Five

It's been raining in Astir for two days straight. To Cobie it felt like the heavens were crying on his behalf, it felt like the dark clouds were expressing his mood for him, making everywhere seem grey and gloomy. Each drop of rain felt like ice, with the rain came cold winds and when it blow Cobie feels like he could hear someone whisper to him but the strike of thunder blocks out the words.

Ever since Blue left, Cobie has been in a kind of slump. To him, it felt like his loneliness had heightened and it makes him scared because he doesn't understand why. The worst part of it all is the fact that every time he closes his eyes he sees the bright eyes of Alpha McStupid staring at him and even though it literally pains him to admit, he wished the Alpha had introduced himself properly so at least Cobie would know his name.

Cobie sighs and gets up from his seat and walks towards his window, his eyes following the trail of rain water rolling down the window. Lightning flashes, giving everything a soft pink glow. It's nights like this that makes Cobie wish he had someone who would hold him and tell him all will be well. Someone who would make him safe.

From the stereo playing, Bastille's World Gone Mad played, Dan Smith crooning so this is where we are, it's not where we had wanted to be. If half the world's gone mad, the other half just don't care, you see.

"I know talking to the sky doesn't really mean I'm talking to you, Pa," Cobie speaks softly as if the person he was talking to was right beside him. "but I miss you, Pa."

Cobie sighs again and walks away from the window. The TV was paused on the movie Wonder, Auggie's astronaut helmet filled out the screen. Dressed in a black jumper and grey jumper, Nike slides on his feet, he makes his way to the kitchen and flips on the kettle. He grabs his pack of tea and tosses one into a white mug and grabs the sugar as he waits for the water to heat up.

The song changes to Logic's Take it back, making Cobie bob his head as he raps along. He settles back onto the couch and continues his movie, pausing the song as he does so. The movie lasts for about an hour and thirty minutes, by the time it was done Cobie was a sobbing mess on his chair. He switches off the TV and sits in silence, letting the rumble of thunder be the only noise he could hear.

He gets up from the couch, his eyes going from brown to grey.

"Pa, please let them not find me. I'm tired of running." He silently prays as he flips off the light.

--

Friday comes like a thief in the night. The sun has been out and for the first time since he got here, Cobie feels hot. He's got a grey shirt on with a pair of black shorts. His contact lens were on, a pair of foldable shades in his pocket just in case there's a problem. He takes a cab from the front of his place and gives the cabbie the same address Gabriel had texted him a few hours ago.

As the drivers takes him to where he was to meet Gabriel, Cobie began to think. He wonders how many packs were in Astir, he thinks about Blue and wonders if he's eating well and if he's still in his wolf form or not. As the cab pulls to a stop at a red light, Cobie's eyes widened as he remembers the first time he had met Gabriel. Every one, like everyone, was staring at him.

Was he the only human in town?

He shakes his head in reply to his question. It can't be possible. Astir has a population of about sixty thousand, about the percent of it should be human. Cobie remembers checking the web results for news about Astir. Hell, it wasn't even listed as part of a werewolf community and he had heard the mayor is an Erik Tomlinson. Cobie hadn't had time to check Google images due to a couple of things so he wasn't sure what Erik Tomlinson looks like.

He being the only human in town couldn't be possible. There's Gabriel too. He looks normal, talks normal, there hasn't been a shift in his eyes, he looked pretty normal to be but then again, looks can be deceiving and Cobie has learnt that the hard way. If he wants to stay safe, he had to find out how many pack were here and which one to avoid because some Alpha's were a huge pain in the ass as seen with Alpha McStupid.

The houses start to thin until it was large expanse of land around them, tall trees around. After a few more minutes there's green everywhere. There were trees, flowers and Cobie swears he saw a deer but he can't be too sure.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Cobie asks the driver as they continue on the green road.

"Of course. Your destination is a little up ahead."

Cobie nods and relaxes back onto his seat, watching everything pass by in a blur. The drive was silent, no music, no audiobook, the only thing keeping Cobie company was the scene. After a few more minutes, the cab finally pulls past the front black wrought gates. The building in front of the cab was magnificent. It was huge, it looked exactly like the Phantomhive estate but with white walls, a big archway above the door, the potted plants along the bottom of the building. In short, it looked like a castle. There were rows and rows of windows, the entire building looked regal under the spray of sunlight and it takes Cobie's breath away.

How does Gabriel afford this place? Cobie asks himself as the cabbie pulls to a stop.

"That would be 13.50." the cabbie tells Cobie.

Cobie nods and pulls out his cash, leaving the cabbie a tip before getting down. He slowly makes his way to the door. The air even felt cleaner here, it felt peaceful here and Cobie thinks this is what it feels like to fall in love.

He rings the door bell and bounces on his feet as he waits for the door to be pulled open. He doesn't wait for long because the door pulls open after a few second with a familiar face behind it.

"Oh, Cobie..." Randall speaks, his eyes wide in what Cobie thinks is shock. "You are here. W-what are you doing here?" he asks, his body blocking the doorway so as to keep Cobie out of the house. Cobie just stares at Randall in silence as he tries to piece everything together but nothing was falling into place. This was the address Gabriel had given him, so he's in the right place but what was Randall doing here?

"I came for Gabriel? He's supposed to show me around town today." Cobie answers, he finds it more troublesome to over think when the answer would come to him later. Maybe later he would solve for x. The missing piece of the equation.

"Papa who's at the door?" a tiny voice asks.

"It's a friend, Kai." Randall calls back. "Oh where are my manners. Come in."

Randall steps away and lets Cobie walk in. The first room of the house was the living room. The walls were white with black stripe in the middle, the couches were black leather seats. There was a huge flat screen tv on the wall and a play station plugged to it.

"Can you wait here while I get hi- never mind, he's on his way down."

Cobie smiles at Randall. "Thank you."

"Papa! I hear Cobie's voice!" some screams, the yell was followed by tiny footsteps that got closer and closer.

"No running in the house, Kai!"

Cobie couldn't help the smile on his face as he listens to Randall and Kai. He wonders what Blue looks like in human form. He doesn't get to wonder for long because a little boy walks into the living room. He's got chestnut coloured hair, big blue familiar eyes and a button nose. He's got on a black shirt and shorts and he's clutching a small teddy bear with an eye pulled off. He looked so adorable and so tiny.

It's Cobie's first time seeing Blue in human form but he can tell he's the one right away.

"Blue!" Cobie exclaims, falling to his knees to pick up Kai who had run straight into him.

"Cobie." Kai says softly, wrapping his small arms around Cobie's neck, pressing his nose into Cobie's neck.

They hug, Cobie rubbing Kai's back slowly and soothingly. He was so content hugging little Blue that he doesn't notice when Gabriel walks in. It takes until he pulls back from Blue to see him.

"Oh, hi Gabriel." He smiles at the man who smiles back.

"Hi to you too, Cobie. Let me just get my bag of jellybeans from the kitchen and I'll be right out." Gabriel says, his smiles still on his face.

"I'll go with him to make sure he doesn't take out of Kai's stash." Randall adds.

"Hey!" Gabriel whines. "That was one time and I was sleep walking!"

"Let's just go and get it, so you can leave."

"So my company isn't good enough for you?"

Cobie shakes his head as he watched Gabriel and Cobie walk to the direction of the kitchen. He looks back to Kai who has been waiting for his attention eagerly. This close, he could see Kai's resemblance to his father.

"How old are you, Blue?"

"I turned six two weeks ago." Blue replies, raising up seven fingers. Cobie laughs and pulls one down so he's holding up the right amount of fingers.

"You're a big boy."

"I know. Papa tells me all the time." Blue says with a smile so wide, Cobie wants to ask him if his cheeks hurt. "I like it."

"Like what?" Cobie asks, ignoring the urge to pull out the contact lens so Kai could see is eyes turn pink. Speaking of which, he has to talk to Kai but somewhere out of earshot which is impossible since Randall apparently lives in the house too. As noting is hidden under the sun, whispers could be heard from miles away by werewolves. Even if Kai says something, he's got his contacts on for majority of the day, so all they'd see is synthetic blue eyes.

"Blue. I like it when you call me Blue."

Kai's words popped Cobie out of his thoughts. He smiles down at Kai who had a pink tint to his cheeks.

"You are adorable."

"I think you have him beat." Came a deep voice coming from behind Cobie.

Cobie became still as he heard the footsteps come from behind him, then stops by his side. He looks away from Kai, his hand still on the little boy's shoulder just in case, and turns to the owner of the very expensive shoes.

"Uncle Kaye!" Kai cheers, running from Cobie's side to the man beside him.

Kaye in his full height was a six foot four, handsome man. His blonde hair styled away from his face, his eyes a starling green, pointed nose. He had on just a pair of jeans and a thin white shirt but he looked like he just crawled out of a magazine. He bends to Kai's height to pull him in for a hug, his arm slightly brushing Cobie's.

Cobie stands up immediately, putting a good distance between himself and Kaye. Cobie watches as Kaye whispers something into Kai's ears. The other man leans back and it looked as if Kai's smile had doubled in size.

"I've got to go Cobie. See you soon." Kai says, waving at Cobie before running away.

Cobie doesn't say a word and just waits for Gabriel to come back out. How long does it take to get a bag of jelly beans?

"So it is true what they say." Kay speaks, ending the awkward seconds of silence.

"What do they say?" Cobie asks, trying to humour Kaye. In honesty, having this conversation is the last thing Cobie wants to do.

"That you are quite the eye candy."

Cobie rolls his eyes at that and stops talking. He looks in the direction Randall and Gabriel had disappeared to and wishes they would come out. The hairs at the back of his neck stand as Kaye closes the distance between them.

"It's rude to not reply when you are being spoken to." Kaye says as he stops right in front of Cobie.

Cobie stares at the man in front of him, desperately trying to resist the urge to punch the smirking blonde git in the nose. Instead he plasters on a smile, his eyes crinkling from the weight of it and licks his lips.

"Thank you for the complement."

Kaye smiles and stretches a hand out. "I'm Kaye Phillips."

Cobie looks away from Kaye's face to the hand. "I'm not buying what you're selling. Can you please leave my sight?"

"Aren't you a rude little sh-"

"Based on past occurrence, I don't think it's a good idea to finish that sentence."

Without even looking past Kaye, Cobie knows who had spoken. The same voice has been echoing in his mind. It was Alpha McStupid in the flesh. Unlike their last meeting, McStupid had on a pair of jeans that were hanging so low on his waist. His body was covered in sweat, his blonde hair matted to his forehead, with each breath he took his abs contrasted. Cobie licks his lips and tries to will his heart down. He's sure McStupid could hear it and so can Randall and Kai wherever they may be.

"Erik."

Cobie's eyes widens as Kaye's word sank in. This was Erik?

He shakes his head. There might be a lot of Erik's in Astir. This Erik couldn't be THE Erik Tomlinson.

"Kaye, our meeting isn't for another thirty minutes." Erik says as he walks closer. Cobie's eyes fall from Erik's face to his abs and the thin trail of hair disappearing into th- nope, he's not going there.

"Before you both start yapping, one of you should get me Gabriel? I've been standing here for maybe almost twelve minutes."

The two blonde men stopped. Before Cobie could blink, Kaye's fingers were wrapped tight around his throat and squeezing. Cobie doesn't wiggle, nor does he plead, his eyes go red in anger. He just reaches into his pocket and waits.

"How dare you talk to an Alpha without respect!" Kaye roars and if he wasn't running out of oxygen, Cobie would have rolled his eyes. Erik grabs Kaye by the neck and squeezed tight, his nails digging into Kaye's skin, successfully breaking the skin and letting the blood flow.

"Let him go now, Kaye." Erik says, his voice calm but Cobie could hear the anger laced in his tone.

When Kaye doesn't move, Cobie knees Kaye in the balls so hard the Alpha had to let him go. Even Eric winced. Cobie grabs Kaye's shirt and looks pointedly at him.

"The one thing I hate beside wolves are stupid Alphas thinking they are the shit." Cobie says. "The next time you grab me by the throat, your brains would be splattered on the wall behind you."

Cobie glares at Kaye, he lets go of the man's shirt and takes a couple of steps backwards.

"I told you it was not a good idea." Was all Erik says before he turns around to walk away, not sparing Cobie or Kaye another look. "By the way, Gabe is coming. He just found his hidden bag of jelly beans."

True to his words, Gabriel rounds the corner and comes into the sitting room a few seconds after Erik had left. Without a child distracting him and whilst actively ignoring Kaye who was clutching his jewels, Cobie noticed what Gabriel had on. The man looked gorgeous in the yellow crop top, jeans short that stops right underneath his bum and a light ankle length plain black kimono. He had no make-up on and his hair wasn't styled and just left in its usual fringe.

"You ready to go?" Gabriel asks, not even sparing Kaye a glance. "I'm sorry. My brother hid my stash of haribos and I had to find it."

"It's fine." Cobie replies. "I'm ready to go."

"Let's go, I asked one of the guys to bring my car out front." Gabriel grabs Cobie's hand and drags him out of the house. Parked where Cobie cab was, was an SUV. Cobie hops into the car, the same time Gabriel does.

The drive away from the building was filled with silence and Cobie doesn't even try to break it. Instead he just stares out the window with thousands of questions flooding through his brain. He wonders what connection Gabriel has with Erik, Randall Kai and Kaye. He wonders if he could stay in Astir for the estimated six months he had planned, for like a year or so like he had hoped?

"I'm sorry about Kaye. He's one of those Alphas that believe humans are lesser." Gabriel's words cut through the silence like a sharp knife.

"You heard?" Cobie asks.

The pieces were falling into place. He just needs to solve for x. Gabriel was nowhere near the sitting room and they were not loud enough for an ordinary person to hear from a couple of doors down. Cobie almost crosses his fingers together, his one wish for the day was for Gabriel not to be wolf. He could be a fairy or a genie or anything else. Cobie would take anything else.

"Yeah I did."

"Who are you? Why are you with Randall, Kai and Erik?" Cobie asks, silently praying for an answer that he would like but what he got was not what he had expected.

"I'm Gabriel Tomlinson. You met my brother a few minutes ago. Randall along with Kai, are a part of our pack." Gabriel immediately replies, turning to Cobie. Gone were Gabriel's blue eyes, swirling in their place were yellow eyes.

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