Chapter Four ~ Risk it all

Once my laughter ceased, I glanced up at Olivia. She stood in front of me with her hands on her hips and a completely unimpressed look on her face. I sat upright and composed myself.

“What’s so damn funny?” She snapped at me, and I found it hard not to chuckle again.

I decided to wind her up, I couldn’t help it, she looked like such a cute little angry woman.

“What if I don’t want to?”

“Huh?” She asked in confusion.

I stood up and strolled towards her. I slipped my hand around her waist, resting it on the small of her back, before yanking her body close to mine. With my other hand I swept her long blonde hair behind her ear as I leaned in. As my breath brushed against her cheek, I could hear her heart speeding up, her breathing became labored, and I knew she was attracted to me on some level.

I made sure my voice was low and smooth as I said,

“What if I say no. What reason could you possibly have to reject me?”

“I... Um...” She stuttered.

“Unless you can give me a valid reason as to why I should call this whole thing off, I can’t see why I shouldn’t mark you right here, right now...” I whispered in a husky tone as I moved my lips closer to her skin. “I know you’re attracted to me. Your body is screaming out for me to bite you.”

“No!... No, it’s not... Mmmm,” her protesting quickly turned into a delicious moan when my lips met the delicate spot of flesh between her neck and her shoulder. As a Scion, she was instinctively attracted to future or current Alphas, Sires, and Kings. It was her bodies way of making sure only the best would father her children.

In all honesty, I was being an asshole, taking advantage of her body’s natural instincts. If I was going to let my father and pack down, and hers, I needed a very good reason to. Not just because she demanded it. I also doubted that she would openly tell me that she was in a relationship with that shifter, so I needed a way of coaxing it out of her. Also, I won’t lie, it was fun to tease her a little. My bad-boy antics had all but ceased lately, and it was exciting to play the role again, even if it was only for a short while.

“Well, if there is nothing to stop me, I guess I’ll just give your body what it wants.”

I opened my mouth, making her body shudder as my lips brushed against her skin. I extended my canines and as they scraped along her flesh I began to panic, shit, is she not gonna stop me? Crap! I tilted my head back as my canines extended to their fullest, by now my wolf instinct had taken over and I couldn’t stop myself.

I let out a growl as I threw my head forward, ready to plunge my teeth into her neck. With my eyes closed I didn’t see her fist flying toward my face. It cracked me in the side of the head, making me lose my footing and crash to the floor.

“Shit, why'd you do that?”

“Why do you think? You were gonna mark me, you son of a bitch!” She growled while giving me a swift kick to the gut.

As I exhaled heavily, I couldn’t help but begin to chuckle again.

“Now why are you laughing? Do you need me to kick the crap out of you, you damn creep?” She pulled her leg back ready to kick me again, and as funny as the situation was, I didn’t like where her foot was aimed.

I quickly covered my crown jewels with one hand and waved the other in the air,

“No. No stop. It was a joke, I swear.”

She lowered her foot to the ground and with a little stamp replied,

“A joke? Well, forgive me for not seeing the funny side of you marking me against my wishes.”

She was angry and she had every right to be. If I was in her position, I guess I wouldn’t have been best pleased either. “Christ, what sort of pack are you from? My father said you were from a respectful and caring pack. I guess he got that completely wrong,” she mumbled as she made her way over to the couch.

I dragged myself off the floor while she took a seat. Rubbing my jaw, I replied,

“No, he didn’t. We are a good pack, and I’m not all that bad, I promise.”

“Then why pull a stunt like that? You were acting like a damn Neanderthal.”

“I was just playing, I wanted to know if what I saw was correct,” I explained while sitting down on the couch opposite her.

With a confused expression, she asked,

“What did you see?”

“You, being in love with that human shifter.”

“Shhh!” She protested in a panic as she rushed over towards me. “Please, don’t let them hear you,” she begged while roughly grabbing my face.

I sat there in shock, and just nodded in agreement. She let out a sigh of relief then slumped back onto the couch. “I knew today was a bad idea. We always say that we’re gonna control ourselves, but it never works out. I can’t believe we were so stupid.” She sat back up and gazed into my eyes, I could see tears filling up her own. “Please, I’m begging you, don’t tell anyone. My father will kill us.”

The sadness in her face threw me. She really loved the shifter, and I couldn’t understand why her father wouldn’t let the pair of them be together.

“I won’t, I swear. But why can’t you be together? I know your father wants you to be with an Alpha, but surely if you’re in love, he can make an exception for a King?”

She sighed again.

“If only it were that simple. She isn’t a King, or Queen for that matter. She is just a normal tribe member.” She sat back and covered her face. “It’s such a mess. We've loved each other for years. I have tried everything I could to put off meeting any of the future mates my father had picked out for me. And I’ve tried everything to pave the way to coming out to him, and explaining what, and who I want, but he’s so traditional and set in his ways.”

“I’m so sorry Olivia, I had no idea.”

“It’s okay, you weren’t supposed to know. I’m just sorry you’ve had a wasted journey.”

I sat back against the couch and turned my head to face her.

“Maybe I haven’t?” She turned her head and glanced at me with a questioning look. “Maybe I can help you?”

She sat up, giving me her full attention.

“How?”

“Maybe we can come up with a plan that benefits us both? My family will get off my back for a while, and you can finally be with your shifter.”

“Claudia,” she stated. “I’m listening. What do you have in mind?”

“Maybe we should discuss this somewhere away from our parents?”

“Oh. Agreed.”

We had dinner with our parents, and afterwards, we told them that we needed to get to know each other better. Olivia told them that she was going to be showing me the nightlife around town. Our parents didn’t suspect a thing and actually seemed excited for us. Little did they know, we’d soon be playing them all.

We got ready as if we were going dancing, and I have to say Olivia looked amazing. If this wasn’t all a lie, she would definitely be someone I could see myself with. She stashed a bag in her car which had a spare set of clothes and pajamas for us both. We were going to be calling her father later and letting him know that we were too drunk to come home and that we'd be staying at a hotel.

We said our goodbyes and headed off to the hotel. We had already booked a room and Claudia would be meeting us there. I had a few ideas about how to help them, and to be honest, it would help me in the long run. My dad would back off and leave me to it, thinking I was courting Olivia. I still loved Aubrey. Being away from her was hurting more and more with every passing hour.

Having Olivia and Claudia to focus on, helped me keep her out of my thoughts for a while. Maybe bringing two people together would calm my broken heart a little. I didn’t know what the future held, but I knew I’d do everything I could to make sure these two women could build a future together. Love should always come first. I just wished that Aubrey wanted me enough to risk it all.