Instincts

Chapter 4 - The Pull (Part 1)

A/N:

Hello everyone! Time for another entry. This one is pretty short, but I will be updating the next part right away. Hope you like it! Happy readings!

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Story Vocab/Key:

[Note: Most of these terms--if not all--are proper nouns. They will be marked with capital letters so hopefully that keeps things from being confusing.]

Voice: As I mentioned in the previous chapter, the Voice is a nonverbal "mental line" that the pack uses to communicate with one another. Important!! Voice conversations are set off/marked by conversations set in italics.

Command: An order given by a superior that must be followed without question.

Guard: A Guard, for lack of a better word, “guards” the pack; that is their role in the pack ranking system.

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“Are you feeling okay?”

Aiden slowly removed his hand from over his eyes. In front of him was the concerned face of April, staring at him in worry. Even her worried face was beautiful to him, her blonde hair just hiding the corners of her sparkling deep blue eyes. She was standing across from him as he leaned against the hood of his car; something he never did. He respected his black Sedan more than most of his teachers, and having someone leaning against any part of it was strictly against the rules.

And yet, he was doing it.

“I’m fine.” He replied, managing a small smile. “I just didn’t get a whole lot of sleep.” That part was true; for the past few days, he had gotten no sleep at all, and it was beginning to take a toll. He usually slept in the sunset hours, right before his usual shift, but even the orange rays of the after-school sun were having none of their usual resting effects on him. He was beginning to worry.

But the real reason he was stressed out at the moment was because for the past few minutes, some sense of urgency had stricken him like a brick wall. He had never felt such a pull to go running out of his last class to some location and see what was going on to make him feel this way. He had Voiced some kind of questioning to the pack, but only got puzzled responses that turned up nothing; according to them, everything was peaceful. Although, he had not been able to contact Hyatt; he had gotten some kind of feeling that he was distracted, which was very odd because Hyatt made it a point to always be responsive to his members.

“You sure? You look like you’re stuck in some kind of thought. What’s on your mind?” April asked. She looked like she wanted to lean on the car next to him, but she knew the rules, and she even looked at bit worried that he wasn’t following them at all. Aiden kept quiet and looked away. “What? You can’t even tell your girlfriend?” she smiled easily, warmly at him.

He glanced at her then looked away again. He felt compelled to try and explain his odd feelings to her, but he had a feeling that she wouldn’t understand. None of her kind would. But, as always, keeping things from her filled him with guilt. There was also the small, yet undeniable continuous undercurrent of jealousy: her kind.

“Alright,” she said after a moment of quiet. “You don’t have to tell me. But, I’m always open.” She retrieved her cell phone from her pocket, probably to mask her disappointment in her suspicions of his hiding something from her, and she started to text. “What are you doing later? Do you want to hang out?” she asked him, completely changing the subject.

Aiden gave a small sigh and shook his head, a small smile developing on his face.

“What?” she asked curiously, looking up from her phone’s screen.

He grabbed her by the waist with his hands and held her at arm’s length, looking at her face. “How did I get so lucky as to have a girl like you?” he grinned softly. She blushed a deep scarlet and looked to her feet, showing her shy side like she always did when Aiden’s affectionate side appeared. He grinned at her cuteness, and went in for a kiss.

But, the Voice struck him at that exact moment. Everyone, be on alert for a foreigner. She’s a Loner, and is running rampant. She is potentially dangerous, but is still in recovery so be as easy as you can with her. Bring her back to the pack house as soon as she is captured. It was Hyatt’s overpowering Command.

The contacting immediately set Aiden on edge; it was a tone Hyatt had rarely used: it was serious. And, he felt that it reached out to the other Guards, but not to the rest of the pack. Aiden knew that this was Hyatt’s attempt at keeping a panic from starting. He felt the other Guards putting up their Haze and starting out on their orders. Aiden had to as well.

He gave a quiet growl from his throat.

April drew back from him, looking at her boyfriend with bewildered eyes. Aiden realized his mistake and coughed then cleared his throat, trying to cover it up. “Sorry.” He apologized, rubbing his neck.

“Maybe you’re sick.” April suggested with even more concern in her soft voice. She was probably getting that reasoning from how he was acting the past three days.

“Maybe,” Aiden gave a few absent nods. “So, it probably isn’t a good idea if we hang out today. I don’t want you catching this.” He said to her, obviously upset about the situation. Meanwhile, he could not believe his slip up; it was not in his nature. Why was he so off?

“Oh. You’re right.” She said, disappointment showing on her face.

Aiden tried to cover his hurt; he hated the fact that he was making her make that face from his lies. “Do you want me to drive you home?” he offered. He knew he was pushing it by delaying his orders, but he was sure Hyatt wouldn’t mind, and the others probably wouldn’t rat him out. In fact, he could already feel them setting out on the job; they had it handled. The foreigner would probably just run out of the territory’s boundaries anyways—that seemed the smartest decision. He had enough hours anyways. Internally, though, his natural mentality was combating his conscious decision; it was rejecting the idea that he was neglecting his instinctual drive. And that’s exactly why he was refusing it.

In response to the offer, April’s crestfallen expression began to lighten a little, much to Aiden’s relief. “Okay,” she smiled her brilliant teeth at him. He put his arm around her waist as he led her across the mostly empty school parking lot, listening to her chat about her classes.

Then, at about the halfway point to her parking spot, Aiden halted in his tracks, bringing April to a sudden stop as well. He raised his head, looking to the west—directly into the woods. An intense feeling had suddenly overridden his senses, blocking everything else out. He needed to run, no, he had to run to those woods. He just wasn’t sure if he could make it there without bursting into his other form.

“Aiden?” April asked quietly, looking to him. But, he didn’t give her the chance to see his face as he changed directions and bolted, releasing her from his grip without any hesitation. “Aiden!” she called out to him, surprise and shock in her voice. He didn’t even look over his shoulder as he had to keep himself from growling back at her, “Go home.” 

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And the serious drama begins! Next part will be up soon. Hope everyone enjoyed, and, if you did, perhaps you could give that 'vote' button a little click? :D Thanks for reading!