Raised By Wolves

Chapter Ten | Temper, Temper

Miranda looked at Bianca, wondering when they all got so old. Sure they were only in the early forties, but all the stress and bad memories that the last few years of a happy, easy life managed to suppress seemed quick to return. They hadn't had normal things happen to them - for humans or shifters and now those good times felt like they were part of another life of a different person. All of this seemed like a bad movie, and Miranda just wanted it to end.

"Connor has no luck tracing any further leads. Most of what he found was just, data. Medical stuff. They were researching us, testing all sorts of things." Bianca sipped the glass of wine Cody put in front of her wondering, like Miranda, if she drank enough would all of this still seem so bad?

"We'll work it out." Braydon assured her.

"I just hope before it's not too late." She sighed.

The four of them sat on the back deck, tired from the meeting where they had no choice other than trying to stay optimistic for everyone else. It was like preparing a football team before a big game they had no chance of winning. Miranda checked the time on her phone, something she'd been doing since she arrived and Bianca finally asked her about it.

"You seem very distracted tonight Andy, what's going on?"

"It's May." She said it like a confession, making Braydon shift uncomfortably in the chair beside her. "This new boy she's seeing, I just, there is just something I don't like about him."

"I thought you liked him?"

"So did I. The party was a bad idea, we shouldn't have let her go."

"The others are there, and Caleb is on his way now to keep an eye on things. As soon as Jon mentioned it tonight, I got a little paranoid. Out of towners going somewhere our pups are, without being told to expect them or to behave could prove a bad mix. It never ends does it?"

"I'm still not sure what's going on between Caleb and May. They seemed so normal together last weekend, then what happened on the driveway, before them acting like strangers again this week."

"They will work it out. That's one thing I do know." Bianca smirked as she took another sip of wine.

"Hopefully soon. I swear, if he and Nate weren't identical, I wouldn't think he was ours sometimes." Cody looked even more exhausted than Bianca. "I don't remember being that moody at his age."

He glanced at Braydon who only shrugged. "I was living wild at his age. I got nothing."

"We've tried everything. He won't go to a therapist, he definitely won't talk to us about it. Even Nate and the others struggle with him lately. He has so much potential as a dominant wolf to take over one day, but if he doesn't work through whatever issues he has now, I don't know what will happen. Twice he's challenged us, lost complete control and shifted trying to fight." Bianca told them in disbelief.

Neither Braydon or Miranda realised the Caleb situation was so bad. They hadn't seen too much of what was being said, since clearly he had been on his best behaviour around them. Now Braydon felt nervous about being so okay with him being around May. If he was this like that with his own family, what could he do to her and was that why things had been so tense between them lately?

The beeping of an incoming call sounded then and looking around, Cody realised they left everything inside. As he got up, Braydon finished his beer and moved after him to go get another and as Bianca watched them go, she leaned in closer to Miranda.

"The worst part is, it terrifies me that he's going to end up like-" Bianca paused, biting her lower lip in uncertainty. "Him."

"Him?" Miranda asked, confused. Yet suddenly Bianca didn't look so old or tough or wise. Wide eyed, and scared, it took barely seconds for Miranda to work out who she was walking about. "No! He was a sick, disturbed man. Caleb is just, strong willed. It's a stage! I can't believe you'd even compare them!"