"I think he's dead."

"He's not dead you idiot. He's just... immobile."

"A coma!"

"It's a h-hangover."

I groan my aggravation at the voices that were bombarding my already-pounding head.

"It's alive!"

"Get out of my room." I say, grinding each word out of clenched teeth.

"It speaks."
I snap my eyes open enraged, not at all surprised to find the source of the voice to be Hagen.

I shut my eyes when the aggressive sunlight attacks my fragile irises, barely catching a glimpse of the positions of my siblings around my bed.

"What time did you get in last night?" Josey asks gently, knowing that I wasn't the nicest when I was hungover.

"I don't know, now leave." I instruct, knowing full well they wouldn't listen.

"Why is Samantha knocked out on the kitchen island?" Hagen asks with a nervous chuckle.

"I don't know." I grind out once more. "Don't you guys have school or some shit?"

"It's summer." They say all at once making my head ring in pain.

"A-Are you still taking u-u-us out today?" Peter asks and silence falls after him as they await my reply.

Take them out?
I was supposed to take them out? When the fuck did I agree to that?

------convient flashback------

"Hey, adopted one, there's a new arcade that opened up in the mall." Damon announces, walking into the kitchen with the rest of our siblings following. "Can you take us or what?"

"A- the fact that I'm adopted means that I'm the only child we know for sure was wanted." I reply with a smirk. "B- don't you drive?"

"My license got suspended." He says nonchalantly and I stare at him for a second to make sure I heard him right. "Yes or no?"

"Sure. Day?"

"Next Sunday." He replies and I nod.

In between the sounds of sizzling breakfast, I could hear Hagen calling out to our parents.

"Dad, did you want me?!"

-----end of convient flashback------

Fuck.

"Can't do it." I mumble before rolling over and stuffing my head under my pillow.

"You promised." Hagen whines and I chuck said pillow in his direction.

"I didn't promise shit," I say into my bedsheets. "I said sure."
They all begin to groan so loudly I swore my eardrums ripped open.

"Levi." Josey drones, shaking me violently which only resulted in me quickly kicking her off of me and onto the floor.

The room is silent after her thud and I let out a breath, grateful for the numbing silence that fills the air. Almost instantly, I find myself fading back to sleep.

"Levi!"
A series of voices whine together and I swear I popped a vein at it. I sit up angrily, turning around with flaming eyes as I pull myself out of my bed.

"Fine! Fine!" I shout despite my abusive headache. "I'll take you all to the fucking arcade! Happy?! But I swear to Goddess, if you guys make a sound on the way there, I'll crash the car and kill us all!"

They all fall silent and look at me with this stupid accomplished grin on their faces. I swear if they weren't my family I'd pull a Damon and punch them all to death.

"I guess it's true that the adopted ones are more likely to commit suicide." Damon says humorously before slinging his arm over a snickering Josey. They file out the room with laughter, Peter being the only one to bid me thanks before following after the rest of them.

I flop back down onto my bed with an exasperated sigh, praying to Goddess for the floor to eat me alive and take me to the Astral Plane or better yet, Hell.

Okay maybe not Hell. Maybe Heaven would take me. Though I doubted it, I heard they were keen on my kind.
And by my kind, I meant the gay kind.

"Your parents almost had sex on me." Sammy says pressing two fingers to her temples as she stumbled into my room.

"Ew." I say shaking a little in my spot.

"You're telling me." She groans before lying down beside me on the bed. "I need ice cream. Stat."

"Jupiter's Cone?" I question and she nods ferociously.

"Fuck yes." She says rolling around until she was comfortable.

Sam and I had this really dumb tradition of binging on ice cream after hangovers. It didn't help them in the slightest, but we just kept doing it.

"I don't remember coming here last night." She mumbles.

"Do you even remember anything from last night?" I muse with a playful smirk.

"I was in a threesome." She reveals making me snort as I laugh.

"No, you weren't."

"No, I wasn't." She agrees with a sigh.

"I kissed the pavement." I say filling the silence after a moment. My hangover fading slowly as my supernatural body, which I loved very much at the moment, got to work.

"It was a nice pavement." Sam offers and I can't help but let my smile grow.

Eventually, I get out of bed and throw a hoodie and sweats to Sam to wear while I strip out of last night's clothes and find something for myself.

Once we looked less Walk of Shame and more Hopeless Romantic Hobo, we grab our stuff and left with the others.

-----------------

"Okay, what about that one?" I question nodding discreetly to the guy who was walking by with about five shopping bags in each hand.

"A solid seven, with good style. Yeah, I'd bang." Sam says sucking on her ice cream spoon. "Three o'clock."

I turn my head calmly, my eyes landing on a tall, overly muscular guy with a glare that said 'don't touch my protein shake'.

"Hmm, the muscles are doing it for me- I won't lie." I admit as I tilt my head a little. "A good eight point five. He'd probably hatefuck me, so yeah- I'd smash."

"Eight point five?" She questions in surprise. "I'd say more of a six- pass. Plus I bet his dick is tiny."

"How do you know that?" I question laughing as I dig in my cup for more caramel.

"A gym addict that beefed up- best believe his cock didn't grow with the muscles." Sam says with a helpless shrug and I quickly cover my lips to keep myself from spitting out my ice cream.

"What would you do if you got a mate with a small dick?" I question making her face wrinkle in places, her eyebrows meeting in disgust.

"Assuming I did have a mate, then I guess we'd revert to pegging." She says with a grin that made me chuckle. "And if he's really my mate, ya know, made for me, meant for me and all that cult shit, th-"

"It's not a cult." I groan with a helpless smile. Sam had the undying belief that I was part of a cult and couldn't see it.

"That's what people in cults say." She counters.

"It's a pack!" I protest helplessly but she just swats me off.

"Potato tomato. Back to real world topics, if he's really meant for me, then his dick wouldn't be small. It'd be just right."

"Of course it would." I say rolling my eyes.

"Don't worry Levi, your mate will be packing too." She says assuredly and my smile falters slightly.

"I don't have a mate." I say for what must've been the millionth time.

"Yes you do." She replies for probably the billionth time. "God Levi, you have a mate. There's no way someone as kind and caring as you doesn't have another half floating around out there."

"Okay, okay." I say trying to make her drop it. I knew that I was a rogue and was mateless. Arguing with Sam about that undeniable fact would not do either of us any good.

I lean back into my chair, my eyes dancing around the busy food court.
As soon as we parked the car, Damon led the group of hooligans to their beloved arcade while Sam and I came straight to the food court. Since Jupiter's Cone had the best ice cream in town, it was obvious we'd find ourselves here.

We sat at a small table next to the railing that overlooked the interior of the mall's back section which included the food court and basically everything phone related.

Luckily for me, the new arcade was within my line my vision and I would be able to see or smell if any of my siblings wandered off.

"Fresh meat." Sam says making my attention drift back her way. I lift my head and follow her eyes with interest. My eyes widen at the sight of an abnormally handsome guy who stood behind a cash register. His height towered over everyone in his vicinity, his blue eyes piercing those they fell on.

"He's hot." I admit as I study the man. "Like, Ian Somerhalder hot."

"Nine point nine nine nine nine hot." She says with a small groan that told me she found a new target.

"Ten bucks says he's gay." I say as she stands and brushes her face clean.

"Twenty says he's not interested." She combats before smirking. "But he will be."

Without another word, she makes her way over to the counter. She doesn't bother going into the line, she just walks straight up to the register and leans over it.

The man's eyes raise to Sam with a certain dull, bored expression that just made him hotter. They chatted for a bit, Sam leading the conversation completely. Throughout it, his face remaining stoic, until finally a small smirk took hold of his lips.

Soon enough, Sam swirled on her heels and headed straight back to me. The guy's eyes following her the whole way, when she sat back down he looked at me briefly before getting back to work.

"I'd like my payment to be in one dollar bills." Sam states proudly making me laugh hysterically before we dive back into conversation.

------------

"I'm not getting them." Dad says while he moves around the library, Po following him with his eyes like a needy puppy.

"Why not?" He groans in response.

"Because I said no Aiden. Now leave me alone." Dad replies with clear agitation.

"But it'll be really good and it'd look great with the tattoo." Po says hopefully. When dad ignores him, he makes a move to trap him against a bookshelf.

I wasn't spying on my parents love life- I swear. I was only here cause Damon was here; organizing the pack library was next on his to-do list. I was helping out as well. The faster we got this done, the faster I'd be back out there.
Since dad kept this place in a perfect state, it wasn't as hard as the enormous space suggested.

I tried to stay close to Damon and keep us both working diligently, but it was a bit hard when your parents were approximately two bookshelves over arguing.

"That tattoo was a drunken mistake and you know it." Dad hisses back and I could practically hear the blush in his voice.
(A.N If you don't know what tattoo they're talking about, it's in chapter 15 of Perfect Mates)

"The best mistake since Hagen." He counters and Damon and I laugh to ourselves. We'd definetely be using this against the kid later.

"Aiden, the answer is no." Dad says firmly and for a moment I believe Aiden gave up.

And what a beautiful moment that was.

"But Jewels! If you got nipples piercings it'd be really hot!" He whines loudly making our heads turn their way.

"Aiden!" Dad hisses angrily, the ows that followed told me Dad was probably hitting him.

After that, heavy rushed footsteps filled the space before the dinging of the elevator appeared.

"Jewels!" Aiden calls desperately.

"Have fun with your hand tonight!" Dad shouts back and the elevator shuts behind him.

Damon and I carefully peak our head out of our column to look over at our now pouting father. He rose his right hand up and stared at it for a moment in sadness.

"Guess it's just you and me again buddy." He says with a weak smile that breaks Damon completely as he begins laughing hysterically.

Po's eyes immediately pop up to look at the two of us, a rare blush taking his cheeks as he ducked his hand behind him.
But the damage was already done and Damon's laughter wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

"Seriously old man, you're pathetic." Damon laughed out after a minute or so.

"Says the kid who thinks Santa Claus is real." Aiden spits back and Damon immediately straightens.

"Prove to me that's he's not and then we'll talk." Damon countered strongly and I just roll my eyes at the pair.

"Keep bothering me kid, and I'll make Peter the next alpha." Dad threatens and Peter immediately looks up from his corner on the floor with a scared look.

"Oh please, like if that shaking leaf could lead people." Damon scoffs. "He'd force us all to read and never go outside."

"I wouldn't m-make you r-read, I k-know you're m-mentally c-challenged." Peter counters and I had to slap my hand over my mouth to quiet the laughter that broke through.

Dad didn't even try to hold it, a loud roar like series of chuckling filling the space supposedly meant for quiet.

"Burn!" Dad cheers, lifting Peter into a tight hug he let himself sink into. "Have I ever told you how much I love you kid?"

"Whatever." Damon grumbles under his breath before going back to the shelf we'd been previously working on.

"Can I head out early?" I ask looking to dad who was still hugging Peter tightly. "I want to spend more time out there."

"Tell your father first. Make sure the men on patrol know you're leaving and to stay near to your area." He says seriously while cradling Peter's head. "Take Caspar and don't wander too far."

"Kill that beast." Damon prompts causing dad to frown deeply.

"Don't go close to it."

"I won't." I promise making Damon's smile fall.

"You guys are no fun." He mumbles but I ignore him.

"Stay out of trouble." I say rubbing his head playfully before giving Po and Peter quick hugs and leaving.

It wasn't hard to find dad. Following his scent, I found him at Amelia's house which luckily for me, was close to the boarder. I told Caspar through our link that we'd be heading out again, so he was probably already waiting.

I knock gently and wait. I didn't mind saying hi to Uncle Beckett and Emitt. The door swung open, though no hand was placed on the knob. I smile widely when my eyes land on the magical source.

"Jacob!" I cheer lifting up the little boy as I step into the house. He giggles in my hold as I throw him up a couple times before tucking him in my arms and tickling his weak spots.

"Levi!" He laughs loudly as he squirms in my hold. When he starts getting so excited we're levitating, I stop and my feet land back on the strong wooden floor.

Jacob was a warlock who was adopted by Emitt and Beckett when there was an unfortunate case in the supernatural world.
His coven had killed many werewolves in offering to him to boost his power and his strength in this world.

Yeah, it was pretty fucked up.

When the coven was slaughtered and all that remained was the baby, a trial was put in session. A lot of people demanded he be 'put down' before he could grow to his full potential of 'evil'.
Uncle Emitt decided he wasn't evil and kept him as his own. And though the Supernatural Board demanded close supervision, with one of their own living in our pack, Jacob was a happy kid.
He didn't know of his past and hopefully he never would. He just knew he was in a home with people who loved him and that's all that mattered.

"He gets so excited whenever you're around." A voice says and I lift my head to see Uncle Emitt walking over to me with a weak smile. "It's good to see you Levi."

"You too." I say truthfully as I bend down to give him a hug, careful of Jacob still in my hands.

"Why do you keep getting taller?" He questions once we pull apart. "It's bad enough my own daughter is taller than me."

"I like you small." Uncle Beckett says as he comes to meet us. "Damn kid, you've really grown up."

"Thanks, I think." I say with a chuckle as Jacob pulls at my collar for me to pay attention to him. "Jacob here has gotten even bigger than me."

"I'm a man." Jacob says puffing out his chest and I laugh as Emitt pulls him from my hands and sets him on his hip.

"You're my little man." He says nuzzling his neck with his nose, making Jacob laugh.

"You're here for Julian I'm assuming." Beckett says as we follow after his mate and their child. I nod and he leads the way. "You look good Levi." He says shortly and I look up to him in surprise. "I'm glad you're growing up nicely."

"Thanks. You look happy too." I say flashing back momentarily to a time when he wasn't. He gives me a small smile, probably thinking the same.

"I am." He says as we draw closer to the living room. "But I never said you were happy." He says turning the corner before I could question him further.

"Levi?" Dad says with a questioning look, a half eaten cinnamon stick in his hand.

I shake my head a little to dust off Beckett's words before I smile at him.

"Hey, I'm going back to the woods now." I say nonchalantly hoping it wouldn't set him off.

"Remember the safety rules." He says sternly as he stands to meet me.

"Yes dad."

"Pack a bag with water and food in case of an emergency." He continues.

"Yeah, okay."

"Stay close enough to the boarder that the patrolling can reach you by link." He insists and I nod even though I knew I wouldn't.

"Dad, okay I got it. Can I go now?" I beg, already inching my way out of the room.

"Levi, I just don't want you to get hurt." He says stopping me in my tracks. "You don't know how difficult it is to let you go out there alone. Especially when I know what lives there."

"I know dad." I say gently. "I'll be safe and I'll keep an eye out always."

"Good." He breathes out smiling back at me a little. "Now go, and get back here as soon as you can."

"Okay." I say giving him a quick hug. "It was great seeing you all, I'm happy to be back in the pack."

"It was great seeing you too Levi." Emitt replies fondly as he snuggles into his mate on the couch.

"And you," I say squatting down to meet Jacob's height. "I'll take you out one day and we can play with all this magic inside of you." I say squeezing his sides gently and he laughs, nodding viscously in agreement.

I bid them all a last goodbye before leaving the house, letting out a breath of exhaustion as I make my way to Caspar.

I'd been exploring beyond our pack for about two weeks now and every time was better than the last.
I knew the little land I'd explored like the back of my hand now, and had little to no problem getting around.

And not once did I see track marks of the 'beast', or smell the scent of a rogue. There was no trail of dead animals; no dark eyes that followed me.

Nothing.

It was as though the thing didn't even exist and in all honesty, I was beginning to believe it didn't. Maybe it was just folklore, created to scare children away. Maybe, it was real, but not as big and bad as it was described to be.

But if it wasn't real, then why did my dads return home so many times covered in scratches and bites with their own blood splashed over them.

Why did everyone who ever went after it and survived, describe its attack in the same way, with the exact same order of events occurring each time.

Firstly, they were separated from their hunting party.
Then once they had wandered to far away to be heard by anyone, they'd feel it's eyes.

Feel it trailing them, feel it studying them, feel it stalking it's prey. But not once would they see it themselves.

And then it'd attack.
Moving faster than light, being bigger and stronger than an alpha.

When you finally looked into its eyes, seeing the monster that would haunt you until your dying breath, in that moment, you knew you were going to die...

... or so they say.

What took you so long? - Caspar questions as I approach him, my prepacked bag held between his teeth.

Got caught up by the parental. Sorry - I say taking the bag from him with a grateful smile. I rub him a little before we begin walking.

Warning you of the big bad wolf? - Caspar teases and I shove him a little with my knee.

We drop the conversation when we're far enough from the park. We didn't really talk much when we were out here, just focused on the things around us. Or at least I did. Maybe Caspar was just happy being out of the pack for once. Goddess knows he hated the way people jolted away from him.

"What the..." I whisper to myself when my eyes catch sight of blooming flowers. I turn in their direction, curious why there seemed to be so many clustered in one area.

I head towards it, Caspar following with a sound of annoyance. He didn't share my love for flowers but that was okay. Because whenever he saw a fish in a pond or even an aquarium and wanted to watch it for hours on end, I stood silently beside him.

As we drew closer, my lungs found themselves filling with air at the sight before me. A tree stood tall with large, buttress roots that wrapped themselves around it. They piped up and down through the earth as it claimed the space around it as its own.
But that wasn't what had me circling it with wide eyes. It was the abundance of this unusual pink flower that spiraled up the length of the tree.

I'd never seen a tree that had flowers surrounding its trunk, from the bottom all the way to the top. The flowers were small, fragile and gorgeous. When I'd circled it for what must've been the sixth time, I pulled out my phone and took as many pictures as my storage would allow me to.

"Goddess Caspar, have you ever seen something so beautiful?" I say when I'd satisfied my needs.

Can't say I have - He replies boredly. Now let's head back, we've wandered too far.

"There's a yellow one!" I exclaim when my eyes catch sight of an identical tree not too far from this one. But this time the flowers were yellow instead of pink.

Levi - Caspar warns as I rush towards it.

"I'll be quick." I say absentmindedly.
But by the time I reached the tree, I was already in a world of my own as I stared up at the beauty.

Okay, that's enough. Let's go - Caspar says looking around the space.

"Okay, okay." I say turning back to face him. "Lead the way Grinch."

I love Christmas so that statement was invalid - He retorts. I follow behind him while looking around the space I'd run into blindly.

I take pictures of what I can, wandering a little off course whenever I could without Caspar noticing before running back to meet him.

We weren't too far from the land we were familiar with when I caught sight of a colony of bunnies. I stilled in my spot as the little family bounced around, eating the plants nearby peacefully.

I look to Caspar who was trailing forward before turning towards them. I move silently for Peter's sake, getting as close as I could before taking out my phone and taking more photos. Zooming in close for a better view of the baby ones.

When I had enough to last Peter a lifetime, I headed back to where Caspar was, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Caspar." I call out but no sound came in response. "Caspar, come on."

I look around aimlessly, my heart beginning to pick up speed as I took a few steps forward.

"Caspar!"

Firstly, you're separated from your group.

Caspar - I call through our link desperately.

Levi! Where are you?! - He answers immediately and I audibly let out my fear as my back slouches with relief.

I guess I went off farther than I thought - I say apologetically.

I'll come find you - He insists.

No, let's meet at the pack border. It'll be faster - I say starting my journey.

Be quick - He says giving in.

I tighten my hold on my backpack, pushing my phone deeper into my pocket. Walking back the way I believe we came, I say a small prayer of thanks to Goddess.

Almost like a laser directed on my back, I could feel the presence of eyes trailing me. Glancing back, I smile when I catch sight of one of the baby bunnies behind me. I give it a small wave as if it'd understand before getting back to walking.

But what I didn't realise, was that the cute little bunny wasn't the owner of the eyes I felt on me.

-------------

Ooooo cliffhanger lol.
Thoughts??

As I said on my Instagram, i only have a couple days left of my vacation so I'm really busy. Doesn't help that as soon as I get back to school, it's work none stop.

So it's not fair that you guys are waiting for an update not knowing when it'll come.
From now on I'll be updating once a week, on Saturday or Sunday.

I may update more if I have time. If I don't I'll make sure to let you guys know on my insta why.

Anyways,
Until next time,
Byeeeee Humansssss