Ruin Of The Alpha MxB

9 | Family time

He knocked at the door and getting an immediate "come in," he entered Aspen's room. The sweet, quiet boy looked up at him with strikingly gorgeous green eyes. "Hi."

"Hey, Aspen. What are you doing?"

Phineas could make out the curiosity in his brother's eyes. It was not that he did not visit Aspen's room, because he did. Aspen's and Wilder's were his most frequented rooms. Wilder was a storm whereas Aspen was the calm after the storm. Enix and Achilles were always glued to him, so he did not need to worry as much about those two.

"Reading. What are you doing here this late, Phin?"

"I could not sleep." The curiosity in Aspen's blue orbs grew tenfold.

"Sit, please." Phineas sat down on the queen-sized bed. He was facing the wall, giving Aspen a side view of his face from his position at the headboard. "Why?"

"I had too much sugar today."

"Phin, look at me."

"I told you to look for Wilder, how did the Elders find you? Where did you go for you to be in their path? Were you near the borders?"

"No. I went in search of them."

Phineas moved his neck to gape at his brother in disbelief. "Wha- why? How? I mean how do you know where to find them? Did you run into other territories, Aspen?"

Aspen scoffed and clarified - "I did not break any laws." Then his face turned sour. He was sulking. Looking at that baby face of his brother sulking made Phineas groan and he tackled the unsuspecting boy on the bed, hugging him tightly. "You gained weight." There was silence for a few seconds before Aspen squealed. "Stooooop. It tickles, no! Phin, stop. Sorry."

After spending some time with his youngest brother, Phineas felt light-hearted. Aspen had that air of comfort around him. Aspen was his peace. The feeling left him as soon as he entered his own room. Wilder was sprawled on his bed, leaving no space for him. Even with his lithe build, he could never squeeze in there. He sighed.

Without making noise, he tiptoed to the closet where the comforters, blankets and pillows were stashed and picked one each. Laying the blanket on the floor before dumping the pillow on it. He thought he would fall asleep right away after having an exhausting day, but he was wrong. The actions of a certain Alpha filtered through his thoughts and kept him wide awake. He was upset. Arthur should have felt something. He should not have been fine with watching him get whipped, let alone whip Phineas himself. He was not asking for an acknowledgment of them being mates from the Alpha in front of the pack. Hell, he did not want that himself. He did not want the Alpha. But the least Arthur could was at least feel some kindness. It might make him a hypocrite to be thinking that way, but that does not mean it hurt less.

Maybe it was time Phineas accepted that he was affected. Somewhere, deep inside he would always be affected. The Moon Goddess bound their wolves and their souls together, he was bound to feel.

"Be quiet and sleep, Phineas."

The grumble startled him but he was thankful for Wilder's tendency to get annoyed easily in that moment. "Sorry," he muttered and turned his face toward the wall. No matter how much he tried, he failed to sleep. He put his headphones on and listened to instrumental music, brought out his old Physics textbook to read, counted sheep, and still sleep eluded him.

Wilder got tired of his tossing and turning after a few hours and told him to get on the bed. He scooted over a bit to make space for Phineas.

The younger brother settled on the bed and got comfortable. "Thanks, Wilder."

"Mmm...sleep, Pipsqueak."

Phineas chuckled and closed his eyes.

Phineas was a morning person except for a few mornings. The next morning turned out to be one of those exceptions. He did not sleep a wink last night. When he began to fall into a slumber in the wee hours of the morning, Wilder snored particularly loud at that exact moment.

"You look dead."

"I feel dead."

Enix and Achilles shared an amused glance. They were secretly enjoying a disoriented Phineas, who they get to see rarely. His hair was a mess, unkempt and resembling a bird nest. His eyes looked droopy. You could go as far as to compare them with Sleepy's from "The Snow White."

"What are the plans for today?" Phineas enquired. He hoped his brothers would take the bait and forget about the hobo look he was spotting.

"Lake! We can go to the lake. My friends have been pestering me to go there. They won't mind if you come along."

Phineas watched Achilles keenly. Once he was sure his brother really would not mind, he agreed quickly. Both brothers turned to Enix who shrugged nonchalantly. "I am up."

Achilles clapped his hands together once before beaming up at his elder brothers. "It's settled then! We are going to the lake. But Phineas?"

"Yeah?"

"Leave your grumpy grandpa personality at home."

"You little shit..."

When Aspen came downstairs, it was to Phineas chasing a laughing Achilles around the dining table. He started on breakfast along with a chuckling Phoenix. The ruckus only grew when Achilles was caught. It woke up Wilder who came down grumbling about not getting enough sleep.

Five of them sat at the dining table after the table was set. Conversation flew and the atmosphere was relatively calm. Enix and Wilder were not fighting and the latter even happily agreed to go to the lake. Achilles was chatty as usual. The remaining two put their two cents in whenever they can.

It was a good day, Phineas decided.

The ring of the doorbell made every one pause. They exchanged glances before Phineas got up to open the door. "Be careful," warned Achilles. People rarely visited them and if they did, nobody rang the bell. The ears of a wolf are sensitive and doorbells were not the smartest thing to fit into their houses.

Phineas unlocked the door very slowly and opened it till a slight gap could be formed between the door and the wall. He peeked outside. "There is no one." This made him uneasy. Right before he was about to slam the door shut and put all the locks on, his gaze fell upon the black-colored envelope lying on their doorstep. This made him more uneasy.

With a lightning-fast speed, he thrust his hand in the gap and picked it up. Closing the door shut, he called out - "Get me a knife." Achilles scrambled up to get the knife as his brother asked.

Once he had the knife, Phineas began to break the blood-red seal. The sound of the knife moving back and forth on the cold wax was the only sound in the dining room. All the eyes were stuck on the piece of folded paper as it spilled out from within the envelope.

A letter.

Phineas' eyes moved across the letter, reading the content.

"I am not leaving my brothers," he murmured but with their sharp hearing, all the werewolves present heard it.

"What do you mean by leaving us?" Someone asked, Phineas could not make out who as the loud buzz inside his head was too loud.

"It says I am to pack my belongings and move into the packhouse."

From within the house, the sound of a glass shattering reached the doorstep. It was hard to worry about the broken glass when his heart was breaking too. To live without his brothers, that would not happen. 

"I am not going anywhere."

»--•--«

Word Count: 1252

Hey, flufballs! This is my first time writing so many important characters together where I have to tell their emotions too. I have no idea if I am doing it right or not. Therefore, I want to know your opinion. Am I writing too much of other characters? Should I just skim over the surface when it comes to characters like Phineas' brothers and Carson? Lemme know.

On a different note, please vote and comment. Add this book to your reading list and read my other werewolf book "Danger & Daffodils" as it is getting updated regularly.
~ Appy