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It’s a lot less crowded down below than it is in the front of the building. Leaning against the railing, I breathe in deep, taking in the peace. It’s early spring, and despite Muncie being an urban city, a few stray flowers are blooming somewhere nearby. They smell lovely.
I close my eyes as I lean on the railing. Oh, yes. This is just what I needed…
A door slams, breaking up my reverie. Two icy auras—much weaker than Aleks’s, but still obviously vampire—are on the move. I probably wouldn’t have even notice if it wasn’t for one obnoxiously calling out to the other, “Be careful, Peter. Watch your step. You know how inconsiderate dogs can be, and I’d hate for you to ruin your shoes stepping in the bitch’s shit.”
A muffled chuckle, as if whatever it was that the first haughty vampire had said sincerely amused the other, before Peter says, “Keep it down, Gino. You don’t want Filan to hear you saying that.”
At the sound of Aleks’s last name, I freeze. My eyes pop open, but through the iron grate below my feet, all I can make out are two bobbing heads—one a brunet, the other with black hair—as the vampire males are walking casually down the sidewalk.
“What? It’s not like he’s not aware of it. He’s always had this dog fetish. All the vampire females who’d kill to be on his arm, and this is… what? The third one he tossed a fang at?”
“Second,” corrects Peter. “Remember? He tried to bag the Alpha’s bitch, but even after he moved her into the building, he couldn’t seal the deal. Poor guy. The blonde might be a dog, but that was prime pussy he missed out on.”
“True. I would’ve taken her for a ride. Tapped her vein, too, but then I’d have asked Roman to throw her out.”
“Shifters, right? Still. Filan seems to enjoy the brunette with the freaky silver eyes. You hear them, right?”
“Oh, yeah. When I can’t find a female of my own, I rub one out to her scream.” He chuckles. “But if you tell anyone that, Peter, I’ll deny it.”
Peter laughs. I feel like I’m about to throw up.
I don’t know which of my initial reactions is worse: embarrassment that these random vamps intimately aware of what goes on in our bedroom, shame at just how pleased I am to hear that, according to Peter and Gino, Gem and Aleks never mated while she was his roommate, or disgust that at least Gino whacks off to the sounds of Aleks fucking me.
Is it terrible that I feel the most relieved about the shame?
I already knew that. Gem’s the type of female who has no problem talking about her sex life, and she’s told me on more than one occasion that Ryker’s the only male she’s ever been with. I don’t even think she was really even trying to reassure me that her and Aleks were just friends. She was just talking about how she waited ten years for Ryker, and how it was worth the wait.
Sometimes, I wish I had waited for Aleks. Not that I regretted the males I mated with when I was a teen she-wolf, before I discovered the damage a touch of my hand could do, but when I remember Kyle? Yeah… I definitely regret my time with him.
But that’s the thing. How can I judge Aleks for his past when I have my own? For a while, it bothered me that he believed he was in love with Gem, but that was because she’s my friend. They knew each other long before I met either one of them, but still. No one ever said that falling in love made a she-wolf rational.
And I must be out of my Luna-damned mind if I’m jealous of a female who died two centuries before I was born… but I am, and it all comes to a head when I hear one of the vamps—I think it’s Peter—mention her name.
I suck in a breath and, cocking my ear, I strain to listen.
They’ve already gone two blocks away from the apartment building. Other voices are like static around them, but I’m determined. I have to know what they’re saying.
And that’s when Gino says, “Still. You gotta admit that is Julia all over again. Level-headed vamp going nuts for some dime a dozen shifter.”
“True. You think he would’ve learned his lesson last time.”
“Right? He’s always gotta find these dogs who are trouble. Did you know he added an extra sunset spotter because Hannah swore she found wolf prints on the outskirts of the city? That’s what happens when you let a shifter in. They’re like roaches. Where there’s one, you know there’s more.”
“It’s good to be careful,” points out Peter. They’re far enough away now that I can barely hear him as he adds, “Don’t forget what happened with Julia. When she died and Filan nearly went rogue before waging war on the shifters.”
What? I grip the balcony railing so tightly, the metal groans.Why?
Aleks has never talked about her death, and I never asked. The most I know is that she died tragically before they could be bonded. She was a rare female alpha, so it must have taken a lot to kill her, and Aleks blames himself for not being there when she needed him.
He spent the next two centuries mourning his beloved, hoping he’d find another. He thought Gem might be his second chance because she was another alpha, and then there was me. The spitting image of Julia, only with silver eyes instead of gold.
He swears it isn’t just our resemblance that made him realize I was meant to be his. That’s just a weird quirk of Fate, though I secretly wonder if he’s glad that I look just like her. He told me shortly after he admitted I was his beloved that the blood tells. A hint of my blood and he’d know for sure that we were meant to be.
When the Luna was still talking to me, she whispered repeatedly that Aleks was mine. From the moment we met, I knew he was my fated mate. It just seemed perfect that I was also his beloved.
But even if I am? Will I ever measure up to the first one he had?
With my head spinning and my heart sinking, I stare unseeingly at the sidewalk below, unwilling to admit that, deep down, I already know the answer to that question.
