Wolf & Witch III: Oracle's Path

Ch. 5

Kaiden was pretty sure that this was one of the most contented moments of his life as he caught Sean looking at him from across the bar. Everything felt right. Sean, Trevor, and Anna sitting in the booth, Rex helping Slade run the bar, the perfect marriage of his past and present fused into one. There was only one thing missing, or one person.

He wasn't sure where Nate was.

He'd honestly tried to avoid thinking about it because it would just upset an otherwise pleasant evening. Part of him was still hoping that Nate was just busy, or missed their texts and was on his way. He was still hoping that when the bar's side door opened, almost as if Kaiden had willed it to happen. But who came through it wasn't Nate, in fact, it was the last person on earth that Kaiden expected to walk through it, Gabriel.

"Hey, Kaid. Slade around?" Gabriel asked.

Kaiden didn't respond right away, still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Gabriel was there in front of him.

"He's in the back, I'll get him!" Rex said. Of course, he did. Gabriel had left the pack before Rex had joined. He had no idea who he was.

"Sorry, kind of busy." Kaiden lifted the tray of drinks to bring over to their table. Gabriel followed Kaiden's gaze to the booth where the three witches sat. Kaiden wished he hadn't, it made every hair on the back of his neck stand on end when he saw Gabriel recognize Sean.

"Ah, still with the witch huh?" Gabriel; remarked, in no particular tone that Kaiden should have found unpleasant, but he found it unpleasant all the same as he passed him wordlessly with the tray, still desperately trying not to let it ruin his night. He'd speak to Dakota about Gabriel later, for now there wasn't much he could do off pack land.

Sean scooted over to give Kaid more room next to him when he rejoined them at the booth. "Hey, Kaid, what would you think about us staying a little longer than a few weeks?" he asked, though there was a bit of hesitation in his voice, almost as if he were a little afraid of asking the question, and he was already fidgeting with the wrapper from one of the straws Kaid had brought over.

The Beta's long torso and arms made it easy for him to snake an arm across the back of the booth and easily around Sean's shoulders. The faux leather creaking as Kaiden made himself comfortable.

"I think that's a great idea, but you'll have to talk to Dakota and if you stay long enough, they'll probably expect you to get educated on pack law."

"How exactly does that work?" Sean wondered, plunging the straw into his drink. He knew about the pup school, but that was just for the pack's kids, right? They'd only made Nate re-attend for a summer as a punishment...and it was well past summer now. "Is there somewhere we can read them?"

"A .pdf or something?" Anna added.

"Eh-heh, no, not exactly. Usually, you get paired with someone who acts as your tutor, they kind of become responsible for teaching you about the pack and keeping you out of trouble. Slade's looking out for Rex and Hazel's taking care of Chloe. I'm sure Dakota wouldn't mind me taking on you three."

"Is three too many?" Trevor wondered aloud.

"Nah, I'm the Beta, I'm sure I can handle three," Kaiden assured me with a smirk.

"Uh huh, yeah, maybe you should stick to handling Sean," Trevor said skeptically.

Sean snorted mid-drink, and had to pull away from his straw immediately, face flushed as he coughed.

"Here, I assumed-" Anna cut herself off, shaking her head and grinning. "You know what, never mind. Not saying that joke out loud."

She didn't have to, he knew his cousin, and he was already chuckling and coughing at that too. Once he was finally doing more breathing than wheezing, he let out a big sigh. This felt so good to be around the people he loved, just spending time together. He wished Nate wasn't missing out on it, but he still couldn't help smiling. "We'd appreciate it, Kaid," Sean said, leaning against Kaiden's arm and shoulder. "I'll make sure to talk to Dakota about it tomorrow."