Chapter 9: {8}

Another paper ball hit Brody, except this time it hit him right in the centre of the forehead, the bunched up blank sheet falling down into the book that he had been concentrating on. Brody looked up, a not too pleased expression on his face.

His eyes met those of three other people, sly grins on each and every one of their faces.

‘It wasn’t me that time,’ Annie threw her hands in the air with a cheeky smile on her face that told Brody that she definitely knew who it was that time who did it.

Lucas sat at the head of the table, his feet resting on the table and his hands crossed behind his head. He looked extremely bored. ‘It was Nate that time,’ Lucas pointed to Nate who was sitting next to Annie.

Brody turned his accusing eyes to Nate who was scowling at the Lucas fun lovingly, ‘Way to throw me under the bus guys,’ Nate huffed in mock annoyance.

‘Aren’t you supposed to be seventeen, not five?’ Brody snapped.

‘Aren’t you supposed to be seventeen, not ninety-five, Mr I would rather sit in a library than hang out with my cool friends and actually do stuff?’ Nate teased and Brody kicked him lightly under the table.

‘Awch,’ Nate complained, his hand disappearing under the table to rub his ‘sore’ shin.

‘Suck it up, I didn’t kick you that hard,’ Brody sighed, turning his eyes back to his book.

Brody and Nate had spent every day together over the past week. They paired up in combat, they attended werewolf history classes together. In their free time they had wandered down to the pond, sitting on the grass and dipping their toes in the water as they talked.

Now it was the Thursday of the second week at camp and everybody knew what that meant.

Full moon.

They had their mentor meeting in the morning and then they were to be behind the doors of their rooms before sunset, staying there until the next morning.

No buts. No exceptions. No excuses.

They had attended another meeting by the camp leader, this time reinforcing that they were not allowed to leave their rooms and therefore not socialise with anyone until sunrise the next morning. Brody didn’t think that it was much of a hassle, and he understood the reasoning. If everyone was to just be out on the grounds then it would inevitably lead to fights of epic proportions. Alpha’s under full moons were able to turn much easier, even more so if they got emotional. They would be servants to their instincts, fighting and destroying things just to make a point.

It was safer for everyone that they just followed the camp rules.

Except, well, not everyone followed the rules.

Nate had already told Brody of his plan to throw a party in the woods, sneaking alcohol and getting drunk under the stars. It was apparently more fun on a full moon, something about getting drunk quicker or something.

Anyway, Brody wasn’t interested, and Nate had spent the last few days trying to change his mind with no avail.

‘Broooody,’ Annie drew his name out in boredom, ‘can’t we do something fun?’

Brody sighed, he was never going to finish this page let alone the entire chapter. The library around them was pretty empty, most of the other mentors taking their mentees out to work on combat or just hanging out with them, but Brody had insisted that he go to the library since he felt he had been spending too much time with Nate and not enough investigating how to strengthen his pack.

‘Yeah Brody,’ Nate joined in with a mischievous grin, Brody’s annoyance of blatant amusement for him. ‘Why can’t we do something fun?’

‘I told you three that you can go do something and come back?’ Brody reminded them. It was their fault that they had chosen to just sit in the library instead.

Nate rolled his eyes, ‘And I told you that I think that this one,’ he jerked his thumb in Annie’s direction and dropped his voice to a mock whisper, ‘might be some sort of serial killer and I don’t want to be alone with her.’

Annie gasped, ‘Jerk,’ she slapped Nate’s arm and rolled her eyes.

‘See,’ he pointed to his reddening arm, ‘it’s starting,’ he stated with mock alarm.

Lucas laughed, his feet coming down off the table and landing on the floor with a thump as his shoes hit the hard floors. ‘Come on Brody, look at what you’re leaving me with,’ he sent a deadpan look at Nate and Annie. He then looked back at Brody with a pleading look, ‘I need you man.’

‘What’s wrong with me, huh?’ Nate asked Lucas jokingly, ‘Am I not a good enough mentor? Am I too fun?’

Lucas shook his head, ‘nah, I like Brody better.’

Annie laughed and slapped Lucas’s hand in a hi-five, ‘Burn.’

‘I will tell my father that you are being mean to me,’ Nate threatened with a smile, crossing his arms over his chest.

‘Oh no kids,’ Brody shut his book with a loud thump. ‘Nate’s setting his daddy on you! Better run quick.’

Nate laughed, ‘Alright, Alright.’

‘Come on Brody, Lucas and I will actually let you teach us things if we can go somewhere more interesting,’ Annie pled, leaning forwards in her chair.

‘Fine,’ Brody huffed, but to be honest, it wasn’t like he didn’t like spending time with the three of them.

Lucas and Annie smiled triumphantly, and the four of them made their way out of the library. Brody paused when they entered the footpath, looking at the other three for guidance.

‘How about we go explore the grand hall?’ Annie suggested, ‘Plus, I’m sure professor Brody would just love to give us a history lesson on the place.’

Lucas rolled his eyes, ‘Of course he would.’

Nate stepped next to Brody, ‘Sounds good, lead the way professor.’

Brody slapped at his arm and Nate laughed, pushing Brody along the pathway, ‘move your ass professor.’

Brody huffed, slapping away at Nate’s hands. In the midst of getting attacked by an annoying Nate, Brody heard Annie mumbling something to Lucas.

‘What?’ he asked them.

They both shook their heads immediately, their expressions obviously feigning innocence. ‘Nothing,’ Annie muttered.

Nate and Brody sent a confused look to each other.

‘Come on, let’s go,’ Lucas commanded, tugging Annie by the arm.

The two younger Alpha’s lead the way, walking through the pathways, weaving in and around other people as they hurried.

‘What was with those looks? They have to be hiding something,’ Nate told Brody as they walked.

‘Mmm,’ Brody muttered, but couldn’t find a reason in his mind why the two wouldn’t want Nate and him to hear what they had been saying.

‘So, let me guess,’ Nate said in a teasing voice, ‘You have a whole array of fun facts for us about the grand hall?’

‘As a matter of fact, I do,’ Brody said truthfully. There had been a whole chapter on the great halls in different camps in one of the books that Hunter had given him.

Nate just smiled, and Brody had the feeling that the other guy didn’t hate Brody’s fun facts as much as he claimed to. In fact, Brody would go so far as saying that Nate seemed to enjoy it when Brody would ramble on about things that he had learn in great, old books with broken pages and scuffed edges.

The four of them entered the grand hall in silence, each looking around the place as if seeing it for the first time. They were standing off to the side, right next to the hundreds of seats which were in the grand hall. The celling loomed high above their heads and Brody looked up, watching the elegant curves of the ceiling as it sloped downwards to join with the high walls.

‘Are we allowed to be in here?’ Lucas asked.

‘Who cares,’ Annie shrugged, looking at the large paintings on the wall closest to them.

‘Yeah, we are allowed in here anytime we want,’ Nate confirmed.

‘Why would they build such a beautiful place just be used for camp meetings?’ Annie asked, her eyes still focussed on the paintings.

Brody smiled, it made him happy to see that the younger ones were interested in all of this stuff. No one at home would have cared if Brody had explained the significance of this place, but these two fifteen year old Alpha’s cared.

‘Sit down,’ Brody said, motioning for all of them to take a seat.

They did and all eyes turned to Brody.

‘Well,’ he started, ‘This grand hall is what is supposed to be the centre point of the camp grounds. They built this building in such a way that it would reflect on the rich history of the werewolves, and bring everyone together. Just think about it, all of the people here come from different packs all around the country, and yet in this grand hall we come together as one. I think it was a good choice they made to make this place so amazing.’

‘I never thought of it like that,’ Annie murmured.

‘Who are those people?’ Lucas pointed to the back wall, where many frames portraits were hung up, names under each one.

‘Council members,’ Nate told them.

‘Every past and current council member is on that wall,’ Brody told them, ‘and one day Nate will join them.’

Brody spoke proudly, extremely proud of his friend. Nate was going to matter when he joined the council, his decisions would affect everyone. Brody was a little apprehensive when thinking of Nate as a future council member because he didn’t see the dedication and focus that he had always envisioned that the job needed. He supposed that Nate’s loving qualities would aid the council as a whole in different ways. Just because his father had been the decision maker in the council for years didn’t mean that Nate had to grow up to become an exact replica of dear old dad.

Annie and Lucas seemed proud of their friend too, smiling over at him.

‘I might go have a closer look,’ Lucas said, standing from his chair.

‘Me too,’ Annie proclaimed, following Lucas’s lead.

Brody looked over to Nate, only to see that the other boy had his eyes set on the back wall. His eyes seemed to move slowly over each photo, his expression unreadable.

Brody wondered what his friend was thinking in that moment. Was he imagining his face up on that wall, next to his fathers? Was he wondering about the people whose photos resided on the wall, what lives they lived, what experiences they had?

Or was it something else?

‘Nate?’ Brody tried to get his attention but it seemed that Nate didn’t hear him, his focus still on that wall.

‘Nate?’ He tried again. This time it worked and Nate’s gaze snapped to Brody’s face.

‘What if I don’t want to be on the wall?’ Nate muttered, probably more to himself than to Brody. His voice was small and fragile, the question asked in vulnerability.

‘What do you mean?’ Brody asked, moving to sit on the seat directly next to Nate.

‘What if I don’t want my photo up there?’ Nate glanced back at the wall then to Brody and that was when Brody noticed that his eyes were wet, tears pooling along the tear duct.

‘Nate, the men on that wall are greatly respected,’ he told his best, well only, friend. ‘Those men, like your father are greatly privileged to be up there.’

Nate shook his head, ‘What if I don’t want to live like that? What if I want more for myself than the council?’ he said council like it was poisin in his mouth and the way that he said it shocked Brody a little.

‘More?’

Brody was confused. He had grown up being told of the greatness of the council members. Sure, they weren’t exactly always representative of all the packs, but they worked hard and they were greatly respected. Brody had dreamed of one day being a part of something that meant something, and yet he had been destined to a life of living in his brother’s shadow. That was different now. He had responsibilities and he had accepted them with open arms, knowing how much they meant to the pack.

He couldn’t comprehend why Nate would speak like this. He didn’t understand why Nate would even think about not taking his birthright.

‘More,’ Nate said, looking away from the wall and down at his fidgeting hands. ‘Just more.’

Brody leant forwards, ‘You will be helping to lead the countries wolf population. What is more than that?’

Nate was still looking at his hands, ‘Being home for dinner every night, tucking my children into bed, helping people with my hands and my words compared to reading proposals and travelling from pack to pack. I want to find my mate and just be normal. I want that, I want a real life,’ He said desperately and Brody wondered whether this proclamation was the first time Nate had really admitted to himself what he wanted.

Brody understood then. Nate wanted his own life, not controlled or led by his council responsibilities. He wanted to be a human first, an Alpha second, but that wasn’t how it worked in this world.

He didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing.

They sat there, and Brody watched as the tears slowly receded from Nate’s eyes and his fingers stopped their fidgeting marathon in his lap. He could almost see Nate building up his walls again, brick by brick. Brody knew however, that those bricks weren’t to keep anyone out, but it was to keep the truth from himself.

Nate wasn’t facing the future that he wanted, and it scared him. Brody understood that, he understood his fear of the future and of the choices that had been made for him already. Brody knew exactly.

Brody wanted to communicate this, he wanted his friend to know that he wasn’t alone in this, and yet Nate’s demeanour had changed and now he didn’t look like he would be open to that, so Brody held it back, content with the knowledge that he would have to show Nate that he was there for him compared to saying the words to his face.

Nate stood up quickly, ‘We should go, the first years have another meeting before curfew.’

Brody looked at Annie and Lucas, they were still exploring the grand hall with a childlike curiosity, their eyes caressing the hundred year old paintings as they walked.

‘Annie, Lucas!’ He called out and both of their heads snapped to look at him. ‘Let’s get you guys to that first year meeting.’

They walked over to them.

‘So that history lesson wasn’t too boring, I guess.’ Annie smiled cheekily at Brody.

‘Yeah professor, you’re pretty cool,’ Lucas smirked teasingly.

Nate slung a friendly arm around Brody, ‘Stop being mean to poor professor Brody.’

‘Oh shut up all of you,’ Brody laughed, pushing Nate off of him.

As soon as Nate’s arm had left him, Brody had the strangest cold feeling running around his shoulders where the arm used to be.

Annie’s voice rung out, echoing through the large room, ‘Come on lovebirds, we don’t have all day!’

They both looked up to see that Annie and Lucas were already at the grand hall’s front doors, ready to leave.

‘We’re coming,’ Nate huffed in fond exasperation, walking in front of Brody towards them.

Brody caught up just as they entered the garden, the four of them joining the few people already on the walkway. Most of the people around them seemed to be mentors taking their mentees to the meeting as well, and Brody caught the eye of one of the mentors who was on the other side of the garden.

Kayden, he thought his name was. The guy had been the one who hadn’t intervened when Tye and Jace had been awful to him, but from what Nate said, Kayden was actually a good friend. Brody gave him a half smile and was pleased to see the other guy smile back.

‘Alright, have fun kiddies, don’t go out past curfew tonight, I mean it,’ Nate told them with a smirk.

‘Sure dad,’ Lucas rolled his eyes.

Brody laughed, ‘Go, you’ll be late for your meeting.’

Annie and Lucas went into the building where the meeting was being held.

Brody and Nate were just heading back to the accommodation building when Brody noticed someone tap Nate on the shoulder.

They both turned around and Kayden stood there, a smile on his face.

‘Hey Nate, I feel like I haven’t seen you all week!’ Kayden laughed, slapping Nate friendly on the shoulder.

The guy was much bigger than Brody, so he felt a tad intimidated by the other Alpha, but he wasn’t going to show that.

‘Hi,’ he smiled at Kayden.

‘So you must be the one stealing all of Nate’s time,’ Kayden joked.

‘How is your mentees?’ Nate asked, obviously changing the subject.

Kayden groaned, ‘Awful. Not only am I paired up with Jace, but we have two guy Alpha’s who are the most annoying kids ever. All they do is fight and growl at each other.’

Both Nate and Brody chuckled at Kayden’s bad luck.

‘Don’t laugh at my unhappiness!’ Kayden complained, ‘Apparently their packs are like rivals or something so all they do is argue. How are yours?’

Nate shared a smile with Brody, ‘Actually we got two of the best.’

Kayden rolled his eyes, ‘Good for you,’ he said sarcastically. ‘Well, there’s only another few hours of sun left, and I have to do some stuff to get ready for the party, so I better go. See you both there?’

Nate gave Brody a knowing look, ‘Well, I’ll be there, but my friend here still hasn’t made up his mind.’

Kayden rolled his eyes, ‘it’s a party, come along, have fun, flirt with some Alpha chicks.’

‘I’m good thank-you,’ Brody said in reply, ‘I think I’ll just read in my room, I have a few library books I haven’t finished.’

Kayden smiled, but Brody could almost see the thought nerd flashing in Kayden’s mind in big neon lights. He didn’t really mind though, he wasn’t here to make friends, he was here to learn to be a great leader, and that was exactly what he was going to do. Okay, so maybe he did need one friend, but he doubted that Nate would stop talking to him if he didn’t go to come party in the woods on a full moon.

‘He thinks I’m lame,’ Brody shrugged, more thinking out loud than what Nate had assumed to be a feeling sorry for himself thought.

‘Brody, you aren’t lame,’ Nate assured him. ‘Your love of books and information and all that crap, is, well it’s a part of what makes you who you are.’

Brody didn’t need the confidence boost, but it would have been a lie to say that it didn’t put a little smile on his lips.

‘You are a good person Nate,’ Brody told him as they started back on their walk towards the accommodation building.

‘What are you talking about?’

‘You see the best in people, and you have this thing about you that makes people feel better just being around you,’ Brody told him in total honesty.

Nate blushed, Brody saw it even though Nate had blatantly tried to turn his head to the side so that he wouldn’t notice. ‘You are too kind.’

‘You are too modest.’

They stayed silent after that, reaching the building and taking the elevator up to the fourth floor where Brody’s room was.

Brody let them into his room, Nate flopping down on Brody’s bed once he crossed the threshold. The old springs on the bed squeaked as Nate landed, his arms and legs spread out around him.

‘Shouldn’t you go get ready to get wasted in the middle of the woods, like the cool kid you are?’ Brody teased, closing the door to his room.

Nate ignored Brody’s words, sitting up in the bed and patting the space next to him.

Brody walked over to the bed, sitting on the edge next to where Nate was.

‘Are you sure that you don’t want to come tonight?’ Nate asked, ‘It will be fun, I promise.’

Brody shook his head, ‘I have a few library books I haven’t finished yet, so I will be occupied. Don’t worry about me.’

Nate looked disappointed and gently nudged his friend in the side with his elbow, ‘Brody, you are my best friend, it won’t be fun if you aren’t there.’

‘Have a couple of shots and you won’t even remember that I’m not there,’ Brody told him with an eye roll and pushed him off of his bed. ‘Go, I have reading to do.’

Nate spoke sarcastically, ‘Fine, Fine, kick me out, I know that you would rather spend time with your books than me. I get it. They are more important than me.’

Brody rolled his eyes and leant down to pick up the couple of books which were on his floor, ‘You finally understand! Now get out.’ He sat up to see that Nate was at the door, a pleading expression on his face.

‘Sure you aren’t coming?’ Nate asked and Brody felt guilty as he heard that hopeful tone in Nate’s voice. It wasn’t like he wanted to disappoint Nate, but it was already week two and Brody didn’t have any plans to strengthen his pack and the fear of the future once he left the camp was looming heavily over Brody’s head like a black cloud rolling over the hills.

‘I’m sure. Oh, and call me if you need me, I don’t want you getting lost in the woods and falling into a pond or something.’

‘Oh, you think so highly of me,’ Nate joked, walking out the door and closing it softly behind him.

Brody spread the three books out on his bed and sat down next to them, pulling his legs up under himself as he looked them over.

The first book was the one he had found the day that he had met Lucy, the cover not dusty anymore, but the years on it was evident buy the scuffed edges and the discoloured pages. The other two were on pack politics specifically, and how other pack leaders had lead their packs to be stronger than before their take over. It was quite interesting and Brody picked up one of them.

This one was obviously quite new, the front cover all shiny and unmarked, the pages still a pristine white and the edges were all even and straight. It gave Brody a slightly uneasy feeling as he opened the cover.

The books that he had received as a child were never like this, they were old and used and loved. They were marked by long journeys on planes with Hunter and picked up at garage sales by his mother. They were loved books, they told stories that had been enjoyed by those before him. Most of the books were nonfiction, telling tales of strong wolves of the past and held valuable knowledge about the world.

This book, however, was new, unused, the information unread. He felt like he should have been wearing gloves as he turned the page, half afraid of marking it in some way.

He lost the uneasy feeling quickly as he dived into it, the wisdom of such powerful people overcoming him. He read until his eyes were sore and the sun outside was slowly replaced by a big, bright, shining, full moon. The moon was so bright that Brody didn’t even have to turn his light on to read, he just lied down on the bed, his book open against a pillow as he read, the moonlight illuminating the words in front of him.

He fell asleep like that, a book in his hands as the moon shone over him through his bedroom window like a protective light.

A few hours later Brody’s phone rang, the loud buzzing jolting him from his sleep.