Beaten

Chapter 8

Daniel's POV

(Right after Jake left)

I couldn't stop thinking about what Jake had said that morning. He was right they needed me and I vanished. I couldn't help but think about what might've been different if I hadn't buried myself in work and instead was there to help my brothers through everything, would Nate be happy still and talk to us about what's bothering him, would Tyler stop being a mother hen and actually think about himself, and maybe Jake wouldn't pull these attention seeking pranks so often. I was going to sit them all down and we were going to have a family talk, just like we use to. We were going to sit down and talk about what's on all of our minds, why Nate refuses to let anyone in, why Jake decided to pull such a hurtful prank, and why Tyler feels it's his job to make sure we're all happy before he is. As soon as Jake gets back we are having the meeting wheather or not I have to drag them kicking and screaming, we are going to work through our problems together like a family should.

~Magical time skip to when Jake gets home~

I heard his car pull in and told the other two that he was home. We all walked outside, them ready to tear him a new one, and me trying to figure out how to tell them that we needed a family meeting. After we got the yelling out of the way, Jake rushed to the passenger side of the car and opened the door, which confused us all until a scent that I had long ago thought I would never be able to smell, drifted to my nose, and as I registered what that meant, I watched a breath takingly beautiful girl step out of the passenger side and look at the ground shyly, which just made me want to get to know her even more. I had to know who she was so I asked, "So uh who's your uh friend?"

"Oh you know just someone I met at the grocery store," Jake said, and that made me feel like an asshole for not believing him, and I could tell that the other two felt the same way.

Tyler suggested that we all head inside and I was happy that our mate was going to be inside our home but I wanted this family meeting to happen as soon as Jake got back. But it's ok that it'll have to wait I suppose. I just can't believe we actually found our mate.