Alpha Elias had found his mate and she was the most beautiful girl Ryan had ever seen. She was like a delicate flower, her feet covered in blood, her eyes wide as she looked at Elias as if he was going to harm her.

Ryan was going to be her best friend. He knew it, even pretending to fall into Kyle and Brian's arms had made her smile and it had been enough for him to think about being straight for a day or two.

Pack meeting. Zac, the Beta, sent the order through the pack link and Ryan looked up from the couch he was sitting on surrounded by the boys as people started walking into the room. He instantly got up, letting Aunt Mary sit down in his spot who smiled up at him, patting the arm of the couch for him which he sat down at.

It had been weeks, roughly a month or two, or three if he was counting properly, when he had kissed Kyle. He had forgotten about it, not wanting the awkwardness to settle in plus nobody else seemed to have known they were mates. He flirted with everyone but there was a massive big cock size part of him that felt happy to know Bella was not Kyle's girlfriend. They had called it quits a day after his birthday which had been his best gift ever.

Alpha Elias walked into the room, looking slightly dazed and Ryan grinned to himself. The alpha was going to be whipped with his mate. He stood in front of the people. Ryan felt a stare on his face and he looked to the side, just as Kyle looked away.

"......No violence-" Ryan heard the words of half a sentence. "Just be nice. Welcome her in because I need her to like me-" Elias sighed, running his hands through his hair. "She's heard a lot of bullshit about me, alright so I need you all to prove that I'm not like that."

"You'll be fine, boy." Aunt Mary leaned back against the couch. "Just let her be. Don't growl at her." It seemed to be something every elder said about growling because he remembered his own Mom's advice about not growling.

"No fights, no violence, no blood. Nothing that's going to scare her because I will rip you all to shreds, okay?" Elias warned them all.

"Like a paper shredder?" Ryan blurted out.

Immediately people started chuckling. Elias rolled his eyes as Aunt Mary patted his leg, a laughter following her as she got up. Everyone listened to Elias' orders about spreading the news around to the others and slowly everyone started leaving the room.

"I should go tell mama." Ryan yawned, stretching his arms out as he stood up. "I'll see you fuckers, later?"

The boys followed him out of the pack house, all of them heading in the same path. "Well you two are mates so she's off limits to flirt with for you two-" Josh spoke, shrugging his shoulders and looking at Ryan and then Kyle. "Oh fuck off, we're not idiots." He chuckled as the others did.

Ryan stopped walking as did the others. "What?"

"He thinks we're stupid." Brian chuckled at Andy and Josh. "Just fucking yesterday, man. Kyle kept staring at you through the whole fucking movie-"

"And then when he looked away-" Josh started laughing as if it was the funniest thing ever as Ryan crossed his arms, looking at them as if they were high as fuck. "You kept looking at him." He pointed at Ryan.

"Point that finger and I'll bite it." Ryan smiled tightly at them as Kyle growled at them.

"What confuses me though is-" Brian took a few steps backwards. "You turned 18 first-" He looked at Kyle. "Didn't you feel the mate bond?"

Ryan looked at Kyle. He had been stupid not to ask. When Kyle had turned 18, he had gone out with Bella but come back earlier saying he wasn't really feeling it. Ryan had asked if anyone was his mate in the pack and his answer had been simple. I feel like it's here but I don't know who.

"Did you know?" He frowned at Kyle. Instantly the others shut up.

"You know I didn't fucking know." He rolled his eyes at Ryan, as if remembering the night they had talked and talked about the life they would have with their mates while being drunk af because Kyle didn't like celebrating his birthdays.

"And you assholes. I'm going to fucking kill you." He chased after the three friends who ran, laughing their asses off like it was the funniest shit ever.

Rubbing his face, he let out a strained groan. He was fine. Continuing to be friends was better than nothing. At least Kyle didn't mind his flirting because it was his way of speaking.

Heading towards his house, Ryan smiled at it. The dead flowers had stopped growing and he knew he was going to get a shouting from his mom for killing them. He glanced at her house, right next door to theirs. He had begged his mom to let them have a place together.

From all the boys, it was only his mom that was still alive. Andy, Josh and Kyle were all from the orphanage, Kyle abandoned by his parents while Andy and Josh's parents died protecting the pack. An honour given to them by anyone in the pack. Kyle on the other hand, his parents had been Traitors to the pack when he was young, barely two years old and they had run only to be killed by a neighbouring pack. Brian had grown up with Aunt Mary.

Ryan's mom still lived and he was god damn thankful for that. She was their mama, his friends Mama, the one who cooked for them when they all stayed over, the one they had to inform if they were going out somewhere far. He twisted his door handle and walked into the dirty house that he lived in with the boys.

"Ryan?" He looked up towards the stairs to see his mom walking downstairs with a basket full of dirty clothes.

He groaned, throwing the house keys onto the table besides the front door. "Mama, I told you these idiots can clean up after themselves." He quickly walked towards her, getting the basket of dirty underwear and shorts out of her hand.

"I was a bit restless.." She sighed and he immediately knew why as she started picking up the dirty shirts and socks from the floor and putting them into the basket Ryan was following her with. "I made cookies and they came out tasting horrible so I was walking past and this place was sticking terribly so I'm cleaning it."

"Is it because of the new girl?" He questioned.

Seeing her had sparked something inside of him as well. She had been so lost and confused and it reminded her of his mama, the way she had been after his sperm donor had beat her up for not being able to have another child. Aunt Mary had thrown him out of the pack, many years ago when Ryan was barely two, and a few years later when he came crawling back to his mama, Ryan didn't allow him. He had died and his mama hadn't been the same after that.

He pushed the thoughts out of his mind.

She answers with a smile. "Would you like to taste the new cookies I made? I'm going to send them to May at the orphanage to share with the kids. Do you want to come with me?"

Groaning, he shook his head as he walked towards the washing machine. "Mama, you know I'm not one for kids." He started helping her with the laundry.

"Why do you think I'm going to adopt all the kids in the orphanage one day so they can carry my name forward?" She chuckled at him as he stuck his tongue out at her playfully.

"She's really pretty, Mama." He smiled at his mom as he poured the liquid into the pot. "And Zac said Alpha Elias was losing his mind when they were walking her back." He chuckled.

His mom smiled. "He deserves someone to calm his anger down." Ryan could have done that as well. "It'll be different for them."

"Why?" He picked up the empty basket again and followed his mom to get another load of laundry to do.

"Liv has been walking door to door, saying the same thing over and over again, she's been hurt. Tread carefully." His mom shrugged her shoulders as Ryan bent down and pulled the socks from under the grey couch. "He'll have to be careful with her or he'll lose her forever-" She turned to look at Ryan. "Do you think I should make a cake for her? Like a welcome to the pack cake?"

He chuckled, saying, "No mama. What if she's allergic to cake? Then she can't be part of the family."

His mom elbowed him, saying she won't be allergic to cake. No one is. "How is Kyle?" She glanced at him before picking up the empty beer cans with him.

Their house was exactly like a bachelor pad, with no care in the world. He felt disgusted with himself but it was going to change from now on.

Kyle.

"He's probably going around and killing our friends. They know we're mated." Ryan shrugged his shoulders, throwing the rubbish into the bin.

"That's good." She smiled widely.

He laughed. "That's not good, Mama."

"If your friends know, he can't hide it. He can't keep it a secret because it's probably broadcasted to everyone since the girl Andy is dating likes to talk a lot."

He grinned, shaking his head at his mom who definitely didn't like Andy's girlfriend. "You and I need to go shopping mom." He blurted out. He hadn't been spending enough tike with her.

Her eyes lit up. "I do need a lot of baking stuff if that's okay."

He walked past her, leaning down and kissing her cheek. "That's perfect, Mama."

***

The day they take Myra to the lake house the first time.

Ryan watched, sadness bubbling up inside of him as Myra clung to Kyle's body as he swam her to the sand area where their clothes were.

He didn't mean to hurt her or scare her. He liked Myra, and liked the calmness she brought him. She laughed at his jokes which the others found cringy at times but she laughed and he instantly knew they were going to be best friends forever. He even had a crush on her. He wanted her to learn how to swim and Kyle was teaching her and he wanted to help as well, to prove to them all that he could do it too. He could be serious.

"Careful, asshole." Brian smacked him on the back of the head. "Elias would have killed us." Kyle swam towards them, leaving Myra on the surface as she wrapped her arms around her knees and stared at nothing. "Fuck up again and we're all dead."

Kyle growled at Brian. "Mistakes happen."

It had truly been a mistake.

Brian sighed. "I'll go get some food, and see where the hell Josh and Andy ran off to with their fucking girlfriends again."He swam away, leaving them alone.

Ryan dipped his head down into the water before flipping his head backwards and running his hands over his dark brown hair. Kyle watched him. "So?" Kyle muttered, looking around, waiting for a chance to run.

"Water is not lube." Ryan blurted out.

Kyle looked at him, his eyes running down the chest he could see before Ryan turned into Moto Moto and lowering himself in the water. "Which I know." Kyle answered him.

Ryan nodded. "Good." A cheeky grin appeared on his face and amusement flickered through Kyle's eyes as Ryan continued speaking. "I wanted you to know just in case you wanted to fuck me in the water. I'd prefer a bed for my first time with you." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Can you get your head out of the gutter for a while?"

Ryan swam on his back, away from him. "Put on some clothes and then I will." He winked before turning around and swimming towards Myra who watched every stroke he did until he reached a little close to her yet still being in the lake.

"I'm sorry for scaring you." Ryan apologised and she blinked in surprise. "It was my mistake, I should have warned you I was going under."

"It's okay." She smiled softly at him. It truly wasn't okay.

He returned her smile, floating on his back and staring up at the sky. "I drowned once as well, it was a long time ago and a bit stupid, because I was underage and was completely drunk and forgot how to swim." He chuckled as she giggled a little watching him float in the water as he faced her.

"What happened?"

He looked over his shoulder at Kyle who was swimming alone. "Oh you know, my Knight in shining armour came to save me." He faced Myra again who was looking at Kyle.

"Does he not like you?" She asked innocently, unaware of everything that had happened between them.

Ryan shrugged. "I'm not sure if it's like or lust but there's something there." He glanced behind him to see Andy, Josh and Brian running from the forest and jumping into the water, making a loud splash. "He's confused about himself, I know he's fancied men but he's never acted on it." He turned to look at Myra who was listening carefully to everything he was saying. "I'm his fist." Ryan wiggled his eyebrows at her, making her blush and giggle.

He smiled widely at her. "I'm going to go and tell the boys to make a big heart for you." He heard her laughter as he swam towards the boys again.

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......