The Story of the Beast with the Four Dirty Paws

Chapter Four

⠀⠀⠀⠀The next morning, Tala made her way to Caleb's house. For the first time in six months, he answered on the first knock. "Hey, Lowell," he flashed her that charming smile of his that made her heart melt. "So, I'm not in the mood to just go for a walk. Aubrey wanted to hang out today-.." She shot him an incredulous look. He couldn't really expect her to hang out with him and his girlfriend, could he?
⠀⠀⠀⠀"It's not just Aubrey, Tala. A couple of our friends are going to be there. Channing, Tasha.." All she had to hear was that Tasha was coming. Tasha was the only girl in her pack that didn't annoy her, and was her best friend besides Caleb. "Alright. I'll come," she shrugged.
⠀⠀⠀⠀He grinned at her and took her hand absentmindedly before starting to walk. She couldn't help the butterflies that started to flutter around in her stomach. Stop it, Tala. He has a girlfriend, she thought to herself. She returned his grin and walked side-by-side with him. "So, where exactly are we going, anyway?" She inquired curiously.
⠀⠀⠀⠀"Oh, we're just hanging out at Channing and Henry's apartment. It's not a party, but there may or may not be alcohol. You never know with Henry." She nodded in response. She had no clue who Channing or Henry was, but she supposed she'd find out who they were soon.
⠀⠀⠀⠀They soon neared the only apartment complex that there was in the small village her pack had created. Caleb took her up to the top floor, and they let themselves into the apartment. The first person they were greeted by was Tasha. "Oh my gosh, Lala, thank the Moon you're here," she said, the relief clear in her expression. Tasha was a small, fit girl, with dark brown hair and eyes that were nearly black. She had a porcelain face that any passerby would think was perfect, but her quirky personality seemed to forget about all of that. She wore her hair up in a braided ponytail along with big glasses that took up the majority of her face, matched with a long orange t-shirt, black shorts, and a pair of slippers. She was a bit.. eccentric.
⠀⠀⠀⠀"Audrey and her friends have been driving me nuts. They've been trying to give me a makeover for the past hour," Tasha whined. "Make them stop."
⠀⠀⠀⠀Tasha laughed a little, "Relax. They'll probably start pestering me now." She looked over at the group of girls, who were now eyeing at Tala as if she was a piece of trash laying on the side of the road. She rolled her eyes and looked back to see where Caleb was, only to find that he was making his way over Audrey. She heard a bunch of girly giggles and sighed. Tasha gave her a weak smile and softly said, "Do you want to come meet Henry and Channing? They're actually pretty cool."
⠀⠀⠀⠀Tala nodded and let her friend lead her into the other room, which appeared to be the kitchen. Two boys were sitting on barstools, talking about the next battle. She couldn't help being a bit surprised she hadn't met them yet, because judging by their amount of knowledge they were higher ranked in the pack. The boys seemed to notice them and immediately stopped talking. One was a lanky boy with a buzzcut and dark brown eyes. He immediately eyed Tasha up, and Tala couldn't help but smirk. "Hey, Tasha," the boy said. "Who's your friend?"
⠀⠀⠀⠀"Oh, Henry, this is Tala. Tala, Henry. And the antisocial boy who hasn't said anything is Channing," Tasha said the last part in a teasing tone. The other boy, Channing, looked at her as if he was sizing her up. All Tala could think was how absolutely beautiful this boy's face was. He had mysterious gray eyes that appeared to hold a million stories behind them, and a chiseled jawline with high cheekbones. His hair was a sandy color and appeared to be slicked back but still had a bit of a messy bedhead sort of look to it.
⠀⠀⠀⠀"Tala and Tasha," Henry laughed a little. "What an interesting pair you are," Channing said softly, still looking at Tala but now with an amused sort of grin.
⠀⠀⠀⠀Tala tore her eyes away from Channing sheepishly. Henry seemed to catch Channing look at her and elbowed him in the side. Channing hardly reacted, but he looked away nevertheless. "So, what brings you to the apartment of two boys you don't know, O Daughter of the Alpha?" Henry said in a joking tone.
⠀⠀⠀⠀Her eyes widened, "You knew who I was?"
⠀⠀⠀⠀"Everyone knows who you are, Lowell," Caleb's voice came from behind her. "I brought her here. Don't worry, you're not being sent into battle today," he said to Henry. Channing raised an eyebrow at her best friend, "Christ, Caleb, if I'd know you were friends with the famous Tala Lowell I'd have invited you here way before now."
⠀⠀⠀⠀Tala's face flushed, "I am not famous. All I am is the daughter of the alpha. That's not even a big deal." Now everybody was looking at her. Tasha looked shocked, "You didn't know how popular you were, La?"
⠀⠀⠀⠀Tala stared at her, mouth opening and closing. "I-I'm not.. I am nowhere near-.. No. I hardly even have friends, how could I be popular?" Channing laughed a little, "You've got people that are dying to be your friend, Miss Lowell. Nobody ever sees you away from your house or out of the woods, though."
⠀⠀⠀⠀"Don't call me Miss Lowell. I'm just Tala. And all the girls seem to hate me. Popular girls aren't supposed to be hated," she said simply.
⠀⠀⠀⠀"I'm a girl. I don't hate you," Tasha pointed out. "Hush, you know what I meant," Tala said with a small giggle. "Well, none of the girls hate you. They're just jealous of you. You're the daughter of the Alpha and the Omega, you're super pretty, you're best friends with one of the hottest guys in the pack, and you've constantly got every boy looking at you."
⠀⠀⠀⠀"Boys aren't constantly looking at me," she said in denial, but looked around to see that both Caleb and Channing were staring at her in an intrigued sort of way. "Well, not all boys are looking at me," she pointed out, because Henry was in fact not looking at her, but at Tasha.
⠀⠀⠀⠀Caleb shrugged, "Well, Lowell, while you continue discovering how popular you are, I'm going to go hang out with my girlfriend. See ya later, guys." He gave both Channing and Henry a sort of manly clap on the back before walking out of the room.
⠀⠀⠀⠀"I don't want to talk about myself anymore. I am not popular, I'm just well known. There is totally a difference."
⠀⠀⠀⠀Tasha rolled her eyes, "Alright, whatever. I'm gonna go hang out in the living room." She walked out of the room and Henry immediately said, "I'll go with." The two were out of sight and Tala was left alone with Channing. She would've gone with them, but Channing opened his mouth and started talking, "I hear a lot about you, you know. Everyone thinks that what you did for Caleb when you were younger was really awesome. It's hard to talk to your father. They all think you're a hero."
⠀⠀⠀⠀She laughed a little bitterly, "That was seven years ago. I'm not all that heroic anymore. I'm nothing extraordinary. I'm actually quite boring. All I do is freak out because I don't want to train and cry over stupid crap."
⠀⠀⠀⠀Channing seemed to be quite interested, as he asked, "Why don't you want to train? Don't you want to be as amazing a warrior as your parents are?"
⠀⠀⠀⠀"Of course I don't! I hate fighting. It's stupid. I wouldn't have had to save Caleb if it weren't for the fighting. My dad drives our pack into battles that aren't necessary, and nobody even realizes. They think Dad is so amazing, but he's killing people for a living. That is not amazing. He starts the fights, he does not finish them," she said frustratedly.
⠀⠀⠀⠀"Ah," he said simply. "See? You've got a good heart. You want the best for our pack. Honestly, I hear people in my rank of training saying how they think if your parents die and you're put in charge, you'll bring our pack down. I think the opposite, though. I'll think you'll be an amazing leader."
⠀⠀⠀⠀"I'd rather not be a leader."
⠀⠀⠀⠀"You say that now, but you'll think otherwise when the time comes."
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀• • •
⠀⠀⠀⠀Tala spent the rest of the day in the kitchen with Channing. He was actually quite fun to talk to. Unlike Caleb, he read just as much as she did. He liked the same type of music as her as well. And despite his high rank, he didn't enjoy fighting. He did it for the sake of honor and loyalty to his pack, and nothing else. All Tala could think about was how perfect he was. Right now, he was talking about the book he was reading. He appeared to be so fascinated as he spoke of the book. His gray eyes were lit up to the point where they looked almost blue, and the words rolled off his tongue and out of his lips in a manner that made it hard for her to look away.
⠀⠀⠀⠀All she wanted to do was kiss him. She had never, ever felt like that about anyone, not even Caleb.
⠀⠀⠀⠀He finished speaking and appeared to be waiting for her to say something. "Oh, I'm sorry. What did you say?" She asked sheepishly, biting her lip. "I said that the book is amazing, just like you." Her cheeks reddened and she looked away. They were sitting on two separate barstools, but if she just leaned a bit closer to him she'd be so close that she could kiss him.
⠀⠀⠀⠀He smiled at her, "You're cute when you're sheepish, you know that?" He leaned over and cupped her chin in his hands to force her to look at him. Their faces were now centimeters apart, and she could tell her cheeks probably looked like someone glued dried tomatoes to them. "You're making it so hard for me not to kiss you. I don't want to, though, because we've only just met. That would not be gentlemanlike. Maybe sometime soon, though."
⠀⠀⠀⠀He dropped his hands from her face and she looked at him, speechless. She wished he wasn't so sweet, because she wouldn't have minded one bit if he'd kissed her. She supposed it was good, though, because Caleb was now walking into the room. "Hey, Lowell. It's getting kind of late, do you want to get heading home..?" He seemed to question whether coming in there was a good idea judging by the way the two were looking at each other.
⠀⠀⠀⠀Tala tore her gaze away from Channing and gave him a weak smile, "Yeah." She looked back at Channing, "Maybe I'll see you again?" She stood up and walked away, her mind spinning.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀• • •
⠀⠀⠀⠀Caleb could tell he interrupted something that was going on with Tala and Channing, because her cheeks were almost the same shade of her hair, and she was quite smiley on their way back to her house. He couldn't tell you why, but it kind of bothered him. He was used to seeing that look after he touched her hand or something. He supposed maybe Channing had held her hand. Tala always blushed when boys touched her, except for her brother.
⠀⠀⠀⠀It had never bothered him before, because he'd thought it was just because it made her uncomfortable, but he could tell that she was not uncomfortable. He felt weird, because for some reason he really wanted to punch Channing in the face. For the Moon's sake, he had to get his shit together. First he was constantly thinking about Tala, now he was jealous? Tala was his best friend. He couldn't possibly like her. Besides, he had a gorgeous girlfriend who any boy would kill to have. For some reason, though, when he thought about Tala, none of that seemed to matter.
⠀⠀⠀⠀He shook the thoughts away and looked back at Tala, who was staring down at her feet with a cheeky smile plastered on her face. They were nearing her house and he couldn't think of anything to say, so he just stopped at her doorstep. "Well, bye," he said quietly with a shrug.
⠀⠀⠀⠀Tala smiled at him, "I'll see you tomorrow, Connery?"
⠀⠀⠀⠀"Actually, I made plans with Audrey.." He lied. The truth was, he didn't think he could hang out with her for one more day and see her all smiley over Channing. He needed to get his mind off of her. Her smile fell from her face and he looked at her, guilt heavy in his chest. "Oh.." She breathed, her voice sad.
⠀⠀⠀⠀He felt bad, so he quickly said, "I'll try to catch up with you in the morning before I go, alright?" Her smile returned and she murmured, "Alright. See you, Connery"
⠀⠀⠀⠀"Later, Lowell."
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀• • •
A/N: Hey, my lovely readers! I apologize for the short chapter, but my creativity level is running low. Hopefully I'll make up for it with a long chapter either later on today or tomorrow. Feel free to vote for my story and maybe comment (no hate, please. Instructive commentary would be good.) I hope you enjoy my story so far!