetings, or shut away in their offices slaving away over the tedious but necessary paper work the pack accumulates on a daily basis, then they're somewhere helping pack members do what they do to make our community run smoothly.

I suppose the reason for this is to build firm relationships between the Leading Four, as they are called, and general pack members while also keeping the Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Head Warrior humble. My mum likes to call it keeping things simple and real.

Our town, Ardoch ND, is pretty isolated and small. It's so small that we don't really have much in the way of stores or attractions. I think the closest thing would be our local watering hole, Ardoch Lake. Don't get me wrong, we like it that way. Werewolves and many other supernatural species would be hunted more than we already are if humans knew about us or our location. In saying that the half hour drive from Ardoch to the closest city of Grand Forks, North Dakota is a journey that many of our pack members take every day for their day jobs.

The misconception that wolves are uncontrollable, aggressive animals is a f*cking stupid narrative that Hollywood and all those human authors pushed for. Probably based on their possible horrific experience with a rogue wolf or, and this is the most likely reason, a werewolf decided it would be a good idea to start a relationship with a human, but then found their destined mate, thereby leaving the human alone suffering with a broken heart, maybe with a cavalier explanation and nothing else.

Even the werewolves who claim to have fallen in love with a human they decided to have a relationship with, will turn their backs on them in a heart beat once a calling of souls has been established.

After putting on my shoes and checking my reflection in the bathroom mirror to see if I look presentable for 'public Eye'sumption', I make my way out of my room, down the corridor, the stair cases and out of the pack house. Taking a deep and refreshing breath of the forest and lake air, then stepping down the back porch towards my 2018 Dodge Ram Laramie parked in the small rear parking lot.

F*ck I love being a wolf! Though it's true that pack members do live within the town limits, our pack house is located ten minutes from the township on the water front of Ardoch Lake. Other prestigious families own houses around the lake as well, my girlfriend's family being one of them. But her house is more hidden away in the forests with the lake and pack house being a short walk away from her house.

I'd just disabled the alarm and am about to jump into my truck when I catch sight of my best friends, Jared, Kaiah and Bianca's older twin brother, Brian. Their feet stomp on the green grass as they shout at me to wait for them because they want to come with. Although I was hoping for a solo trip today, the thought of my best friends helping me choose gifts for my loved ones would make things so much easier for me.

I watch them with a smirk as they make their way towards me and the truck. Hitting my hand against the frame of my door trying to get rid of some excess energy.

Jared has a mess of dirty blonde hair, olive green eyes, wide and thin lips, and a Romanesque nose. He's around six feet tall with a very toned body and when we take our three vows, he will take over from his father as Gamma of the pack.

Kaiah is half Caucasian and half Native American, as is indicative of his bronzed skin. He has long black pin straight hair that reaches to the middle of his back, with smokey grey eyes, medium-sized lips and a long straight nose. Five feet eleven inches tall with enormous and defined muscles due to the fact that he has trained to take over the role of his father since he was in Elementary School. When he pledges his vows, he will become Head Warrior of our pack.

Finally, my best friend Brian will become my future Beta. Unlike his sister, Brian has a shock of platinum blonde hair and dark green eyes, he has a thin top lip and a full bottom lip with a very strong aristocratic nose. At six foot three inches, he's one inch shy of my six foot four inches.

When we take our vows, we will become the pack's Leading Four, and even though I'm hella excited about the prospect, I know that the shoes that we'll need to fill are big ones. We'll have so many people who will depend on us for anything ranging from disputes, training, war training, pack finances and maintenance, as well as individual protection and so many other things that everyone will need.

The boys pile in noisily as usual, but as I look over at Brian in the passenger seat, I note that he's uncustomarily quiet. He has a deep frown on his face and his lips are flat, something's obviously bothering him. I wonder if he and his sister have had another argument. I swear, if I didn't know that they shared a womb, sometimes the way they treat each other is sh!t. Argh, I might as well get his side of the story before his sister tells me hers. We're like brothers and have never hidden anything from each other, even when Bianca and I started dating. With a nod of my head and a lift of my eyebrows, I greet him with a, "Hey man, what's up?" while I push start on my bad as f*ck truck.

He sighs while running his fingers through his hair, "My cousin is coming to live with us," he states anxiously. I back out of my parking space and start driving out of the parking lot and towards the main road leading towards Ardoch township. I've gotta drive through our township to get onto the main highway to Grand Forks and this drive is like second nature to me, so I pay more attention to the conversation happening in the car than to the barely busy road ahead.

Kaiah perks up and yells excitedly, "You mean your cousin from Cali? The one with ninja skills?"

"No" Brian replies flatly, "But I so f*cking wish!" he groans out like he's physically in pain.

"You mean the dancer from Arizona? The hot one with the sexy legs?" Jared's eyes light up with eagerness. I mean I don't necessarily blame him. Werewolves are naturally beautiful, just like most supernatural beings, but the Stevensens take that beauty to a whole new level. I swear, I'm not gay, but sometimes even I catch myself appreciating my best friend's appearance every now and then.

Again, that's my secret to hold. I don't want my girl feeling insecure about how my male teenage hormones have turned everything into a prelude to imagined porn scenes.

"What the f*ck man, NO! And you better stop thinking about Tara like that you f*cker!" Brian practically yells, reaching behind him to jab at Jared's head but missing, which causes a round of obnoxious laughter to erupt from the back.

"Well then who are you talking about?" I ask loudly over the sound of the twittering twit b!tches practically rolling around in the back seat. The pack has met most of the Stevensens either here on pack lands or at various State or Country Werewolf events.

From the corner of my eye, I notice that Brian's lips have flattened again as he turns to face me fully in his seat. The look in his eye is seriously intense, which automatically makes me feel apprehensive. "Dude, I'm gonna need you to pull over, because I know you're going to be mad. Especially since I was only told this morning that this was all approved of by our fathers without our knowledge. They didn't even ask for the input of their wives, except my mother, which makes sense."

Once my truck is parked over on the side of the road with the engine still running, we all peer at Brian with expectant looks. He peers at each of us nervously and sighs in resignation, before he then opens his mouth to falteringly say, "So I know that we've been slowly taking up the mantle of our fathers, but we haven't completely taken over the pack. Right?" We all nod our heads in agreement, trying to wait patiently for him to elaborate, but annoyance slowly skirts around my nerve endings. Dudes stalling, and I just wish he would hurry the f*ck up.

"They don't have to include us in every decision yet, but I can't help but feel like their decision this time is going to negatively affect all of us directly. No, not feel. I f*cking KNOW that their decision is going to impact us all." Impatiently I start tapping my fingers on the steering wheel, because why the f*ck is he drawing this out?

After another tense minute, Jared snappily exclaims, "Hurry the f*ck up and tell us before I sic Kai onto you, man!"

Kai laughs good-naturedly, holding up his fists, indicating that he's ready for a fight.

That interaction should have eased the tension in the cabin on my truck, but if anything, all it's done is increase the strain. Brian takes another deep breath like he's stressed the f*ck out and then lets it out slowly. I can understand that sentiment because my heart is starting to pound with trepidation. If Brian is this stressed over whatever this situation is, then it must be bad. Brian looks at each of us in the eye and vehemently states, "Our father's approved my cousin from New Zealand to come and live with us in our pack."

Ooohhh, New Zealand! That's where his mom's from remembering my musings from earlier. As almost an afterthought, I promise myself to not forget it, you know, for future personal safety purposes.

Jared rears his head back with a look of confusion on his face as he questions, "Yeah, so? What's the big deal about that?"

Brian peers at us like we seriously have a few screws loose and scoffs, "The big deal, you f*cking m0ron, is that she's a cousin from my mother's side of the family!" His jaw twitches furiously as he grits his teeth and continues to explain, like we're a bunch of preschoolers. "Which makes her human!"

He shakes his head and absently mutters, "A freaky human with these freaky f*cking eyes that change colours with her mood - do you know how many moods that is? And, oh, that's not all boys, wait until you hear this one." He raises his hand and forcefully wags his pointer finger in the air so hard that if it wasn't attached to his body I'm sure it would have fallen off, "She has a history of being a trouble maker! Like, the worst incident I've heard so far, is that she legit broke up a family because she was caught f*cking the dad, like some sick f*cking Lolita or some sh!it, and she's moving here! I mean, I don't know about you, but I'm sure you can understand what this means for us!"

Staring straight ahead out of the windscreen, I'm hoping that this is all a joke. As the minutes tick by, I remain silent waiting for him to yell "Gotcha a$$holes", I mean pranking the f*ck out of each other is our usual MO, when it's just us - no one else. The silent atmosphere in the cabin oscillates between tense disbelief and even more tense rage, until I realise that I'm sh!t out of luck because there is no prank. I recognize that a bubble of anger is building up within my body, its visceral heat works it's way from my feet, up my legs, through my core, navel, chest where it burns hot and bright until I feel nothing - I've never felt beyond pissed off before. Is there a word for what I'm feeling? It's more than rage, so it's not that. Is this what livid feels like?

I can't even acknowledge the fact that I should be questioning the eye-color-changing thing. But my wolf, Titus, is insistent that it's something important to consider, as usually that trait is indicative of some form of supernatural.

"Oh, get it together T." Titus communicates inside my head, "Our eyes change because we are werewolves, her eyes shouldn't change more than two colours because she is -"

"Human." I cut in to finish off the sentence for my wolf.

Huffing at me, Titus returns to the corner of my mind that is reserved just for him while in stasis mode, finally able to take in his counsel the rage that I felt before slowly recedes from my body until I'm left in a state of further unrest and suspicion at this new piece of information that none of my friends have stopped to consider. What is she if not human?

I sigh and then make a U-turn to return to the Pack house, because addressing this with our fathers is more important than a shopping spree, especially since it means the possible exposure of our whole species, unless Titan's, and now my, suspicion is correct and Brian's cousin is a supernatural. Would that mean that Beta Elizabeth's family are supernaturals as well? How would that work, if Beta Elizabeth is human?

Glancing into the rear view mirror, I firmly order Kaiah to link the Leading Four to let them know that we're coming back to the Pack house so that we speak to them. After a few minutes, Kaiah's eyes blink back into focus on his surroundings and then he advises that the Leading Four and their wives are currently in a meeting and that we are free to join them as soon as we arrive.

Jared frowns and turns and peers at the back of Brian's head and asks, "Dude, how do you know that your cousin is a 'freaky human with freaky f*cking eyes that change colour' if you haven't met her before?"

"Easy," Brian answers flatly. "My Grandmama sent us photos and video footage of her over the years. And when she visits or calls my mom sometimes puts her on speaker phone, so we've all heard snippets of what my cousin Vallon has been up to. All the sh!t she's done." Brian lifts his a$$ up off the seat and reaches into his back pocket while quietly growling, "I have a photo of her on my phone, check it." He turns his phone on and reaches his hand back to pass his phone off to our backseat passengers.

As I pull up to the driveway leading to the back parking lot of the Pack house, the boys already have his phone in between them, creepily staring at it intently. Glancing back, I'm surprised to see Jared lick and then bite his bottom lip while peering at the phone, which is weird because, as far as I know, the most interest Jared has ever shown in a chick is a cursory perve before he puts said chick out of his mind. Like a good wolf, Jared is all about waiting for his fated mate.

"Bro, she's f*cking hot!" Kaiah almost whispers with awe.

"What's her name?" Jared asks just as quietly.

"Is she single? Please tell me she's single!" Kaiah begs around the fist he put into his mouth. Kaiah is the only one of us four who didn't wait for his fated mate. He's been around the block and then some, even taking a few humans from the city as lovers.

"What the actual f*ck dudes! You f*cking sick c*nts better keep your paws off of her. You may be my best friends, but I will make sure you thoroughly understand the reason why they put the b!tch in b!tch slap. Even if my cousin is a raging wh0re, stay the f*ck away!" Brian turns around to face our friends with a deadly look in his eye while snatching his phone back from their lascivious hands.

Frowning in a faux confused manner, if the twinkle in his eye is anything to go by, Kaiah cheekily asks, " Are you saying that your hits are gonna make us b!tches or are you saying you're already a b!tch that's gonna slap us?"

Jared's obnoxious laugh fills the truck while I try and hide a chuckle of my own with a cough. Brian's growl of anger quickly dampens the mood though, not that any of us are intimidated in any way. Us four have known each other for so long, we're all practically brothers; and just like brothers, we've been known to have fights. The added bonus to our fights is that we have all developed an understanding of our strengths and weaknesses, our techniques and our stances.

Directing my truck into my designated parking spot, I turn the truck off and cautiously reach over for Brian's phone out of his hand. Pulling it close to my face, I quickly glance at it, not really expecting much, but my eyes widen with surprise and refuse to move away from the image.

My heart skips a beat and my breath catches at the sight of the unique colour of eyes I don't believe is real. I'm completely captivated, mesmerised by the beautiful features of the girl smiling for the camera, and f*ck it all to hell I feel it. I know it! Deep in my gut a fear tied to this girl grows because I know that if she comes here nothing is going to be the same ever again. If that girl comes here, then I'll be in big f*cking trouble.

Because that human girl, the one with the dark, midnight hair, full lips, caramel skin and with the strange eyes, is pulling me in. Through a f*cking picture on my best friend's innocuous phone.

I haven't even physically met the girl, but the intense attraction for this human sucker punches me in my solar plexus and makes my c0ck twitch with want.

She's the most beautiful creature I have ever laid my eyes on, more beautiful than even my girlfriend, her first cousin. F*ck!

She's not my mate, that's her cousin's role. So why the heck am I perving at her for? With that last thought, I tear my eyes away from the screen and practically throw Brian's phone back at him, ignoring the curious gazes of my friends as I hurriedly throw myself out of the vehicle as fast as I can. I don't meet their concerned looks as I slowly make my way towards the Pack house. Once I hear three car doors slamming behind me, I click the button on my fob to lock and alarm my truck while my feet pick up speed.

This is not f*cking happening!