Page 9

VIOLET

“Many of us come here but there’s no fighting because humans come here too,” she whispered. She pulled open the wooden bar door. The hinges creaked. Music, chatter, and the clang of glasses spilled into the night. Maggie strutted inside and I followed her, sweeping my eyes from one side of the room to the other. Light reflected off the surface glaze of the rounded tables.

“Let’s go over there, I see some people I know.” Maggie waved me to follow, and she skillfully slipped through the crowd, moving quickly. I wove through the throng, the heavy scents of alcohol, sweat, and perfume mingling. I dodged an elbow to the face and slid between two bodies as smoothly as possible. I came out on the other side of them to a clear path. Now to look for Maggie.

I scanned the area, looking for her pin-straight dark hair. She stood next to a table chattering away with a group of women. She motioned behind her and looked over her shoulder. She spotted me, waved me over, and returned to her conversation. I inched past another group, reeling to the side as a girl threw her arms out. The back of her hand would have smacked me right in the face if an arm hadn’t wound around my waist and dragged me backward.

The arm around my waist sucked the breath out of me. Whoever held onto me was warm and huge. Heat expanded in my stomach. I leaned into the touch, looking up at Alpha Whitlock. My gaze dropped to the curve of his lips. The second male in the span of hours to make my knees go weak. I stiffened my legs.

“Let me go.”

His grin only widened, and he tugged me once. I landed on his lap with a grunt. The side of my knee smacked into the edge of the table.

“Son of a bitch,” I hissed. His pale eyebrows rose on his forehead.

“Alpha?” the male to the other side of the table said. He frowned, studying us, and I could see the question in his gaze.

Maggie’s warning to stay away from this ingrate echoed in my head. He reeked of alcohol.

“Do you ever not drink?” I muttered, wrinkling my nose. “You stink.”

The dark-haired male across from us gasped, his eyes widening in horror.

“Leave, Adan.” The wolf immediately stood upon his order.

“Is he one of your wolves?”

Whitlock’s lips spread and he reached up to tap my nose.

“You’re just full of questions, aren’t you?” he asked. I scowled at him, my eyes lined up with his chin. “Adan is my Beta.”

My lips formed an ‘O’. He pulled my knees over his legs so they rested across his lap.

“Here.” He nudged the drink closer to me.

“No.” I scowled. His arm stiffened around my waist, his palm settling on my hip.

“What are you doing,” I hissed, looking around. No one seemed to pay attention to us, lost in their business. The pressure of his legs under me felt too good. I caught myself leaning into his chest and straightened. “Let me go.”

“Try it and I’ll release you.” His brown eyes peered into mine. “I promise.” His lips had a perpetual twitch up at the corner, giving him a more seductive look. All of his focus remained on me. I tried so hard to be unaffected but failed miserably.

I grabbed the tall glass and took a sip. It burned on the way down my throat. I choked, coughing so hard it wracked my body. I pounded my palm on my chest. Some of the alcohol sloshed over the edge of the glass and spread into the denim of my jeans. He snatched the drink away and set it on the table. He patted me on the back a few times. Thumps that really did nothing to help.

“Goddess,” I croaked. “What is that?”

Whitlock frowned, his gaze scanning my face.

“How old are you?” His head cocked to the side.

“Old enough.” I tipped my chin up.

“Yet, young enough to do something based off a promise?”

“I did what you asked, now let me go.”

“No.” The simple denial shouldn’t have surprised me as much as it did.

I scowled at him, all sorts of angry words on the tip of my tongue. He made me feel na?ve; no, I was na?ve.

Curses bubbled behind my lips and he studied me with an infuriating smirk. If I smashed the bottle over his head . . . I bit back a frustrated scream. I wasn’t part of his pack; I didn’t have to do what he said.

For the first time ever, the tears that usually came with my elevated emotions weren’t present. I was too angry.

“Do it,” he breathed near my ear, sending lust licking down my spine. His deep voice reached into my gut. The dare in his eyes gave me pause. He wanted me to be rude.

Was this just a ruse to give him an excuse to fight with my new Alpha? I gritted my teeth and shoved down the rage.

“Please, release me,” I murmured, barely managing to keep a leash on my temper. He chuckled.

“Coward.” One of his eyebrows quirked. I scanned his face. As much as the smell of alcohol came from him, his eyes remained aware. “Go ahead, say it.”

My hands balled on my lap. I had a job and a roof over my head. I couldn’t risk getting kicked out of this pack. If Elton ever discovered my whereabouts—no, he wouldn’t find me, so it wasn’t worth thinking about.

I took a deep breath. Underneath his cloying smell of liquor was the smell of leather. It was more prevalent last night when he found me scrolling through his phone in the woods. When he’d touched me under the moonlight.

“I prefer your natural scent,” I admitted instead of bashing the glass across his temple. Immediate regret swept through me.

I peeked up at him from under my eyelashes.

He studied me with his eyebrows raised high, but the smug smirk was gone. He seemed genuinely off-kilter. The unsure expression was much better than what my violence would have spawned from him. Whitlock scanned my face, his fingers gently squeezing my hip.

I fanned my face and reached for the drink again to take a swig. The burn went down my throat, taking away some of my discomfort. So, I took another drink and then another.

My shoulders incrementally relaxed with each sip. The heat from the alcohol felt much better than the embarrassment or lust. I rolled my shoulders.

“Stop,” he said gruffly, and his hand slid over mine, but I didn’t stop drinking. He finally forced it away from my lips and slipped it out of my fingers. He set it on the table.

“I drank like you asked,” I snapped, feeling braver than I’d ever felt. He didn’t seem to find humor in the situation. A thundercloud worked over his features. “Let me go, you damned Alpha.”

His body jerked, eyebrows almost meeting with his hair. He caught my chin and tipped my face to look up at him. I glared. The grip on my jaw was stiff and I couldn’t yank away.

He smelled delectable. The white shirt was tight enough to see the muscles of his shoulders and it left his tattoos exposed.

I swayed toward him, breathing in to try to smell him. A small dent appeared between his eyebrows and his eyelids lowered, a soft growl leaving his lips. The sound caused my stomach to flip.

“Simon,” a female voice hissed. “What the fuck is this?” I straightened quickly and craned my neck to look at the woman standing over us. Her face was an inch from mine.

I squinted. She kind of looked familiar. It hit me where I’d seen her before and I stiffened. It was weird to look at someone I’d seen nudes of—invasive.

Her hand flew toward my cheek and I didn’t have time to react.

The slap sent me careening off Whitlock’s lap. I landed on my side, managing to catch myself so I didn’t end up face-down on the floor. Tears immediately formed and I whimpered, clasping my cheek. I turned to Alpha Whitlock. He’d stilled preternaturally. Suddenly, a snarl burst from his mouth, the violent sound ripping through the music. He leaped from his seat, charging at the woman. His Beta was suddenly blocking his path, his hands on his chest, but his eyes cast down. I was close enough to hear his, “Alpha,” he hissed. “Not here.”

“You can’t keep your cock in your fucking pants!?” The female screamed, shoving at Adan’s back to get at Whitlock who hadn’t stopped sneering.

“Ma’am, do you need help?” A man with a large brimmed cowboy hat stood with a scowl. He stared down Alpha Whitlock, but his eyes kept trailing away. He must be human if he was trying to go head-to-head with an alpha.

The human male looked uncomfortable. Even if he didn’t know it, he sensed the Alpha’s dominance.

I needed to get away from all his drama. I wanted no part of it. Scrabbling to my feet, I slinked away, heading for the door. Maggie would have to find me hiding in the car, because I wasn’t about to get tangled in this crap.

I looked over my shoulder as I hurried away, making sure Whitlock hadn’t noted my absence. Not that he would care. I avoided a group and slipped between the wall and a large male. I brushed too close to him.

“Excuse me,” I mumbled, trying to get around him.

The brown-haired male had an easy grin. He held himself with confidence, steadily studying me. Although defective, I could tell this was a werewolf male. Maybe it was some preternatural sixth sense, or maybe it was simply the way he held himself that gave it away.

“You can grab onto me whenever you want,” he said softly.

He searched my face, and his eyes settled on the little mole near my eyes. I could always tell when people were put off by my heterochromia.

Eerie , was the word I’d heard tossed around. It wasn’t like I was forcing anyone to look at them. I hurried away, weaving through the crowd. All that female’s shouting was making everything worse and my cheek stung.

The rickety wooden door swung shut behind me, and I made a beeline for Maggie’s car. Dirt and pebbles crunched under my sneakers. The pressure in my chest turned suffocating and the edge of my vision blurred. I pulled the hood of my jacket over my head. I was so focused on Maggie’s Toyota, but it was beginning to blur.

I sniffled and inhaled and exhaled repeatedly.

Footsteps came up behind me. The thuds became louder like I was being chased. Before I could turn, someone grabbed my arm and jerked me around.

I followed the tatted arm up to Alpha Whitlock’s face. His lips were curled in a snarl.

“Where are you going?” His voice was low and rumbling. I licked my lips and glared up at him.

“Let me go. Please,” I tacked on the last bit with the last shred of politeness I could muster.

“No,” he retorted.

I could only gawk up at him.

“B-but why?” I shook my head. “Why are you chasing after me? What do you want?” My words verged on desperation.

His grip on my arm became tighter and he audibly breathed out. A growl slipped from his lips.

“Come with me,” he said stiffly and began to pull me. He was much stronger than me, so all I did was almost break an ankle from how much I fought against him.

The door of the bar creaked open again.

“Violet!” Maggie screamed. I ramped up my struggle.

“Let me go,” I huffed again.

Alpha Whitlock snarled, and his grip became even harsher. I gasped and hunched in half with a groan. He was only making the spinning worse! The alcohol settled in my throat, the taste coating my tongue.

I dropped all my weight until my butt hit the ground, my arm stretched up by where he gripped it.

“Up, now.”

“No,” I scowled. He needed to leave me out of his business. The loud crunch of footsteps approached, but he didn’t twitch.

“Violet?” Maggie’s eyes widened on me and quickly took in the scene. Her face was flushed, and she was panting and looking over her shoulder. She crouched and cupped my shoulder. “Let her go or I’m telling our Alpha.”

The threat hung over us like an axe. Whitlock seemed expressionless, as if he had no reaction, as if unphased, but a muscle jumped in his jaw. That pissed him off. A snorting-laugh bubbled free from my throat.

They both looked at me, their eyebrows so high up they looked funny. It sent me into another fit of laughter. I twisted my arm and slipped out of his stern hold.

“What did you do to her?” Maggie breathed and she cupped the bottom of my arm to help me stand. My knees wobbled and I used Alpha Whitlock’s chest to steady myself. My hand flattened on his hard body. Muscles flexed under his t-shirt.

Ooo , that felt really nice. I dipped my finger under the hem of his shirt, wanting to see.

“What are you doing, Violet?” Maggie gasped, pulling at me.

“I wanna see,” I said, but was I slurring? I peeked up at the Alpha. “Simon Whitlock.”

Maggie gasped, her fingers digging into my elbow.

“Simon Whitlock,” I breathed again. The Moon Goddess blessed him in the looks department too. His head slightly cocked, those shadowed eyes studied me. The tall streetlight was too far to show me all of him.

Maggie sniffed me. “Did you drink?” She gasped.

I widened my eyes innocently and with the hand not feeling up his hard stomach, I pointed at Whitlock.

He stared at my mouth unwaveringly.

“Dammit,” Maggie whimpered but her voice seemed far away, like she was talking outside of the bubble that only contained Whitlock and me.

Whitlock inhaled and stepped closer. Butterflies exploded in my stomach and went south. I swayed toward him.

He inhaled again.

“Are you sniffing me?” I asked with a frown, craning my neck to squint into his eyes. He was so tall that it would be a struggle to hook my hands around the back of his neck without his assistance.

A recognizable creak of the wood door opening and slamming against the wall exploded through the lot.

“I am not done with you,” the female—Amber, I recalled from the texts—snarled, but instead of looking at him, her glare was fixed on me. Alpha Whitlock growled and stepped in front of me, blocking me from her, but also not letting me see her.

Maggie pulled my arm, and I staggered on my feet, following her. “What did you do to that psycho?” she breathed.

“You talking about Whitlock or the chick?” I struggled to push the words out. I touched my numb cheek. Being slapped was nothing new. The last time was by my Luna. But I thanked the Moon Goddess for her coming in when she did; her mate would have raped me if she hadn’t.

I followed Maggie to her car two bumpers down. She nudged me toward the door she’d opened. My palms slapped on the door frame, and I peeked over to Whitlock and Amber in the middle of an argument. Maggie went to the driver’s side and revved the car to life. She grabbed my wrist and pulled until I plopped on the seat with a loud huff.

I pressed my nose against the window, unable to take my attention away from them. Amber touched his chest, and he didn’t push her away, seeming riveted by whatever she said. My back tightened and even if he couldn’t see me, I flipped him off as we drove away.

I sat back and gripped my head to steady the spinning.

“I just found my mate,” Maggie blurted.

The shock of her words offered me a moment of calm to my swirling brain.

“Your mate?” I whispered. “Your true mate?”

She sniffled and nodded.

“Why isn’t he here? Who is it?”

“You can’t tell anyone. Not even Graham.” She paused and groaned. “What am I doing? You’re intoxicated.”

“I swear my lips are sealed.” I pursed my lips to make a point. She groaned and pressed on the gas. She went silent, but I didn’t stop looking at her expectantly. Maggie sighed and muttered something under her breath.

“He’s Alpha Whitlock’s Beta.”

“What are you doing with me?” I leaned across the center console and gripped her arm. “Go claim your male.”

“I don’t know if I should.” Her lip wobbled.

“That doesn’t sound good.” There would never be judgement from me.

“He’s in charge of Aspen Pack while Whitlock is gone.”

She went silent and I didn’t push her. I settled against the cushion. Defective werewolves had become rampant ever since the decline of true mates. True mates were a blessing, not something to throw in the face of the Moon Goddess. It meant a perfect match.

But more than that was the safety that would come with it. I rolled the window down and angled my face to catch the air. A mate would be fantastic right about now.