Playing Around

“Grayson, stop talking. This is a serious matter,” Lion scolds me, “How did she die? When?”

“Cocaine overdose. Eighteen years, three months and fifteen days ago," she answers and I guess she must be traumatized enough to even remember the days. Poor thing, no wonder she's so weird. I wish my mother had died eighteen years ago and not hers... okay, I didn't want to think this, I wasn't serious... or maybe I was, “Buy either way, you wouldn't have known about my birth. Like you said, my grandmother hates you.”

“Yes... that miserable old woman," He curses under his breath and throws the towel he had on his head on the floor, "Let's see, then, let me recap. Miriam got pregnant, fled back home to America so I wouldn't find out, and two years later she overdosed on coke.... Wow, what a mess. And who did you stay with? Did Miriam get married?”

“No, I stayed alone with my grandmother. That miserable old woman you mentioned," Midnight replies. Lion grimaces, "It's not as bad as you think. She raised me very well, as far as I can tell. She put up with me, although more than once she expressed how difficult that was. She didn't want me to go to any school because the education system sucks, and she wouldn't let me out of the house because it's too dangerous, but... she always gave me my space and let me do what I wanted in the house. As long as I didn't bother her and didn't make noise, everything was fine. And now I'm here with you. I am happy.”

We all fall silent and I don't know about the others, but I for one want to put Midnight in my arms and coo at her like a baby because that sounds awful. My childhood wasn't the best in the world, but at least I had Bastian, Baxter and Lion.

She just had a crazy grandmother who wouldn't let her out of the house. Now it makes more sense that she's so weird.

“Why didn't you look me up sooner?” Lion asks. His voice cracks a little and he closes his eyes for a few seconds to count to ten, "You know what, I need to think, I need to be alone. Everyone go do something and come back in a little while when I'm feeling better.”

“Even me?” Midnight asks quietly and Lion gives her an obvious look.

“Especially you," he replies, not realizing how idiotic he sounds. But it's been a crazy few minutes for him so we decide not to say anything to him and get up to give him time alone. Bastian and Angie start to talk quietly to each other and I take Midnight's arm.

“Why don't you come with me to my room? We can...”

“Don't even think you can try anything with my new daughter, you fucker. I know how you are," Lion warns towards me and I give him an incredulous look for exposing me like that, "Oh, don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. Midnight, don't trust him, he's a depraved rat. But go to his room, I really need you to get out of my sight for a moment.”

“Lion is a dumbass, he's not being serious," I mutter to her, embarrassed, although she doesn't seem at all perturbed by the comment. I put a hand on her lower back to escort her down the hallway, but before I can enter my room, Bastian makes a sound and points to his door in a not-so-subtle way, “Go inside. I'll be back in a moment.”

“Can I turn on the TV?” she asks when she's inside and I say yes before going to Bastian.

“What's wrong?” I ask, closing the door behind me. My brother has his arms folded across his chest and Angie is behind him giving me a reproachful look.

This looks like I'm going to get scolded.

“Gary, I know you didn't do it on purpose...”

“Don't call me Gary," I complain immediately. That's what my whore of a mother calls me and I don't like it, it makes me feel like I'm fourteen again. It takes me back and I feel like I'm enduring one of her parties and her junkie friends talking about how handsome I am and asking how much I cost, “What do you want?”

“We want you to think more about what you're going to say before you say it,” Angie scolds me, “Obviously Midnight is not.... well, I don't want to say she's not normal, but she's a peculiar woman and you've been acting like a jerk to her. Besides, we're pretty sure she has no idea that we're werewolves. Or that she's half wolf too.”

“Yeah, I know. It won't happen again, I promise. And I'll watch my words from now on.”

“Thanks, but seriously think about things a little before you spill them out, okay, little brother?” Bastian lifts his hand to rub my head as he has been doing since I decided to get a buzz cut but I push him away because I know he's just doing it to make me feel like a little kid, “Go with her and try to make her comfortable with us, it looks like she'll be staying here for a while.”

“And don't try anything with her. Nothing sexual," Angie warns, raising a finger at me, "She's innocent and basically your niece. Treat her well... but not too well.”

“Do you realize that what you say hardly ever makes sense?,” I ask her, shaking my head, "I'm not an unstoppable stallion, I just look like one. I know how to control my urges and, actually, I hadn't even thought of trying anything with her. I don't know why you feel the need to tell me not to.”

“Just listen to the adults and do what we say," my brother finishes so we don't get into an argument and opens the door towards me, "Now, get out.”

I decide not to comment anything else and just walk like a good boy back to my room to put on a Disney movie and try not to make Midnight hate me like everyone else.

Unfortunately, the second I open my door and see what Midnight is doing, I have to fight the urge to throw her damn body into the river. It makes me want to snap her neck like a twig. It makes me want to send her home to her grandmother and leave her locked up there forever.

And in all honesty, despite being an alpha and my new profession as a boxer, I don't have a violent personality. Not at all. Quite the opposite, in fact. However, right now, I really want to kill this woman and make it look like an accident.

“Stay away from that! You fuck…” I squeeze my eyes shut and bite the inside of my cheeks so I don't explode. Midnight stops erasing things with her thin finger when I scream and turns to me with a little gasp of surprise, “I'm going to strangle you.”

“What?!” she screams in horror, backing away as if she really thinks I’m going to do that.

I run to her side and cover her mouth because the last thing I need right now is for them to think that I'm threatening her life on top of everything else.

“I wasn't being serious, woman," I spit out once she stops fighting me, "Learn how to take a joke, will you? And tell me why the fuck you were erasing what happens to be the most important thing in my existence.”

I let her go when I'm sure she won't scream again and take my pen to replace what I remember, which are only two numbers. And Midnight erased almost half of what I had done. I could seriously kill her right this second and I wouldn't regret it.

“I don't like the number 7, I don't like the number 9 and those symbols were bothering me," she explains, as if that makes any damn sense and takes the pen from me to rewrite what she erased, "Don't worry, I remember them.”

“How? Even I don't remember and I've been working on this for almost two weeks,” I spit at her so she realizes how important this long and very, very complicated arithmetic equation on my blackboard was.

“Photographic memory,” she explains, “I'm sorry, it really bothered me to see those symbols with the 2 and 3. I don't mind the other numbers, but I really can't stand 7 and 9. I tried to turn on the TV and ignore him but I couldn't. I was so sorry.”

Wow.

She really is a weirdo.

“All right, all right. Looks like everything is as it should be," I mumble, giving her a look as she finishes writing everything she erased without a care in the world. I grab the calculator from my desk and give it a quick check, “Sorry, but this is my final research. Final, final. If I do this correctly I don't have to keep going to classes this semester, or the next. It's very important because I'm trying to graduate early.”

“What are you studying?”

“Math," I answer, because giving specifics doesn't help. People end up not knowing what I mean anyway, “There's only one rule about being in my room: don't touch my board. Even if it's full of sevens and nines, don't go near it, don't even breathe in its direction. If you mess up that equation, I'm going to throw myself out the window, you understand?”

“Yes, I understand. Sorry," she whispers, making herself small and sitting on my bed, "I really tried to ignore it.”

I drop my head back and take a deep breath.

I want to apologize to her one more time, but before I can, my phone vibrates in my pocket and I pull it out to see what it's about this time. I hope it's one of my few fans saying something sweet about me. I need it.

"@SandersJake: @RedBoxingGloves that's nothing. Someone tell @GrayBull to move on to something else he’s actually good at."

“Tell me what you think, Midnight. Should I answer him to shove a lubed up stick up his ass or should I just ignore him?” I ask, showing her the tweet, “Or should I call for a rematch and destroy him?”

“I don't even know what you’re talking about," she replies, “Explain it to me.”

“You see, I'm trying to get into professional boxing. I'm not super fantastic but at least I throw one or two good punches and I can handle a lot without going down," I summarize, "Before I can fight professionally, tour around other clans and make good money, I have to go through a lot of low level fights. Yesterday I had one and this asshole beat me. Now he's talking shit and I need your advice on what to say back.”

“I think you should ask for a rematch, but only if you're sure you'll win this time. If you lose again, it will be doubly humiliating and I don't think you want that.”

She’s right, I could lose again and make this ten times worse, but I can't just stand by and not do something about it.

My pride is too big and too fragile. One of my many flaws.

I reply:

"@SandersJake I want a rematch. I was unfocused yesterday, thinking about your mom’s tight ass and your grandmother's hot mouth."

Midnight grimaces when he reads what I wrote but I send it anyway, knowing that's one of the reasons everyone hates me. Being directly aggressive on social media is considered "immature”.

“So... you can demand rematches just like that?” Midnight asks. I shake my head and sit beside her on my bed, looking at the immediate responses.

Some people support me... maybe three or four, others say I’m going to lose again. The others are Jake’s fans and accept the rematch just to see him fight the "new kid" again.

“If he accepts, we can do something to make it happen," I answer, not paying much attention to her. People are starting to comment too much, I think writing that about his mom and granny was maybe completely wrong of me, “Why didn't you tell me I shouldn't write that, Midnight? Now I'm going to be in trouble because of you. Everyone's going to hate me even more.”

“What?” She frowns and her little face fills with disbelief, "It wasn't my fault! You... you were the one who...”

“Could you relax a little?” I groan, laughing and putting my phone aside, "I'm not being serious. I'm never being serious, I just like to tease. And you really need to learn how to take a joke, not everything is literal.”

“It doesn't sound like jokes, your voice is very dry and direct,” she complains, still not relaxing around me. Maybe it’s because she’s never been alone with an alpha, even a defective one like me, “It's not nice to tease people. It's not nice to imply that a person has something kinky going on with their father just because she looks a little older.”

“Come on, Mid. It was just playing around,” I elbow her and give her my most seductive smile but apparently with this eye popped out I won't be seducing anything for at least another week. I decide to put an arm around her neck and pull her close to me for a hug. Even though her scent isn't very prominent, she smells good. It's not even that obvious that she's an omega, which pleases me, “You'll get used to me, don't worry.”