4. Something Like Friendship

Something Like Friendship

Larken

C alling Dalton my friend was maybe an overstatement. Like everyone in the pack, we were all aware of each other, all had different levels of friendship. Dalton was friendly with me prior to the day I spent with him in the office. After that, we got closer. I sought him out to hang out with when Roan was busy and I was at loose ends, which was more often than not.

Dalton was easy to be around. While Roan was my best friend, I had a different thing with Dalton. He was happy to tease me. The prank he called payback was just the first in a line of gags. They were all harmless things like jump scares or moving things. Nothing mean. Dalton was never mean. He'd lived with that in his birth pack, so would never harm anyone if he could help it.

Spending time with him drew me further into the inner circle of the pack. He was so tight with Axel and Chase from working alongside them. Deke confessed to me he felt a sort of brotherly responsibility to Dalton since he had been the one to accept him into the pack. Alpha Blake was fond of the raccoon since he often helped him, as if Dalton didn't have enough to do. The cook, Winter, loved the Mexican recipes Dalton knew from his grandparents.

Though they weren't terribly close, he and his cousins, Cadence and Melody, were friendly. They clearly adored Dalton, maybe it was him who had been burned and kept them at arm's length. Melody was one of those people who everyone gravitated towards. When you were in with her, everyone liked you. She was fiercely protective of Dalton, even while being younger than him by about a decade. Cadence had her own thing going on as a single parent, though she still cared about his life. She and her son, Riff, an alpha, had looked after Spice and Priscilla some while Dalton was sick.

Things with Roan didn't exactly suffer with me spending more time with someone else. They had been weird with us since Kade had returned to the pack so heavily pregnant. Roan wanted that. Something I couldn't give him, even if he entertained the thought of us being together .

I'd just finished telling Dalton something about Roan when he interrupted with a question.

"Does he know you're in love with him?" Dalton regarded me thoughtfully, his bright hazel eyes trained on me as he chewed on a carrot stick.

The swallow of juice I'd just taken nearly went down the wrong pipe. I coughed before answering. "Who?"

"Come on now. You like Roan just like I'm stuck on Axel. Aren't we a tragic pair?" he mocked in a self-deprecating way.

I sighed. "Do as many people know about my thing for Roan as they do about you and Axel?" It was such a poorly kept secret. I was pretty sure Chase knew, but either Axel didn't or he was pretending to be oblivious to save Dalton's feelings. He clearly didn't feel the same if the rumor about his thing with the elf was true.

"Ouch! Hopefully not." He let out a gusty sigh. "It's so embarrassing that everyone knows about it. Do you know how many people have told me he's been seen with the elf?" He stared at me, waiting for his answer. "Too damn many. I'm not his keeper! I never tried for anything more. They act like I should be walking about with a broken heart, but here's the thing, Lark. He doesn't owe me a thing just because I have feelings."

"Right?"

"If you truly love someone, you want them to be happy. "

"Exactly."

"Still fucking hurts to see him with someone else."

"Yeah." I knocked my shoulder into his. "I've got that to look forward to. Some day soon, some omega is going to come along and catch Roan's eye."

"And you'll be happy for him just as much as you are sad for yourself." Dalton leaned into me. The casual affection warmed me. "Love sucks."

"You know it."

"We should make this a regular thing. Invite other people, maybe." Dalton set the popcorn bowl on the coffee table and settled next to me on the couch. We always sat so we were touching somehow.

"Weekly movie nights with the pack? Aren't you worried some of the alphas might take over?" I liked the idea of getting to know some of the pack better, just not a handful of the alphas. Working with them was enough. I didn't want to socialize with them as well.

"Nah, most of those meatheads spend all their time downstairs in the gym or at Heatwave trying to knot omegas." Dalton reached for the remote. "What are you in the mood for?"

"Nothing romantic." I shuddered dramatically, eliciting a chortle from Dalton. Being around him was so easy.

His mere presence provided me with a comforting feeling. More and more, I was seeking him out instead of dealing with the tension with Roan. I loved my roommate, but his longing for an omega, his own family, was getting hard to bear, especially since I could never give him what he wanted.

"I hear that. A comedy or action? I don't feel like a horror right now. Things are scary enough with the people threatening literal babies!"

"Right? Sickos. I can't imagine being that intimidated by a baby girl." Kade's newborn daughter was going to change the world for the better. Far from being scared of a female alpha, I was overjoyed. If the rumors were true, this was a return to how things used to be. Hopefully a better way.

"So, you think it's a good thing?" Dalton asked warily.

His question might have stung a lesser alpha, I liked to think I'd learned from the best people how to truly be an alpha and a good person. But I understood where he was coming from, so many alphas had demonstrated the worst side of themselves since Elliotte was born.

"Studies have shown that matriarchal societies are fairer and less prone to war. I really think having female alphas to lead packs would be in our best interests as a species," I answered honestly.

He looked dumbfounded. "Just when I think I know you, you shock me. I'm impressed."

I puffed up with pride. "Thanks. I was raised by my beta aunt. I bet she's watching this from the afterlife and crowing!"

Goddess, Karina would have been insufferable to live with. I missed her something fierce.

"Yeah?" Dalton smiled affectionately.

I liked this softer side of him. More and more he was letting his guard down around me, letting me see the inner Dalton. I liked that guy just as much as the prickly, take no prisoners one who kept Chase and Axel in line.

"For sure. She would have loved to live under a female alpha."

"What happened to her, if you don't mind me asking?" Dalton picked nervously at the sleeve of his shirt finding random cat hairs.

It took me a moment to decide how to answer. The truth was brutal .

Dalton leaned closer, placing a soothing hand on my arm. "I shouldn't have asked, I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine. Just… What happened was awful. Violent."

"Okay. Let's pick a movie instead," Dalton suggested cheerfully, ready to change the subject to make me more comfortable.

"No, I want to tell you," I insisted. Truthfully, I did want to talk about my family with Dalton. I wanted to be able to share personal things, to have someone truly know me in the pack. Roan did, yet a lot of our friendship was still superficial. We'd bonded over the sickness, though recently drifted apart some.

"You really don't have to." Dalton looked too curious for that to be a genuine offer.

"It'd be nice to talk about her, to be honest. It's been such a long time since I've told anyone this story." I missed her dreadfully. My parents, too.

"So you haven't told Roan?" Dalton raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow at me. His golden brown skin had its glow back. He was back to his polished self, just less so, as if it wasn't as important to him anymore to always project this perfect image. He was more real, making him more attractive for it.

"No. He… with all he's been through with the council, Kade, having to kill Kade's dad, it was just too heavy for him to carry that too." I knew I was making excuses for Roan.

"But is it okay for you to carry it alone? You don't have anyone else, do you? Family, I mean."

"Well… no, but—"

"Uh-uh. If you want to tell me, you can. I'd be happy to hear about your aunt. Not just how she died, but how things were when you lived with her. It sounds like she was important to you."

"She was."

"Then tell me all about her. Them. I want to know about them all. If you want to tell me, of course." He leaned into me, his touch soothing.

"Did I tell you I went to boarding school until I was a teenager?"

"No, you didn't." He sat up a little straighter. Needing the comfort from the touch, I pulled him a bit closer.

"Well, I'm Indonesian-American," I explained as he tucked his head under my chin. "My mom was born and raised here. My dad in Indonesia. He was a diplomat until I was about ten and became a citizen due to their mating. I actually have an Indonesian passport as well as an American one."

I could feel Dalton smiling. The tougher parts were coming.

"It was easier to send me away to school so Mom and Dad could travel and do their campaigning. She was a shifter rights advocate. Made even more difficult by her ethnicity, she was also Indonesian, but first generation American, an ora—"

"Ora? What's that?"

"It's another name for our alter. Komodo Dragons have other names. Ora is just the one we use most. Dunno if you noticed, but Komodo Dragon, while cool, is a bit of a mouthful."

Dalton laughed. "True, so your mom had problems because of her ethnicity and…" he prompted.

"Right. Well, her omega designation didn't help. She wouldn't let it stop her, though."

"She sounds so cool!"

"Mom was. I love her so much. Dad worshiped her." I took a breath to prepare for the hard part. "Dad left his job as a diplomat and took an advocacy job alongside Mom. Money wasn't an issue for them, they just wanted to do good in the world. Unfortunately, they caught the wrong type of attention. The thing is, being an ora is a dangerous thing depending on where you live. A gang who traffic shifters for the fae and for fighting rings found out about them. They wanted Dad to either fight or be a stud, basically."

Dalton shivered. "Fuck, that's awful."

"He died in a kidnapping attempt."

"Oh, Lark, I'm sorry."

"Yeah, they called me home from school because they knew what was going to happen. My mom and dad were fated and when Dad died, Mom faded soon after. She was too broken, missed their connection too much to carry on without him."

"I'm so sorry," he repeated as he squeezed my arm.

"Honestly, I'm glad she went after. Now I know they were only waiting for her to recover then they would have taken and mated her. They wanted more like us and when Dad fought back they killed him."

"Moon above."

"I was only twelve when it happened. We thought I was safe. Turned out I was just too young." I laughed bitterly. "After, I was sent to my aunt a couple of states away for her to raise. There were no other family to take me in the US, they didn't want me to have the culture shock of going to live in Indonesia with my paternal grandparents. Turns out they didn't want me anyway, too American.

"They suck."

I have a bitter laugh. "They do, but it worked out fine. Karina welcomed me. Loved me."

Dalton pressed a kiss to my chin. It was such an affectionate gesture, I stumbled over my words.

"Being a beta.. she…I…sorry. As a beta, she couldn't have a family of her own." I felt his intake of breath. We all knew how much Dalton wanted to be a parent. "She worked in her clan to teach all the children in their school. For years she kept me safe."

"Why is being what you are so dangerous? Why did the gang want you so badly?"

"Have you ever seen a Komodo hunt?" My smile was wicked. "Aside from being much larger than our natural counterparts, we are also more venomous."

"Really? I didn't know that."

"Yeah, so oras hunt, bite their victims and follow them until they succumb to the venom. Then they eat them."

"Impressive and gross. Thanks for that mental image." Dalton laughed, a throaty sound which had me breaking out in goosebumps. I wanted to make him laugh again.

"You're welcome. Anyway, I had nearly seven years of love and happiness with her. Sure there were darker moments. She taught me how to fight. Maybe she was paranoid, maybe she knew they would come for me. Eventually they did. There was no way they would want a young alpha Komodo Dragon out there, especially one like me with a vendetta. They tracked me down. First to capture me, then to break me."

"No!" It was such a broken sound.

"Yeah. They paid off the alpha of the pack Karina had brought me to. Karina died getting me out. That woman fought like hell for me. They underestimated her and she took a few of them with her." My voice shook. "She's my hero. I can never repay what she did for me."

There was a pause while I got myself together.

"After, I wandered for what felt like days, until I felt a sort of mental shove. A reminder to do what I was told." I laughed, remembering those frantic hours. "I followed her escape plan to the letter and ended up on the other side of the country with the money she had saved. She gave me a whole new life. New name, everything. Part of me wanted to go to Indonesia, find my father's extended family, but something kept me here. A pull I can't explain. The Luna is always guiding us, isn't she?"

"I'm glad you stayed. I wouldn't have met you otherwise. What happened after you got away?"

"Karina had reached out to a pack an old friend of hers was in. They knew the situation, had heard of my mom and dad. They took me in." My heart ached when I thought back to the gentle Alpha wolf who had seen so much promise in me. "I stayed with them for a while. They helped me through the case the council filed against the gang. They were the ones who got me justice for my family."

For the rest of my life, I would be thankful to John and his family. What he did for me just couldn't be repaid .

"I left when the Alpha was challenged and lost. Over the years since Karina died, I've been in a few packs. I went to college and did the lone shifter thing for a while. Then I ended up here."

"I'm glad you did."

"Me too." I really meant it. Alpha Blake was a lot like Alpha John. I hoped The Luna was looking after him. He hadn't deserved his end. If he had refused the challenge he would have still lost the pack. The rules were unfair and outdated.

"No, really. Recently, I've felt sort of adrift. You spending time with me has really helped," he said, as if he was the one doing all the taking in this friendship without giving back. He was such a good friend. " I'm glad we're friends." Dalton cuddled closer to me and kissed my cheek this time.

"Yeah, I am too." I wrapped an arm around him.

"So tell me some more stories about Karina. Your parents too, if you want, of course. I'm curious about them."

"Only if you tell me some things about your family."

"Mine aren't that interesting. Everything was fine until this hyena shifter, Gerry, joined the pack. He had a lot of influence. Got me to do things I'm not proud of. I'm lucky I didn't get into worse trouble, really. My sister tried to convince me to do a last job. I refused, scared I'd end up in jail. That's when they kicked me out."

"Shit. I'm sorry."

"Can we…? I don't want to talk about that stuff." Dalton became kind of closed off. He drew away, not physically, but put barriers down.

"Dal, it's fine. What about your other siblings? Tell me stuff about them when you were younger. I've got sibling envy," I joked.

"That I can do." He gave a wobbly smile. "So I've got three siblings, if we forget about the eldest of my sisters. We've drifted apart some since I got them out of there. Our parents weren't as interested in them since they didn't have my talent for numbers. I think they all wanted to forget about how we grew up and I'm a reminder, but there were some good times."

We never got around to picking a movie. Instead, we talked until far too late about our families, our adventures on the way to finding Sweetwater, and everything else in between. Dalton found us some of the pack's cider and we demolished the popcorn and some brownies. It was a perfect night with a friend. Something I would treasure for a long time.