| SOR - Mood Swings

"What did you say?" I questioned, looking up from my phone to the beta as he continued to make what he called "The best sandwiches in all creation".

He sighed, glancing up from the sandwiches at me, "I said, the pack is throwing a party in a few days for a returning member." He turned around to the stove as he started toasting the bread "Do you want to come?" He continued, looking back at me as he asked.

I nervously glanced at Ricky who was still swiping through his phone and Kyle who was glaring daggers at Zane's back, still upset about being prevented from getting another bowl of cereal. We had finished the movie a little while ago and were now just all sitting on the stools around the middle island.

"Must be an important pack member if you're throwing a huge party at their return." I replied, dodging the question. Zane tensed at my reply, letting out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, she's a childhood friend. Grew up very close." He answered and I looked to the side as Kyle glanced up at him.

I hummed as he started carefully putting the sandwiches together, "Can you tell me about her?" I asked, earning a questioning stare from Ricky, who for the first time since we finished the movie, was finally off his phone.

Zane paused for a moment before setting one plate each in front of both me and Ricky, "She's our former gamma's adopted daughter; That's why we're so close with her, we actually did grow up with her and Joseph." He let out a small laugh as he cut one of the sandwiches in half and split it with Kyle.

I watched as Kyle glared down at the sandwich before glancing up at Zane who nodded his head towards the food with a grin, Kyle let out a quiet huff before eating his half, "Joseph?" I questioned after moments of silence.

"Our gamma." This time Kyle was the one who replied, holding a hand to his mouth as he pushed his plate away from him. Zane, who had already finished his half in seconds, took the rest of his sandwich and swallowed it in one bite.

"I didn't know you had a gamma." I replied, taking another bite of the delicious meat and cheese filled sandwich as Zane let out a laugh.

"Rare to see a pack without one." I hummed as I swallowed my bite. Damn this is one hell of a sandwich and I could tell Ricky thought the same since he was taking slow bites, enjoying every last crumb that fell onto the plate.

I shrugged as I looked back up at him, "I just assumed you guys were that rare occasion." He hummed in reply as he sat his and Kyles' dish in the sink.

"I can see why you would think that." He replied "Joseph handles a lot of the pack's information so few people outside the pack actually know about him and he doesn't live in the pack house or town per his request."

"Does he at least live on pack grounds?" I questioned, genuinely curious to know more about the mystery man he was telling me about "Of course, he still needs to be close enough to respond in case of emergencies." I nodded my head at his answer.

"Would this "childhood friend" be okay with you telling me this much information?" I questioned, changing the topic back to the mystery member.

"Are you talking about how she's adopted? I'm sure she wouldn't mind." He shrugged before letting out a quiet laugh, "You'd never know she was adopted if I hadn't given you a heads up."

"Why's that?" I questioned allowing him to take my now empty plate and put it in the sink along with Ricky's and the other two from before.

"They look like almost identical." He sounded shocked like the thought of them looking biological was still surprising even now "they both have natural white hair, the same stoic personality, though Bell is a bit more bearable to be around." He joked and I let out a small laugh in reply.

"Their only difference would be that Josephs' eyes are gray while Bells' are purple." I tensed at the mention of her eyes, purple? "Yeah?" He answered the question I didn't even realize I had said out loud.

I looked at Ricky and he was already looking at me "That's a unique eye color, and she's always lived here?" He questioned.

"As far as we know she was found by Ades' parents and then adopted by the former gamma." He shrugged, not seeming to notice the glances me and Ricky sent towards each other.

"Made up your mind yet?" He questioned knocking me out my thoughts as I let out a confused hum in reply, "About the party, you gonna come?" His face was hopeful as he put his full attention on me.

I gulped nervously as I slowly nodded my head, "Sure." I replied, earning a loud 'yes' from Zane and a questioning look from Ricky. I quickly looked away from his confused expression, "Anyway I think we should start heading home." I quickly stood off the stool, standing next to Ricky as he took his sweet time doing the same.

"Alright we'll see you tomorrow then!" He called out making his way to a sleeping Kyle. "We'll see!" I replied back earning a scoff from him before we were out the house.

It was a quick ride back to my cottage and as soon as we pulled up to it Ricky was quick to voice the thoughts I could tell were Behring in his head since we left, "You know I'm not going with you to that party." I sighed as I took my helmet off and handed it to him.

"Had a feeling." I said, shrugging as I stepped off the large bike. "Why do you want to go anyway?" He questioned as he held his hand out for me to grab, I accepted his help off the bike; Pausing in front of it to wait for him to swing his legs my way so we were facing each other.

I shrugged in reply to his question, tensing when he sat the helmet on his bike and folded his arms over his chest, "I really don't know, Zane just looked like he really wanted me there so I said yes." I hurried out wanting to get his burning gaze off me.

He kept the same look on his face before a grin spread across his face before he was ruffling my hair like usual, "Nice to know you still care about people." He teased and I quickly swiped his hands away with a glare. "I'm just joking."

"About not going to the party?" I questioned, already feeling better at the thought of him being there with me.

His grin turned into a sad smile, "Sorry Stef, I really can't go to that party. I'm behind on a shit ton of assignments and need to focus on that for now." I sighed, feeling guilty because the reason he was behind on his work was probably because of me. "Aye wipe that frown off your face, it's not your fault I'm behind."

I forced my lips into a small smile despite not believing him at all, of course Ricky noticed the fake smile and let out a deep sigh in reply, "You gonna be okay?" He asked. "You don't have to go to that party just because that beta wants you to go." I laughed at how Ricky addressed Zane as "that beta".

"No, I really do want to go." I said as I caught my breath. He looked me in the eyes, chuckling as I dodged his incoming hand "Stop trying to mess up my hair!"

He held both his hands up in a surrendering motion, "Okay Okay, I'll stop." He laughed as I cautiously looked at both his raised hands. "Hurry up and go inside so I can leave." He continued, nodding towards the house as he kept his hands in the air.

I rolled my eyes before making my way to the small cottage, turning when I had my keys in the wave goodbye at Ricky who was still leaning against his bike. Moments after I entered the cottage I heard his bike speeding away.

"Oma?" I quietly called out to the dark getting no reply. I made my way to her room, kissing her forehead when I noticed she was already asleep; I mean it is like three in the morning.

I went back to the living room, sighing as I flopped down on the couch. I didn't bother to change before getting comfortable on the hard sofa, already ready to get some much needed sleep.

The next morning I was woken up by the sound of loud knocking, "What?" I groaned from my comfortable position only to be answered with even louder knocks. I grumbled curses under my breath as I swung open the door.

"Finally! What took you so long to answer??" Savannah rushed inside heading straight for Omas' room "You haven't even gotten Oma up yet?" She questioned as I sat back on the sofa "And you aren't dressed?" I turned around at her question, seeing that she was now in the doorway to Omas' room.

"It's already 8:45, you're going to be late if you don't hurry!" I groaned at her scolding, earning a not so soft smack to the back of the head "Go. To. School." She gritted out, staring down at me until I finally stood off the couch and went to the restroom.

By time I finished getting ready it was 9:30 and Oma and Savannah were already eating breakfast. I grabbed my bag, ready to leave before being stopped by Savannah, "You might as well sit down and eat, you're already late anyway." She said, not even looking at me as she continued to eat the waffles she had made.

I took my bag with me as I sat down in front of the only plate left, correctly assuming it was mine "Thanks." I mumbled, still tired and a little irritated from lack of sleep. She glanced up at me as I began eating, her gaze was heated and I tensed up under it.

"Why're you so tired?" She questioned, pointing her fork with a waffle piece on it towards me "Why're you here so late?" I questioned back, causing her to let out a scoff.

"Late? I was banging on that door for at least an hour before you finally decided to answer." I looked away as she glared at me, stuffing a large piece of my waffle in my mouth as she continued. "So, why're you so tired?" She repeated.

"Why do you care?" I answered back, getting a 'really?' Look and a head tilt as a reply. I swallowed nervously, sipping on the glass of orange juice that was set on the table. "I don't understand why you all feel so responsible for me."

She raised a brow at my comment, "What?"

"Everytime something goes wrong or I'm just a slight bit out of character I get questioned like I'm some murder suspect." I seethed, gaining a hum in reply.

"All I asked was a question."

"That's the point, why do you feel the need to ask?" I questioned, becoming unnecessarily more irritated than before. "Calm down." Leon said but I ignored him "I'm a teenager, why couldn't I just have stayed up too late? Or gone to a party? Why does something automatically have to be wrong??"

She sipped her juice as she listened to me rant, not saying anything at all as I continued on. "You all think I need help at all times but I don't! I don't need your help or worry or concern or whatever the fuck this is!" I shouted, earning a scolding look from my Oma.

"Schreien Sie nicht! (Don't shout!)" she scolded "Es gibt nie einen Grund, deine Stimme vor jemandem zu erheben. (There's never any reason to raise your voice at someone.)" she continued looking up from her food with a look of disapproval.

"Stefan, calm down." I looked back to Savannah at her words "You're upset, but you don't know why you're upset and that just makes you even more upset so just, calm. down." I listened to her words while taking deep breaths to calm myself.

"Now, I never said anything was wrong; All I asked was why you're tired because you're rarely this tired in the morning" she explained "Like you said, you're a teenager. Simply staying up late could've been your reasoning and if it was you could've simply said that because rather that's your reasoning or your reasoning is something more serious I want to know." I embarrassingly looked away as I came down from my mini tantrum.

"I'm sorry.."

"You're forgiven, only because I know this isn't you." I looked at her questioningly as she spoke, "Rejection can turn people into the ugliest monsters you've ever met, it's one of the only things that can turn an alpha into a rogue." She explained.

"You're going through mood swings and while your mind over-thinks every action of every person around you, you become increasingly more aggressive, more.. defensive." She gave me a small sympathetic smile as she continued.

"You need to learn to separate your wolf's feelings from your own." My brows furrowed at her words "My wolfs'?" I repeated; Leon was the last person to blame, he's the main one trying to calm me. "A wolf feels a lot of emotions during a rejection and oftentimes depending on how their person is mentally those feelings can leak into theirs and mix."

"Your wolf feels like he has to be defensive about his mate because despite him rejecting y'all he's still your mate and you feel defensive over everything because he's on guard right now." I sat in silence as I listened to her, she was kind of making sense now.

"If you don't learn the difference between your emotions you'll continue to lash out at the people you care about." I continued to slowly eat my breakfast, it sounded like she was scolding me but I could tell she was just trying to teach me a lesson.

"Sorry." I said again, I didn't know what else to say; I've never experienced a mate rejection before (obviously) and I thought I would be able to notices when my emotions were actually symptoms but I haven't. I can't tell the difference between them.

Savannah sighed as she picked up her and Omas' plate, getting a thank you in reply. "Are you going to need a ride to school?" She asked, not acknowledging my second apology.

I shook my head no, "I'm fine, I think a run would do me and Leon some good." I answered getting a hum of agreement in reply. I quickly stuffed my face with the rest of breakfast and thanked Savannah as she took my plate away.

I kissed the side of Omas' forehead as I grabbed my bag form the floor, relishing in the way she held my face close with her hand. "Tschüss Oma, wir sehen uns nach der Schule. (Bye Oma, I'll see you after school.)" I said, pulling away.

"Versuchen Sie, niemanden anzuschreien, während Sie da draußen sind. (Try not to yell at anyone while you're out there.)" she teased, causing me to let out a breath of a laugh as she put on an amused grin. "Ich liebe dich. (I love you.)"

"Ich liebe dich auch, Oma. (Love you too, Oma.)"