Date: Thu, 29 Jun 2023 08:44:47 -0700 From: Saudade Survivor Subject: Tabula Rasa ch. 10 This story, depicting sex between a consenting seventeen-year-old male and other consenting males, if this subject offends you or is illegal in your area please do not read. This story will also deal with sexual assault, child neglect (emotional), Anti-LGBT Bigotry, Racism, Ableism, Discrimination and other possibly sensitive topics.this story is fiction and completely a product of my imagination. The author retains all rights to this work. If you enjoy it, or wish to contact me, or tell me what you think, questions etc please tell me so at SaudadeSurvivor@gmail.com Im always happy to hear what you guys think! I love to hear from you guys if you like the story! Hearing from you guys, what you think, really is one of the big reasons we post here! I apologise for the late posting of this chapter, life has been having quite a few ups and downs lately for me, so it has been hard getting to write, I hope now that things are gonig a little better, it won't take me so long to release chapter 11, Thank you so much for your guy's patience. This story is brought to you by Nifty, providing interested readers with entertainment and pleasure. If you enjoy reading Nifty, please support it. Please remember to donate to Nifty if you are capable of doing so. your donations keep this as well as other stories and reading materials on the site free to the public. Thank you and I hope you enjoy! Ch.10 Pack Mates For Life The stairs creaked as we ran up the second set to Izz's room, his hand squeezing around my own. The grin on my face is a stark contrast to how I felt earlier in the day. Izz quickly spun me around as we entered his room, his soft warm lips enveloping my own in a deep kiss, his hands slowly caressing over my shoulders. Izz's thick tongue roughly pushed into my mouth as he pressed against me. My fingers slowly traced down to the front of his pants, tugging at the button as if they had a mind of their own. I felt a nudging throb push against my thin fingers as I worked at pulling the denim apart, tugging at the zipper above the warm mound below. my hand slid underneath the elastic band of his boxer briefs, fingers slowly running through the thick pubic bush found there. Unintentionally a small moan escaped my mouth into his as I felt his hand slip up below my shirt, his rough thumb slowly circling along my quickly hardening pale pink nipple, the feeling causing a shiver to run up my spine. I could feel his other wide palm sliding underneath the seat of my pants, the thick hand roughly gripping my right bare cheek. My focus had switched from the ongoing kiss between us to looking back into his deep dark eyes as my hand was slowly wrapping around the warm smooth yet steely hard skin of his member. It was easy to get lost in those dark deep pools. The color of his eyes were practically black, a stark contrast to mine with their light baby blue hue. Both our hands paused their exploring of the other as we heard the front door open and close downstairs. My face turned to look at the partially ajar door to his room in response to the sound. "Dad must be home." He smirked, pulling my face back to his as his lips once more pressed into my own. The thought quickly dropped from my mind as the feeling of his warm lips pressed on mine took over my main focus. Izz slowly walked backwards with me in his arms, pulling me down to straddle his lap as he sat on his bed. He fervently started kissing my cheek, jaw, and neck, I noticed that my head had instinctively leaned to the side to give him more access to my neck as he slowly sucked there. My fingers ran up through his soft chestnut hair on the sides of his head as I pressed down into his lap as his wide hands gripped along both of my leather bound thighs. A guttural throat clearing coming from behind us caused me to practically jump ten feet into the air. Izz looked behind me as I turned my neck to see where the sound had come from. I quickly slid up off Izz's lap as I saw his father in the doorway with his arms crossed. Izz had his arm wrapped around my waist as he stared questioningly at his father. "Both of you. Downstairs. Now." He quickly turned and left the doorway. He did not sound too happy. I looked over at Izz as he stood up hugging me to him before shrugging his shoulders and moving towards the door with me in tow. He didn't seem to want to leave my side. I don't know how he could act so nonchalant after having his dad walk in on us in such a compromising position. I'm honestly just glad he hadn't been a few minutes later than he was or he really would have seen a show. God how fucking embarrasing. Izz and I followed after his father down to the back lounge where I had woken after the camping trip. The first thing I noticed in the dim room was that we were not alone. A rather tall, muscularly built man in a frayed leather jacket was leaning against the wall next to the back door slowly sipping some brand of beer in a brown glass bottle. His long black hair was covered by a well worn brown bandanna. It was hard to make out his features with such low light but I could tell how he looked at me, that he wasn't human, and he was very predatory. "Smells like you interrupted something Qas." he gave a deep guttural laugh at his joke. Though to be honest I didn't really know how well lycans could smell. Maybe he wasn't trying to make a joke. His laugh made my skin crawl. " You know you aren't supposed to be here Alex, and to be honest I'm a little disappointed in you Mu'izz. I told you to wait until things were a bit more settled before seeing him again." Qasim had such a disappointed look on his face. "Dad, he needed a ride, I couldn't just leave him out at Brooks." Izz looked over at the other man in the room with a glare as he let out a giggle at the conversation. " You should have dropped him off near his house then, son, bringing him here could make things worse." "It's my fault Qasim, I knew I shouldn't have called him, but I couldn't help it. I hate being away from him like this. I just wanted to be with him for a little bit." "Just, sit down, the both of you." Qasim was rubbing his brow, seemingly out of irritation. Izz and I sat on the leather sofa opposite of the man. His arm wrapped around my waist, practically yanked me into his side as he squeezed around my hip. He never took his face off the biker, like he was trying to show him I was his, and waiting for the other to challenge him. "Alex, this is George Deeds. He is the L.A. Lycans Pack leader." He introduced him with a gesture of his hand as he sat in one of the leather chairs to my right. "Geo, this is Alex, my son's mate, and the one I was telling you about." I gave a short nod in his direction as he gave a wide grin. "So... this small thing is what all the fuss is about huh? Doesn't look like much." He scoffed as he sat on the opposite couch, the hand not holding his beer went to rest partially in the waistband of his muddy leather chaps covered jeans. I could feel as much as hear the deep growl coming from Izz's chest as he spoke about me like that. His father gave him a warning glare as if to wordlessly tell him to watch his behavior around this man. The man merely grinned wider as he heard Izz's reaction. "The pup found a mate then, show me the proof." He took a long swig of his beer as he looked at me from across the room. Without taking his eyes off the man, Izz's hand went up my shoulder, pulling my collar a bit to the side to show the man the bite marks in the nape of my neck. Geo silently looked, eyes squinted before he gave a grunt, it sounded like an irritated acknowledgement as he leaned back into the sofa. "Well, your pup certainly knows how to pick 'em... Not that he got to choose, of course. But hoowee, boy you are a bomb just waiting to go off." He gave a bit of a chuckle as he said this. " You can relax pup. I have no interest in your mate, and he is marked. I know the code, you have nothing to fear from me boy. I can smell the fear off your mate though, it's very flattering." One of his legs lazily pushing forward. I felt Izz's hand rest on my shoulder, pulling me further into him but he seemed to relax a little at the words of the L.A. Lycan. " What do you mean I'm a bomb waiting to go off?" I asked as I looked directly over at his slouching posture. He leaned back forward as he took another swig, swallowing before he continued. " So, you're this pup's mate. He marked you which makes you part of the Santa Monica Pack whether you like it or not... L.A. and Santa Monica are sister packs, we have each other's back, and we protect our own." I saw Qasim nodding as Geo spoke. "Well how does that work? My family is apparently a Familiar Lineage, not that my parents ever deigned to tell me any of this. Would Izz marking me supersede that? Vampires aren't supposed to interfere with mate-marked individuals, right?" I tried to think of all the things I had been hearing second hand from people lately. Not knowing how things worked was starting to really irritate me. " I mean some of the people at Brooks think I'm some sort of lycan spy..." Geo gave a hearty laugh at the last part of my words, slapping his chaps covered thigh. "No one's wolf, at least to my knowledge has ever chosen someone who was a Familiar as their mate, though that may be just due to how rare the pairing is, not many of our kind get the connection... Maybe one in fifty wolves find a mate connection; most of us just settle." He made sure to put his beer on a coaster as he placed it on the table to his side. It seemed strange that someone so gruff would care about rings on a side table. " If it were simply that you were a familiar of some rando leech that wouldn't be so much of a problem. An amicable arrangement could be made, like a payment or something, I don't know, but I don't see that happening for you little red." He shook his head as he gestured at me with his beer bottle. " I can't believe this, I'm not someone's property you can just buy, or for someone else to think they can sell. I didn't sign up for anything, fuck!" I felt Izz tighten around my shoulder to stop me from standing up out of anger. I tried to just let the anger run from me as I looked over into Izz's worried eyes. " I'm not just gonna let those leeches lay claim to Alex, I love him." I immediately felt the anger drain as I looked over into his eyes. He had such a look of care and sincerity in his expression. "I-I love you too Mu'izz..." My eyes threatened to run over as I saw that warm, caring side grin slowly grow on his face. "Yes, well as sweet as all that is, you may not have a choice pup. At the request of your dad here, I did some research. Your mate here is not just any Familiar, he's the Familiar of the Great "Prince of Leeches", and I don't think he's willing to let go of his little prize here." He scoffed gesturing to me with his head. " His prize? He's never even met me. My parents didn't even teach me how to deal with the business they ran for him. If anything it would be easier for him to get rid of me. I'm useless to him." I crossed my arms in irritation as I leaned into Izz's warm side, trying to will myself to disappear into his side. "Ahaha you were never meant to take over for your parents little red, and as for meeting you, most royalty doesn't feel a need to meet a child bride before the marriage." He laughed that deep dark laugh of his as he explained it to me. "You were probably meant to be his little bride from birth, maybe even before that." He shrugged, scratching his chest as he crossed his outstretched legs. My eyes went wide as it truly hit me. All the classes my parents had me major in, My parents never seemed to care about me. They had already consigned to give me to this fucker. No wonder they were so cold. I always thought it weird they didn't even push me to find someone to date, or set me up with kids of their rich friends... They already decided who I was going to be with from the beginning. They were grooming me. But why not even mention anything about it? Wouldn't they have tried to teach me what I needed to know about vampiric society or even mention the prince at all? "Alex?" I felt Izz shake me lightly by the shoulders as he looked down at me worriedly. I had been silently staring off into nowhere. "F-fuck that! I'm no one's bride god damnit!" I quickly stood in anger, pulling out from Izz's grasp this time as I looked over at this man's sneering grin looking up from his spot on the couch. "There's the fire I want to see!" He roared as he jumped up to his feet, fist clenched in front of his face. " Hoowee! Don't worry we got yer back little red!" "Alex, if we can help it, we won't let that happen. I know you haven't officially been introduced to the pack yet, but the pack has already agreed to you being part of it." Qasim spoke as he gave me a stern look. "I've spoken to Loren and they have agreed to a meeting between our two packs and their council to speak on the matter. We're just trying to figure out on a date." I looked over to Geo who was nodding along with what Qasim was saying. I turned to look at Izz as I felt his hand grasp my shoulder. I looked up into his dark, warm eyes as he pulled me close to him. "I'll never stop fighting for you Alex. Never." I hid my face in his chest, taking in that spicy scent he seemed to naturally have as he hugged me tightly to him. I felt his head lean against the top of mine. The moment was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing through the house. Qasim opened the door as we walked behind him. A very familiar voice spoke before the door even fully opened to reveal the pale face behind it. "Mr. Owis, I'm here to collect our mutual friend, Alex" Angie leaned to the side to look past him at me in the hallway. "Angie, I didn't know he was planning on coming here, honestly." " Don't worry Qasim. I know what's going on. You can't help young love. Loren's a bit upset, but I'll talk him down. Don't worry." I was surprised Qasim and Angelique were on a first name basis. I met her eyes as I walked up to the door. She had a small smirk on her face as she looked back at me. " Alright, my little Capulet, get your butt in the car." She gestured to the black car out in the driveway. Her driver was standing at the back, holding the door open in his little suite. "Angie, l-" I tried to explain myself, but was quickly cut off by her. " Alex, car, now, we'll discuss this later." Her face had gone from amused to much more stern. I didn't want to push my luck. I turned around to look at Izz. He gave me a tight hug. I mouthed the words "I love you" since I didn't know how well their hearing was. Izz smiled his sideways grin, kissing me on my forehead and mouthing it back before letting go, gesturing me towards the door with a sad sigh. I walked past Qasim, I was going to say sorry to him but even before the words left my mouth Angie was speaking. "Scoot it, Alex." She said firmly. I gave an irritated groan and went over to the car. The driver closed the door behind me after I sat down. Giving another irritated groan I looked out the tinted window to see her and Qasim talking about something. She followed him to Izz's truck, grabbing my things from inside the truck he held them out to her. She grabbed my bag, saying something with a smile, and walking up to the car. The driver opened the door for her, closing it once she was in, and getting into the front. The ride home was awkwardly silent until we got to the first gate. How did she know where I was? I looked over to Angie, she was silently typing something out on her phone. "....How did you know where I was?" She gave a scoff as she looked over at me with a knowing smirk. "Come on Alex, it wasn't hard to figure out where you would have gone if you had a choice." " I wasn't even gone that long though, and how could Loren even know so quickly?" She gave a dejected sigh, before she grabbed my bag, searching through it before tossing my cell phone into my lap. "Loren's not stupid Alex. He contacted me about where you were, you honestly didn't think he'd track your phone with everything that's going on? Everything that's at stake?" She shook her head as she crossed her arms. "Your first chance you get, and you go straight to Mu'zz Owis, you're lucky I was able to calm Loren down. He was already in the process of purchasing tickets to send you to a boarding school in Sweden." I couldn't believe he wasn't bluffing. I couldn't believe I was so fucking stupid, not thinking about my phone like that. I see Izz one time, and he was already planning to send me across the fucking world?! I can't stand this shit. "...Thank you, Angie, for not letting him send me away..." " Listen kid," she gave a heavy sigh. "He's not gonna listen again. You can't be so brazen. I understand how you feel about Izz, but ... It's not meant to be, trust me on this." "Why, because I've been promised to some prince by my parents? That can't be fuckin legal Angie. It's not ethical." "Those rules and laws do not apply to our kind Alex. I don't really approve of such acts, but if he wants to do that, there isn't much I can do, or anyone else for that matter... just be glad they have to wait until you turn eighteen, and graduate from highschool." She sounded so bitter as she spoke about it. I felt so helpless. "Why would he need to wait if he's a prince can't he just change the laws?" " Even His Majesty can't change such laws. The council wouldn't allow it." She looked back over at me. " We have certain rules that even members of royalty aren't above. Turning someone who is under eighteen is punishable by death, especially in this day and age it would not be good to have extremely young vampires walking around. Such things could more easily expose us to humans." Her explanation made sense, though it had me wondering what their other laws were. "Why even have royalty if you have a council making laws?" I leaned my head against the window as I looked at the quickly passing view outside. What seemed like a constant row of palm trees passing us by. " It's sort of a checks and balances situation. For example, the council of a region can condemn someone to death, however the prince can, if he sees fit, pardon the individual, which does not happen often. The prince can make laws and legislations for different regions, but that region's council can veto a law if the veto is unanimous, and the prince has final say, the determining vote if there is a tie or conflict in a regional council decision. There are a lot more complex situational dynamics as well that I can't really get into without a lot of background information, nor am I allowed to share them with you, just know that usually what the prince says, goes." My eyes looked back at the second gate closing behind us as the driver pulled up to the front of Angie's house, the door to my proverbial, and it seemed sometimes literal, gilded cage. " You are to go directly to and from school, or Aspen Brooks. My driver will take you to and from since it seems I can't trust Chet to keep an eye on you like I asked." She seemed rather irritated on that last point as she walked into the foyer, myself quickly on her heels. " That seems a bit extreme Angie, and not fair!" I whined as I followed her into the kitchen. She poured herself a glass before abruptly turning to face me. " You only have yourself to blame. Loren won't have it any other way. " She took a long sip from the silver cup. " Angie-" " I won't hear it Alex. Don't you have homework to do? Just, go upstairs. I'll call you when dinner is ready." Frustrated with her attitude, I thought it best that I just do as she says, lest I say something I would regret later. I tried doing my homework but I just couldn't concentrate. Taking my pack and lighter I went out onto the balcony. After lighting a dart, I leaned over onto the railing and just looked out at all the other houses and estates that surround Angie's place. How many of these houses were the homes of other vampires? How many were Familiars? I took another drag after a slow exhale as I looked out at all the twinkling lights of Santa Monika. Maybe I should just run away.. I couldn't without Izz. I knew he wouldn't stop looking for me if I ran, and to leave would hurt him so much. Leaving him would hurt me too. Maybe he would come with me? We could go somewhere; maybe Alaska, until I turned eighteen and then once I had access to my parents money and being a legal adult we could go anywhere we wanted. I put the dying cigarette out on the railing. I could never ask Izz to go away with me. His pack and father mean the world to him. I know he wants to be a ranger and take over for his father. I could never take that away from him. Feeling a cool wind blow around me, I gave a shiver and went back inside. My clothes were simply thrown to the floor before I crawled into my bed. Pulling the blanket tightly over my wavy red hair I pulled my legs up to my chest, taking comfort in the fetal position and quickly drifted off to sleep. The next few days were more of the same. I would be driven to school, me and Izz would try to find some time to be alone when we could between classes or on our breaks. After school I would be driven either home, or to Aspen Brooks by Angie's driver. I basically always had an escort of some kind. Another thing that increased was this constant feeling of being watched or never alone. The only time that feeling would go away was if I was in Angie's home. The feeling made my skin crawl. Soon enough it was Friday, making it two weeks from when I had been caught at Izz's house. The day so far has gone like it has been these past two weeks. I sat at the lunch table contemplating the overcooked mac and cheese and soggy mashed potatoes on my plate. Gabs, Xander and Mark were talking about what they were doing this weekend while I just zoned out at my tray. " So, what do you think Alex?" Gabs was looking at me with her iconic warm smile. " Hm? Sorry I was thinking about something." I apologetically stated. She gave a sigh and a small playful roll of her eyes, her grin never faltering. "I said, Xander, Mark and I were thinking of driving into L.A., see some sights, do a little shopping. What do ya say?" " I can't, Angie's become very strict lately. She doesn't really want me going anywhere except home and that stupid country club." I stabbed my spork forcefully into a few darkened noodles on the edges of the macaroni. " What? Is she mad at you? That's weird, why, if you can't go anywhere else, would she want you going to a country club?" "She and her brother Loren don't exactly like that Izz and I are dating..." I answered her first question hoping to dodge the second. " Really?! That's weird, why would they... Are they homophobic?!" "Aha no Gabs, I'm pretty sure Loren is also gay. I honestly don't want to talk about it, ok?" I looked over at Izz who was sitting with the rest of the football team. I wanted to run my fingers through his soft chestnut hair, feeling his strong arms wrap around me. I could still hear the others talking as I watched Izz from across the room. " What about you, Carlotta? Do you want to come with us?" " Nah I can't, I have a family get-together this weekend." I was brought out of my hopeful wishing from the feeling of something landing in my lap. Looking down I realized it was the mac and cheese from my fork that had fallen onto my pants. " Ah crap!" I picked the cheesy noodles off of crotch, tossing it onto my tray as I stood up. " Oh no. Want me to get some napkins ?" I stopped Gabs from getting up with a hand. "No no I'll just go to the bathroom, that way I can wet some paper towels. I'll be right back." Excusing myself from the table I quickly walked to the nearest bathroom. I couldn't believe I was this clumsy. Walking to the sink I quickly pulled a few paper towels from the dispenser, lightly wet them with warm water and started whipping off the crotch of my pants. It wasn't even five seconds after finishing that I looked up at the sound of the door opening and closing. Tiffany and two of her cheerleading cronies stood between me and the door. She had an angered sneer on her face as she looked at me near the sinks. I scrunched up the last of the towels into a ball, tossing them into the trash as I looked at the three. "Tiffany, this is the men's bathroom, you really shouldn't be in here. If you're looking for Chet I don't know where he is." I slowly walked over to her, trying to push past her to leave the restroom only to be pushed roughly back in the shoulder. "Hmm, you're right Alex, this is the men's bathroom." Her voice was a mocking single pitch higher than her normal self. She snapped her fingers as she spoke, one of her friends turning back to lock the door before both the other girls slowly walked around her, one on each side of me. "What the fuck do you think you're doing??" Both girls had quickly reached out and took hold of my arms. I tried to pull free but their grips only tightened, nails digging into the skin of my upper arms. "This is the men's bathroom Alex, and you sure don't look like you belong in here." She smirked as she spoke in her mocking tone. One of the girls gripped the back of my neck, yanking my head forward and down. My eyes went wide as I finally noticed what Tiffany had in her hand. A pair of long, silver sewing scissors. I struggled against my captors. Each time I would free a hand they would be quick to recapture it. Tiffany slowly walked up to me, held between her two friends. She quickly reached out and gripped my hair tightly, yanking the long orange curls upward, forcing me to look into her eyes. Those eyes were filled with sheer malice and contempt. "Maybe this will teach you to stay out of other peoples relationships you fucking whore." She spoke through gritted teeth. With those words, she forced my head down and began cutting. I watched as my once long, wavy hair started falling to the floor in long rippling strand after long rippling strand. Each emphasized with the sound of the shearing scissors cutting through the mane I loved so much. Soon the hair on the floor was joined with the tears cascading down my cheeks. With one last snip she gave a sneering cackle as they, in unison, pushed me backwards onto the floor. The three of them pointed and laughed as they did. " There, that fits you so much more!" Her words were laced with venom as she tapped her cheek with the scissors, standing over me with her two friends hiding their mouths as they giggled. "Next time you fuck with me Alex, I won't stop at just your hair." She gave a proud smirk as she looked down at me, before she and her friends turned, and left, laughing all the way. Once I was alone, I slowly stood and looked into the mirror. My once shoulder length, bouncy wavy red curls were no more. All that was left was a head of short, mismatched lengths sprouting here and there. I could feel, and see in the mirror, my shoulder slump in devastation. I always prided myself on my hair, and now it was a lopsided mess. I tried to do something, anything to make it look salvageable, tossling it, moving it left and right. However it was to no avail. I looked like I had been attacked by a swarm of animated scissors, it was such a jarring mess. Almost as if on auto pilot I had locked myself in the last stall in the line, slumped down and began to cry. How could I walk out there like this? I would be a laughing stock. I imagined all the faces in the cafeteria turning to see me as I exit, only to begin to point and laugh, jeering insults at me as they did. I'm not sure how long I sat between the toilet and the wall, legs pulled up to my chest, crying my eyes out. After a while I heard the door open once more, and a familiar voice calling my name. "Alex? Are you in here? - What the hell?" Mark had come looking for me when I hadn't returned. He must have found the pile of my hair in the middle of the room. Not long after I heard his voice, his sneakers were at the door, and he was lightly knocking. "Alex? Can you open the door?" Without a word I readied myself for ridicule, and unlocked the door, keeping my eyes on the tiled floor. I could hear it open followed by a gasp from Mark. "Alex, who did this to you?" I could hear the worry in his voice before I looked up to see it on his face. His hand reached out to squeeze my shoulder in a show of care. " You aren't laughing at me..." "Of Course I'm not laughing at you, you're my friend." he had a warm smile as he looked down at me. " You're pack, and we look out for each other. I don't really find assault all that funny anyways, Now who did this?" Giving a sigh of relief I sat back down with my back against the wall, Mark decided to sit next to me. I had nearly forgotten that Mark was in Izz's pack, let alone that he was a lycan at all. "I told Chet that if he didn't want to date someone, he shouldn't, not simply out of a feeling of obligation anyways... I guess he took my words to heart. Now Tiffany blames me for their break-up and did this." I grasped what was left of my hair in one hand. "Out of revenge." "We should at least tell the principal about this, Can't let her get away with assaulting you." He stood up as he spoke, holding his hand out for me. "No!" I held my hands up at him before calming down a little from my outburst. " I don't want this to go any further. If I do that it will just give her more ammo for retaliation, and who knows what she'll do next. Besides I don't want to be at the forefront of anything else. I just want to stay on the sidelines, and not deal with other drama, I already have to deal with this vampire, lycan bullshit. I don't want to deal with more." Mark looked down at me with understanding and sadness at my bitter words. "Alright, I can understand that... At least let me help you with your hair ok?" "What could you possibly do? Once hair is cut off, there isn't much you can do, you can't just reattach it." "Just wait here, ok? I'll be right back!" Mark held his hands up as he walked backwards a little before turning and walking out of the bathroom. Right after he left the bell rang signaling the end of lunch. I decided to at least sit on the toilet while I waited, no sense in just sitting on the floor. While I waited for Mark to return I contemplated what I could do to get away from Angie and that driver, just for an evening. I missed hanging out with my friends. I missed hanging out with Izz. After about five or so minutes Mark returned with a warm smile on his face. "Here take this." He took out a piece of paper and held it out for me to take. "What's this?" I looked at the small note, which seemed to be a Tardiness Pass written by the Principal, Mr. Amdren. "Mark, I told you I didn't want the principal involved in this." I looked up at him, clearly annoyed. "Hey, don't worry. I didn't mention it to him at all. Me and him have an understanding." I looked back at him skeptically. " Honestly, just, turn around, face the wall." He had such an amused look on his face. "...Why?" " Just do it. Trust me. Pack looks out for each other, remember?" He rolled his eyes with a shake of his head, his smile never faltering. "...Alright." Standing up, I quickly turned around and sat back down, looking back at me was the white tiled wall of the bathroom. " Sit up a little straighter?" Mark adjusted my position with his hand on my shoulder. He seemed to be assessing my hair, running his fingers through the mess of different cut lengths, looking at it from both sides. Soon he started cutting what remained. " So, are you ok? Living at that Leeches house I mean." His tone was laced with concern. " It's fine I guess. I'm not being neglected, she's actually pretty nice. Her name's Angelique. The only thing I dislike is not being able to go out when I want to, like I used to be able to do." " I know her name. She's one of the few of their kind who tries to keep a good rapport with the pack. Just looking to play both sides, typical of her kind to look out for their own skin first and foremost." His tone conveyed a sliver of jadedness, as if this is something he's had to deal with countless times before. " I'm honestly not sure about that. Angie seems to really care for me. She's been my friend through this, and has looked out for me. If it wasn't for her, her brother Loren would have sent me off to some boarding school in Europe by now." " He can't do that. You're pack. He sends you away, then he messes with our pack and that is sanction to request his head, and if not, then war." Mark continued to snip away as we spoke. His hands would move my head this way and that as he went along with his scissors. " I honestly don't think he knows you guys have accepted me as a member. He seems very adamant to fight this. Besides, how would he know you guys have?" He went silent for a bit after I voiced my opinion, seeming to be thinking of something. " Hmm, you're probably right. Vampires and Lycans can usually tell each other apart, except in the rare cases of one of us mate marking a human, they are rarely ever brought in as honorary members. It's just too risky. That's why most will settle with a partner from their own pack, or in rare cases a member from another pack, Like Moss and Sandy." "I honestly didn't even think that Sandy may be a lycan, but I suppose it makes sense since she and Moss are dating. Though if Sandy isn't a member of your pack, what pack does she belong to?" Mark motioned for me to turn around, and so I did, as he started working on the hair at my front. " She's actually the daughter of the L.A. Packs Alpha." That rang a bell. The image of the biker in Qasim's house, legs crossed, smirking over at me flashed in my memory. "Geo?" "Yeah, you met him?" He looked at me with a quizzical expression. " Yes, He was at Izz's house, the day my privileges were revoked by Loren, for going over there in fact." " Hm, that's interesting. I wonder why." With one last snip he looked me over with a satisfied grin. " There, all done, Go have a look and tell me what you think." I did just that. Standing up, I walked out of the stall and was met with my reflection looking back at me. I was amazed. How he was able to take that awful mess and turn it into this amazing style; must have taken a lot of skill. I lightly ran my fingers through my new pixie cut as I walked closer to the mirror. The style seemed to fit me perfectly, a cute pixie cut short on the sides, and slightly longer on top near the front. " Mark, this is amazing! Where did you learn to do this?!" I tousled the hair back and forth before making it styled to the front. " My mom's a beautician. She taught me a thing or two while I was growing up. Guess her skills just rubbed off on me." I saw him shrug his shoulders as he looked over at me from behind me in the mirror. " So you like it then?" I quickly turned around and ran the short distance up to him, wrapping my arms around him in a squeezing hug. " I love it ! Thank you so much, I owe you!" He hugged me back gently as I looked up at him. "Nah, you don't owe me a thing Alex, we're pack mates, we help each other out, especially when we're in need. It's what we do." As I pulled away he pushed out his fist. "Pack mates for life dude." I could feel the grin reaching the edges of my cheeks, It felt like it wanted to jump off my face. "Pack mates for life.." I gave Mark a fist bump, smiling. We both went our separate ways to class. The look of sheer awe, confusion, and disbelief on Tiffany's face when I walked into Art class was priceless. I gave her a small smile as I handed my slip to the teacher, went over to my station, and began working on my painting. Hello! Saudade here, I just wanted to give a HUGE thank you to my Editor johnny again, He has been doing an amazing job on helping with the new chapters, and another HUGE thank you to Fang Saito who has been helping me with some wording, and very helpful feedback. I also wanted to give one more HUGE thank you to all who have sent letters telling me of what you think fo the story so far. it feels amazing to know you are enjoying the piece, and is very much fueling to cdontinue the wish to write :) please let me know what you think of this new chapter, the things you enjoyed, or any other feedback you may have! thank you