Under A Paper Moon

IX

Micah's father pulled him aside, excusing the two of them from the pack members that were rushing to congratulate their future Alpha. His father shut the door to his soundproof office, his eyes flashing red as he glared at Micah.

"I thought that we decided we're not going to tell the pack about your human mate yet!" His father yelled.

"They would've figured out sooner or later anyway, we both know my behaviour has changed ever since I met him," Micah tried to reason, "And it's not like I've told them who my mate is, just that I've found him. They'll probably think it's a werewolf from another pack or a lone wolf or something."

"This still doesn't excuse you from disobeying my order."

"I'm old enough to make my own decisions, dad. I'm going to be the Alpha soon." Micah sighed, feeling himself slowly get angry.

"You'll be Alpha soon, but I'm the Alpha now. You will obey my orders, child!" His father growled.

The father and son were disturbed by Micah's mother entering the room. She sighed as she looked at the two men with their eyes red and fangs out, as if they'd start fighting right there and then.

"Micah, get back to the party. I'll talk to your dad." She said and Micah nodded, before leaving the room.

The rest of the party went by quickly. Everyone asked Micah about his mate but he managed to dodge all questions, not telling anyone about his mate's identity. It was around 2 a.m. when everyone left, and Micah was exhausted.

"Is it Eli?" His head snapped to the right to see Kat leaning against the wall.

"What?" He tried to play dumb.

"Your mate. It's Eli, isn't it? Don't even bother denying. Dom may be dumb enough not to notice but I'm sure as hell not." Kat said.

"Yeah, it's him." Micah sighed, not bothering to deny.

"He's a nice guy," Kat nodded, "A human, that's why you haven't told the pack about him yet. Smart. And he's my friend, so don't hurt him." With that Kat left.

~~~

Elias was sitting on his bed, with Kyle's head on his lap as he played with his hair. Elias looked down at him and frowned slightly. Even though the boys were extremely close, he knew telling Kyle about Micah and him would definitely hurt him, it was too soon and Elias couldn't help but feel like he was betraying Kyle. And sometimes, just sometimes, ignorance is bliss.

In the five days that Kyle had been here, he didn't once bring up their relationship, the end of it to be precise. For that, Elias was grateful. But he couldn't ignore the fact that there were too many unspoken words between them. Kyle was leaving the next morning, and Elias knew he deserved some closure.

"Kyle?" The other boy hummed in response, "You know that you're still the most important person in my life, yeah? I never meant to hurt you. I love you, I do, but.. I'm just.. I'm so sorry."

"Eli. Don't. You fell out of love, I understand. I'm not.. I'm not okay. Not yet, but I will. So don't worry your pretty little head. I love you too." Kyle smiled.

"Thank you for everything." Elias looked at Kyle gratefully.

"That Mike kid is nice. Give him a chance." Kyle said, Elias just nodded, not even correcting Kyle in response. Micah was a territory he didn't want to cross with Kyle.

Elias woke up early next morning. Kyle had slept next to him last night, but he was no longer in his room. Elias went downstairs to see his mum ready for work.

"Where's Kyle?" Elias asked.

"Oh, he left an hour ago." His mum answered.

"What? I thought we were driving him to the airport." Elias furrowed his brows.