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Chapter Twelve
Diana
I let Zion, the alpha, urge me back to lie against him as I had been before my wolf and he and his wolf brought me out of the darkness and fog. I let him because I wanted him to, and I even reached behind me to draw the other wolf, Andrade, his mate, against me as well.
Not exactly mated.
My wolf was not purring, but that was only because wolves don’t purr. They do, however, make happy sounds, contented sounds, and mine was about as noisy as she’d ever been. “I should probably call my friends and tell them what happened, but I lost my phone, or rather, I left it back at the campsite.”
“You were camping with friends?” the alpha asked, encouraging me to continue. “Where?”
“I don’t know exactly. We were traveling to the beach to spend a few days and I wandered off on my own after we ummm…we had some shots.”
A lot of shots.
So many shots.
“I don’t drink much usually and we had a lot. I went off for privacy then decided to go to the outlook nearby for one more peek and I don’t remember exactly, but I must have fallen and then I don’t remember a thing until I woke up on the roadside. No memory, but I knew I couldn’t stay there, so I headed downhill, hit the main highway, and saw your lights through the fog. You know the rest.”
The alpha settled me against his side a little closer, and unlike last time, I had no T-shirt on. Maybe I could just have sex with them and then run off and get out of their hair? If I didn’t go back to Triple L, Crain would come looking for me, and he had every right to say I’d agreed to be his mate.
But at this point, having met my fateds, there was no way on earth I’d mate him. And while I wasn’t the least bit afraid that he’d be able to physically harm these males, if he insisted on his rights, and they denied him, it could lead to bitterness between packs, something I’d never want to be responsible for.
“What pack are you from?” Zion made it hard to focus since his fingertips were gliding up and down my side. “Did you travel far?”
“A couple of days. I’m from—” I really didn’t want to tell him because if I did make a break for it, he might still contact the pack and say I was his mate, their mates. But his eyes gleamed, blueish gray in the dimness. It seemed like this night had gone on forever, but it was hard to tell what time it was with the fog still so heavy and no clock that I could see in the room. “I’m from Triple L.”
Andrade slapped my bottom and I jumped. “Triple L? Tadeo is my cousin. He’s one of their alphas.”
“Ouch.”
He rubbed the spot he’d slapped. “Sorry. I got excited. But that’s great. You and some of your friends were taking a trip and you got lost. Tomorrow, we’ll find them and let them know you’re all right and then we can all go to Triple L and have our mating there.”
“Ummm…” How did I say this?
Zion cleared his throat. “You said you were not exactly mated. Want to elaborate on that?” He was not stroking me any longer, although we were still all cuddled together.
“See, I had this friend…and we agreed to mate if we didn’t find our fateds, eventually, and so when all our other friends found theirs, we figured it wasn’t going to happen.”
“And you decided to mate.”
“Yes.” Now they’d understand why I couldn’t be with them.
“Was he part of the camping trip?” Zion seemed to have a whole list of questions. He was a lot like Tadeo and Sawyer when they thought someone had done something wrong or caused a problem.
“No, he wasn’t.” And I was like the pack member caught doing the wrong thing. Not wanting to give a lot of details. Although at this point, I wasn’t sure why.
“Can you elaborate please?”
“I might need to be dressed and sitting on a couch for this.” But I didn’t try to sit up or move away. To the contrary, I laid my arm over his flat belly in an effort to have more contact. “But okay. Our alpha female, Analise, well, she got me thinking about whether I was making the right decision.”
“I see. And were you?”
“Obviously now I know I wasn’t, but she also suggested that I take this trip, grab a few girlfriends and go to the beach? You know, a last hurrah.”
Andrade, seemingly unworried by anything that was being said between his alpha mate and me, nibbled at my shoulder. At the mating mark spot.
“I was still planning to mate him, but when we were leaving he made such a stink, tried to convince me not to go, and generally behaved in a way I’d never known him to before. And I didn’t like it.” I sucked in a breath, remembering the unpleasantness. “My friends’ mates were all so helpful, watching their young while they were away, and I was facing not only a mate who probably wouldn’t do that but one who seemed as if he wanted to control me.” I pushed up and stared down at him. “And I do not want to be treated that way. I want supportive, I want help with childcare, and I want….” Oh gods, how could I say this? “I want someone whose clothes I want to rip off every time I see him.” Lacing my fingers through Zion’s hair, I leaned in and kissed him. I’d kissed Crain, of course, but never like this. The dizziness that had sent me to the doormat outside was nothing in comparison. When we parted for breath, I turned my head and Andrade’s lips were on mine.
After kissing both of them, I sank to the pillow. “Like that. I want that. But I can’t have it because I already promised Crain I would mate him, and if I mate the two of you—even if you still want me to—it’s going to lead to all kinds of problems between the packs.”
I sat up now. “So I should probably go.”
