"Adrian?" Scarlett asked, sliding up to her stepbrother with the sweetest smile she could muster."No," he uttered. She watched as he placed the butter knife he was holding into the sink and wrapped his sandwich."You don't even know what I'm going to say," Scarlett whined."Yeah, I do," Adrian said, giving a humourless smile as he passed her and exited the kitchen.She trailed after him as he went and sat in the living room, getting his phone out to check the time."Why don't you want Riley and me to date?" she asked."Well, because it will get awkward once you figure out he's not what you think and he stomps all over your heart," Adrian said."How do you know I won't break his heart?" Scarlett asked, feeling offended by his assumption. "Why is it not conceivable that he could fall for me?""Because I've seen him do it over and over. He finds a girl, flirts with her, little playfights and touches, then he bangs her, rips her heart out, stomps all over it and never speaks to her agai
As Sienna lay in her bed, she couldn't get Adrian out of her mind. She kept replaying the sex in her head; him pushing her up against the wall and pulling up her skirt. The way he'd encased her hands in his, pressing them flat on the wall as he’d leaned over and bitten down on her earlobe.He'd fucked her so hard she was sore after, and although she hadn't finished at the time, thinking about it had given her more orgasms than she could count. Every time she thought about it her hands would find their way back into her panties.She was about to please herself again when her phone chimed. "Get here in five minutes," it read. "Oh, shit," Sienna muttered, rolling over so fast she tripped on her duvet and fell out of the bed.With no spare minutes to find a decent outfit she pulled on the closest clothes—the exercise pants and top she'd just worn to the gym. At least she looked hot in her gym clothes, even if they did smell a tad funky.She didn't stop to tell her mother she was nipping
Tom caught a glimpse of Adrian as he passed in the hall, smiling under a waterfall of dark hair. He still couldn't believe that this guy was his hero. Deep down he'd known King Cold wasn't a girl. He didn't speak in a feminine manner or act like a girl. Pretending he thought the streamer was a girl was a ploy to stop his mates from calling him gay.'As if they don't hero-worship big sweaty men on the football field,' Tom thought.He wasn't trying to act like a creepy stalker when he wandered over to Adrian's locker and stood, staring like a lunatic as the lad piled books into the shelf and slammed the door.Adrian looked at him and frowned. "Can I... help... you?" Adrian asked and pushed his lips out to the side. He waved his hand in Tom's face. "Hello?""Sorry, I... erm, I just, erm," Tom stuttered as Adrian continued to give him the confused stare."We're having this party on Friday if you want to come?" Tom offered. He wanted Adrian to hang out with him but wasn't sure how to ask
Before school Sienna popped to the shops to fetch the goods she had promised her little brother. She also grabbed an energy drink for herself, as well as a bag of the chocolate covered coffee beans her mother was always snacking on.She was too tired to function on any practical level, and the caffeine only made her feel twitchy as well as drowsy.'I'll sleep during one of my classes,' she decided. 'Nobody will notice.'Seeing Adrian at the gates, her heart did its usual flutter. She waited to see if he would call her over and since he didn’t, she sat alone. Though she wanted to tell her friends what she thought of the series she had binged, she was just too tired to think. "Hey, are you okay?" Tamara asked as her friends spotted her and descended like a flock of seagulls spotting paper-wrapped chips."Hmm, you look tired," Rose said.Sienna tutted and rolled her eyes. "I stayed up all night watching Alpha's Return.""Oh, I'm so glad!" Rose cooed. "What did you think to Marcus?""He
When Scarlett arrived at the Springwood leisure centre she looked around, trying her best to act casually. A couple of guys dribbled footballs around cones while another practised taking shots at the goal. She didn't see Riley anywhere. 'This is insane,' she realised. 'I'm literally stalking him.' She was about to turn back and go home when she overheard Riley shouting in the distance. Hiding behind the foliage, she poked her head up to see him leaving the building with a group of lads. She wasn’t close enough to smell them but they looked weaker and smaller than Riley by quite a large margin. 'So he does have other friends nearer to home,' Scarlett thought, wondering if they were members of his pack--or rather, of Adrian's pack. Then he lifted his leg and kicked the lad beside him so hard that he went skidding face-first across the pavement. As Riley passed the lad he leaned down, made a fist, and laughed when the other boy flinched away. She was staring at him when he looked u
Scarlett laughed, wondering what she would make him do if she won. In her mind's eye, he was bending her over the bed, giving it to her from behind. She was deep in the fantasy when it was her turn to deal.She copied what Riley had done, burning a card before laying out the flop. Somehow, she managed to get through it without accidentally dropping any cards or doing something equally stupid. After a few hands, Scarlett realised live poker was easier than online poker. The guys were easy to read, didn't seem to have a good grasp of mathematical probability and bet big out of bravado when they had awful cards. She ended up winning hand after hand, much to the annoyance of the guys. By the time she won the game, the guys were praising her as a prodigy and a genius. They probably didn't want to admit they were all plain bad at the game. It might hurt their fragile male egos."I'm gonna bring my Mrs next time," one of the guys said. "Now I know we can bring girlfriends.""Sure," Dan shr
Sienna couldn't get Damien's words out of her mind. To be fair, it was a refreshing change of pace to constantly daydreaming about Adrian.She knew her younger brothers were adopted as she had been there during the adoption process. Could she be adopted also?The more she thought about it, the more sense it made. She had thought about it in the past, but pushed it aside and made peace with it, assuring herself it didn’t matter either way.As she pottered about the kitchen, searching for snacks, her mother arrived to replenish the stocks. She dropped two carrier bags and sighed, rubbing the handle marks on her hands. Packets of her brother’s favourite crisps slipped onto the tiles. As she bent to pick them up, Sienna saw her mother bad also bought marshmallows and squirty cream for her hot chocolates."Mum," she blurted. "Am I adopted?"Silence rang as her mother paused in her efforts to shove the shopping into drawers. "Oh, Sweetie," she said at last. "I've been waiting for the righ
She stared down at Damien's boots, listening to the others snicker quietly at her expense. He wore similar boots to Adrian, except they had straps as well as laces and were more beaten up."Hmm, I forgive you I guess," Damien muttered quietly. His tone suggested he didn’t care much. It was only Adrien who seemed angered by this past indiscretion."Thank you," Sienna whispered, sighing with relief.As she went to get up Adrian sprang into action, grabbing her by the neck and forcing her head down."Kiss his boots," Adrian demanded, forcing her face into the dirty leather. "You are grateful, right?"The first thing that occurred to her was his strength. She'd never felt a grip like it. The other thing that struck her as odd was the use of force—surely he knew she would obey either way. When he released his hold on her neck, he sat back cross-legged and smirked."In fact, lick his boots until they're clean," Adrian said. His eyes sparkled with sadistic joy, unblinking as he saw the look
The prison was far more pleasant than Damien had been expecting. Warm, bright and clean, with only a faint whiff of urine and despair. Unlike the werewolves, he had no heightened sense of smell--a fact he was grateful for. It was the single advantage they had over him. He had a plethora of psychic powers, was a hundred times stronger, could fly and in his shifted form... could breathe a fire that burned hotter than the sun's surface. Adrian's face lit up when he saw Damien approach. "I told you, didn't I?" Adrian boasted. He was always boasting. "I said I could get you any girl you wanted. I bet she's just eating out of your hands."Damien smiled as he sat opposite his friend at the white plastic table. "You are the master of manipulation." Damien flattered him. “But is that really what you wish to discuss?”He gave him one of those, 'Really, bitch?' looks until Adrian’s face fell, his chin wobbling for a second before he shut up and looked down.“Why did you eat Tom?” he muttered
Sienna followed Damien to his basement after saying a brief hello to his mother. The woman always seemed to be rushing about with a phone glued to her ear. In all honesty, she was a little intimidating. Damien's father was still out of town, spending most of his time in France since his company had opened a subsidiary out there and he needed to train the managers. Once the pair were alone, Sienna began to feel a level of nervousness that didn't match the situation. She'd never experienced anything like this in her life. Even when alone with Adrian she had retained a modicum of self-confidence, safe in the knowledge that she could seduce the pants off him and had no other duties in her role as his slave.With Damien it was different. There was immense pressure to please him not only physically but mentally and emotionally as well. He was smart, and sarcastic and funny and talented. How could she possibly entertain a mind like his? 'You're more than a bitchy bimbo,' she told herself,
The bus from Springwood rattled and shook as it veered about the winding country lanes. The out-of-town members of her pack were all present—they had just attended the same emergency pack meeting—but there was only one on her mind.As she beside Riley on the bus, Scarlett fought the urge to touch him. Now that Adrian was in prison, she figured he would make a move but so far… nothing. If anything, he seemed even more distant.‘Maybe he’s afraid Adrian will kill him,’ she thought. Adrian was still protesting his innocence, but as a precaution, the pack were now forced to choose an alternate leader. They had only one other Alpha in the younger generation—a twelve-year-old boy who some argued had even greater potential than Adrian. He’d transformed into his wolf—pure white and almost as big as a grown adult—at age eleven and grown stronger and bigger since. Of course, Adrian’s mother was livid. She insisted her son was framed, even accusing the boy Alpha. At that point, the older membe
Sienna got ready in her bedroom, deliberately avoiding her overly concerned mother. Looking into her mirror, she adjusted her hair for the final time. Then, after a second thought, fixed it one more time.Last night she had googled the term, 'goth girl hairstyles,' and showed the picture to the only late opening hairdressers. Her hair was now a silky blue-black with a sharp fringe and much shorter and choppier. She'd put a skull-shaped hairclip in to match the model but worried it didn't look right on her.Using the same picture as a reference, she replicated the girl’s make-up, with smoky eyes and lips so dark they were almost black, hoping to emulate the look. Staring into the mirror, it was as if somebody else was looking back at her. She liked it.'But will he like it?' she wondered. Since her brain had started working again, there was only one person on it... and thankfully it wasn't Adrian. After a final panic in front of the mirror, she left the house, saying a brief goodbye
“I c—can’t b—believe it,” Scarlett stammered between sobs. “I can’t believe he’s gone.”Sienna nodded and pulled her in for a hug. The girl was little, but she was strong, pulling on her jumper so tightly that it strangled her.“He was an asshole, but he was our asshole,” Scarlett said. “In a strange way, I still kind of loved him.”“Me too,” Sienna admitted. "He was my first love. My first kiss."The local newspaper had reported the murder without naming the victim, but in a small town like this one, it wasn’t five minutes after the police arrived that a neighbour had seen, told everyone they knew and spread the news like a depressing game of Chinese whispers.“He wasn’t a bad guy,” Scarlett said. “Not deep down. I think we were too hard on him… and now we’ll never get to make friends again!” She burst into another fit of sobs at this realisation. The thought of never getting to forgive his crimes against her was the most heartbreaking thing for her. “He saved me,” Sienna whispered
When the police knocked at the door Scarlett, her mother and Adrian gathered on the upstairs landing. They heard Ron place his cup down and move to answer it."What's going on?" Scarlett asked her mother.Mum shook her head in confusion. She clearly had no more clue than Scarlett."Let's go and find out," Scarlett said, following her mother down the staircase. Ron pulled open the front door to reveal a couple of police officers. A tall man and a red-haired woman, both in uniform, pulled out their badges“Can I help you?” Ron asked without saying hello or exchanging pleasantries."I’m Sergeant Hobbs and this is Inspector Greenwood," the woman said. “Is Adrian Turner home?”Scarlett wondered if Sienna had reported him for hurting her. She had said she wouldn’t, but people could change their minds. Scarlett wouldn’t blame her. Not one little bit. Adrian deserved to be punished for his behaviour. Being Alpha did not give him free reign to do whatever he wished."Why? Why do you want to s
Tom smiled to himself as he heard the familiar sound of his ringtone buzzing from his pocket. He frowned when he saw it was not Ariella—the cute Swedish healer from his guild—but Damien.After doing a project with the goth kid, he hadn't bothered to remove his number but never guessed that Damien might call him out of the blue like this."Hello?" Tom asked without hiding the confusion in his voice."Tom, I need you to listen to me and not ask your usual 20 questions, okay? I'm out of town, and Sienna just called me from the inside of Adrian's wardrobe. She's claustrophobic, so you need to nip over there and get her out. Got it?"As Damien spoke the words went into Tom's brain and made a certain degree of sense, but unfortunately—he had questions."Huh?" He muttered. "What? Why?"He could sense Damien's stifled but angry sigh."Tom. I'm out of town or I'd go round there myself. You are the only contact in my phone who lives close to Adrian and knows where he lives. Go over there. Go in
Sienna tried not to yawn as she sat beside Adrian, but her body was fatigued, and her mind worn. The more she tried not to yawn, concentrating with all her mind, the more her throat muscles contracted, threatening to let the subtle act of disrespect escape.She covered her face and turned to look out of the window as it slipped out, but he caught her."Am I boring you, Sienna?" he asked."No," Sienna replied with haste. "I, erm, I'm just so exhausted.""Slap yourself in the face," he said. Sienna did so, not hard enough to hurt but with enough force to wake herself up. It surprised her by working... for a couple of seconds at least. Then she wanted to yawn again."I'm not horny," Adrian told her in a conversational tone. "But I am in the mood to see you suffer."Sienna wasn't listening to him. She'd spotted a half-eaten sandwich on the windowsill and couldn't tear her eyes away from it. It appeared to have an egg mayonnaise filling—her favourite. Her mouth watered as she envisioned b
Riley made eye contact for a second before moving to the left and trying to shove his way past. Scarlett stood her ground, refusing to budge from her spot on the stairs. He was either going to have to talk to her or send her flying.He sighed and tutted. "What lie are you talking about?""The one where you said you'd only slept with two girls, and that it was in the past?" Scarlett intoned, sticking out her chin. She could feel her pulse quickening as the strange, brain-swimming feeling returned."Oh jeez," she muttered, stumbling, and almost falling.She would have tumbled down the stairs, but Riley quickly shifted and caught her in his arms. Held closely and coddled like a baby, she stared up at his concerned frown as he took her to her room and gently placed her on the bed.For a moment he sat beside her. He picked up a brush from her bedside table and fiddled with it, head and eyes down before he finally spoke."It's not like that." He shook his head. "That woman I'm seeing... it'