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
Why are they standing so close together?I couldn't respond, because they were in fact standing very close together. Angel was looking up into Ike's eyes, and he was looking down into hers. She was breathing hard, and her face was flushed, Ike looked like his normal calm and composed self. Her hand was grabbing his, and their chests were inches apart.I couldn't stop my panther when she screamed into the forest and leaped at Angel, claws aimed for her face.My panther does not miss.And this time was no exception.I felt her claws sink into Angel's flesh, followed by a piercing scream. I felt Ike's hands roughly grabbing my panther by the shoulders and Nate yelling at me to stop. He must have shifted back.But my panther didn't care. She didn't care even when she heard Ike yelling that it wasn't what it looked like. She sank her teeth into Angel's shoulder, not flinching a muscle as Angel kicked at her and tried shoving her fingers in my panther's eyes. I could tell she was trying to
"Are your feet okay?" Nate asks after a minute of us walking. I pause and look down at the forest floor. There were rocks everywhere and pine needles and spiky sticks. I was just walking over them with my bare feet without a second thought."You know. To be honest with you, I walk around barefoot so much that I don't think my feet even have feeling anymore.""A true adventurer." Nate says with a grin. I smile and look away as we keep walking. "Hey, can I ask you something?" He asks. I nod, glancing at him. "Who was that girl? Ike wasn't interested in answering my questions after I knocked you out.""That's Angel. We're not exactly best friends.""Why is that?""Well, I don't know for sure, but I think she was probably telling Ike how much better she is for him than I am. I mean, she's said it to my face before so why wouldn't she say it to him?" That's not exactly what she had said to me, but it was close enough."She said that to you?" I nod again. "She seems slimy." I snort at the a
Present....I sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, collecting myself before I began my day. It was sure to be a crazy one.The challenge ceremony will start at ten o'clock tonight. Which meant I would have an entire day to be anxious about it. I was supposed to be going shopping with Willow and Levi for something to wear before and after all the fighting was done, something nice was what Ike told me to get when he gave me his credit card two days ago. They hadn't really given me a time, so I guess I would just get ready and go find them.I heard moving coming from the bathroom across the hall from the bedroom. I scrunched up my brow and moved to the door, pushing my ear against it and listening.It wasn't Ike, I could tell by the lack of his smell. It must've been Nate then.I felt bad. After my shower last night, I had claimed to be tired and gone right to bed. I left him to fend for himself in a stranger's home. I already knew you were rude.I opened the bedroom door at the sam
I shake my head clear and head into the bathroom. I had no time to obsess over my crush on Nate right now.I wipe the steam from the mirror and make eye contact with myself. My eyes look puffy. I didn't sleep well last night. I was wondering what Ike was doing all night and wondering if Angel was still alive. The few hours of sleep I did get were filled with dreams I didn't want to have.It doesn't take me long to get ready, I just wash my face, brush my teeth and hair, and throw on my normal leggings and one of Ike's sweatshirts. I hope it was still okay I was wearing this. He seemed pretty mad last night. He wouldn't break up with me because of this... would he?Nate is on the couch when I finally make my way out, fully dressed in his same all black attire and reading one of Ike's books."Roles in the Wolf Pack? Doesn't seem like your kind of book." I comment as I sit down next to Nate so I can pull my socks on."I was bored." He says as he closes the book and sets it down on the co
The mall we were going to... wasn't amazing.The town we were in wasn't a big city. It had plenty of businesses and restaurants and pretty nature to look at, but lacked shopping and indoor things to do. This mall had probably...fifteen stores. Not awful, but not great either. No food court either. I felt my heart breaking at this realization. It was already twelve o'clock and I hadn't had anything to eat all day.Levi had parked in front of the main entrance. It was twelve o'clock in the middle of a weekday, so it was pretty empty. There were only a few moms pushing strollers along and old people power walking through the aging mall."So what kind of get up are you supposed to be getting?" Nate asks me as our group approaches a small map of the place. I tilt my head to the side and look at the map. What was I supposed to be getting?"You should get something comfortable that you feel confident in. No one is expecting you to wear anything formal." Willow says as she steps around the g
I had never felt my heartbeat so hard before.It felt like it was going to beat right out of my chest."Cleo! It's so nice to finally meet you. I've been hearing a lot..." I was currently talking to an Alpha of a pack in the next state over from us. We had rushed home after the mall, and I had hurried to get ready. Willow, Levi, and Nate were all dragged off to help set up the dinner tables, since it was now getting later, and food would be expected soon. Which was good, because I was fucking starving.The second I had stepped out of my front door, I had been dragged off to the set up picnic tables in the middle of the pack to introduce myself to everyone.That was an hour ago.Since then, I've been talking to random people I've never seen before and will probably never see again talking about bullshit I don't care about. How was I liking my new pack? How did Ike and I meet? Did we have plans to have a child soon?Not to mention, I hadn't seen Nate since we got back, and I'm not even
"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