Adjusting - 5. Chapter 4 - Salutations

I was hyperventilating.

Alex and I were making our way outside to meet Alex's family and later the rest of the pack. I was already freaking out when Alex decided to tell me that his father was the Alpha.

So now I was about to have a panic attack.

"Why didn't you freaking tell me you were the future Alpha? Gosh!" I said between my quick pants of air.

"Whoa, you need to calm down Adrian!" he said and pulled me to a stop. He sounded worried.

Good! I thought. He should be freaking worried.

Alex looked incredibly confused. "Why are you so freaked out? And I'm not the future Alpha..."

Now it was my turn to be confused. "But you said--"

"My dad is the current Alpha," he said. "My older brother will be the Alpha when he challenges my dad."

I let out a small sigh of relief. Alphas were known for being extremely violent, and they had to be able to produce offspring. Yet, I had no idea why it bothered me so much when I thought Alex would be the Alpha.

You know why, an evil voice in my head said. You want to be with him, but can't if he's Alpha.

My thoughts were distracting me and by the time my head was out of the clouds, we were outside. We were in a large clearing that was surrounded by the forest. My heart rate picked up again when I saw three people sitting on some outdoor furniture.

"Breathe," Alex whispered in my ear. I didn't even know I had stopped.

I let out the air I had been holding and began breathing normally again.

"There you go," Alex said quietly. "There's nothing to be afraid of."

Once my heart rate slowed down some, Alex walked over to the three people with me following behind. When we stopped, I saw that there was a middle aged man, and middle aged woman, and a man who seemed around Alex's age.

"Mom, Dad, and Brian, this is Adrian."

They all stared at me, silence filling the air. I shifted uncomfortably, anxiously awaiting what they would say.

Finally, the woman decided to speak.

She stood up from her chair and came over to me. The wind kept pushing her brown hair around her face, causing her to fight it every couple of seconds to stay behind her ears.

Sticking out her hand, she smiled at me before introducing herself. "Hello Adrian. My name is Maria."

I looked into her hazel eyes, looking for hatred or malice. I could easily spot it, now, after seeing it in the eyes of anyone I met.

When I only found kindness and curiosity in them, I hesitatingly took her hand in my own, still feeling apprehensive about touching another person. It made it easier that she was female and smaller than me.

"Hello Maria," I said quietly.

Maria gave me an encouraging smile, as if saying that I was safe here.

It caught me severely off-guard.

Next up in the meet 'n' greet was Brian. Once Maria had let go of my hand and stepped aside, Brian looked over at me from where he was sitting. I wasn't close enough to be able to judge the emotion in his brown eyes, and that scared me slightly.

"I'm Alex's brother," he said.

I nodded to show that I understood and moved closer to Alex, feeling uncomfortable. I was thanking all the gods I knew that I wouldn't have to shake his hand.

Finally, it was Mr. Alpha's turn. When he stood up from his chair, the waves of power that were emanating from him just about forced me to my knees. He turned to face me and I whimpered slightly, moving even closer to Alex.

Alex took my hand in his and I surprisingly wasn't affected by it. Well, no, that was a lie. I wasn't negatively affected. There was a positive effect, however. I could feel the warmth of his hand against mine, and small bursts of electricity shot up my arm every time his thumb completed a circle around the back of my hand.

"He won't hurt you," Alex whispered. "I promise."

I took a deep breath and nodded slightly, showing Alex that I understood and trusted him. And it was true, I did trust him. The only question was why.

The Alpha came over to us and stood in front of me. I tried tucking myself behind Alex, but he pushed me gently in front of him.

"Hello, Adrian."

I shivered at his voice and bowed my head, refusing to look into his face.

"Hello, Alpha," I said quietly.

The tension between us was palpable. His power washed over me, making me want to shrink down to an unnoticeable size.

"I heard you are a rogue," he said.

That's it, I'm dead.

"Y-yeah, um, yes sir," I stuttered out.

"Why?" he asked.

Why? No one had ever asked why before. No one ever cared.

"It's a long story, sir," I said. "But it wasn't by choice."

He seemed to chew on my words for a moment.

"So you want a pack?"

I thought about that. I didn't know if I wanted a pack at first. After thinking of how to respond, I finally answered him.

"If a pack would have me, I would be honored to join."

"Good answer, son," the Alpha chuckled.

My head shot up in surprise at his laughter and words. He called me son...

Blood burned in my cheeks and I ducked my head down again.

"Lift up your chin," he said kindly. "Let me see you properly."

Slowly and unsurely, I lifted my face and looked him in the eyes. As his eyes wandered my face and body, I took the quick moment to take in his own features. He also had brown hair, but it was darker than Alex's. His eyes were a light green, and he was tall (as I had expected). I quickly cast my eyes down when he was done looking over me.

"Alex, he can start in the kitchen. Explain what'll happen to him. Prepare him for everyone else; the hunting party will be back soon."

"Sure, dad," Alex said and led me back inside the house, holding my hand.

"Oh, and Adrian?" I heard the Alpha say behind me.

I stopped and turned around with my head low. "Yes sir?"

"It's John."

I blushed brightly and nodded my head. "Yes sir-- I mean, A-Alpha John."

He chuckled again. "Eh, close enough for now. Go on, son."

I nodded and turned around, hastily making my way back to the door. Once we were inside and the door was shut, I let out a sigh and leaned against the door, my eyes shut.

"Adrian?"

I opened my eyes to see Alex looking at me with an amused smile.

"Yeah?"

"You can let go of my hand now."

My blood seemed to be permanently located in my face and I quickly let go of his hand. He chuckled and started to walk away, waving me towards him when I didn't move.

Once we were back in the kitchen, Alex let go of my hand and started pulling out all sorts of pots and pans.

"Um, what are you doing?" I asked quietly while shifting from foot to foot.

"Getting the kitchen ready for when the hunting party gets back. We'll be cooking dinner as soon as they arrive."

"Oh," I quietly said as I continued to watch him.

As I watched, I thought about what the Alpha could've meant when he told Alex to explain what would happen to me. Speaking of which...

"Hey, Alex?" I asked quietly, still feeling shy around him.

"Yes?" he asked.

He put some vegetables on the stove and turned it on low.

"What did your dad mean when he told you to explain what would happen to me?"

He didn't answer me at first, which of course only increased my nerves. Finally, he seemed to finish whatever it was that he was doing and turned around to face me.

"You are going to join our pack."

Well, I wasn't expecting that...