Gray Lake Wolves Pt. 05

"Of course" Gray murmurs, nuzzling my neck. River walks by and says, "If you come, promise I won't be listening to the sound track of you two swapping spit the whole ride" but he says it with a smile, so I know that he's happy for us.

"I'll drive" Grayson says, pulling River into a headlock and giving him a noogie. River tries to kick Grayson leg out from under him and eventually they are wrestling on the floor. Iris walks in and snorts.

"Is this normal for them?" I ask the blonde. She was friendly towards me last night and I want to extended the olive branch. She lights up when she hears me speak.

"Very. This pretty much sums up our childhood. Wait until Bug gets here, she'll just jump in and start beating the shit out of them both until River tries to hump her leg."

"Literally?" I ask and she spews a mouthful of orange juice. I grab the towel and dry my face and then the floor. Coughing she says, "Sorry!"

She gets bumped from behind when someone brushes past her to make a plate. I tilt my head to the kitchen door and she nods. We both take our plates to the small eating area on the deck outside. Sitting down, it feels weird to be talking to Iris, but good to talk to another female. I miss my best friend and I can't wait until she turns 18 and joins us in a few months.

"Do you know Clover well?" I ask, taking a fork full of eggs and sausage.

"We grew up together. She doesn't like Raven very much, so you two will probably get along well. No one calls her Clover though, just Bug."

"She sounds fun. I'm excited to meet her. She'll be here in a couple days. I think some of the other pack members are escorting her. Do you miss it?"

Her eyes take on a far away look and she blinks rapidly. I take her hand in mine and she bites her lip and shakes her head like she can shake her eyes clear. "I just miss one person."

"Oh" I say, surprised, just the other morning she was trying to sneak out of Griffin's bedroom. She must read my mind because she laughs.

"Yeah, the best way to get over a guy is to get other another?"

"Did it work?" I ask and her smile drops. "Oh, no" I say, "Tell me about him."

"His name is Niko. We were in love. We were waiting until I turned 18 and we were going to mate and then the Alpha dropped this bomb on us. I was on the list to come and he was on the list to stay. He broke up with me the next day and told me 'a clean break will heal quicker'. I went to his house that night to try to get him back and there was another girl there..."

"Asshole!" I say, interrupting her.

"No, not really. I talked to the girl the next day. He asked her to come over, but then got so drunk that she just put him to bed and left. She said that she didn't want to take advantage of him and he wasn't over me. Apparently, Griffin did not feel the same way."

"He would have, if he knew all this. He's a good guy. His little sister is my best friend. You were really drunk that night and you didn't make a good impression."

She winces. "I'm sorry about that. Raven is my friend, but she can be a bitch. She needs to get over this thing with Grayson. You guys are amazing together. The perfect Alphas."

"I get it. Scorned lover? I'm not sharing though."

Iris laughs, throwing her head back. Her blonde curls bounce and she looks so young and carefree for a moment. "Lover? Psshhh. They were never together. Though no one else knows that by the way she talks."

"What?" I ask, my mouth gaping, showing off a lovely bite of my breakfast, I'm sure.

"Yeah, she wishes. Her older sister and Gray were...um..." She hesitates and gives me a sympathetic look.

"Go ahead and say it," I tell her, "I know he wasn't a virgin."

"They were fuck buddies." She says quickly and, although I shutter at that hard pill to swallow, it actually is better than I thought. I expected a real relationship.

She continues with the story, "She ran off to Oregon a few months ago. They have family there. I kind of thought Raven would go too, actually, but she seemed to get it in her mind that once her sister left she would have Grayson all to herself. By then, he was already living here, getting this place ready for the new pack, and she came to try to seduce him. I came with her, just to check out the area. When we got here, River told us they had to air out the house. You had just left after spending your heat cycle here and Grayson was going crazy over your scent. Needless to say, she didn't make any headway with him that day or any day after."

I smiled. "You love him, don't you?" She asked and I looked away, blushing. She smiled too. A real, honest, happy smile. Grayson was right. Our pack does want their Alpha couple to have a strong relationship.

Of course Iris was right about loving him too. I'm not sure when it happened. I went from being terrified of him to missing him every second he was away. My body ached for him, but my heart wanted him close even more.

By the time Grayson and River pulled up in a pick up truck filled with their hand carved wood items, I felt the beginnings of a fragile friendship growing between Iris and I.