Quiver

16

Roman

The pack house was within sight and as I drew closer I could hear the tense, odd silence inside. I knew they were awake because faint noises emitted, but no one was talking and that made me nervous. Perhaps it was the nervous aura coating the whole area because the pack was nervous, though I wasn't sure why. Anxious I understood, but nervous?

With a shake of my head and a sigh, I made my way up to the door. For the first time since I've been apart of this pack, I felt the need to knock on the door. The very same door I normally barreled right through. Frustrated with indecision, I yanked on my brown curls and growled. Stuck in unsureness, a decision was suddenly made for me. The door opened and there stood Yorik, his face rather grim from it's normally relaxed, but blunt expression. It felt as though cold water was being poured on me and I never got a chance to adjust to the coldness I was so uncomfortable in front of my leader. For once in my life I felt slightly unwanted here and my heart wrenched as I thought of how awful things had to of been for Rori and still were.

"Roman," he said gruffly, green eyes scanning me.

I nodded, trying to remain calm. "Yorik. I've come to discuss things."

Yorik's eyes hardened and I wanted to shrink away from his gaze, but I had to stand my ground. I wasn't going to be an outcast and neither was Rori. I wouldn't be separated from my family, from our family just because she was different.

"Well? What is it?" He growls, not moving from his rigid stance in the doorway.

"May I come in? This isn't just a discussion with you, but with every member of the pack...unless you've changed how you run things?" My tone is slightly challenging, questioning Yorik's ruling.

I watched as my leader's eyes burn with fury, but he slowly steps from the doorway, running a hand through his short blonde hair. "No, things are still the same. Every one has a voice and opinion. Come in and discuss."

His voice is a growl of warning, but I'm not swayed. I enter swiftly and face the silent pack. They all look pale as they eye me and some even hostile. It's an odd feeling and I realize I've never felt like an outcast, I've never had to...until now. My rage comes back with the speed of a freight train and I know I need to convince them all to allow Rori back. If this is what it feels like to be outcasted, I'll never want to feel it again for myself or Rori.

"Everyone," I begin, voice rough, but clear. The whole pack shuffles nervously from their positions in the living room and kitchen. It seems as though they didn't even want me to return, the thought is hurtful, but I know it's just their fear of the unknown, of something different. "I'm here to discuss Rori and myself. I want to begin adjusting you all to Rori in small steps. Nothing drastic and nothing in her Lupus form -- just human...to start."

"What? Adjusting? There is no adjusting to that, Roman," Eva sneered, twisting a lock of her brown hair while Winter hummed her agreement. In fact, the whole pack seemed to voice their approval on Eva's horrid opinion.

I was snarling before I realized it until Yorik gripped the back of my neck. "Settle down or we won't even try to discuss about....Rori."

"Do you agree with her opinion, too?" I snapped, struggling to contain my anger that rose up in defense of my mate.

He sighed, his expression falling from hard and stoic to one I barely recognized -- fear. "I... think we'll fail trying to adjust. Lupus aren't made the way Rori is, it's not natural."

"She didn't ask for it!" I growled, yanking myself from his hold to blaze my eyes into his entirely.

Yorik gasped and suddenly recognition coated his face. "No...you're right. She didn't."

"Exactly.. it was because of the Jaecars. They did that to her and you know it because she had been normal before then. Just try," I said, exasperated.

"She's still my sister?" Cole came forward, his voice soft and shaky with fear.

"Of course," I almost growled with annoyance. "It's not as though her human form is any different."

"Then I think we should try," Cole said, eyeing his leaders, our leaders.

"What's the worst it could do, Yorik?" Annalise murmured, her light green eyes fearful, but still compassionate. She hadn't liked Rori's Lupus form either, she had snapped and growled too, but she was still Annalise, kind and caring.

Yorik looked out at all the fearful faces, his mate, Cole, me and then Sarah came forward with Holden. They both seemed relatively calm, but wary. They too felt weird about Rori, but they had liked her, considered her part of the pack before anyone else.

"Let's try, Yorik. It's true, Rori's Lupus form isn't the same, but she's still Rori herself. The worst that could happen is we don't adjust, but I feel we will. They are pack, Yorik, we can't just not try. Roman and Rori belong here as much as we all do," Sarah murmured wisely, Holden grunting in agreement.

"Alright," Yorik turned to me. "We will try to adjust. What did you have in mind?"

**

Two hours later and a disgruntled, but settled pack had agreed to Elliere's reintroduction plan. They would tolerate her only in human form for right now and only for a few hours today. I planned to bring her back tomorrow for a longer period of time. I realized now that having Rori in the pack by the end of the week might not happen, but that was okay. I was going to take things slow and so was the pack. There wasn't much of a rush, but there was some considering Claire and the Jaecars lingered out there, probably just waiting to snatch her back into their evil clutches. Thank god, Elliere wanted to take them down. I had refrained from telling the pack about wiping out the Jaecars here for now because it was one step at a time with them. Once we had managed to fit back in properly, we would tell them about the arrangements.

I was making my way back to the hotel now, extremely anxious to make sure Rori was still there and okay. My animal side was overprotective of Rori and I didn't want to leave her this morning, but I wanted to begin adjusting as soon as it was possible. Being an outcast...well... that was horrible. It made me shudder in revulsion.

I paused outside our hotel room and heard footsteps moving about. She was awake as I expected, but would she be mad about me leaving? Perhaps, though I had left a note. Well, I couldn't leave her alone any longer, mad or not. I pushed the door open after a swift swipe of the key card and entered.

Everything was a blur, one minute I was on my feet and the next I was on the floor with Rori pinning me down. She glared at me, looking every inch as beautiful as the day I'd saved her from those human bullies. Her mad expression didn't last however, instead her lips crashed into mine roughly causing me to groan in response.

She pulled back after a bit and I grinned up at her. "Miss me?"

She slapped me. "Of course! You didn't even tell me where you went, just to order room service!"

My grin widened, but then my expression fell serious. "I didn't want you to worry, you have enough to worry about."

"Well, I'm going to! We're bound for life. Now tell me where you went," Rori growled, her expression angry again.

It was about to get angrier.