Chapter 10: A scent of citrus and chocolate liqueur

"Are you okay?". Nathan asked as well when they noticed he had frozen in his tracks. Marcy turned at the Gamma’s voice. Her smile had faded, replaced with a worried look. "Danny? Is everything alright?". Just as he wanted, the scent faded till he couldn’t get a whiff of her scent again. He managed a smile at them. "I’m fine. Just.. Taking in the breathtaking view of home. It’s been..so long". He lied. They all smiled at him, and they made their way inside. Imagining Kelvin as a human, his jaw would have dropped at what just happened. No one in the history of werewolves had ever been able to control his urges of seeing his mate for the first time when they get a whiff of their scent. But Daniel acted so nonchalantly liwhoeverver she was didn’t exist at all, or her scent didn’t drive him crazy. "Jerk. Keep this up and you’ll only keep hurting. I don’t know how you did it, but you won’t be able to resist her the next time". Daniel only smirked deviously, saying nothing, and so, leaving Kelvin to wonder who his mate was. Didn’t she feel the mate bond, too? She would have at least done something, but she only seemed to go farther away. Strange... Barton and Nathan went off to their respective stands while Marcy walked by Daniel’s side till they found themselves standing at the entrance of his room. "Welcome home ...Alpha". Marcy announced softly with genuine pride in her eyes as she held his arm. "Thank you, Aunt Marcy. It’s... nice to be back again". Daniel replied with a slight smile. He glanced around the room, and a blast of nostalgia washed over him when he noticed nothing in the room had changed at all. His favorite toys, especially his blue teddy bear gifted to him by Naom, were still placed on his shelf along with bedtime stories. Naom usually read to him every night. The scrawny paintings and drawings he made and pasted all over the wall smiled at him in return, the edges of the paper fading. Even the footmat Naomi got for him was still here. The sheets have been changed, and the blankets were new and soft. The wardrobe was empty, waiting to be accommodated by clothes belonging to an eighteen-year-old and not an eight-year-old. "Do you like it?". Marcy asked, watching his brows furrow as a lot of emotions swirled inside of him. Every single thing in this room reminded him of her. The paintings. Every single drawing and painting, he always showed her and put it up on the wall after getting a peck on the head for his ’good work’. He remembered the times he would run downstairs to the kitchen. Her hand would be covered in foam as she did the dishes late in the night. But no matter what, she never chased him away or got irritated with how he always dragged her down to look at the drawings. She would embrace him with a smile and a warm hug and would chuckle a bit at his drawings. Either way, she’d complement it with a kiss on his head. A painful smile rose on his lips. Looking at them now, they looked so childish and horrible. How could she have liked these things? The toys. Even if she was tired, she always spent time playing with him. The storybooks. Every single night, she always read him bedtime stories. He enjoyed her company 24/7, so he would convince her to stay next to him on the bed till he slept off, and boy was he a cuddler. He sighed and looked down. Kelvin felt so many emotions swirling inside of him. He could see all his flashbacks from within, and his soul fell at what he saw. Noami was everything. The mother he never had. His best friend. His only friend. The sister he always wanted. She promised she’d be here for him. She promised she’d never leave him. But just like everyone, just like his father, she failed him and abandoned him. Daniel turned when he felt pressure on his hand. Marcy was squeezing it with a small smile. He managed to smile back. "It’s going to be alright, okay honey?". He nodded and placed her hand against his cheek. "What lotion do you use? Your hands are so soft, Aunt". He said in a bid to change the topic and the tense atmosphere. Marcy laughed, throwing her face upwards into the bright chandelier in the room. Her loud, youthful laughter made him smile. "When we go shopping for some new clothes, I’ll pick them out for you. That’s since you want your hands to be soft like a woman’s". She chuckled again. "What’s wrong with my clothes?". He whined, the idea of shopping, giving him goosebumps. He hates shopping!!! "They look like they were run over by a truck on a muddy ground. You went off the railings, Daniel". With that, she grabbed his ears and pulled him down to her eye level. "Ow ow ow ow ow". "Shush. Who said you could pierce your ear, huh? And look at what you’ve done to your hair....you brat. Honey. When we go shopping together, I’ll make sure I pick out reasonable outfits for you. And we’ll head to a saloon after". "Aunt Marcy...". He whined when she let go of him. "No, no ...the Dark Risers’ Alpha will not be dressing like a criminal, and remind me to enroll you in school by this week. Barton said you had one more year to spend in high school, but you couldn’t finish because of your training back at Moon Howler’s pack". Daniel groaned at the mention of school. "Freshen up and arrange your things... then come downstairs for dinner". "Okay". He sighed and watched as she left the room. Once she did, he collapsed on his bed with another huge sigh. He lay down for a while, thinking about his Alpha naming ceremony. For some reason, he was nervous. He never had any close relationship with his father, so he didn’t know the tips on ruling a pack. He had learnt some crucial lessons and ways of solving communal problems and attacks by rogues from the Moon Howler’s Alpha, but there are still some things, some different measures to take when it came to ruling the Dark Risers’ pack. After a while, he got up, hands on his buttons, ready to hit the shower, when a strong, nice scent of citrus and chocolate liqueur greeted his nostrils, and he suddenly noticed someone standing at the door and looked up.