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“You have no idea.” I giggle, leaning back in my seat, the final weight lifting from my shoulders. It all seems possible now that this final puzzle piece is fitting into place. Seline visibly relaxes, her shoulders losing some of the rigidness as she too leans back.
“I really can’t believe—” A knock at the door cuts Seline off abruptly.
My heart starts at the sudden interruption, my stomach sinking as a leaden weight of dread settles in.What if someone overheard our conversation, had heard my admission?No. There’s no way. We both spoke so low that even someone with wolf hearing wouldn’t have been able to hear through the soundproofing.
“There’s probably an issue,” she murmurs to herself, glancing down at her watch. “I’ll go handle everything outside, and you come out whenever you’re done looking around and I’ll get you a drink. It sounds like you need one.”
She makes her way to the door and I almost follow her out there. I’ve already looked over the sterile office and doubt there'll be anything to look through anyway, but something holds me back. Some whisper of fate holding me to my seat.
“You know, he really didn’t come here very often, after everything …” She turns back as she pauses before the door, her hand clasping the silver handle. “I think it brought back too many memories.” Her eyes crease in sympathy, but the knock sounds again, more urgent this time. With that she pulls the door open to reveal a blonde woman, her hair pulled back into a long ponytail, wearing the bartender uniform of a black V-neck tank T-shirt and tight fitting shorts, meaning she must be Lindsey.
“I’ll be out soon,” I wave her off, knowing she needs to run the bar too. I can’t selfishly keep her in here all night with bottles of vodka and orange juice so we can fill each other in on the past ten years properly. There will be time for that another day, and hopefully soon. I need to shirk the tight restraint of the Alpha title for at least one night and catch up with my friend. Hopefully she can give me some sort of insight into my awkward mate situation and I can hear all about the men in her own life.
She gives me an appreciative smile as she closes the door, leaving me alone in the suffocating silence of the office. I shudder at the feeling of unease that creeps over me. The urge to flee back out to the comfort of the thumping bass washes over me but I fight it down. I can’t put my finger on it but I know there’s something in this office. I rise from the uncomfortable chair to examine the files in the back corner. But when I pull them out to my surprise there’s nothing there. Not even financial documents. That wasn’t like my father, he’d always been organized, had always kept some records on the club. Maybe he moved them to his home office? Seline had said he rarely came into the club before his death. I narrow my gaze on the empty cabinets as though they may divulge something if I stare at them hard enough. Nope—nothing.
Lifting a brow, I scan the office skeptically. I’ll have to check his home office to find the paperwork, but something still pulls me to search … but where? There’s no other surface that could hold anything. My jaw grinds in frustration, but I have to leave it for now, it’s too late to tear the office apart. I’ll need to come back during the day if I can’t find anything back at the manor.
Resigned, I stride to the door and pull it open, the pounding bass of the club vibrating through me immediately, greeting me like an old friend. A wave of relief washes over me as I close the door behind me, glad to finally be back out on the floor. A sense of normalcy settles in as my heels clack on the hardwood floor and back out to the bar. For the first time since I returned, I’m starting to feel at home here in Endcliffe. The pain and sorrow that had sucked me into their vortex when I first got here has almost dissipated now. After tonight I feel like I can actually do this. Not only barely survive while I keep my head above water as the Alpha of the Draven pack, but actually thrive while improving the lives of my pack. My heart warms at the thought, and I rub absentmindedly at it, the feeling intensifying as I step back to the bar. It’s as though a bond runs through me to this place, to my home, connecting me to it on a soul deep level. A feeling of rightness, a feeling of home.
I can’t remember the last time I felt like that, yet it feels familiar, almost the same as the—
Realization strikes me like the head of a hammer, slamming me back into my surroundings.Fuck, fuck, fuck, one of them is here. I can’t face them right now—I barely got out of that car with Zeke today—because my feelings for them are shifting, evolving. I need—
I stop in my tracks when my gaze lands on a man that is not one of my mates … well …
He leans an elbow against the bar casually, his deep red hair striking in the muted lights of the club. He stands with his back to me, and even without seeing the full force of him I can sense his power—another alpha. The dominance rolls off him in waves, and I’m not actually sure he’s doing it on purpose. While the black leather jacket pulls against his broad shoulders perfectly, it's his massively deadly aura that I can't pull my attention away from, the distance between us having no effect in diminishing his lethality.
I suck in a sharp breath as he turns towards me, our eyes locking immediately as though he knew exactly where I was all along. Propping his other elbow onto the bar, he reveals a sliver lighter clasped between his fingers. I’m mesmerized by it for a moment as he flicks it open, the move effortless. My mind completely hazes over the risk as he rolls the flint, the flame flickering to life instantly. I’m drawn to it like a moth, the light so vibrant and playful, exuding the same energy that pours from his soul.
The bond sears into my chest, like scorching flames stretching between us and burning his essence into my soul. My alpha powers instinctually reach out to him and his follow, answering that question. They envelope each other, melding so completely I’m not sure for a moment where he ends and I begin. A melody seems to echo from them like it did with the others, the beautiful sound for our ears alone, our private moment while surrounded by a sea of people. The sound crashes like cymbals, ratcheting up the staccato of my already pounding heart.
It takes a great deal more effort than I’d like to admit to draw my gaze away from the swift movement. His amber eyes are ravenous as they rove over me, and I can almost feel the heat radiating out from them burning along my skin. Despite the fire that dances there, I don’t miss the shadows of pain they cast, hiding deep within, a feeling I can relate to all too well.
The bond pulses between us, drawing me into him, like a fly caught in a web. He's intoxicating, and addictive already, and I haven’t even spoken a word to him. Fuck, I never even knew that I like beards until these men, because I can’t help but want to run my fingers over his thick red whiskers. But I keep my feet firmly cemented in place, unable to actively think clearly with the heat fogging my mind as the flame casts an orange glow over his face, making him look both wicked and enticing at the same time.
My wolf vibrates with excitement at finding another mate, the sensation washing over me, mixing with my own disbelief. After all these years, these men are just showing up one after the other, but I guess that’s to be expected having been so far removed from shifter society all that time.
Well, fuck, I guess I have a third mate. Hopefully he plays well with others because judging by the way his grin widens in wicked delight at the sight of me, I don’t think I’ll be able to escape his fiery energy, even if I wanted to.
Chapter Sixteen
Everett
Mythickbootsslapagainst the hardwood floor as I pace before my desk, needing some way to release the nervous energy thrumming within me. I've always been controlled—not calm, never calm—but I’ve never had this much anxiety pent up within me. I clench my fist at my side and glance down, watching my skin pull taught in anger, wishing I could slam my knuckles into the wall, or better yet that Zeke’s face. I grind my jaw at the thought of what he’s been doing today with our mate. The asshole better hurry up before I really decide to lay into him the moment his smug face opens that door.
I glance to said door, hoping just thinking that pain in my ass’ name will finally make him appear in the room. But to my annoyance, he remains absent. I stuff my hand into my pocket to check my phone, and almost chuck the thing clear across the room at the lack of new notifications on the screen.
Thoughts of our mate, Skylar, fill my mind, and I realize my mistake too late. I’ve let the floodgates open, which I’d carefully locked shut. What I really need is to throw her lithe form on my desk and strip off every piece of her clothing with my teeth. I’d punish her by taking my time, leaving her panting and begging for my cock. It would be my retribution for the heartache she’s caused already and the overwhelming panic that had gripped me when I saw Zeke lifting her motionless form from the back of his car, cradling her back carefully as the flesh had been cut to ribbons. If they hadn’t already killed the fucker that mauled her, I would have hopped in the car and driven there to do it myself, slaughtering everyone I saw until I smelt the tang of her sweet cloying blood on their claws.
Oh, I’ll make her pay. I’ll make sure she’s shaking and dripping wet before I sink my cock into her soaked core. Screams of pleasure will pierce through the entire compound, letting everyone know I’m claiming my mate, taking every ounce of frustration and pain out of the bond as I pound into her tight pussy.
A groan slips from my lips and I sit at my desk, wanting to hide the thickening bulge pressing against the tight fabric of my jeans before Zeke comes in. I would never hear the end of it if he caught that. Leaning back in the chair I stroke a hand over my length, to create some friction, despite my wish for my hand to be hers, or better yet for her pretty lips to wrap around my hard cock. My mind drifts back to the pack celebration, at the way her eyes refused to leave me, at the hunger that flashed in her gaze as I stroked myself.
The sight of her lips parting as her orgasm crashed over her is etched into the back of my mind and on replay every night as I imagine it was my mouth on her slick heat, my tongue that brought her to release. The only difference would have been that I would have made her scream my name as she came, regardless of the table crowded with my betas. Because despite all her pretty lies, I can tell who she wants to fuck her until the sun crests the horizon, who sparks that passion within her, and it sure as hell isn’t that beta of hers.
“You dirty fucker, you’re thinking about her aren’t you?” Zeke’s amused tone breaks through my inner thoughts and my hand automatically slams back onto my desk.
“Where the hell have you been?” I growl, needing to change the subject, but judging by that gleam in his eyes, he knows exactly what I was doing. Well screw him. I’m sure he’s jerked off to the thought of Sky plenty of times since they’ve met, especially after seeing her curled up in his sheets,lucky bastard.
