The Kitty Cat's Mates (ManxMen)

22 | Time to Go

Days and weeks passed by peacefully. Although, instead of feeling peace, King felt like he was hit by a wrecking ball.

Though at first, they caused a turmoil after the announcement of the Lykaios's proposal, now most of the Tierra Madre's members were gradually starting to agree with it, especially when the werewolves have backed them up when the second attack came. To be honest, not everyone saw this negatively. Some were neutral, some were not, and some were against it. Constantine, for example, was one of the other percentages that found this interesting.

Truthfully, there were a lot of things in hand that needed consideration. What about school? What of their work? How the hell do they fit a whole pride in a single stronghold of another pack, which King wasn't concerned about because he saw the freaking gigantic castle? There was a mountain of questions, but what matters now was their safety.

And now, it was the first day of May, the day when the temporary merging would finally start. And King saw doom.

"Argh! Fuck this! I'm out," King trashed while clutching one innocent post of the bed, not letting it go as if his life depended on it. Hell yeah, it did.

Pandora crossed her arms against her chest, looking apathetically at her protesting cousin, whose white printed shirt was rumpled messily. She gave Bryce the look, and the latter moved towards the bed.

"Okay, let's go." Bryce grinned and gripped the strap of the bag that was slung around King, tugging at him, trying to get his older cousin off of the bed.

"I don't wanna go," King sobbed. Who knows what's waiting for him over there. Right, his mates.

"King, come on. You're being childish," Pandora said.

"Yes, princess. Don't be such a pussy." Bryce blinked and stopped for a moment. "On second thought, you are one."

"The heck did you say?!"

Pandora watched them as they grappled, wrestled, shouted, and bickered. If this was an anime, veins would have already popped in her blank face. She sighed and paused before she drew out:

"King," in a sinister tone.

The two immediately stilled. That's the tone they got when she was ninety-nine percent from snapping. They wouldn't want to reach a hundred, because they'd see hell for the second time in their life. And obviously, it wasn't heavenly.

"Oh, why am I clinging on this?" King immediately let go of the wooden post, fixing his bag's position. "I think I had a nightmare about the Jupiter."

Bryce smacked him in the head and King slapped him back on the face and their bickering went on again. Pandora covered her eyes with a hand.

The sky was a bright blue, the grounds of fertile green, and the outside was a chaos of bustling noise. A child threw a tantrum; a man frantically searched for his missing dog; people talking, calling, yelling, just drowning in a hustle of people. King watched as people crammed luggage or boxes either in their cars, or the trucks provided by the Lykaios. They were really serious about this, King thought, as Zachary had stated. Vance and his relations weren't an exception. Constantine and Donna weren't as well. Everyone wasn't. They were really going with this together.

"King, help me with these." Pandora brushed beside him. She pointed at the pile of heavy boxes on the ground. Not objecting, King did as he was told, mounting boxes in the car's trunk when a thought prodded in on his mind. He frowned.

"Wait a minute. Wasn't it that guy..." King contemplated voicing the name he so much as hated to remember right now. "Kain... who took our stuff?" He exchanged gazes with Pandora, who stopped midways from going down the deck.

Pandora didn't comment.

King gasped and pulled on his hair. "Why didn't I think of that before?!"

Pandora did, but she still didn't comment.

"We could just get it from them, and problem solved! We can go back to New York!" King enthusiastically said.

Pandora examined him at first, before she continued on her tracks, placing the box she carried on one corner.

"Did you really think they'll let you go?" she cautiously said.

"Of course! I mean, Zach said... Zach said..."

King gulped.

"Exactly," Pandora said, closing the loaded trunk. She then left him speechless as she went to help the others.

King pursed his lips as he gazed down at the grass patch. And then a look of resolution planted itself on his face. They were going back, no matter what. He was getting their stuff back from Kain, that maniac, even if it meant bloodshed. It's war. Hmph.

"Got everything packed?"

King's eyes widened when Axel passed by, stopping in front of him and dropping the box he carried on the ground. He placed both hands on his waist and tilted his head at the younger brown-haired boy.

I like you.

King mentally screamed. He still hasn't forgotten that scene.

"I-I did," King said, fidgeting.

Axel narrowed his eyes further from the bright glare of the sun. "I just noticed you weren't particularly comfy with the Lykaios." There was a concerned, interrogative look on his green eyes. "Did something happen?"

"N-no. They didn't! I, uh, well... well." King sucks at lying, apparently.

Axel stared at him, suspicion in his eyes, but he just remained silent and sighed. He then smiled at King. "What's a pride for when you're not going to rely on them?" he said.

The man patted King on his back, giving a reassuring look and smile at him before he picked up the three layers of boxes again and went on his way.

King watched the golden-haired guy's back, and he frowned. Axel liked or still likes him. The Lykaios triplets claimed he is their mate... Yeah, he'll be damned if this wasn't a curse.

"Time to go, peeps!" Hugh roared at the distance.

Everyone perked up, trunks closing, the noises rising. Some cheered and whooped, some kept silent.

"King!" Constantine's voice traveled with the commotion.

King's head darted around, looking for his friend, and his eyes landed on a black jeep where Pandora, Bryce, Constantine, and Donna stood beside.

"Come on!" Constantine bellowed, gesturing at him with a look of thrill and a high-arched smile on his lips.

"... Crap." King gripped the strap of his bag tightly. He turned to look at the pridehouse for the last time, pursed his lips, and closed his eyes momentarily before he finally moved towards the raven vehicle.