After his first meal for the day, Derek strolled out to the pack’s training ground, watching silently as his pack members trained like their lives depended on it, which actually is true, bowing their heads to him intermittently as soon as they had noticed his presence. For some reason, his eyes went tro and fro searching for the guy who Anthony had mentioned was Lent’s brother, or was it friend? He wasn’t sure again. When he didn’t find the guy, he called unto Shane. The latter left the new recruit whom he was drilling and ran down to the shade where Derek was standing under. The sun was quite hot.
“Hey… thought you would be in a meeting with your father..” Shane stated as soon as he got to Derek, biting his tongue consciously to keep himself from calling Derek, Alpha. After the brief meeting they had had in the kitchen, Derek had informed them in the close knit family to always call him by his name, except it was in a public meeting. According to him, it was strange already being an Alpha at eighteen years, when his own father was still alive.
“Yeah, right. But he is in a meeting with some of the cabinet members.” Derek replied, still searching out for the young man subtly.
“Still… shouldn’t you be with them? You are the new Alpha. I had thought that had included both in deeds, and not just title.” Shane mentioned.
“Yeah, but I was hours late. It wouldn’t speak well of me if I had just barged into the meeting, just because I am the Alpha. Would it?” Derek asked, remembering that his mother had told him to wait till the meeting which had been on for more than five hours, to come to an end, before meeting his father. But he was getting impatient. He wanted to see Emma and apologize. And although he had already gone for a run some minutes before eating up, he wanted to do so again, but this time, with Emma riding on his back. Times without number, he had wondered how Emma would see him, or would react if he comes to her house. Partly, he was afraid of another rejection, but on the other hand, he was curious about the outcome. And there was the fact that he missed her so much. Did she miss him too?
A wave of hand across his face brought him out of the thinking haze.
“Back to Earth, Derek. I had lost you some seconds ago…” Shane teased, and he smiled, shrugging.
“You thinking of her, right?” Shane asked, the smile disappearing from his lips, all serious now.
“Yeah. I can’t get her out of my head. I wish I can turn back time. I would have done things differently.” He stated, and Shane breathed out wearingly, placing his right hand on his left shoulder.
“It will be fine.” He said. “With time, things will fall into place.”
Derek nodded to that statement. “I hope so.” He murmured. “I hope so, Shane.”
“Don’t worry much. I know she loves and misses you too. She won’t give up on that, even though she had acted like she would.” Shane advised.
“Soooo, Alpha…” He drawled, smirking when he saw the frown that metamorphosed on Derek’s face.
“I told you not to…” Derek was saying, but Shane waved it off.
“Yeah yeah yeah… I get it. But why had you called me here? It looked like there had been some problem that you wanted some help solving.” Shane said.
“Yeah, but how did you know that?” Derek asked, furrowing his eyebrows.
“You had that look on your face.” Shane replied with a shrug.
“What kind of look?” Derek asked, furrowing his eyebrows the more even though he found his gamma’s assumption funny.
“Your that ‘I have a problem and I need a lot of help because I am really confused’ kind of look.” Shane stated, chuckling as he watched Derek smile and shake his head.
“You are really crazy.” Derek muttered.
“But I am right.” Shane sing sung, taking his head side to side like a dancing cobra.
Derek laughed then, before conceding defeat.
“Yeah, you are right. Though it is not really a problem. But I am a bit confused.” He said.
“Confusion is really a problem on its own.” Shane cited with a smirk, and Derek scoffed, rolling his eyes before he could stop himself.
“Rolling your eyes like a woman now huh?” Shane teased, and Derek shook his head, trying to turn around and walk away. (He wasn’t actually planning to walk away, just making a show of it so that Shane would stop his bickering and beg to know the issue on ground. He wanted his focus.)
“Aye… wait up. I was just joking around.” Shane said, holding Derek by the arm, thereby stopping him from moving forward.
Derek smiled inwardly, biting his lips so that none would escape from his lips. He pretended to want to continue his movement, unable to stop the smile that slithered across his lips when Shane pulled him back again.
“Hey… hey… c’mon now. I was just kidding around. You can talk to me now, man. I am serious.” Shane said, a note of plea on his voice.
Derek took in a deep breath, making the smile on his lips disappear, before he turned around, his right eyebrow piqued, and faced Shane, his face, a board of blankness.
Shane furrowed his eyebrows.
“The problem must be serious then.” He murmured, and Derek took his lips in, to stop himself from bursting into laughter.
“Yeah yeah.” He concurred.
“So, what is it?” Shane asked, his face taking the same nature as Derek’s; blank.
“Well, there is this guy…” Derek started and paused, not knowing how to describe the guy. He didn’t know much about the guy, couldn’t even describe his features properly since he hadn’t really taken in his physical details that well.
“What guy?” Shane asked, folding his arms across his chest, his curiosity definitely aroused.