Tristan's Point Of View
"Tristan! Let's do the obstacle course again!" Arrisa yelled, from the top of the large inflatable slide.
"No. You're just going to laugh, while I get smacked around by the big spinning thing!" I laughed back.
"But that's what makes it so much fun! C'mon, you too, Synnahmen! Let's beat it this time!" Sable said, chuckling.
"How about we play in the bounce house instead? I think we've waited long enough for our food to digest, right?" Synnahmen asked Santiago.
"Yeah, sure. Go for it." He replied with a shrug.
"Yay! Okay!" Arrisa exclaimed.
"What if we play Lazer Tag in the bounce house?" Ezekihel asked, with a big smile.
"Can we?" I asked Sylvester.
"I don't see why not. Let's get you guys suited up." He replied, happily.
They helped us get the suits on, and our weapons ready, and then we began to play inside the bounce house. I was having so much fun, I could barely contain my excitement.
We played for what seemed like hours, though in retrospect, it was probably more along the lines of 1 or 2 hours at best. As we were all laying down inside the bounce house, playing with Tahlia and Kaihsie, I looked around and noticed I hadn't seen Ferdinand since we had left the Great Room.
"Sylvester? Where is Ferdinand?" I asked.
"Hmm? I'm not sure... Probably making sure all the non-mated Alphas are out of the house? I haven't seen him in a while." He replied.
"Bellamy? Do you know?" I asked.
I could immediately feel his trepidation and hesitancy. He looked back at the house, and heaved a tired sigh.
"Maybe he's having that talk with Kaleb that he mentioned. Or just making sure he has everything he'll need, and that all his gifts were properly delivered to his room. It's nothing to worry about. It's not like he's in danger, or anything." Bellamy shrugged.
It was true, I wasn't feeling any strong emotions from any of them, except utter satisfaction, so it wasn't like I should panic. But I did find it strange that he hadn't come back outside to play with us, or even check on me, a single time.
"I'm going to go find him." I said, crawling out of the bounce house.
"It's fine, Tristan. Why don't you just play with Tahlia and the kids a bit more. He'll come to us when he's finished." Bellamy said, looking anxious.
"That you're trying to keep me here, makes me even more concerned, Bellamy. What aren't you telling me? And before you try to lie or skate past the truth, just know our bond is basically telling on you anyway." I said, looking at him curiously.
"It's nothing. You're overreacting, Tristan..." He sighed.
"If it's nothing, then I can go and look for him, right?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Haah... Do whatever you want, Tristan..." He sighed.
With that, I turned on a dime, and headed for the house. I shouldn't be worried, but it felt as if they were hiding something. And well, as the saying goes... 'Curiosity killed the cat'.
I walked through the back door, and ran into Torhrezz, who had been bringing out refreshments for us all.
"Hey Torhrezz, have you seen Ferdinand?" I asked, knowing that if anyone knew where he was, it'd be his uncle.
"Hmm? I believe he was with your little brother in the Great Room, last I checked." He replied, before heading out the back door.
I couldn't help but watch him walk away, in confusion. Because Kaleb should have at least been in his room by now. He had looked extremely worn out after opening his presents.
'How long ago had Torhrezz seen them? I guess I should have asked him before he walked away...'
Having no other choice but to investigate myself, I headed towards the Great Room first. I heard a muffled discussion coming from the room, and slightly quickened my pace.
Sure enough, it was Ferdinand and Kaleb having what looked like a serious discussion. I remembered that Ferdinand had said he would discuss all the options with Kaleb, but he never elaborated on what those options were.
At that moment, Ferdinand put his head in his hands and sighed. I was going to leave things as they were and go back outside, but I knew if I did, I would still want to know what was going on. So instead, I just walked into the room and interrupted their conversation.
"Hey! I thought you were going to go lay down?" I asked, confused.
Ferdinand practically jumped out of his skin when he heard me speak, and Kaleb looked up at me and sighed heavily. Ferdinand quickly folded some papers, and shoved them into the pocket of his jacket, as Kaleb leaned back into his seat.
"Ferdinand was just telling me stories about his first rut, and was wondering if there was anything he could help me with. Apparently, his father had chosen his first rut, to have "The Talk", with him. I was just explaining to him, that a heat cycle and a rut, weren't necessarily the same thing. Especially, in our case." Kaleb shrugged, nonchalantly.
I didn't want to press any further, but I couldn't deny the fact that it seemed like they were hiding something from me, and that Ferdinand hadn't confirmed or denied Kaleb's words. I wanted to be upset, I should have been livid, but Kaleb didn't look even the tiniest bit worried, or stressed. So I had no choice but to let it slide.
'For now, at least...'
"Oh? How are you feeling? Your pheromones are much stronger now than they were earlier..." I said.
"I'll be alright. I'm going to go take a bath now. Thanks for the talk, Ferdinand." Kaleb said, standing up and walking off without a second glance.
I watched him leave, curious as to what was going on in his head. Once Kaleb was out of sight, I looked back at Ferdinand, suspicious.
"He was oddly calm, all things considered. You'll have to tell me later how that's possible, given the situation." I said with a knowing look.
Ferdinand swallowed audibly, and nodded. Kaleb and Sable worried about their first heat's, constantly. The fact that today was the day for Kaleb, and the only emotion showing on his face had been solemn resolve, was concerning to me.
"Did you need something?" Ferdinand asked, standing up and pulling me into his arms.
"Just seeing where my mate was, and why he hadn't come back outside with the rest of us..." I sighed.
"Oh. I see. I'm sorry. We can go now, if you want..." He said, as he began walking back towards the back yard.
He clasped my hand and lightly tugged me along. I allowed it, and tried to gauge what he was feeling internally. But all I could sense was his happiness at being by my side.
"You seem to be in a good mood, too. Should I find out why?" I asked, trying to get him to talk.
"Ha-ha-ha! Should I not be happy that my mate was worried about me, and came to find me?" He chuckled.
He seemed to be saying a lot without answering the underlying question asked. Whenever he was doing something that he wasn't sure if I would like or agree with, he always tried to beat around the subject, or change the topic abruptly.
"Did you have fun today?" He asked, pulling me closer as we reached the back door.
"Yes. I really did. This was amazing. It will be hard to top when my birthday comes around." I replied, smugly.
"Ha-ha-ha! Well I think Cole's birthday comes before yours. So we'll have to figure out what to do for his soon, too." Ferdinand said, giving me a brief kiss.
As we walked back outside, Sylvester, Bellamy, and Cole walked up to us. They looked like they wanted to ask something, but couldn't quite manage it.
"What's wrong?" Ferdinand asked, bemused.
"Just wondering how bad you were scolded for abandoning your mate, for his younger brother." Bellamy asked with a chuckle.
"Ack! Shame on you, Ferdinand. We took vows, and made an oath. How could you!?" Sylvester exclaimed, teasingly.
"Ha-ha... You're all sooo damn hilarious..." Ferdinand sighed.
"Tristan, the girls want to get their faces painted with you. It's the only thing that we didn't have time to do before." Bellamy said.
"Alright. I'll go with them now. Ferdinand, you better not disappear again!" I said with a glare, before heading toward the girls.
"I won't, I promise. I'll come get my face painted too, in just a bit." He called after me.
"It's a deal. If you take too long, I'll have them paint a donkey on your face!" I yelled.
I was still curious to know what they had talked about, but since Kaleb didn't seem to be having a total melt down, I would let it slide, for now.
"Tristan! We're going to get our faces painted. Help us choose what to get!" Arrisa yelled.
"I want a tiger." Ezekihel said.
"I think I'll get a wolf." Synnahmen said.
"I'm going to get a bunch of small pictures, like an ice-cream cone, a rainbow, a heart, and maybe a star." Sable said.
"Everyone's picking cool things, but I can't think of even one. And I don't want to get something that someone else has..." Arrisa pouted.
"How about a shark? Or a dolphin? Maybe a unicorn?" I suggested.
"Ooh! I'll get a unicorn!" She agreed, happily.
'Yeah... I suppose it can wait... They matter to me too... always and forever...'