Alpha Ian’s POVTravelling back to memories of my childhood with Ezekiel wasn’t something I was especially fond of. The reasons should be very obvious. Our relationship crashed and burned, right alongside him growing into the monster he was always going to be. There were many nights after Ezekiel left when I laid in bed, wondering what I could have done to prevent his banishment. I thought incessantly about how I should have tried harder to make sure he never got to that point, to prevent the innocent murder of that human. I hated myself for scarcely disagreeing with him as we grew up. But more than that, I hated myself even more for never speaking up when I did disagree with him. I never intervened when I felt he did something wrong. Whenever my gut instinct told me Ezekiel had crossed a line, I never did to make him see that.At age sixteen, when my best friend was banished from our pack for a heinous crime, I was devastated, I was heartbroken, but above all, I was filled with sel
Alpha Ian’s POVOnce I got it in my head that I was going to find Ezekiel and bring him home, the idea would not leave me. I thought about it constantly, even in moments when I was surrounded by other people. Sometimes hearing what the entire pack were saying about my former best friend almost served as a deterrence but the desire always returned.As it stood, nobody seemed to want him to return. Nobody had anything good to remember him by. All our age-mates seemed relieved that he was gone. During our training sessions, it was all they talked about. It made me dizzy. I keep overhearing conversations and people saying he made them uncomfortable, even when he was supposedly on his best behavior. Some said he made them angry unprovoked, but the majority of the young wolves seemed to have feared Ezekiel. This wasn’t exactly new to me. I knew that as much as our trainers admired him for the amazing warrior that he was, his personality made them wary of the type of Alpha werewolf he would
Alpha Ian’s POVIt was that very night when I packed an overnight bag and left our Pack. I wasn’t sure if I was going to find Ezekiel where I thought he was. Hell, I wasn’t even sure if he wanted to see my face but I was determined to do this. Nothing was going to stop me from reaching out. Whatever consequences were waiting for me at the end of this road, I will face them head on. There was no going back now. I couldn’t even afford to.As I made my way through the bustling city of New Orleans at night, I couldn’t stop myself from replaying the events that led to Ezekiel’s banishment. The moment he’d murdered that human for hunting a deer.Granted, I hated the persecution of wild animals and believed in their preservation. Humans were too arrogant for their own good. They acted as though this world was created for them and they were somehow superior to animals. I knew even the ones who believed in the existence of supernatural creatures liked me also believed we needed to be wiped ou
Alpha Ian’s POV I rode the elevator all the way to the penthouse and Ezekiel buzzed me in like he promised. Once that door swung open and I saw him standing on the other side, dressed in a pair of loose sweat pants and a black shirt, hair still wet from what was no doubt a shower before bed, I completely broke down. I rushed into his arms and he held me up as I collapsed against his body. I started sobbing, burying my face in his neck. I was soaking the soft skin.“It’s alright,” he said. “I’ve got you. Ian, I’ve got you. You’re here now.”He kept repeating the words but they were going over my head. At least, for now, I could barely process everything that was going on. But I was aware of the fact that I was finally with my cradle brother again. The terrible ache that had been in me since the day he was kicked out was slowly receding.His arms were wrapped around me, his body was solid against mine and I was enveloped by his scent. That was all my brain could compute in the moment.
Chapter 54 No Other GirlAlpha Ian’s POVAfter we entangled ourselves from the floor, I trailed behind Ezekiel, following him to the master bedroom.“You’re not planning to stay for long, are you?” he asked, sitting at the edge of the gigantic bed.“Why do you say that?” I was standing in the middle of the room, clutching my backpack. I didn’t know why I was beginning to feel awkward all of a sudden.“You barely came with anything.” He gestured towards my backpack. “What did you even manage to fit in that small thing?”“Essentials,” I retorted, rolling my eyes, as I moved toward where he was sitting. I dropped my backpack on the bed and zipped it up. “Also, it’s not small. It can keep plenty of stuff just fine.”“Well, then, I’m sorry for belittling your precious backpack.” He looked anything but sorry and I had to resist the urge to smack him on the head.“You’re such an ass,” I muttered. “I ran away. You get that right? This wasn’t some planned vacation where I had my parents’ permi
Alpha Ian’s POV“What the fuck, Ian?” Denise exclaimed, fixing me with a shocked look.In fact, everyone in the Study was staring at me as though I’d grown two heads. What I’d revealed was indeed shocking, given that when Dominic had suggested Ezekiel had a crush I had acted as though I was none the wiser, as though nothing remotely romantic never happened between us.That wasn’t the truth. Goddess, that was far from the truth. I didn’t know why my first instinct had been pretending and then blatantly lying and omitting. Maybe it was the shame. It had to be.If I admitted to knowing about Ezekiel’s true feelings, I had to acknowledge mine, something I never truly did, especially after the catastrophic way my stay at the penthouse had ended. All I did was suppress those memories and pretended those feelings never existed, pretended as though everything hadn’t changed between Ezekiel and I starting from the first night I stepped foot in that penthouse.But maybe it was high time I let i
Alpha Ian’s POV I stood back and watched Ezekiel move around the kitchen with an ease that signaled he’s been spending a lot of time in it. He has always been a good cook. Who was I kidding? Ezekiel was good at everything. He was annoying like that. There were times when I wondered why he felt the need to excel at everything, why he was always so intense, and never allowed himself the laziness of doing anything half way. It took me sometime to realize that he drew pride from his accomplishments, big or small. He was someone who had a high sense of self-worth. And excelling at everything he did was a way of reminding himself and everyone around him that he was special. He was different. Not that someone like me ever forgot that for a second. “How long exactly is it gonna take you to finish cooking something as simple as Mac and Cheese?” I threw the question in the kitchen, perching on a stool, and fixing him with a pointed look. “Patience, baby boy,” Ezekiel said, grinning. He did
Alpha Ian’s POVAfter I asked my best friend to kiss me, he released a sharp exhale of breath. Ezekiel placed his hand on the apple of my cheek, his finger caressing the cheek bone. His touch was incredibly featherlight and gentle. My gaze was fixated on his parted lips. The same way his was fixated on mine.“Zek…”“Are you sure?” Ezekiel whispered the words. “Ian, are you sure you want me to kiss you?”“Do you not want me to?” I asked, voice small, as the fear that I’ve misread the situation took over.“Of course, I want to,” Ezekiel said with a shaky laugh. “It feels as though I’ve never not wanted to kiss you. I don’t remember a time when I didn’t.”His words left me feeling floored. I was overtaken by strange emotions, echoes and fragments of things I felt at some point in the last sixteen years of my life with Ezekiel by my side. There might have been times when I craved him even when he was beside me, but I never understood why that happened. There were many times when I felt a