ERIK

Something was wrong with Raven. It was like he was avoiding me again, and I couldn’t understand why. Did I do or say something wrong? Was it the thing Loui said? I had so many questions, and I wanted answers. I didn’t want us to go back to how things were, we had a good relationship. We were friends, and hanging out with him was keeping me sane from the need to work. I stepped out of my room, and the house was silent, which was odd. Usually, you were able to hear voices and footsteps all around. I walked to the living room to find Lilah sitting on the sofa, reading a book. Her eyes looked up at me, and she smiled. 

“Hey Erik.” She waved, putting her book down. Getting along with her was easy; she wasn't as outgoing and daring as her other sisters. She'd even made it clear she had no intention of courting me. Besides, when we talked, she'd often tell me stories about Raven, and I liked that.

“Hi, Lilah.” I smiled at her and sat on one of the single sofas in the room. “What are you up to?”

“Just reading.” She showed the book to me and I nodded.

“Yeah, I saw that. Where are the others? The house is quiet.” I asked curiously.

“Oh, everyone is getting ready for the pride run.” She said with a smile.

“Pride run?” I asked confused. I had never heard of prides going for a run. I knew wolf packs did them, but not felines. Odd.

“Oh, right. You are from the city. Once every few months, our alpha summons everyone to a run. It’s basically a day where we can hang out in our animal forms, play, and go for a run as a group.” The girl explained to me with a smile, and I nodded in understanding.

“Wow, that’s interesting. So it’s today?” I asked and she nodded.

“Yup. In a few hours, but some are already out.” Lilah said, putting her book down and looking at me. “I was planning on going later. Would you like to join me?”

“Oh, thanks for the invite, but I don’t want to impose on pride traditions.” I refused her offer politely with a smile.

“No, you are no bother. I’m sure everyone would love to see you there.” She said with a smile.

“I don’t know…” I was unsure. Would they want me there? The alpha did say I was welcome for as long as I wanted. 

“Raven is also going to be there.” Lilah said.

“He is?” I asked, looking at her, and she gave me a knowing grin. “Not that it matters to me, but that’s good to know.”

“Sure, sure.” She giggled and her eyes went back to her book. “I’m leaving as soon as I finish this book.”

“Okay, I can wait.” I said with a smile and walked back to my room to distract myself.

~oOoOo~

Lilah hadn’t lied. The pride run was an important tradition, and it showed. Once we arrived at the plaza, many people were already standing there. All of them waiting for the event to start, and you could feel the anticipation in the air. Looking around, I tried to find Raven, but it was impossible due to the number of people gathered. I did see his other sisters, but I looked the other way so they wouldn't notice me. My eyes wandered around the crowd looking for Raven, but I couldn’t find him. Unfortunately, someone found me. Lesly. She was the thirstiest daughter of the Powells, she was trying too hard to win me over, and frankly, any other time I would’ve fallen, but the constant nagging of Ed and the weird feeling on my chest every time I thought of someone other than Raven was stopping me, giving me a reality check too.

“Hey handsome, I’m glad you came.” Lesly said with a flirty smile. Lesly said with a flirty smile.

“Lilah invited me.” I answered. She looked at her sister and then back at me. I said with a smile, hiding my awkwardness. Lesly looked at her sister and then at me, her expression unchanged, but deep down, one could tell she was annoyed by it.

“Oh, she did.” She said, still with a smile, but I could tell she was…jealous? She said with a subtle tone of sarcasm.

“I wanted to introduce him to our pride’s traditions.” Lilah said with a smile, but with an intensity in her eyes that suggested she didn’t particularly like her triplet sister. Lilah answered, smiling at her sister.

“That’s good.” Lesly said nodding and then placed her hand on my chest. Lesly said with a smile and placed one of her hands on my chest. “You have to get used to them if you mate with me.” 

“Uhmm…” Was all I could say, uncomfortable. ‘She wishes. Get your paws off us.’ Ed said in my mind, and I kindly removed her hand from me. She remained smiling, but I could tell she was annoyed at my rejection. She caught me off guard with her words. ‘Ew, no. Paws off. She is trying way too hard.’ Ed said in my mind.

“He is going to mate with Raven.” Lilah said, and I looked at my friend, perplexed. Lilah said, defending me? I felt like a fight was about to start, and I had no clue how to avoid it. 

“No, he won’t. Right, Erik? Lesly said, glaring at Lilah, and then looked at me with a smile, waiting for an answer.

“I…” I didn’t know what to say,, but luckily I was saved by the sound of a big bell. My eyes went to the middle of the plaza. 

Amongst the crowd, a white head popped up until his owner was revealed, Zenon Whiteclaw, standing on what I assumed was a made-up stage. Next to him stood Mr Powell and another alpha I couldn’t recognize, who I assumed was Zenon’s other beta. I couldn’t help but notice the lack of an omega next to the white lion. A Sun usually stood next to their Alpha mates on important events such as this one, but no Sun stood next to Zenon. Was he mateless? But why? To become the Alpha of a pride, a Sun was required. Or that’s what I was used to knowing. I would have to ask someone about that later.

“Evening, everyone.” Zenon said with a loud and firm voice. “We gather here today for our pride run. Our time to release our animal selves. Let us shift and feel the grass under our paws while we connect with nature.” The alpha said before he shifted, the crowd followed him, and soon all humans turned into felines. To avoid standing out, I shifted like everyone else. 

Once no humans were in sight and only felines ruled the plaza, Zenon looked over everyone and pulled his head back, letting out a loud roar. Everyone followed, and I joined. A warm feeling spread on my chest, and I felt…free. I had never engaged in such an event with my pride before. Events were always fancy and nothing like this; it made me realize how united the Bramville pride was. It made me realize how much I was missing out, and it made me wish I were part of them. The roaring stopped, and with a single nod from the white lion, started to walk and run around the plaza and into the woods. Some of them stayed behind on the plaza. Lilah nodded at me and then walked away.

‘Now what?’ I said to myself—and Ed.

‘Well, we go to the woods. Have a run.’ Ed suggested and I agreed.

‘Exploring the forest it is then.’ I said, but before I could walk away, I was surrounded by black phanters—with green eyes I recognized. The Powell sisters. They looked identical, but somehow I could tell which one was which. They were looking at me with hungry eyes, and I felt like some prey. Will they ever let me be in peace? I was starting to get stressed with their intentions. I roared and tried to go away, but Lesly got in my way. I growled at her, but she didn’t move. I had to be civil with them, as I was staying at their house. I was their guest, so I couldn’t be rude. 

The women looked at me with hungry, curious eyes, and even though they looked the same, I could tell which was which by their scent. I huffed at them trying to get to the forest, but Josie got in my way. I growled at her and tried to get past another, but they didn’t allow me to leave. I was starting to get annoyed, but I shouldn’t be rude to them. I was just a guest; I didn’t want to get in trouble. I roared at them, but not one moved. I felt like a prey under their eyes. The panthers got closer and closer to me, making me uncomfortable. A was about done, but then, a roar from outside the circle distracted the women. I turned and saw Lilah in her animal form meters away from us. She continued to roar, and I couldn’t understand what she was doing. 

The scent of cinnamon hit my nose, I looked for its owner, and my gaze locked on blue eyes near one of the entrances of the forest. Raven. He nodded at me, and I jumped past the group of women, getting closer to Raven. I was close to him when he started running into the forest, and I followed him. I heard paws behind me; someone was following us. Raven must have felt it too because he increased his speed, and I kept up with him. Luckily, we were fast enough that they lost track of us. Raven never stopped; he kept running, and I had no idea where he was taking me. I decided to trust him, and I was glad I did, because we arrived at a beautiful lake area. It was peaceful and calm. No one was around, just the two of us. Raven turned to look at me and nodded. He shifted back to his human form, and I followed him.

“Thank you for saving me.” I said with an awkward smile. “That was really uncomfortable.”

“I don’t understand why they act like that around you. It looked like they were going to attack you.” Raven said frowning, sitting down on the grass.

“I guess I am that handsome, huh?” I asked jokingly, sitting next to him.

“Yeah, you are.” The omega said, and I turned to look at him. He gasped, realizing what he said. His face turned red, our eyes met, and he looked the other way. “No, forget I said that.”

“You think I’m handsome?” I asked him, kind of shocked he admitted to it. 

“Erik, anyone with eyes can tell you are handsome looking.” Raven said, looking at the lake and avoiding eye contact with me. He was still blushing and probably embarrassed. ‘Cute.’ Ed said.

“Sure, let’s go with that.” I said and turned to look at the lake as well. “So, have you been avoiding me this week?”

“What? No. I just…” Raven said and took a deep sigh. “My band has a gig soon. We have been practicing more than usual.”

“Oh! Can I go?” I asked, turning to see him.

“Where?” He asked, confused.

“To see your band play. You promised you would invite me.” I said, remembering the conversation we had on our date. No. Not date. Our friends hang out.  

“Mmm.” He said, thinking for a moment, and then nodded. “Yeah, you can go. I’ll let you know the details later.”

I smiled and turned to look back at the lake. It was really peaceful. I took a deep breath, and Raven’s cinnamon scent hit my nostrils. I turned to look at him, his gaze was on the lake. Zenon Whiteclaw suddenly showed in my mind, and I realized it was the perfect time to ask Raven about their Sun situation.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” I said, breaking our peaceful silence.

“Sure. Ask away.” He said, not looking at me. His eyes were still on the lake, his blush faded.

“I noticed Zenon had no Sun next to him during his speech. Does he not have a mate?” I asked curiously.

“Oh…Yeah, he doesn’t have one.” Raven said with a melancholic smile.

“Why is that? I thought an Alpha needed to have a Sun to take over the pride.” I said, confused.

“Well, not always. Zenon’s case is complicated.” Raven sighed.

“How so?” 

“Well, his parents passed away when he was a kid, so his grandparent, our previous Alpha, raised him. Sadly, our previous alpha got sick, and he kept asking for Zenon to take over the alpha role and find a mate, but Zenon said he would take the role with one condition.” Raven explained.

“And that condition was?” I asked, still not getting it.

“That he won’t take a mate. He would lead the pride without a Sun.” Raven said, looking at me, I guess my confusion showed on my face. “Zenon wanted to leave the Sun spot empty for when he finds his fated mate. But as you know, it’s really hard to find your fated mate.” 

“I understand.” I nodded, understanding. 

We both went quiet again, looking at the peaceful lake in front of us. An odd feeling came to my chest. I couldn't help but feel ungrateful and guilty for having found my fated mate, something that happened rarely. Yet, since it wasn't what I expected, I was willing to reject it. I stared at Raven for a moment, and he turned to look at me. I didn’t look away, and our eyes met. We stared at each other in silence, neither of us moved. Then I realized how close we were sitting together. I felt a sudden flutter in my stomach, and I was about to say something when a noise coming from the forest startled us both. We looked toward the source of the noise. Two brown panther cubs came out of the bushes and, upon meeting our eyes, ran toward us. Following them, a black panther came out from the bushes, and she had blue eyes like Raven’s. Roxanne and the twins.

“I’m sorry if we interrupted something.” Roxanne said, shifting to her human form, giving us an apologetic smile. 

“Uhm..” I said awkwardly, trying to think of an answer.

“It’s okay. You are not interrupting anything.” Raven answered before I could, while petting his nephews.

“Are you sure?” She asked looking at Raven and then at me.

“Yeah, you didn’t interrupt.” I said with a smile and turned to look at Raven, who had shifted to his animal form and was playing with his nephews. I didn’t even notice his change. 

‘Might as well join them.’ I said to myself. Ed approved, and I shifted back to my animal form, joining Raven on his playtime with the twins. As we played together, the fluttering feeling in my stomach never left, and I couldn’t help but wonder…

What is this feeling?