Kris's POV
I step out of the pack hospital feeling completely rested as I make my way back to the house to prepare for the christmas dinner. I unlock the door and drop my keys in the basket by the door. I step out of my shoes and make my way to the foyer just in time to see Ethan appear out of nowhere and crash to the floor.
I immediately rush to his side and drop to my knees to catch his head before it hits the floor. after trying unsuccessfully to wake him up, I call out to my mom and dad who rush down the stairs and help me move him into his room. dad races out to get the pack doctor while mom tries to bring down his fever with a cold towel. the doctor arrives not long after and checks out Ethan while my parents stand outside as per the doctor's orders. the only reason I'm still inside is because of my threat to rip out his intestines through his anus and feed them to him as he bleeds out. The doctor performs a bunch of random tests as I sit clutching Ethan's hands and praying to all the gods that he makes it through. The doctor finally brings my parents in and gives an assessment of Ethan's condition.
"It appears his problem is not physical. He's merely trapped in a very bad memory that I feel he has been repressing for too long" the doctor says as he wipes his glasses before sliding it back onto his face "There are only two options here. Either he faces this memory and breaks out of it or he is forced out of it by positive reinforcement but bear in mind that this is only my opinion since I can't exactly pinpoint the complexities of human emotions" he says as he gathers his bag. My dad gives him a firm handshake and whispers something to him after which the doctor nods at him and leaves.
2 hours go by and Ethan is still fast asleep but at least his face looks peaceful so maybe he may be close to getting out of it. I get up so I can go get ready for dinner and come back when his grip suddenly tightens and his features begin to contort again as he breaks into a sweat. I immediately sit back down and rub a cold towel over his face to clean up the sweat.
I continue this until he begins to look peaceful again, I drift off to sleep beside him on the bed as a feeling of peace and safety washes over me.
"Kris!!. Kris!!" I open my left eye to see Ethan staring down at me with a towel wrapped around his torso. I lazily open the right one before throwing my legs over the side of the bed as I hear his footsteps receding. I begin to stretch when he walk back in wearing black slacks, and a button down shirt with none of the buttons done. as he combs his hair that shines in the sun thanks to it being very wet and very black, I come up to him and help him button his shirt and then go in search of his tie as he tucks his shirt in. I turn around having found his black bowtie. I turn around to see that he has already put his shoes on and looks very dashing in his attire.
"Now for the final touch" I say with a smile as I raise his bowtie up so he can see
"Do I have to? those things are torture devices" he says with a whine
"Yes you do or mom is going to have a fit and get shitface drunk and tell everyone in the pack that we don't love her just like last time" I reply
He walks forward and I adjust his bowtie as we maintain eye contact which he breaks off to pick up his jacket. I use the opening to escape so I can get ready for the party.
I join everyone downstairs later to welcome people for the party and find Ethan with the worst bowtie I have ever seen
"what happened there sailor?" I say as I laugh at the fact that he tied it so it looks like a clock at 8 o'clock.
"needed a snack and I may have loosened it so that I could breathe" he says with a chuckle
I walk down the stairs careful not to trip and destroy my golden dinner gown. As I get closer to the base Ethan sticks out his hand to help me so I don't trip and I take it gratefully. HE suddenly turns me to face him and looking into my eyes he says "you look beautiful"
"nice try Ethan but I'm not helping you with your tie" I say as I catch onto his ruse too quickly
"pretty pretty please" he begs with puppy dog eyes which is surprisingly a pretty good look for a 23 year old man with facial hair.
"I'm only doing this once so you better not loosen it again" I say as I get to work on his tie. As I finish Kat walks in and makes a beeline straight for Ethan, she jumps and wraps her legs around his waist as she kisses him deeply.
"I was so worried when I got the call" she says with her legs still wrapped around him. I let out a little cough in the hopes that it'll make them stop this extreme display of affection.
i think it worked or maybe it was just the sound of my mom coming down the stairs. she jumps down and kisses Ethan again before saying "Let me quickly get ready" and then she runs up the stairs no doubt to Ethan's room to get changed. I turn to face Ethan when were suddenly interrupted by the doorbell.
My parents and kelly rush down the stairs and we fix ourselves up before opening the door to greet our first guest
Ethan's POV
We open the door to see a slightly muscular blond kid wearing a very familiar KISS shirt.
"Ethan!!!" he shouts as he opens his arms for a hug.
"Hermes!!! long time no see bro" I say as I hug him. Dad coughs before asking "wait, Hermes?? like the god, Hermes??" he asks with a look of disbelief on his face
"yeah" I answer with my arms around his shoulders
"should we bow, curtsy??" my dad says as he looks very flustered and scared
"na, dude fist-bumps only" hermes says with a very chill look on his face
"nice house Mr P" hermes says as he moves further into the house "Ethan where's the kitchen?" he turns to ask me
"let me guess, Dionysus party?" I ask him as we move towards the kitchen
"yeah dude, so much alcohol. Although, met this drunk chick who totally told me this was the event of the century or some shit like that" he says as he stuffs down the 3 hoagie sandwiches I just placed in front of him "honestly I just came cause he said there were going to be hot chicks" he says while using his hand to cover his mouth in some failed attempt at a whisper.
"you can't come to the party Hermes. There's a dress code and everything" Kat says as she joins us in the kitchen
"Hello Catherine. It's never a pleasure to see you" Hermes says as the look on his face turns sour "whats wrong with what I'm wearing" Hermes turns to ask me
"well this is a black tie event and you're wearing a KISS t-shirt" I say to him as lightly as I can.
The man really loves KISS
"fine" he says as he surprisingly gives up without a fight and changes into a tux with the snap of his finger. He finishes up his hoagies without spilling sauce on his tux which is less surprising. I mean if you asked him how he'd just literally say "Cause I'm a God dude"
Kris eventually comes to join us and we sit around the kitchen Island talking for some time with Catherine getting the occasional death glare from hermes every minute without fail. We eventually move to the ballroom as per mother's others which is clearly a mistake because of all the people asking us to dance. I eventually give in and ask Kris to dance with me. As we waltz around the dance floor I see hermes dancing with Kat, his face bearing unfathomable hatred. he looks almost as if he'd totally smite her if I wasn't dating her.
"I see what you did there" Kris says as she pulls me out of my thoughts "you forced them to dance together hoping that they'll eventually hit it off and stop fighting" she says with a smile
"what if I just wanted to dance with you?" I say with a shrug making her smile.
"what's their beef anyway" she says as she's clearly fishing for gossip
"I honestly don't know" I say with a chuckle "Kat says hermes is bitter because she turned him down when we first met. But, Hermes says Kat is the devil because she interrupts bro time with me" I say as I look into her blue orbs
"So let me get this straight, they're fighting over you?" she asks in between giggles
"yep" I say as I laugh with her about my two best friends
we dance for a few more minutes before deciding to sit down. we watch the dancing couples and especially hermes and Kat.
"Hey lets go for a walk" I whisper into Kat's ear ands she nods in agreement.
we walk outside but soon notice something. "it's fucking freezing" Kris says as she tries to warm up her body with her arms.
"I'll go get you a jacket then" I say as I turn to go back inside. I grab her jacket from her room along with 2 pairs of snow boots for the forest. As I make my way back outside I notice a black figure creeping up on Kris. I immediately drop the boots and teleport outside. I approach the figure from the rear and dig my hands into my suit jacket to pull out my double bladed Karambit knives. "thank you Indonesians for being so skillful at making knives" I think to myself as I finally pull up behind the figure and place a blade to his neck from the back.
"don't even think about moving motherfucker" I say to him very clearly which makes Kat turn around having clearly heard me and her face pales
"Ethan don't" she says frantically
"what?why?" I ask clearly surprised at her behavior
"because if you do I won't blink before killing you" I hear a deep voice say from behind me as I feel claws digging into my back. I freeze long enough for him to take both of my blades and toss them aside. He sniffs me for a few seconds before removing his claws and saying "you're human so I'll let your puny ass live"
I turn around and see a 6'5" giant staring down at me and then I burst into laughter.
"what's so funny?" he asks clearly surprised.
"you are going home with a broken jaw for tearing my suit" I say with the widest smile I can muster.
He looks at me for a second and then he starts laughing, as he grips his belly to laugh I feel the green in my irises receding into my pupils leaving only a dull grey color. He stops laughing long enough to wonder about my eyes when I punch him so hard in the jaw that he flies 50 yards and shatters his jaw even further on a tractor, my eyes going back to their original green immediately after. I then turn around and pull out another Karambit knife as I approach the other attacker.
"Now where were we?" I say as I grab him by the collar and press the knife to his throat again
"Ethan stop" my dad screams as he approaches us
"now what?" I ask as I lower my blade but don't let go of his collar.
"That is alpha Rodney of the greater California area pack and also the next in line to be alpha king" my dad says frantically as he approaches. As if this introduction fueled his confidence he slaps my hands off of his collar and walks up to Kris before grabbing her by the waist roughly which makes her squirm a little. And then in a clearly fake posh voice like I already expected him to have, he says "and as of two weeks ago, Kris's fiancee"
I look him over for a second as I analyze him and then I walk up to him and shake his hand "terribly sorry for attacking you" I say in a mock english accent that if I do say so myself is better than his. I turn to go and then stop before I've even taken one step away from him
"oh right I forgot" and as if my dad can tell from my eyes which are once again grey he rushes forward to stop me but is too late as I spin on my heel and punch pretty boy so hard that he joins his friend at the tractor his back hitting it with a sickening thud. He tries to get up again before collapsing right back down to the floor.
"That's just cause I don't like your face" I mutter under my breath and then turn around and walk right past a smiling Kris and a shocked dad and right back into the party.