Thank you, baby, I’ll definitely keep that in mind, he says and about 10 minutes later, we get to the house. Once we get in, we notice that it’s pretty empty and assume that everyone is out in the courtyard since today had beautiful weather.
We change into different clothes since it would probably be a bit weird if we walked outside in our suits. I put on some black joggers and one of Joey’s t-shirts while he puts on some dark gray sweatpants and a white t-shirt.
Your leg doing good ? He asks me.
It doesn’t feel the best today, but I’m okay. I can handle it, I say with a sigh.
Joey chuckles. We have your pain medication, so don’t forget that you can always take that to help you handle it.
I nod, glad that I’m able to get my mind off of Gigi even for a little bit because I know at one point or another, I’ll need to grieve because I’ve been so focused on Emilie more than myself. I know that when that time comes where I take time for myself that Joey will be right by my side and I’ll never be alone.
We get to the courtyard and see Lila and Conner sitting on a big blanket and on the blanket next to them is Cody, Melissa, Isaac, and Tyler. When they see us coming up, they all turn to look at us.
Hey, how was the funeral ? Melissa asks with a soft smile.
Joey helps me sit down on the blanket and I sigh, looking over at Melissa. I feel like it was good, I know it really helped my mom out and Emilie was able to say what she needed to say, which is good for me.
What about you ? How’re you doing ? Isaac asks as Joey sits behind me so I can lay between his legs while he runs his fingers through my hair.
Uh, I don’t honestly know. I feel like I’m slowly getting to a good point but I haven’t really been focused on myself lately. Emilie has been my number one for the past few days and she still is because she’s having a really hard time with it.
Melissa sets her hand on my leg. Well, take some time to focus on yourself too, okay ? You can’t just keep your focus on others and forget about yourself because you’re hurting too.
I smile, nodding my head. I will, I have some pretty amazing people around me to help.
Joey kisses my head as soon as I say that and looks over at Cody, who’s looking over at a group of kids that seem to be playing freeze tag with their parents sitting at a picnic table. Did we miss anything ?
Nope, everything’s been pretty quiet around here lately.
I turn my head to look at Joey who smiles at me softly. Does the pack know what’s been going on lately ?
He shakes his head. They shouldn’t, no. Unless they heard through some of our friends or Emilie’s friends then no one should know what’s going on. Don’t worry about that.
I nod my head before whipping my head around to look at Isaac who lets out a scream when some guy tackles him to the ground. I notice that the guy has straight, blond hair that’s currently swooping into his eyes, which are a very light blue. I can’t help but he reminded of the sky just by looking at his pupils. His skin has a tan to it that looked natural and it made his eyes pop to where he had this natural beauty to himself that he didn’t have to fake in any way whatsoever.
I feel Joey lean down to my ear to whisper to me. You’re staring.
My eyes immediately shot up to him and instead of him being mad like I expected, he had a small smirk with a playful look in his eyes. I chuckle before shaking my head. I’m looking.
A pretty intense look you have there, he says with a chuckle and I playfully hit his chest, making Melissa look over at us with a smile. I sit up a bit to see past Tyler who’s kinda blocking my view from seeing the two boys who are now sitting up and talking.
Who’s the boy ? I ask Melissa.
That’s Oliver, he’s best friends with Isaac. He’s a bit younger so you probably haven’t seen him around too much, she tells me and I look over to see the Oliver guy who seems to be staring at us. Once he notices my eyes focusing on him, he turns his head and a little blush comes to his cheeks.
Oh, this is Oli, Isaac says, pointing to the guy who’s sitting a little close for me to believe that they’re just best friends. He looks over at his friend to point at us. and you probably know all of them already.
Well, of course, I know who those people are. I am actually a part of this pack, Izzy, Oliver says with a very sarcastic tone and I can already tell that I’m going to like this guy apart of our friend group.
At least he’s not scared to be sarcastic around us, Joey says with a chuckle. I reach for his hand that’s laying flat against my stomach and start to play with it because I was feeling very fidgety.
Oh, right, I’m supposed to be awkward around the people in power. Uh… hi, everyone, he said, making us all laugh because we all know that that is exactly how everyone acts around us.
We sit there, talking about things and figuring out more information about Oliver because since he’s best friends with Oliver, he’ll probably be around quite a bit. I keep a hold on Joey’s hand and every once and awhile, he’ll kiss my head to make me feel good. After this day with so many memories, I feel kinda okay with the people surrounding me.
Kade’s POV
Today was the day that we had to go through our torturous elder test. They pushed it back due to my grandmother, which I was extremely grateful for. Joey has no idea what they will do to us, but I know that it will be bad and deal with hurting us in some way. He told me to be prepared for the worst and I think I am. I mean, they can’t kill me or almost kill me because Joey and the pack would definitely have some things to say about that.
Joey grabbed my hand as we walked into the building that they told us to show up at, which was just a regular office building on the outside but I’m assuming it’s not so great on the inside with what they’re about to do in it. My mate looked a little nervous as well, but I think he was holding some nerves back to not freak me out.
You know that they’ll separate us, right ?
I know, I whisper to him since we already talked about this last night.
I told them that you should have Elder Collins since we have a relationship with him. I feel like you need a familiar face in there with you.
What about you ?
He gives me a soft smile, squeezing my hand as we get out of the car to walk towards the entrance. I know all of these elders since my parents worked really close with them while I was growing up. I’ll be fine with any of them, I’m more worried about you.
I gave him a soft smile because I knew I couldn’t say I was going to be alright because I had no idea of what was going to happen. I held on tightly to his hand, not wanting to be separated from him in this building because I knew that something bad was about to happen.
As Joey was reaching out to open the door, I grabbed his hand and pulled him to the side of it. He looked down at me as I was trying to find a way to say this. His arms came up to set on my shoulders before his hand came to tilt up my head so I was looking at him.
What is it ? He asks me.
Why are we putting ourselves in danger like this ? Why are we doing this ?
He sighs, running a hand through his hair. We’re doing this because we have to. These are part of the people who help run our pack, so if we don’t do this, they won’t listen to any of my input and just make mine and Cody’s lives living hell. I know this absolutely sucks, baby, but if we don’t do this now, they will keep asking until we do.