_ Liam

Isleen

~~

It seemed all eyes were on me as I walked back home. It could be just me overthinking things but I doubted such was the case. I guessed the news about the restaurant had already spread to the entire pack.

I got confused but when I heard this. "Isn't that her?"

"Isleen!"

"Kylo's girlfriend!"

"Isn't that the Alpha's estate where she's coming from?"

"Didn't you see her go with the pack's soldiers earlier?"

Two women probably in their late forties gossiped behind me, trying so hard to whisper but my wolf's elevated senses could hear it all. How notorious I had gotten in the pack for dating Kylo was beyond my knowledge.

I understood the stares right away.

I brushed my hair forward to cover my face but it was no use. "I should get some bangs done." I sighed.

The sun was out and hot too. The Vampires were really stupid beings. Imagine them not being able to walk in daylight like this and still waging war against all other creatures.

It was all after Vlad Shadowheart, the great ancient vampire Lord was awakened. His powers were rumored to be boundless and he had been the one facilitating this war from the vampire's end.

"What are you doing worrying about the world's problems when you have yours." I didn't know when I stood in the middle of the road and held my hips. "When Gamma Rhett is…"

I couldn't finish it.

The view up ahead snapped me out of my introspection. Both the Fey creatures and Wolves seemed to have formed, spectating a scene that I was sure was a violent one.

I raced there. "What's going on?" I inquired from a fairy who smelled like Bayleaf.

"Look…" She pointed at a boy who was being held in place by two wolves. "He's in grief," Se said.

Grief?

I stood on my toes to get a clearer view but I could hear the arguments well now. "This is your fault!" the boy roared at the elves and fairies, shaking his fist. "Your kind invited them in, brought the vampires to our doorstep! My brother is dead!"

Oh, no. We needed unity within ourselves. We shouldn't allow for the Vampires to break us apart.

I wriggled in between the crowd to get a perfect view of it all.

"Where are you going?"

"What are you doing?"

"Watch it!" Both Wolves and Fey kinds protested as I struggled to squirm forward.

Raising my hands, "Sorry!" I called back at them.

Finally, I arrived where I could see just well enough to recognize the grieving boy. It was Liam. He was one of my students.

I teach in a private school for young Werewolves whose wolves were yet to be awakened. Liam, right there was a promising and very easygoing student.

One of the elves stood her ground, her long and pointy ears flapping backward and forward. "Our war isn't with you, young wolf! It's for you! For a future where your brother didn't die in vain. We made a necessary choice, one that brings eternal peace for all of us!"

Argh.

"This doesn't look good." I flipped my hair backward, sighing and moving forward. I just couldn't stand it.

Did I just hear that Liam's brother died?

I was so busy saving that girl at the restaurant yesterday that I didn't take note of the other people in it. Liam's brother was all Liam had gotten. Now, he'd lost him. I lost my parents too.

"Liam," I called softly, blinking back tears.

When Liam saw me, "Ms. Isleen?" He croaked and I saw shame paint his cheeks.

I knew it. Liam was not a troublemaker. Just as that Fairy had told me, he was grieving. The fairies understood it but the elves didn't seem to.

As peaceful as the elves were, they could never match how understanding the fairies were. Those were the distinctions in the personalities of the two fey kinds we sheltered in our pack.

"No one blames anybody, Liam," I said, the teacher in me spurring to life. Or I guess I just could resonate with Liam's pains as I had been there. "This war is a burden no one should bear alone. This war is the fight of all and definitely not imposed on us by any faction. We all have a common goal. Stop this."

"B - But Ms. Isleen — my brother is dead." Liam's lips trembled, him gripping at the air.

My heart reached out to him. Without hesitation, I pulled him into a hug, offering the only comfort that I could. "The vampires killed your brother, Liam. It's not the Fey."

In response, Liam's dam broke. Tears streamed down his face and onto my blouse. "I don't know what I'm going to do now, Ms. Isleen."

The clearing fell silent, the wolves and elves watching. Perhaps, my fellow Wolves would see me as just a regular teacher who cared for her students and not the moron who broke the law and was dating Gamma Rhett's son.

Even as Alpha Beowulf had abolished the 'dating and marrying only your mates' law, many like Gamma Rhett were still in the shadows of that myth.

When Liam's sobs subsided, I pulled him away, wiping his tears. "Come, Liam," I said. "Let's go home. You need some reflection time, don't you think?"

He nodded and clung to my hand. "Please, forgive Liam." I turned to all Fey present. "He is just a little boy grieving the loss of the only family he has."

The Elves and Fairies all nodded and said it was okay while I left with Liam. Perhaps, comforting Liam for a while would comfort me too.

I needed distractions from thinking about Gamma Rhett. My heart was too heavy now that I thought it wasn't mine anymore. My Wolf wailed in disagreement.

It wanted its mate.

I took Liam home with me. With him around, I could pretend to talk to him and act like I didn't see all the stares and whisperings.

When we got to the apartment door, I knocked repeatedly but got no reply. I could already hear the loud music booming within.

Liam innocently looked up at me. "Are you having a party, Ms. Isleen?"

A party? "No, Liam. That's just Cullen being Cullen." I sighed.