STEPHEN'S POV Clyde sat down on the bed, gesturing to the chair behind me. I grabbed it and drew it closer to him, sitting directly opposite. We were facing each other, and like this, it was possible to see every one of each other's facial expressions. Clyde crossed his legs, putting one over the other as he laced his fingers together. He rested his laced fingers on his knee, leaning forward as he stared at me. “Stephen.” Clyde's posture, even though he was leaning, was still inhumanly straight as he addressed me, his tone filled with faux gentleness. “I think it's about time we talk everything out. Don't you?”I waited with laboured breaths for Clyde to start talking. He seemed to take much pleasure in building up the tension because he really did just stare at me for over a minute. I shifted in my seat awkwardly, the thin layer of fabric covering the foam of the chair wrinkling underneath my weight and making a weird sound. I brought my hands together, fiddling with my fingers i
DEVINA'S POV “Dev.”“Devi.”I shuffled around, stretching my arm out to feel an empty space beside me. I grumbled under my breath, grabbing the closest thing to me. It was a pillow — or at least it felt like it — and I immediately wrapped my hands around it and clutched it tightly, burying my face into it so deeply that I was sure that my cheeks were squished against it. “Devina…”I nosed at the pillow, getting comfortable as I let myself get consumed by darkness. God, I was so tired. I really just wanted to sleep. “Babe!” I flinched, my whole body jerking so harshly that my head hit the head board. It was mainly made of foam and was soft overall, but the force I had used to hit my head against it made it hurt very very badly. My eyes immediately shot open, my hands abandoning the pillow as I cradled my head and winced, the part that had hit the head board throbbing. “Shit, I'm sorry, Devina. Are you okay?” I glared daggers at Denzel, sulking as he came to my side and removed my h
DEVINA'S POV We stopped at the airport's entrance, just in time for us to get organised and settle before our flight left. Hell, it hadn't even landed yet. The driver didn't bother turning off the car's ignition, and while we were seated, I took the liberty of uncuffing Cynthia's hands. I removed the gag from her mouth as well, throwing it on the floor and waiting for her patiently. I observed as she stretched her jaw, opening it and closing so as to soothe the ache that must've been present in the joint. She also rubbed at her wrists, the area slightly red and irritated, but it looked like it would be fine in a few minutes…or hours. Cynthia sniffled, and I brought up the spare handkerchief that I had come with to dab at the place underneath her eyes, cleaning her face with it as well so she looked a tad bit more presentable. Denzel helped her smoothen her hair, running his hands through the tangled locks. If you ignored the redness of her eyes, and how her bottom lip was trembling
STEPHEN'S POV The car ride back to the pack house was awkward, far more awkward than it was to leave. It was weird being alone in the tiny space with Clyde after an argument — if I could even call it that — like that. Although, thinking about it now, it was less of an argument and me just snapping at him..? Maybe I should apologise. He seemed kind of hurt when I didn't let him talk. I mean, it wasn't like anything was his fault anyway. If we really analysed the situation, most — if not all — of my current problems were self inflicted. Well, self inflicted wasn't exactly the right word for it. They were less self inflicted and more…mismanaged. They could've been greatly avoided if I just calmed down and talked to someone. But it was too late now, I suppose. The only thing I learned from this whole thing, really, was that I was just an idiot. Imagine trying to kill yourself and then failing because you didn't know how to do it right — even though you thought you did. Dear god, my li
STEPHEN'S POV Clyde made pizza. It was surprising to me that he even knew how to, almost as much as it was surprising that the pack house even had the necessary ingredients we needed to make one. When I had asked him why he chose to stress himself out and make pizza instead of instant noodles or something, he simply smiled at me as he brought the cooked pizza out from the oven. “I'm pretty sure Ardyn would eat anything you make, if that's what you were worried about,” I mumbled, the lovely scent of pizza filling the atmosphere and reaching my nostrils. “It's not that he wouldn't eat anything else,” Clyde mused. “It's just that I promised I would make it for him, or we would just order some, if he behaved for a week straight without any complaints from anyone. And he did, so I suppose his reward is in order, right?”I plopped down on the chair I dragged back when we had first entered the kitchen, chugging down a bottle of water. The temperature was cool, not cold enough that it woul
BAEKALIS’ POV Everything was going fine. Cyrus and I were happy, and Clyde and I were starting to talk more, meaning I had technically made a new friend. All three of us were in the kitchen, and it was Cyrus’ turn to cook so I was seated on the counter talking to Clyde. He had come in a few minutes after Clyde and I, a little kid behind him, but he'd run off the second Clyde had dragged a chair so he could talk to me. I wondered who he was, but I didn't bother asking Clyde. I could just ask Cyrus later. “When the fuck did this happen?” Cyrus finally asked, gesturing to me and Clyde talking over a glass of orange juice that he'd gotten me before he proceeded to entertain me from where I was still perched on the counter. “A while ago?” Clyde replied, unsure. “It was the night you had that thing with Stephen.”“Wait, what happened with you and Stephen?” I asked, my eyebrows furrowing. “And when did it happen?”“Nothing happened, my love. Clyde doesn't know what he's talking about,”
CLYDE'S POV“It's Beta Stephen.” My eyebrows furrowed, my mind racing as I tried to conclude what happened? The boy looked worried, and I noticed a drip of sweat sliding down his forehead as he heaved, his hands resting on his knees as he tried his hardest to catch his breath. He seemed like he was going through alot, but I was far too worried about Stephen to calm down. “What happened to Stephen? Is he okay? Where is he? I need to see if he's okay. He shouldn't be-” Baekalis interrupted me by placing a hand on my shoulder, “Woah, calm down, Clyde.”I fixed her with a glare, shrugging her hands off of me as I gently pushed her to the side. “Don't tell me to calm down.”Her eyebrows furrowed, and she looked ready to tell me off when we were both cut off by a low growl. It was commanding, and the sound suddenly made me all too aware of Cyrus’ presence here with us once again. I flinched at the sound of him taking a step towards us, his pace steady and intentional as he approached me
CLYDE'S POV Cyrus wordlessly unlocked the door to his office, and as he walked in, getting ready to usher us in, I wondered if I would tell them about what I was sure — well, almost — Stephen was trying to do.He stood behind the door, staring at all three of us expectantly. Avery went in first, cautiously looking around as he took in the new environment. I doubted he had ever been in Cyrus’ office before. Now that I thought about it, not a lot of people have ever been in Cyrus’ office except they had some sort of specifically assigned role or something of the sort. Cyrus was usually, and still is, closed off and reserved, and he usually avoided taking to anyone outside of his immediate circle except it was of utmost priority, or a matter of life and death. There was also the fact that he was stupidly intimidating and made most people — me included of course — cower away and hide instead of talking to him directly. Most of the pack members met with Stephen, or me, and discussed the