Chapter 8

A/N: Hey, funky monkeys! The second sneak peek from Keri's story - Sentiments & Reason, is already on my blog. I'll give the links to it and Sneak Peek #1 + its blurb in the comments :)

Did you know that... We are at Ch. 8 in We are the Answer, but it corresponds to only Ch. 3 in You are the Answer?

*****

He was cleaning again, his arms moving gracefully from left to right and back as he wiped the bar with the towel.

Well, that answered my question about whether my mate was tidy or not.

I pushed the door, the bell chiming as I entered. Drawn by the sound, he looked up, a smile blooming on his beautiful, kissable lips when he saw me, a smile that lessened with each step that brought me closer to him.

My appearance was far from pleasing today with my reddened eyes and ugly, dark circles underneath them; even my skin color was a paler, unhealthy shade.

"Rough night?" Riley asked with concern that tugged at each of my heart strings and he began preparing my coffee. He didn't need to question me what I wanted; I'd ordered the same each time I came to see him.

"Followed by a long, long day and it is only the afternoon." I failed to suppress a yawn. "Sorry, I'm late."

I'd always shown up at the Milk & Cream at the same time every Tuesday and Thursday since my first visit. Today, I was roughly an hour behind schedule.

"You are? I didn't notice."

My lips twitched. He had noticed. I could tell by how he avoided looking at me when he'd said he hadn't and by the nervous pull of his shirt.

Riley had been waiting for me.

I pretended to yawn again and covered my mouth with my hand to hide my smile.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He put the mug before me and I watched, revering as ever, as he used the flat end of a spoon to add the final touches to his work, adjusting the ears on the wolf's head.

Oh, my sweet, sweet, Riley... Did I want to talk about it?

Yes.

Should I talk about it with you?

Should I tell you how my selfish nephew was still missing and about the call my brother got about a vampire his age that was seen in another pack's territory?

Should I even mention that infuriating brat that still frightened you?

No, my mate, I shouldn't. I shouldn't let Alec ruin your day the same way he'd ruined our night.

Everett and Lisa had been having dinner with our parents, my little brothers and I when he got the call.

"A young vampire with light hair" - that had been all the description we got from the Moonlight pack's Alpha. Alec may be just a half, but he took after his vampire family in appearance so Everett, desperate to find his son, immediately prepared for the trip. Lisa had offered to go with him, but he didn't want to trouble her; the doctors had emphasized that avoiding stress would aid their attempts at having a child. I reassured her that her husband was not going alone; even if it hadn't been for Lisa, I couldn't let an anxious Everett drive all the way to the town the other pack called a home on his own.

The journey there had taken roughly five hours. Even though we'd arrived late at night, we'd been greeted by the Alpha himself and he'd been the one to take us to where the vampire had been seen. Everett had shifted into his wolf form, but even before he was back to human, I knew we'd hit a dead end; I could tell by how his tail and ears had slumped after only a few sniffs.

It had been some other vampire, not Alec.

Nevertheless, after we'd thanked the Alpha and parted ways with him, I'd sat behind the steering wheel and we'd driven around town with my brother back to wolf form in the passenger seat and with the window down, hoping to catch a whiff of his sons. After about an hour, he'd given up and we'd made our way to Woodbury.

We'd arrived home just in time for the children's morning work-out. I was supposed to supervise today and even though Keri had offered to find me a replacement, I'd refused. It was my turn, my responsibility, and I'd see things through.

After practice, I'd helped Everett make some calls. The new bit of information - even though it had lead us nowhere closer to finding Alec - had him resume his efforts to contact his son. It's been four weeks since we'd last seen him and we had not heard from him since so we phoned other packs and a couple of Gifteds in the area. Everett called Anastasiya again, but just as before, she'd provided him with no information, her uncaring demeanor at the possibility of their son being seriously injured sending my brother into fury.

After I'd tried to calm him down - futile attempts, until I'd reminded him that it was better if Lisa did not see him angered - I'd finally gone to my room to take a nap and afterwards a shower, in hopes that I would seem at least slightly presentable when I met with my mate...

... Who had asked me whether I wanted to share my troubles and was still awaiting my reply.

"Family stuff," I summed up, leaning my cheek against my palm, my other hand rummaging through my pocket to get to my phone. After I snapped a picture of Riley's latest creation, I sent it to his fan club as I liked to call them - Keri, Kelly, Kennedy and my mom and dad, who were just as impressed by my mate's cream drawing abilities as I was.

I picked up the mug, my eyes set on Riley who had a dreamy look. A smile was gradually morphing onto his face until eventually he giggled - a melodic sound, dear to my ears.

"What's so funny?"

"You have your secrets; I have mine." He shook his head and gave me a playful wink.

"I don't want us to have secrets," I assured him, took a sip and placed the mug on the bar. "And one day I'll answer the questions you have for me, but you are not ready yet."

You can't know what I am, Riley; not before I'm sure there's a chance of you accepting me.

"Ready for what?" His eyebrows furrowed adorably for a moment, then his eyes bulged and he whispered: "Are you trying to recruit me for your gang?"

"I told you before, Riley; we are a family, not a gang."

I tried to hide my annoyance as I answered. It wasn't Riley's fault he didn't understand; I was the one who had failed to provide a reasonable explanation for my pack. It still hurt though; it hurt that he could think of me as someone involved in crime, as someone shady and unreliable.

My irritation only grew as I was the one to blame for him making such assumptions. It was me who was too scared to attempt and speed things up between us, it was me who was inexperienced and blushing when I complimented him, it was me who...

Should've probably gotten more sleep before visiting my mate. A rational, well-rested me would not be ticked off so easily, would understand the importance of taking my time. Although perhaps even the rational me would agree that it was time to make at least a tiny move on Riley.

He looked around the café and leaned closer to me, speaking in a hushed tone.

"Call it whatever you will, but everyone in town knows you are doing something in that pub of yours."

I smirked.

"Sure. We drink, we play cards, shoot darts..."

... Hold secret werewolf meetings.

"You know that's not what I mean."

"We live by our own rules, Riley, but we are not criminals." The grin was gone as I tried to make him understand the importance of what I was saying, to convince him it was the truth.

He wasn't letting the subject go though and I didn't know if I should be worried about his curiosity on things I could not yet explain to him or be flattered that he wanted to know more about me and my people.

"Then how come you don't allow outsiders? You must have something to hide."

Worried. I should go with worried, if Riley was getting this inquisitive this soon.

"I told you: we are a close-knit community," I offered the usual excuse.

"Something like a tribe?"

"I guess you could say that." I nodded.

"You aren't some religious sect, are you?" The cutest frown appeared on his face and I laughed.

"No, Riley, we are not a sect."

He visibly relaxed and momentarily left to serve another costumer, giving the girl a polite smile before returning to me.

"You promised me last time that you'd tell me more about your family." I took a sip of my drink.

With a shrug, he leaned sideways on the bar.

"Not much to tell. I've never been as close to my parents as my brother was. I thought I was close to him so he was one of the first people I came out to. He called me a fag, told our parents about me, they kicked me out... Grandparents didn't want me either."

My grip on the mug tightened. Each word was like a dagger to my heart. How could anyone do such a thing to their child?

How could anyone do such a thing to a boy as kind and loving as Riley?

Did they not see how beautiful his soul was?

How gentle, and caring he was?

I put the mug back on the bar before it shattered under the pressure of my hold.

"I have an uncle but he's a petty crook so he's more likely to ask me for money than help me out... That's it."

"And they kicked you out when you were sixteen?"

I couldn't help the edge in my voice betraying my desire to hunt his parents down and give them exactly what they deserved. But Riley wouldn't want that; I didn't even have to ask him, I knew that he wouldn't. Because he was so much better than the people who raised him for sixteen years then threw him away like garbage.

He gave me a nod, so I went on.

"Then you lived on the streets before Meredith took you in and when she died, you moved here?"

He repeated the affirmative gesture.

God bless Meredith and her generosity! Let her forever rest in peace!

"I don't know how I'd survive if my family had cast me out like that." I felt tears coming to my eyes and I did my best not to blink lest they ran down my face. "You are a great deal stronger than I originally thought, Riley."

A pleasant rose color tinted his cheeks at my admission and the undoubted admiration in my voice.

He would do just fine in our pack. He would be a strong, supportive and compassionate mate.

"Thanks," he muttered, his gaze lowering to the bar, his lips forming into a grin.

"Do you have any plans for the weekend?" He then asked and I was grateful for the change of topic; perhaps this trip to memory lane was too filled with bitter memories for him to want to delve on.

"I'm taking Kennedy to the movies on Friday. They are showing Rise of the Guardians... Again."

He immediately straightened up, meeting my eyes with his, rounded with excitement.

"Really? It's one of my favorite movies ever! Jack Frost is awesome, like a cooler version of Peter Pan, and that's saying something because I love Peter Pan."

I smiled.

Could this be my chance?

I'd wanted to see Riley outside of the Milk & Cream, but I didn't want to scare him by suddenly asking him out on a date; could this be the innocent excuse I'd been looking for?

*****

A/N: Okay, those of you who've read You are the Answer know Riley's answer, but this chapter is getting a bit longer than usual and there's more to their conversation so I thought I'd stop here.

So what do you think of the chapter?

Alec is keeping everyone in the dark about where he is and what he's up to; does that change your opinion of him? Do you think he might be in danger?

I've asked this before, but I'm going to ask again: Jack Frost or Peter Pan?

Please VOTE if you enjoyed this and have a great timewattpading!