The drive back to the pack house seemed unusually long as Nakhun followed behind Narong and his father.
When he thought about it they were both equally responsible for all the misunderstandings that had occurred since their meeting but that didn't excuse his accusations towards Narong's parents who had been nothing but kind to him, he should apologise for that if nothing else.
There had been misunderstandings all round but Nakhun knew that Narong and his family had done everything with the best of intentions, for his own protection and in the hope that he would accept Narong as his mate.
While Nakhun was thinking about everything that had happened, Narong drove quietly with his father beside him oblivious to his inner turmoil, he couldn't help but keep looking through his rear view mirror to make sure that Nakhun hadn't changed his mind but if he did, Narong was not going to chase after him anymore.
His accusations this morning had hurt him so much, they had spent their first night together while he was in human form just sleeping in each other's arms and he had felt so happy when he had woke up only to have that happiness torn away when Nakhun couldn't remember the events of the previous evening.
He glanced in the mirror again as he indicated to turn right and saw Nakhun's light flicking behind him.
He felt bad for acting cold and indifferent towards Nakhun but it was the only way he could control his wolf from trying to take it to the next level so he would do what he needed to do unless Nakhun told him otherwise.
Nakhun indicated right following Narong and his father then caught his reflection in the rear view mirror and found he was staring into a pair of blue eyes,
"what?" he asked the reflection.
"what do you mean, what? I never said anything" his wolf replied.
"you don't need to, I can sense something in your eyes" Nakhun said.
"right, you've been talking to me for all of a few hours and suddenly you know all about me?" his wolf said.
"well what more is there to know? " Nakhun asked.
"when are you going to let me out again?"
"what do you mean? " Nakhun said.
"when are you going to shift again and let me stretch my legs, it's the only way I can become strong enough to protect both of us and you need to practice more" his wolf replied.
"maybe tomorrow? I don't know" was Nakhun's reply.
"I suppose that's better than nothing" his wolf replied and went silent.
Nakhun sighed, was his wolf pissed off with him as well? Soon they were driving down the long road towards the entrance to the pack house and Nakhun relaxed as the familiar feeling of safety enveloped him.
The van in front pulled up in front of the house and Nakhun drew up beside it before climbing out.
"it's late, we should all get some sleep, goodnight boys" Narong's father said as they walked inside and went up to his own suite of rooms
"goodnight dad, you take the same room again Nakhun" Narong said.
"goodnight Mr Mapapreet sir, what about you? I don't want to take your room" Nakhun said.
"don't worry about me, I can sleep anywhere" Narong replied.
"are you sure?" Nakhun asked.
"mmm, go on up to bed and we'll talk tomorrow" Narong said.
"Narong" Nakhun said.
"mmm"
"I'm sorry, not only for Prasat getting hurt but also for this morning, I was out of line ..." Nakhun said.
"I'm sorry too for being so controlling, I know that you are a grown man and that you can defend yourself but up until a few days ago, you didn't even know that werewolves existed and none of us knew that you were also a werewolf ... even so, you still need protection until you learn to control him"
"that's a valid point" Nakhun replied.
"I wasn't trying to make you feel worthless, it just came natural to want to protect the person I loved" Narong said.
"loved?"
"love"
"can we ... start over?" Nakhun asked.
"I'd like that" Narong replied.
"will you share your room with me?"
"that might not be wise puppy, it's still a full moon even though the power is not as strong as last night" Narong said.
"I trust you Narong" Nakhun said
"do you, really?" he asked.
"yes, it's my own wolf I don't trust" Nakhun murmured.
"your own wolf?"
"mmm, we spent a good deal of time talking today, I even saw him" Nakhun admitted.
"did you shift again?" Narong asked.
"no but it seems I can see him when I look in a mirror" Nakhun said.
"he's beautiful just like you puppy" Narong said.
"ha, you should hear him talking, you might not think so then" Nakhun laughed.
"yeah? mine is a bit of a handful as well, come, let's get some sleep then, I'm exhausted and I'm guessing you are too?" Narong said as they both went up to his room.
The following morning, Nakhun woke up to find he was alone, he remembered both he and Narong coming up to bed last night and he had taken a shower and borrowed some clothes to sleep in.
Narong had used the bathroom after him and emerged ready for bed but where he had climbed under the covers, Narong had slept on top of them, they had agreed to make a fresh start so why was Narong acting distant?
Nakhun sat up in bed and found a clean change of clothes with a note on top telling him that the clothes were for him so he got up and went to wash before dressing then he went downstairs to look for everyone.
He walked into the kitchen and saw Narong's mother,
"good morning dear, do you want something to eat now?" she asked him.
"I can get something Mrs Mapapreet, you don't have to wait on me" he replied.
"don't be silly, it's my pleasure and I thought I asked you to call me mother?" she replied.
"I didn't know if you would still feel that way after all the trouble I have caused"
"I understand Nakhun dear, it's not every day someone finds out that they are mated to a wolf and that they are a wolf as well, that was quite a surprise for all of us" she laughed.
"I owe you and your husband an apology mother, I misjudged you both and I hurt Narong because of it, I hope you'll forgive me?"
"we forgave you as soon as we overheard you both arguing dear, it's only natural for you to question everyone around you especially with everything that you have been through, now come and sit, eat"
"thank you mother, where is Narong and your husband?" Nakhun asked.
"they have gone to collect Prasat from the vet's, Narong tells me he found his mate, an attractive girl and a vet too, we can always use another Doctor around the pack house but it's early days, he will have to woo her first but luckily he has a whole month before the next full moon"
Nakhun smiled but he thought about what Narong's mother had said, is that how Narong had described Prasat's mate and why did he feel unsettled about Narong calling Nana attractive, was he jealous?
He ate breakfast while Narong's mother did odd jobs around the kitchen and then he stood up to take his dishes to the sink.
"leave those dear, I'll do them" she said.
"may I ask you a question mother?"
"of course, what is it?"
"well, when I was in the library yesterday, I saw some very old books in a case, I wondered if I might be able to read them?"
"you can read sanksrit?"
"yes mother, I just thought I might be able to learn more about the pack and about myself?"
"I'll have to ask my husband when he comes back dear but I think he will say it's ok as long as you are very careful with them, they are hundreds of years old you know"
"yes, I thought so with the temperature controlled case"
"so what do you think of your wolf then?"
"he's sulking at the moment" Nakhun said.
"what about dear?"
"I'm not really sure?, I think it might be because he thinks I'm taking too long to make a decision about Narong"
"ahh I see, so your wolf is happy with the arrangement, it was the other way around for me and Narong's father, I fell in love with him the first time we met but my wolf thought she was too good for him, she fancied herself with someone more like her,
"it's so complicated isn't it" Nakhun laughed.
"it is but the goddess rarely makes mistakes, everything happens for a reason"
They were chatting together and laughing when Narong and his father walked into the kitchen with Prasat between them. He was in human form now and he wore loose jogging pants and a baggy tee shirt.
"how come every time I walk in here you guys are huddled up together?" Narongs father said with a low growl
"hardly huddled dear" his mate rolled her eyes"
"good morning Nakhun" Narong said.
"good morning" Nakhun replied blushing.
"ok, do you think you can sit at the table Prasat?" Narong's father said.
"yes boss, I rested enough last night" he replied.
"hi Prasat, how's it going?" Nakhun asked him.
"not too bad considering, I'll be better in a few days"
"how did things go with your lady love?" he asked.
"not as good as I expected, she gave me some food and water and then I was left alone all night" he pouted.
"well did you really think she would sleep down there with you bro" Narong asked.
"I guess not, I have to think of a way I can meet her in human form now" Prasat replied.
"it's not easy being a wolf is it, so many complications" Nakhun said.
"mmm" Narong said.
"dear, Nakhun was asking if he could read our books, he knows sanskrit" Narong's mother said as she prepared food and refreshments for the men.
"you read sanskrit?" Narong asked.
"yes, a monk taught me" Nakhun replied.
"I'll take them out for you after I've eaten something" Narong's father said.
"thank you Mr Mapapreet, sir"
"what are you hoping to find and please, call me father or dad"
"I'm not sure but I feel like I should read them, I can't explain it?" Nakhun replied.
Nakhun sat at the table with the three other men as they ate and he couldn't help but keep looking at Narong who avoided his gaze.
What was going on with him, hadn't they cleared the air last night? hell they had even slept in the same bed, well on it.
When Narong had finished eating he got up to take his dishes to the sink and after rinsing them and leaving them to drain he went to leave the kitchen,
"I'll catch up with you guys later" he said walking out.
Nakhun followed him and caught up with him at the foot of the stairs,
"Narong, can I have a quick word?"
"sure, what's the problem?" Narong asked.
"I wondered, are you still angry with me?"
"no, why do you ask?"
"I ... it's just that ... you seem ..."
"just say it puppy" Narong said.
"well, for someone who is supposed to be crazy about me, you're acting a little bit distant" Nakhun said.
"I'm not meaning to be puppy, it's the only way I know how to keep my wolf under control, I'm keeping my distance so as to avoid temptation" he smiled ruffling Nakhuns hair before walking out to the garage.
Minutes later, Nakhun heard a motorbike start up and saw Narong ride past the house and down the road and he listened until he couldn't hear the growl of the engine any more, he was in a house full of people and he felt so alone.
Narong was gone doing his own thing, his own wolf had stopped interacting and he felt weird.
A few moments later, Narong's father came out of the kitchen.
"are you ok son?"
"yes Mr ... er father, I just wondered where Narong was going?"
"he has a few errands to run, he won't be long, so are you ready to do some reading?"
"yes sir" Nakhun replied as they walked towards the library.
Once inside, Narong's father drew the curtains and turned on the lights then he went over to the case and after turning it off he unlocked it.
He got two pairs of white gloves from a box in a cupboard and handed a pair to Nakhun before wearing a pair himself then he opened the case.
"which one do you want to read first?"
"I was thinking, the history of your pack father"
"good, let's take it over to the desk and you can get comfortable, this was written by hand, many hundreds of years ago by our forefathers after they had settled, only the alpha's of our pack bother to learn to read sanskrit and study the text"
"is it forbidden for others to read the text then?" Nakhun asked.
"no, on the contrary, anyone can, it's just that the youngsters these days have better things to do than learn a dead language and read about things that happened centuries ago, our culture is not so different to that of humans, all the young care about is having fun and mating" Narong's father said.
"father, I'm sorry about everything and I'm sorry for misjudging your good intentions" Nakhun said.
"that's ok son, don't worry about it, look if you really don't like Narong, just tell him straight, we will still help you as much as we can now that you know you are also one of us but ... we are just as guilty for trying to push you both together, we just want our boy to be happy and you too but we can't force you to like him"
"the thing is, I do like him, we even kissed once, well kind of and it was ... nice but then he went all bat shit crazy and dragged me here and ..."
"look son, I can't advise you what to do, just follow your heart but while you're here, take advantage and learn how to control your wolf and just so you know, Narong's mother and I think that you're a good, well mannered young man and we would be proud to call you our son in law"
Nakhun could feel the sting of tears but managed to hold them back as Narong's father set up the book and removed his gloves,
"ok, I'll leave you to it then, call out if you need any help and have fun" he smiled before walking out of the library.
Nakhun sat down and carefully turned the pages until he got to the beginning of the book, he didn't know why he wanted to read the books, he just felt compelled to.
Sighing, he settled down to read the ancient text, it was going to be a long day
***
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