I See Now

{ Nukea }

I still don't know if this is a long term plan by Theodore to fuck me over in a more elaborate way or if he really is just... not that bad, but I'm starting to get really confused.

Never in a million years did I think I'd be cooking and eating sitting across from the future Alpha of the Greyhound pack, The Enforcer, a powerful man, one who has so much money he hasn't even realized one of his Rolex watches has been stolen.

I'm not an optimistic person normally, so I'm expecting him to turn psycho at any moment, but right this second I guess I can't kick him out of my house, right? He's being nice, so I'll just go with the flow.

But no matter how many times I scold my brothers, they don't seem to understand that they should be fucking respectful. Even if Theodore is acting like he's just a regular guy, he's not.

"Well, now we all ate so it's time to go. The boys have school," I say once we're all done eating, hoping Theodore understands and leaves my house so I can go take my brothers to school, "Thank you so much for coming, I appreciate it so..."

"Hey, don't say goodbye to him yet. Theo said he'd drive me to school," Knox stops me, adding ten spankings to the seven hundred he's been racking up over these past two hours, "Right, Theo?"

"Yes, I promised," Theodore replies, surprising me yet again. I give him a confused look, "I have nothing to do. I can give you guys a ride. Come on."

"Uh, okay. If you're sure," I mutter and get up from the table, "Go get your backpacks."

As my two brothers go to grab their things, I approach The Enforcer. My head reaches a little below his shoulders so he has to duck when it becomes obvious I want to say something.

"You don't have to do this, really. I owe you too much already," I tell him, Theodore stands up straight again and looks down at me. Once again, he's quiet for a couple of seconds just watching me. It's so weird when he does that, "My brothers are basically feral children, they don't know how to act. Knox is the worst."

"Hey, I’m not!” Knox complains, approaching us with a scowl. Theodore smiles and puts one of his heavy hand on my brother's head like he's... trying to be sweet or something, but my brother stiffens, waiting for a punch, "W-what are you doing to me?"

"Sorry, I was trying to pet your head," he apologizes, his cheeks turn slightly red and he moves his hand away, "But, seriously, Nukea, it's not a problem. I promised Knox I would, so let's go show his buddies that we're friends."

"Yes!" Knox lets out, more excited than I've ever seen him.

Theodore looks pretty sure about doing this and I've given him plenty of chances to get off but he hasn’t taken them, so I'm guessing he actually wants to do this.

We all get out of the house and Theodore opens the door to his fancy black car that is so fancy I don't even know what kind of car it is. My brothers get in the back and I sit in the passenger seat.

"Don't you dare dirty this car, keep your feet where they belong," I order as soon as Theodore closes my door, turning to my brothers, "And please stop acting like Theodore is your fucking friend because he’s not.”

"But he is," Beau complains, Knox just rolls his eyes at me, adding another ten spankings to the list. Theodore gets in the car and I turn back to the front, putting a smile on my face again, "You're our friend, right, Theo? Nukea says you’re not."

I haven't hit Beau yet, but I think today is a good day to start. But before I can even apologize for that, Theodore starts laughing, deeply, surprising me even more.

"Of course I'm your friend, Nukea's just being annoying," he jokes, winking at me to let me know he's not being serious.

"Pff, tell me about it," Knox blurts out and this time my little patience runs out and before I know it, I'm flying backwards and grabbing my brother's hair to pull on it, "Ahh! Help me!”

"Nu-Nukea," Theodore blurts out, sounding concerned. My brother continues to yell as I pull his hair until my anger subsides and I realize what I just did.

"Sorry, that's not... I've never done that before," I lie, returning to my seat and fixing my hair before turning back to Theodore, who is still looking at me with shocked eyes, "Can you start the car? It's getting late."

Theodore agrees and starts the car. Thankfully everyone stays silent, so the only thing heard in the car is my directions to the school.

When we arrive, I get out to help the boys and Theodore surprises me when he gets out as well and approaches us with full intention of following us. I guess he was completely serious about helping Knox.

My brother by the way runs away from me until he reaches Theo's side and grabs his hand to lead him.

I grab Beau's hand too and we walk inside, all of us together.

Again, I never in a million years imagined that I would be in a situation like this. But the knowledge of how weird this really is hits me when everyone in the school gives us second glances full of complete shock.

"Good morning," Theodore greets in general as we walk into the school with a loud voice and a big smile on his face, "Hello, there. Good morning."

No one has any idea what the fuck is going on or why Alpha Robert's son is here, but no one answers his greetings. They all look scared.

"This is my classroom, Theo," Knox tells him and pulls him toward a door. I don't want to leave them alone but the teacher is there and all the kids are inside as well, so I guess I can leave.

I walk down the hall to Beau's classroom. I leave him safe in there and then I run back to Knox's classroom, where there are a bunch of teachers outside talking in whispers and looking completely confused.

"What the fuck is The Enforcer doing here, Nukea?" Pat, Knox's old teacher, asks me, "Are you in trouble? Is Knox in trouble? Or is it about your father?”

I take a big breath as everyone looks at me but I can only shrug because I really have no idea. Things are weird and so far too good to be true.

"He caught me slipping in something," I admit at last, keeping the details to my self, "He's been good to me so far, but I don't know how real that is. So, now I have to stay in his good graces before he tries to kill me. So please, be respectful."

"Good luck with that, girl," Olga says, putting a hand on my shoulder, "That man killed my uncle a year ago. Don't trust him, this nice facade is just that, a facade. He has to look good now that he's going to be our next Alpha."

"I know," I reply, nervous again, especially as Theodore walks out of the classroom. Everyone murmurs a greeting before they start to dissipate until they leave us alone, "Hi... thanks for doing that."

"Don’t thank me, it was nice meeting those kids. I never would have done it if it wasn't for your brother," he mutters as if meeting a bunch of Poor kids was the best thing in the world. Although, politically speaking, maybe it is, "Come on. Where do you have to go now? I’ll drive you.”

I should tell him he doesn’t have to, but he puts a hand on my back and starts pushing me lightly toward the exit, so I'm left with no choice. I give him Violet's job address and let him lead me to his fancy car again.

Now that we're completely alone in here, things feel even weirder.

I can't stop thinking, what the fuck is going on? Why is he still around me? Why does he want to give me rides and why hasn't he mentioned anything about the robbery?

"Hey, are you okay?" Theodore asks suddenly, bringing my attention back to him.

"Yeah... why?"

"I can tell you're nervous again," he says and sounds worried for some reason. I know I should keep fake politeness for a little longer, but he keeps looking at me like he really cares to know what's going on with me and.... his black eyes are looking at me with genuine interest in what I'm about to say, so I feel inclined to tell the truth.

"Someone at school told me you killed their uncle," I admit, Theo's eyes immediately roll and he stops looking worried, now he looks annoyed again, "So I can't help but wonder why you're not trying to kill me and why you're being so nice. Now I think you have some… hidden plan or something."

"I don't kill people, okay?" He snaps at me, but that's exactly something someone who kills people would say, "That's the true, Nukea. I don't kill criminals, I kick them out of the pack and I ban them from returning, they have no right to talk to anyone, they are immediately banished. I don't deal with criminals by killing them, I just throw them the fuck out of my pack. In four years, I’ve given the death penalty to three people after their fair trial, two of them were rapists and the other one was something even worse. And I didn't even kill them myself."

I can tell he's telling the truth so I immediately feel a weight lift from my shoulders. Theodore tightens his grip on the steering wheel and just looks straight ahead, but I can tell he has more to say. I have the urge to touch him somehow to make him feel better, but I stop myself.

"The rumors started four years ago when a rogue wolf came into the pack. He assaulted and killed my mother," he starts and this time I can't help it, one of my hands flies to his arm and as soon as I touch him, Theodore sighs, "My wolf came out and killed him in front of people. No one in the pack knew the reason why I did that and my father decided never to discuss it because he thought that would help to control your people. But yeah, I killed that man and yes, my wolf ate his arm, so I guess that part of the rumor is real. But I only did that ONE time. I would never kill or eat anyone else, especially not you. You just stole my damn wallet, I really don't give a shit about petty theft like that, I have worse things to worry about. I just want my mother's ring back."

Well, now I feel like shit. And like a big dumbass.

"I'm sorry," I whisper and this time I really mean it, "I’m sorry I said you kill and eat people. And I'm really sorry about your mom. My mom killed herself so I can't even avenge her death unless I... dig her up and kill her again."

To my surprise, Theodore lets out a small laugh at my babbling.

"I'm sorry, too. Losing your mother is the worst," he mutters and I nod, because he's right.

"It's wild how neither of us have moms," I blurt out and tighten my grip on his arm, looking deep into his face. Now that I know Theodore is just... Theodore, his face seems softer and less threatening to me. He's cute, "And we're close in age. In another universe, we might have been friends."

Theodore stays silent for a few seconds as if deep in thought about something.

"We can still be friends," he whispers. He sounds like he's not quite sure about what he's saying, but like he can't control those words from coming out.

"No way, a thief and the Alpha? Don't make me laugh," I joke, squeezing his arm once more because I can't stop touching him, "But, hey, what I can promise you is that whatever my dad does to annoy you once you’re the Alpha, it's just him. I will totally respect you as my Alpha."

Suddenly, the energy in the car completely shifts.