Experiment

Seventeen

Leilahs POV

Cyril is gentle and slow as he leads me back into the kitchen where we had been just barely ten minutes ago, it is as if he is trying to give me time to prepare to be around these strangers before I actually am. It does not last long of course, only a moment but it is more than enough for me to prepare myself yet it does absolutely nothing to stop each one of them from staring up at me the moment we step into the room. I feel Cyrils large hand tighten around my own as if their stares make him uncomfortable even though they are not aimed at him, but I easily ignore all of them as I allow him to lead me over to the large table before he lets go of my hand for only a moment to pull an empty chair out for me before he sits in the one resting just to my right, then he takes my hand in his once more. It is odd how quickly I have grown used to the feeling of his hand on my own, how I do not flinch, stiffen, or even feel a need to kill when he touches me. In fact all I feel when he touches me is a need to be closer to him and a need to bite him that is so strong it has my teeth sharpening even more than usual just as my gums throb in need to feel his flesh against them.

"Now that everyone is here I think it would be best if we introduced ourselves. I am Issac's father, Alpha Jaxon Reed, but you may simply call me Jax. This is my mate Shel, our eldest son Jeremiah, our daughter Kaylie, and in the chair beside Issac is our youngest son Theo." My eyes move to the small boy that sits on Issac's left with a blue crayon in his hand and a book resting just beside it. Unlike each of his siblings that seem to share their looks with their mother and Issac. This boy has his fathers looks with dark black hair that travels in waves to his jaw, full red lips that seem to rest in a constant frown, and a pair of round deep blue eyes that seem to go on forever.

They remind me of the ocean and when they meet my own I nearly flinch from the pain that fills me from the memory that resurfaces in my mind, but unlike my brother his eyes are not full of fear as they stare into my own, nor do those deep ocean blues hold the same meaning. But that does nothing to keep them from looking just as his had. Intense, powerful, and fierce just as my brothers always had been.

I feel my hand tighten on Cyril's so harshly that I feel his bones groan beneath the touch but he remains still and does nothing to cry out in the pain that I know he feels. Instead, he tightens his hand around my own in a gentle squeeze that forces me to look away from the boy only to stare at the empty plate resting before me as if it is the most interesting thing in the house. I see Alas large body stiffen, I see how his ears pin back on his head as he lowers it to the floor, and I feel his eyes on me making Jamie stiffen before his eyes snap to my face but I ignore them both as I feel Cyril lean closer to me until his head rests just barely an inch away from my own. "If you need to leave, just say the word Lil." His deep voice is soft as it fills my ears, full of care that most people would never hold for me. That sound alone is able to make my body slowly relax in the chair I sit in until I am in my normal tense state making him chuckle as he pulls away to sit back in his own chair as he gently brushes his thumb over my knuckles.

For a few moments it is silent, I can feel the confusion and curiosity that rests in the family around us just as easily as I can feel the worry in each of the men that I came here with. Then Jamie chuckles forcing their eyes away from my shadow covered face just as he always does when he knows that I need a break or to give me an escape. "You were so kind to introduce yourselves and all we've done is sit and stare. How rude of us. I'm Jamie Forost, I was the second born son of Daniel Forost Lord of the Fall  Harvest Kingdom and the very best gay dancer in any club you can ever find. That beautiful woman sitting beside Cyril is Lily. She has a hard time trusting those that she doesn't know so she won't show any of you her face, but if you ask her a question I'm quite possitive that she'll do her best to answer, and she's the best straight dancer you could ever watch." My eyes slowly lift to Jamie's gentle gaze and the moment they do he winks at me with a bright smile on his face making the others around us chuckle, but unlike them I can see nothing but worry in those golden yellow eyes of his.