Kendra Sullivan was in the pack gardens, tending to a patch of vibrant, red roses.
It was one of the little things she loved to do when she wasn’t playing Beta, or taking her wolf for a run, or sparring, or drawing…
Yeah, the she-wolf was quite talented.
It was early morn, that time of day where the sun was out, but not too hot or shiny.
It really was a beautiful day to be out.
Kendra felt at peace in that moment, it was a much welcome respite after being so tense for days.
She had spent the whole week avoiding Killian, because after his recovery, it became apparent that the very air they both breathed was charged with some indescribable force.
The Alpha wanted to talk about the kiss, but she surprisingly didn’t, because she had a hunch as to what he was going to say.
And she wasn’t sure it was going to be something that would make her heart flutter with joy.
And so she avoided him, as best as she could.
Amazingly, despite the Alpha’s stubbornness, he had finally started to respect the she-wolf’s wishes.
Now, she wasn’t exactly happy with the observation, but she felt…
Lighter.
It was the reason why Kendra wasn’t so bothered that they’d be attending a council meeting together later on in the day.
It was going to be the first time they were going to be at one place together, for so long after the whole weird week.
Council meetings weren’t exactly known to be brief affairs… and with the way the Curers were becoming more and more bold and blatant each day, it was apparent that the werewolf community needed to do something, and fast.
War was coming.
Kendra could feel it in her bones.
It was unavoidable— really the only way werewolves could lash back and gain their freedom.
And then there was the Red Moon approaching too.
With these two unavoidable phenomena looming darkly over their heads, Kendra could only imagine just how stressed out the Alpha was.
Her heart went out to him, he was her best friend after all, so the fact that they had a few issues didn’t mean she was just suddenly going to stop caring.
Perhaps she should let bygones be bygones?
Everything would go back to normal, like it had all never happened. Now that wouldn’t be so bad, right?
But that was exactly it.
Kendra didn’t think it was that easy… that things would just go back to the way they were.
She saw it in the way Killian looked at her now, and she saw it in the way her body reacted to his mere presence.
It’ll never be the same.
Taking her head out of her thoughts, the she-wolf brought her attention back to her garden, making quick work of cutting a few red roses for her nanny, Rhea.
She needed to hurry if she wanted to be on time for the council meeting.
With her bouquet cut, and her garden patch all neat and tidy, the female Beta now started the tremendously annoying journey of exiting the gardens.
The gardens were winding, and the setting was almost maze-like, so you can imagine Kendra’s fear and alarm when she rounded a corner and bumped right into none other than the one and only…
Tyrone Riverdale.
Her claws shot out, and her eyes quickly turned cerulean as she launched herself, fully ready to attack.
“Hey! Easy, easy. It’s just me,” He said, his arms raised in surrender. And warning.
“What the hell are you doing here, Tyrone? Fuck, I almost hurt you!” The she-wolf scolded, her claws disappearing, her eyes still their scary cerulean… because after all her words, all she got from the annoying Alpha was a booming laugh. “Hurt me? Well, you may be very strong, but I doubt you would have been able to do much damage, princess.” He smirked.
“Don’t call me princess!”
“Oh, my bad, Beta Sullivan… I keep forgetting that you completely detest names of endearment.” He teased.
Kendra huffed. “What are you doing here anyway?” She snarled, brushing past him to walk away. “You do know that the meeting rooms are nowhere near here, right?”
He quickly caught up with her. “I just wanted to see you, Kendra… gods know I haven’t seen you since the ball,” He said, his tone suddenly serious, the change causing Kendra to stop in her tracks, “What for?” She asked in confusion.
“Uhm… just to see you, y-you know?”
Kendra could see a faint blush coating the Alpha’s cheeks. He looked so adorable fumbling for words. “A-are you blushing?” She asked in what was clearly wonder. “The almighty Alpha of the Riverdale Pack, blushing like a wee pup!” She chuckled. “I never thought I’d see the day.”
“Shut up, Kendra.” He scowled, causing her to burst out in laughter.
“So defensive,” She teased again, her eyes twinkling with mischief.
“Speaking of defensive, I haven’t seen Killian anywhere in sight,” Tyrone observed, his green eyes scanning the area to be sure. “He seems to have freed you from your leash.”
Now it was Kendra’s turn to get defensive.
“Stop it, Tyrone… you know how much I hate it when you go on about this… just stop already.” She scowled.
“Okay fine, but now you see how it feels like to be put on the spotlight, right?” He grinned.
“Oh, just shut up already.” Kendra groaned, heading right for the sub door that was going to lead her straight to her room. It surprised her greatly when instead of going his separate way, the Alpha of the Riverdale Pack continued following her.
Naturally, Kendra stopped in her tracks… for the second time in the day, and because of the annoying wolf who just wouldn’t let her be. “And where do you think you’re going?”
The blonde-haired wolf stared back, “Of course I’m following you.”
“Don’t you like have to meet and greet the other Alphas and whatnot?”
“Oh, princess… and why would I do something as boring as that when I can just hang with you instead? I find that I’d rather prefer to see who you give that lovely bouquet to, rather than spend the little break with a bunch of conceited, annoying alphas.” Came his answer.
Well, she had nothing to say to that.
“Sure, you can come along… but just shut up and stay out of my way.” She ordered briskly, leaving him in his tracks.
Tyrone only chuckled. If he was being honest, it amused him greatly how Kendra did not give a flying fuck about his position and what he could possibly do to her for defying him.
He found it very refreshing.
“Hey… wait up for me!” Shaking his head in amusement, he trailed after her.
*****
Kendra and Tyrone showed up late to the council meeting.
Now, if there was one thing Kendra really really hated, it was being late to anything, especially when it was such a huge event that every little squeak would cause people’s attention to shift to you.
It was almost as if she was in a nightmare.
Their footprints echoed loudly against the floor tiles. Everyone was looking at them, Killian’s gaze most prominent of them all.
She knew of Tyrone and Killian’s stupid feud, and so she knew that to be seen walking in together was almost going to be akin to the ultimate betrayal.
But what was done was already done,
And so schooling her features and raising her head high, she made the rest of the trek to the high table alone, and took her seat beside her Alpha and best friend.
Killian only shot her a disappointed look, not bothering to say a word to her.
“Alright,” He boomed finally, addressing the entire crowd, his jaw clenching for a little bit— a telltale sign that he was really pissed— before he continued, “Now that everyone is here, let’s get this meeting started.