I feel a little better once I've put myself together.I pull on my favorite leggings and sports bra, and one of Ike's sweatshirts. I wear my socks and Birkenstocks and leave my hair down to dry.I step outside and scan the area. Everything seems quiet. A lot of people have come back by now. Some are arranging things in the middle of the pack; some are off doing their own thing.I stick my nose up in the air, inhaling deeply. I could smell a lot of things. Wet moss, cold cuts, perfume, beer. But I was looking for one smell in particular. The smell of my mate.He's behind us. I nod and begin making my way around to the back of the house. My heart was racing. Why was I so nervous?I broke through the trees, stretching my ears and nose out to try and narrow down where he was. My senses weren't quite as good as my panthers. I had to focus more on picking through each individual scent and noise. I would let her take over, but I wanted to be able to communicate with my new mate when I found h
Surely this couldn't be what Ike was keeping from me for the past few weeks.Surely, he wouldn't hide something so... big from me.Right?That's what I kept telling myself as I stood in the forest in front of my new mate, who was currently staring at me waiting for a reaction.I looked up at the sky. It was already starting to get dark. Anyone could see winter was almost upon us.What are we going to do about this? Whether or not Ike lied, we now have two mates. One of which is a very protective Alpha.I looked back into the eyes of my new mate."What's your name?" I ask.He seems to think for a second before responding. "Nate." I nod, pursing my lips."Well, Nate. I guess we might as well get this over with. The sooner we tell Ike about this the sooner he can get the fuck over it." I say sharply. I turn away from him, back towards the direction of the pack."I sense some hostility towards Ike coming from you." He says as he follows closely behind me. So closely in fact that he's smack
"If you don't hurry, they'll catch you." I nodded seriously and grabbed Charlie's hand, letting him tug me through our family's house. We winded through the hallways and down the stairs, stretching our ears out for any noise and peeking around corners at every turn. Our parents would kill us both if they caught us right now."Okay. Mom is in the kitchen. That means we're going to have to run past her and out the front door as fast and as quietly as possible. Got it?" Charlie whispered to me about halfway down the stairs.I can feel my heart thumping in my chest so hard it feels like I'm going to choke. I can tell he's about to make a run for it. He's leaning back on his left foot, and forward with his right. He's crouched down low, watching our mother in the kitchen for the perfect chance to sneak past her.And then I felt him squeeze my hand tightly, signifying we were about to move. I bit my lip, and we darted past the kitchen, through the front entrance, and finally slipped out the
I sat upright in my bed quickly, my breathing hard and my heart racing frantically. Charlie's face was still floating through my mind, making my throat tighten with the threat of tears. I hadn't dreamt of him in so long it had been starting to feel like he was never really real. I tried not to think about him too much; it just made me sad to wonder what happened to him and if he hated his murderous sister.My eyes darted around the room, taking in my surroundings.I was in our bed. The sun was streaming through the cream colored curtains. Ike wasn't in here, and from the stale smell of him lingering in the air, he hadn't been here all night. I guess he kind of had a right to be annoyed at the very least...Yesterday...The second Nate and I came into view of the pack, mayhem ensued.Three guards came rushing at us and grabbed my new mate, ripping his hand out of mine in the process. Despite my protest and attempts to explain he wasn't a kidnapper, they still shoved him on the ground an
Without even looking back I can tell Nate is following by the ever present warmth he gives off. I hadn't really planned on talking to Ike about this with Nate in the room, but it didn't seem like he was giving me an option to go solo.I could feel the guard's eyes following after us and could hear whispering. Great. I couldn't wait to hear what kind of rumors this little event would produce. Although, they might not actually be that far off this time.The walk back to our house felt longer than it normally did. We all walked in a straight line, me staring at Ike's back, Nate hovering behind me. All of us silent, the tension thick and heavy. I was dreading this conversation. You haven't done anything wrong. I kissed another man. You kissed your mate.We all file into the living room, Ike closing the door behind us and immediately heading for the kitchen. I bet he was going to make coffee. Nate and I just kind of stood there. I don't know why I was being so awkward. Ike had said this wa
"Hi, Ike, I assume. I'm Nate." I furrow my brow in confusion and look back where Nate has stood up and is holding his hand out towards Ike. Ike looks at it for a second before standing up and accepting his hand. From the way both their hands turn white I assume they're both trying to prove they have the more death crushing grip."So. You're the Alpha here, huh?" Nate says, crossing his arms and staring at Ike. They were both puffed up and serious looking. It made me roll my eyes and look away. Boys."And Cleo is my Luna.""Not yet." I mutter. Ike peers around Nate at me, glaring daggers at me."What do you mean by that, Cleo?""I mean I still have to fight all the cunts who want to sit on your cock tomorrow, don't I?" I snap, throwing my own mean glare at Ike."Why are you being like this?" He asks, stepping around Nate to stand in front of me. Nate was watching with a growing grin on his face. He looked like an evil criminal when he smiled like that, and he did it a lot so far. Cours
Nate and Levi got along a lot better than I thought they would.They shook hands after I introduced them. Then Nate asked him where he was from, then he started asking him about fighting styles. Now they're talking about the places they've both seen and common acquaintances they've made on the road."How are you feeling about all this?" I hear Willow whisper to me. I was still leaning against her shoulder and didn't plan on moving until someone pried me off. I didn't know a lot about Willow, and she didn't know much about me. But I could tell we both felt the bond between us growing, and I didn't plan on ignoring it. It had been a long time since I had a female friend I could bare everything to."I'm... not not happy. I know I'm extremely nervous about how all this is going to work. Ike and I are just getting into a comfortable routine, and this is definitely going to put a kink in that." I decided to leave out the part about Ike lying. It wasn't that I didn't trust Willow, I just tho
We continued on towards the trees, Nate pressed against my side the entire time. Was he always going to be like this? Usually, the longer someone has been waiting for a mate, the more intensely they feel about them. Lucky me."So why is it that they call you Luna, but call him Ike?""I don't actually know the answer to that. Maybe they're just not used to me yet." I say with a shrug."I always thought it was kind of weird. How wolves call their Alpha's "Alpha." It's so formal.""Yeah, it is a bit old school."Finally, we break through the tree line. I pause and turn around to Nate. "I'm going to shift. You obviously can too if you want." He grins, and immediately peels his shirt off. Oh, sweet fucking Jesus. He is very yummy looking. His broad, muscular shoulders, strong looking arms with giant hands make me want to lick him all over. He had strong sex lines disappearing into his jeans that made my stomach tingle. "Hey. Eyes are up here." He says but when I do look up at him, he's sm
"You little shit, get your ass back here." I laugh from my spot on the kitchen counter, watching Nate chase our naked child, Liam around the living room with a yellow bath towel clutched in his hand. Liam stops then, turning around to grin at his dad. He was only three, but was already extremely mobile, and had a smile just like his dad's. "Are you going to help me?" Nate sighs, glaring up at me as Liam yells and resumes running around like a mad man with his arms up in the air. I shake my head a little, pointing to where Liam is now standing on the couch. He grins at his dad, who finally swoops in and grabs him in his arms, wrapping the towel around him tightly as he does so. "Ha! Got you!" Nate declares as he wrestles Liam so he's upside down in his arms. He squeals with delight as Nate carries him like that back towards his room to put clothes on, calling him a weakling the entire time. But Liam loves it. He loves his dad, and he loves playing and "fighting" with him.I smile a
Why is it so often when I'm waking up in the morning, I'm in pain? I groan, stretching my arms above my head and blinking away sleep. I wince as harsh daylight assaults my eyes. My head pounds, and I bring a hand up to rub at my temple."Fuck." I groan, sitting up and leaning against the bed's headboard. I look down at where Ike is facing away from me, towards the wall, hugging himself and with no blanket. Nate is on the other side, also facing away, burrioted up in the entire blanket. I fall forward and start to crawl between them to get out of the bed. I stop when I feel a hand grabbing my ankle. Nate's green eyes are already staring at me. He's rolled over and untucked himself from his blanket tomb. "You're not going to make me chase you again, are you?" I furrow my brow, sitting in a crawling position, trying to think why I would run away. "Oh." I say when I finally realize what Ike had done to Nate last night. I didn't actually see anything, but I remember one of Ike's hands
I leave Ike at the bottom of the stairs, taking Cleo into my bedroom first and laying her down gently. She starts wiggling around, smiling and rubbing all over the sheets. Weirdo. I go back for Ike, who is pulling himself up the stairs, or trying to. He's got one hand on the second step, his other on the first. "Can I help you?" I ask, bending down to wrap one of his arms around my shoulder and putting my arm around his middle. "Here we go." He mumbles as I half drag him to my bed.I let him fall onto it, barely avoiding Cleo, who has taken her leggings off finally and is laying like a starfish on the bed. I sigh. I turn and flip the light off, kicking my shoes off as I do. Off come my pants and shirt. "Move." I huff, closing Cleo's legs and scooting her to one side of the bed. "You too." Ike listens for once, but only because he wants to be Cleo's big spoon. I roll my eyes and fall into the empty space beside them.I lay on one arm, staring at the ceiling for a moment before clo
"You know what her parents told me earlier?" Ike tilts his head to stare at me. I shake my head. "They told me, that this is the last time they'll be seeing Cleo." I freeze at his words. My eyes dart around to try and find the two in question. "Don't bother looking for them. They went back to their place and are leaving first thing in the morning. They aren't even planning on saying goodbye." He shakes his head at me. "I mean, why come in the first place?" He scoffs, finishing off his drink. "Just to rub it in her face that you exist?" He's staring at Cleo, muttering to himself now really more than talking to me. "Did they say why?" I nudge him to try and get his drunk ass to focus. He kind of blinks and shakes his head before looking back to me again. "They said they couldn't stay or come visit her because of the rules of being part of The Circle," He scoffs at their title. "And that she couldn't visit them because if anyone knew they had a daughter out there they'd try and make he
My peace with Cleo is ripped away by that fuck head Thomas, who snatches Cleo away over his shoulder and yells something about loving tequila. Had he just been waiting for the perfect chance to steal her away again? "Oh my god." I rub the bridge of my nose and make eye contact with Cleo as she sits up on Thomas to grin at me like a child. I lean back and cross my arms as I watch him take her to a group of guards. "I got her!" He yells in victory. The guards cheer and whoop in excitement. "Your mates have had enough of your time!" Zach proclaims as Thomas sets Cleo down. "And besides, it's your turn to chug something!" I groan, and I'm about to rush over and stop her, but I halt when Ike and Parker walk up to me from their spot in the crowd. "I wanted to introduce you two." Ike says, stopping in front of me. I'm half sitting, half standing, midway to snatching Cleo away from the frat boys. I glance at her for a second and see her snapping the neck off a bottle of tequila. I sigh,
"Why do you people insist on doing this to me?" She complains as I carry her away from her group of fans. "It's just easier than arguing with you." I reply. She makes an offended noise, struggles to sit up for a moment, and then flicks me on the back of the head. I roll my eyes, hiking my shoulder up a little into her gut and smiling at the noise she makes. I approach a table that's empty on one end and set Cleo down in a chair. "Wait here." I look her in the eye to make sure she's paying attention, and then turn to track down some water.I spot coolers near one of the tables closest to the fire and make my way through chatting and drinking people. I didn't realize how many people were a part of Ike's pack now a days until they were all converged together like this.I finally make it to the line of eight coolers and start opening them to find one not filled to the brim with liquor. Finally, I get my hands on a cold bottle of water. There was only a single cooler with them in it; ty
Fuck that guy. Fuck him. I fucking hated him. He was fucking dick. I wanted to shove his face into the ground and rub it in. I ran through the trees, pine needles whipping at my panther's face as we escaped, past the pack's borders, further and further into the forest. My rage drives me to run for almost three hours before my panther finally stops, gasping for air and muscles aching. He finds a stream nearby and hunches over to take a long drink before we head back. What did I think was going to happen? I mean, I knew who this guy was, or at least what other's told me about him. And no one had anything good to say, not so far. They all said he was mean, and petty, and demanding as hell. He abandoned me in the woods to fend for myself when I so small, I couldn't even remember it happening. But the way he looked at me, pissed me off. Like I was scum. Like I was the one who should be begging for forgiveness. He was the asshole.But as we start running back to our pack, I can't st
I look away from the lively party scene after a moment, back to the table behind me. "Ooo." I snatch an unopened bottle of tiny blue vodka someone had left behind. Hoped they hadn't planned on coming back for it. "Excuse you." I make a whining noise when Nate is snatching the bottle from my lips before I can chug it. "Drink this instead." I sigh at the cold bottle of water he's put in my hand. "If I must." I crack the top. "You must." He plops in a chair beside me, sighing heavily and watching me drink. "Where have you been?" I ask once I've twisted the top back on the now half empty bottle. "You've been gone a really long time." I raise by brows at him, and the corner of his lip lifts up a little."And that drove you to drink?" I laugh loudly. "No, I just felt like it was time to get drunk." "Right." He nods, eyeing me. I blink innocently at him. "Can I say something?" I blurt out as he watches me. He ticks his eyebrow. "I think your dad is a fucking chode." He shakes his hea
"You better chug that shit!" "Come on bitch!" I jump in the air, yelling with Noah and Thomas at Zach, who was halfway through chugging an entire bottle of peach flavored vodka. "Don't be a pussy!" I punch him in the arm, a grin spread across my face. He pushes me off a little, flipping me off and continuing to guzzle the artificially flavored rubbing alcohol. "Let's go!" Thomas yells, throwing his half full beer on the ground in overly excited celebration at his friend finally reaching the neck of the bottle. Zach holds his hand up, and we all stare at him silently in eager anticipation for a moment, until he finally pulls the empty bottle away and makes a loud "ah" noise like it was a refreshing drink on a hot day. "Suck it, sluts." He slurs, grinning at us and throwing the bottle on the ground. I laugh, clapping my hands and stumbling back a little. "You thought I couldn't do it." He points his finger towards me, wiggling it a little in my face. I grin and clap him on the shou