From The Ashes.

Chapter 30

That morning, as Cody pulled a shirt over his head and I combed his curly hair so that it was some what respectable, I had the niggling feeling that I had forgotten something. When Zak stuck his head inside my door and waved us out to get breakfast, I shrugged it off. If no one else has picked up on it, it was obviously not important. We made our way down to the first floor where Hana and Dot decided to join us.

"Morning, lovelies." Dot said as she wrapped me in a hug, still obviously very tired. "How was your sleep?"

"Average." I said with a yawn and laughed when Cody yawned as well. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Zak smile to himself.

"So, you come all the way down here just to go back upstairs again?" There was a collective groan as Brian suddenly strode up to us, his hands shoved in his pockets with a smirk. Zak and I looked at each other before Zak smirked. It was strange but I knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Good morning, Brian. Of course we do, it's not up to everyone else to bring us our food." I spoke as casually as possible, like I was talking to just another member of the pack. It was obviously not what Brian was expecting as he blinked and seemed at a loss for words.

"Of course." He muttered before his forehead creased. "I would expect it to be delivered." He said this under his breath so that I could barely hear it but Hana and I, who were standing closest to him, exchanged surprised looks. Then, Brian looked up at me and smirked.

"You know, for a human, you're pretty cool. Don't suppose you'd want to get to know each other better?" He stepped forward with a wink, a self assured smile on his face. I raised an eyebrow at him as Cody stepped in front of me with burning eyes.

"What the hell kind of whiplash is that?" I demanded, my voice laced with venom. He shrugged, ignoring the way Dot and Hana were glaring at him.

"Maybe I've changed my mind about humans, huh?" It was official. He'd completely lost his mind. I wasn't sure what to say when Caerun and John made their way over to us.

"Sorry we're late, needed to have a meeting with Llewellyn." Caerun said as he nodded a greeting to Zak. Caerun turned to look between me and Brian, his eyebrows furrowed.. "What's going on here?" He asked. I shrugged.

"I've been asked out." I said with a sickly sweet tone as both Caerun and Johns mouths dropped open.

"Please tell me you said no." John cried as soon as he recovered and Brian turned deep red. I looked up with a smile as Zak wrapped an arm around my shoulders, his expression unreadable.

"Sorry Brian but I'm good right here." I shot him a smile. I thought he was just trying to bait us some more but as his face twisted into a scowl at the rejection, it occurred to me that may not have been the whole plan.

"You stupid slut, who would want to spend time with a girl like you?" He snarled and Zaks arm tightened around me as Hana, John, Dot and Caerun all stepped closer to me. Cody reached back and took hold of both my hands. I'd never seen his emerald eyes full of so much fury. I rubbed his knuckles, attempting to calm him down.

"Shouldn't you be wondering why no one wants to spend time with you, Brian?" The man scowled. I felt like I was supposed to be getting angry but the way his face was changing colours did nothing but amuse me. He must have noticed that because his expression suddenly turned dark.

"Watch your back, human, I promise you'll need too." He snarled before storming away. We were silent for a moment.

"Well, now that the high school dramas done, can we get breakfast? I'm starving." I smiled when everyone broke into laughter. After quickly greeting Calista and Othello who were talking to Polly, we carried our food upstairs and settled into our spots. Hot chocolate had become a breakfast staple for us so Zak handed out the mugs and gave Cody his orange juice, he refused to drink anything else in the morning, and sat back as the rest of the food was set up. Zak pulled the container of marshmallows towards us when my nose twitched.