A Were Story Ch. 04

Kylie's head was buried in her food, but her cutlery didn't seem as interested in the content of the dish as her eyes were. She had barely said a word since they got to the table, granted there wasn't much chatter going on, more like a quiet tension, but Kylie wasn't one to shy away from conversation. She was literally the life of every gathering, she could talk nonstop even when no one else was interested in any form of conversation, so her unusual silence was especially bothersome.

"Kylie" Cassandra called softly.

"Hmm?" she answered, her head never leaving the plate in front of her.

"How do you like the food?"

"It's good." She replied.

"Kylie."

"Huh?"

"Look at me." Cassandra ordered

Kylie paused in her eating, she didn't want to look up and it had nothing to do with Cassandra or most of the people at the table. No, she didn't want to look up because she didn't want to look at him and looking up would eventually lead to her eyes meeting his. Since the large blond man had unceremoniously announced himself, her thoughts had been in a jam. She couldn't even begin to explain what that meant nor could she fathom the reason, but he made her feel something she couldn't put her finger on.

He had been watching her, she could feel his eyes on her the entire time they walked to this dining and since they sat for their meal, she had only met his gaze once, but the intensity of his eyes had caused a fierce heat to rise within her. There was nothing innocent in his look, it was filled with a heat that scorched her from the inside, she wasn't used to men looking at her in that manner. Maybe a few had, but nothing like this; not with such intensity. She feared meeting his gaze would send the wrong signals. More importantly, she wished so badly she knew why someone she barely knew would stare at her like that and why his stare caused such a reaction from her.

Slowly, she raised her head to look at her cousin, she made sure to not look across the table for fear of meeting his gaze, "Are you okay?" Cassandra asked her softly.

She was used to being the baby, the one everyone looked out for. Both Kennedy and Cassandra treated her like she was a five-year-old child constantly, and she wouldn't deny, she loved the level of affection and protection she felt whenever she was with them, but sometimes, she wished they would just look away.

"I...yes, I just...I need to use the restroom." She finally spoke. Yes, that would be the best thing to do, she needed to get away from this man and calm herself somewhere else, what better place than the restroom? Maybe if she spent five minutes away from his presence, she would feel better and these odd feelings that seemed to be filling her up would stop.

"Are you sure you're okay?" this time, it was Kennedy asking, suffice it to say, she made sure to use her mother hen tone.

"I am, I just need the restroom." She reiterated.

"It's fine then." Caleb spoke up, Kennedy and Cassandra failed to look away from her as if expecting her to spill out her guts under their scrutiny, "Lydia." He called out.

A tiny dark-haired lady hastily walked through a door at the other end of the room, for someone so tiny, she moved pretty fast. Her hair was in a French braid. Her eyes were a deep blue, set upon a pretty face and alabaster skin. She stood by the table and bowed slightly, "Alpha, you called." She spoke with an airy voice.

"Please, show Miss Kylie here to the restroom" he said.

"Yes sir." The lady replied, she turned her attention to Kylie, "Please, follow me madam."

Kylie quickly stood up and followed the tiny woman without further thought or an extra glance to anyone else, her feet moved speedily until they were out of the room. Finally, she breathed a sigh of relief...perhaps a little too loud as it caught Lydia's attention.

"Long day madam?" she asked

Kylie looked up at her, at first in confusion, "Excuse me?"

She smiled, "I'm sorry for speaking out of turn."

Her eyes widened at the impression she had unwittingly made on the lady, "Oh, no, no, I'm not...i...sorry..." she sighed, "Please, I didn't mean to come off as rude or anything, I...my mind is a little out there. I'm Kylie." She introduced herself and stretched her hand to the Lydia

Lydia's smile grew wider, "I'm Lydia." She replied.

"Nice to meet you, Lydia, so, how long have you been working here?" she asked, if she was going to make a good impression on the lady, she at least had to make good conversation.

Lydia seemed open to a conversation as she brightened up and her steps became slower, "Since I was a teenager, it's been about thirty years now." She replied.

Kylie stopped in her tracks and stared at the smaller woman with disbelief written over her face, over thirty years? For someone over forty, Lydia certainly looked young. She could easily have been mistaken for a teenager, hell, Kylie had thought she was the older of them both.

Once Lydia realized Kylie wasn't following, she equally stopped to look at her, "Is there any problem madam?"

"No, not madam, Kylie, please." Kylie replied immediately, "It's just...you look so young, is it the were genes?" she asked in wonder as she fell into step with Lydia.

Lydia smiled, a dimple appearing on her left cheek. She shrugged, "I guess so." She replied.

"Waoh! Is everyone here the same? Like, do you all look really young even if you're older?"

"Yes, some people are older than others, some look different in size and all because of our class."

"Class? What class?"

"I'm an omega, we're the lowest class among the Weres, we're usually small, like my size. We do the house chores around here, we tend the gardens, you know, much like the domestic staff in your world" she explained.

"Really? What other classes are there?" Kylie asked. She was eager to learn more of the were society, it was almost surreal that she was now within a society she had always suspected existed, but never really had the chance to prove their existence. She planned to milk this experience for all it was worth, by the time they left this place, she would at least have basic knowledge of werewolves, and not just some ideology from an outsider.

"Well, there are the thetas, the betas and the Alphas. The Alphas are at the top of the ladder, there's usually one for each state, then there are regional Alphas, chosen among the state Alphas, Continental Alphas, then there's an Alpha Supreme, he's the head Alpha of the world. The Alphas make the decisions around here, they sign treaties, basically, they are like Presidents. After them, we have betas, they act like Vice Presidents, only, they do more, the betas are the head warriors of every pack, they're usually really big guys, scary too." She laughed at that, "...lots of people avoid betas, they don't have the best tempers, but on the battlefields, they're assets."

" Is Roy a beta?" Kylie blurted out. He kind of fit the description Lydia painted of the average beta. She had been curious about him since they were introduced, she figured she would at least try to squeeze out some information from an amenable person

"Yes, he is. Scary fellow." Lydia said, "He doesn't speak much, so he's hard to figure out. You'll get used to him."

For some reason, Kylie couldn't reconcile the man with the personality Lydia spoke of, sure, he did look a bit fearful, but that was required sometimes. She was always nice and welcoming and people took her for a ride, maybe his style worked for him. It must have if this was the sort of feedback she got on his personality.

"And Rinaldi?" he didn't fit the description of a beta, he wasn't huge...tall, yes, but nowhere near as huge as Roy was and certainly not as scary

"His story is a bit complicated, he's not really a beta though, he's supposed to be an Alpha." She replied.

Kylie wanted to ask many more questions, but Lydia stopped in front of a door, "Well, here we are. I'll let you do your business."

She smiled at the tiny woman in appreciation, "Thanks so much for escorting me and answering my silly questions."

Lydia smiled, "They weren't silly. I'll be right out here when you're done so I can take you back to the dining."

"Thank you" Kylie replied before walking into the rather large lavatory.

Once again, Kylie couldn't stop the look of amazement on her face as she entered easily, the most glamorized lavatory she had ever seen. How did people use such a place as a convenience? The tiled floors were pristine white, almost translucent even, the lights on the ceiling reflected against the floor, there were about four mirrors in the large room that was the size of their living room back at home, six basins were lined up along the wall, why would they need these many basins? How many people lived here?

She walked through the room slowly before stopping in front of the fourth sink. It was a golden colored one, there were also bronze, silver, green, red and blue sinks. There was no way anyone was taking a shit in this place. She looked into the mirror and let out a deep sigh, she didn't even want to use the toilet, she just wanted alone time.

She figured she had some minutes to stay here before she would have to return to the dining room, if she stayed past a certain amount of time, Kennedy would come for her, and she didn't need her older sister shouting down the house. That would be much too embarrassing.

She stared at her reflection, asking herself why she was hiding inside this place to begin with, what chased her in here? What big, bad beast had her tucking her tail between her legs and shivering like a scared mouse? Dark blue eyes flashed into her mind and she gasped audibly. That was the big, bad, beast chasing her.

Roy.

Grateful as she was for Lydia's acquiescence towards her questions, she was still curious, perhaps beyond whatever information, Lydia could give her. She wanted to know him more, she couldn't explain why she felt a strong connection to him, but she wanted to understand that connection, she needed to figure out why she had a strong urge to go to him the entire time she was at that table, as much as she liked big guys, she would be the first to admit that Roy did not give off the vibes of your average 'big guy', he was much bigger than someone she thought she would like though. She had imagined someone around 6ft.3" at most, not above 6ft.6", he was fearful in size, but all she could see was deep blue eyes and blonde hair, even the hardness of his features failed to deter her from having inappropriate thoughts about him.

You would think she should be scared of him, but fear was the least of the feelings swirling inside Kylie at the thought of him. Was it possible he was...? The thought died in her head before it could be formulated. There was no way, how convenient would that be? She laughed at the idea, perhaps Kennedy was right, she had been watching much too many paranormal shows and reading too many books on the supernatural. Now she was even imagining a life as one of them, as much as she was happy for Cassandra and her mate, there was no possible way she had gotten lucky as well.

She went to one of three toilet stalls and flushed it to give the idea that she was indeed using the toilet lest Lydia become suspicious, she then returned to the golden colored sink and turned on the tap. She washed her hands, repeating to herself that she was fine, she could return to the dining and face him without the butterfly effect, she could start up a conversation with the other people at the table, then her mind wouldn't be fully occupied by him.

Yes, that was what she would do, they were way behind on what was going on with each other, so what better way to distract herself than by starting up a conversation?

With her mind made up, Kylie turned off the tap, wiped her hands with a cotton hand towel and made her way to the exit, she briefly wondered why Lydia hadn't knocked to ask if she was fine, but she figured the woman was just giving her the space she needed. She probably didn't want to upset her.

She opened the door on her way out, but stopped as soon as she had one foot past the threshold. Lydia was gone. There was no sign of the tiny woman anywhere within the area and Kylie was certain she was indeed far from here because in her stead was none other than the blond giant that had been doing a number on her thoughts. He was leaning against a wall across from her, his large biceps crossed against a broad chest, as soon as he saw her, he pushed himself off the wall and took a cautious step forward.

Kylie's thoughts were going haywire, she didn't know if she was to run back into the toilet and shut the door or run towards the direction she and Lydia had come from, screaming for help. She doubted either was a smart idea; the former because he looked like he wouldn't have to exert much energy to bring the door down if he wished and the latter because she could bet he would have his hand over her mouth before the first decibel escaped her lungs.

So rather than do any of the two options she had in mind, she remained frozen on the spot.

He noticed her lack of further movement and smiled at her- or at least she thought that was what he was aiming for when he contorted his features, "I didn't get to introduce myself properly, I'm Roy." He spoke up, although his voice was still that rumbling baritone, it didn't sound as harsh as it did when he had announced himself earlier in the day.

"Kylie." She replied as if in a trance.

"It's nice to meet you Kylie." His second attempt at a smile produced a beautiful sight that caused her heart to skip a beat and the settled butterflies in her stomach to once again go into a frenzy, her insides clenched causing her to slightly rub her thighs together until the discomfort ebbed away. Damn it! why was this man making her feel this way?

She smiled softly, "Same here." She replied. She knew she shouldn't be alone with this guy, he spelled danger in every language of the earth. Kennedy would give her a good tongue lashing if she found her with Roy, even she couldn't trust herself around him. She needed to leave this place.

She quickly scanned the area to see if anyone else was around, but they were alone, it wasn't that hard to find yourself alone with someone in a house this large. Her attention was drawn to an odd sight; she watched his nose flare as if he had picked up a scent or smell, he inhaled deeply before letting out a low growl, his eyes flashed an amber color, this time, Kylie stepped back. What the hell was going on with him?

"Don't...please."

For some dumb reason she couldn't fathom, Kylie's careless feet took two steps forward.

"Stop." He ordered her.

Common sense told her to do as he asked, but a deeper sense of care overrode common sense, he looked like he was hyperventilating, beads of sweat seeped out of the pores of his skin and his breath was coming out in short gasps. She went to him, forgetting the long lecture she had given herself to not get close to him

"Are you feeling okay?" she asked, her voice filled with concern, if he indeed was having some form of attack, she wasn't sure which route to follow that would take her to someone who could provide help. She had been so engrossed in her conversation with Lydia, she hadn't fully taken note of where they were walking through.

She reached for his neck, even though it seemed a far reach, but she never got to it as his hand grabbed her wrist, before the shock could register within her, she found her back against the wall and his larger body forming a barrier in front of her. Kylie knew she should be scared at his actions, but the only thing she felt was a fierce need take over her system and an unusual warmth between her thighs.

In one swift move, he picked her off the ground and had her straddling his waist, another growl escaped his lips, the amber glow she had earlier seen had now taken over deep blue irises, "Mine." He growled in her ear. She was ill-prepared for the heated kiss he placed against her lips, but as soon as she felt it, she knew her earlier suspicions were right after all.

This was her mate.