by E. M. Moore
Several days pass, and Sean doesn’t get another chance at me because Kinsey is always there. And I mean always. From sunup to sundown, she’s at the cabin like she’s my personal protector. Sean got so frustrated yesterday that he bailed out of our walk midway through a pretend tour of Daybreak’s downtown that Kinsey inserted herself into.
We laughed our asses off when he made up a story about a work emergency.
This afternoon, I’m sitting in the passenger seat of her car on the way back into the center of the city. Jonah had to step away to do some security checks for Alpha Greystone before he arrives tonight for the festival. “What are we doing again?” I ask Kinsey.
She’s been skirting around my inquiries concerning our little impromptu detour, which Nathan was not happy about. My new phone pings, and I read the text he sent to check in with me. All good, I reply.
I understand what Kinsey went through with Jonah now. I don’t understand the nature and science of Nathan taking on the mate personality traits, but I’m not questioning it. It’s obvious that’s the way it is.
“You’ll see,” Kinsey replies.
I lean back in the seat. “I’m so happy you came when you did. They still haven’t lifted the restrictions. If I’m going Feral in less than a week, at least I get to go out and do stuff before then.”
“You’re not going Feral,” she states like it’s as simple as that.
I don’t argue with her; however, last time I checked, she had no sway over pack decisions. We still can’t find my phone, and the only thing we’ve been able to do after being restrained to the cabin is keep Sean away from me. It’s not as if Nathan and I can sneak out at night to spy on Sean and Gayle. I’m almost ready to tell Kinsey to lay off so that I can give them an opportunity to make their move—lure them in, so to speak.
Kinsey drives through our small downtown and parks in one of our public lots close by everything. She leads me out of the car, and her own phone pings. No doubt it’s Jonah, who’s been checking in with her, too.
She leads me toward a side street and stops in front of a small dress shop. I eye her. “What’s this?”
“I don’t have a dress for the ball, and neither do you.”
I scoff. “Yeah, pretty sure I’ll have to wear this,” I tell her, fingering the hem of my Greystone Academy skirt.
Kinsey turns up her nose. “Let’s hope not. You’re way too hot to be covered in that.”
The smell of vanilla filters through the air as soon as we enter the shop. The woman behind the desk greets us, only giving me a second glance to notice what I’m wearing. Kinsey takes charge. “We need two dresses for the Winter Solstice ball.”
The woman plants her hands together in front of her like she was put on this earth to do just that one thing. “I have a vast collection. Feel free to look around and take some off the rack. I’ll get two dressing rooms ready for you ladies.”
“Thank you.” Kinsey smiles, wrapping her arm in mine and dragging me through the store. It’s not that I don’t love the idea of dressing up, especially after having worn this for the last few days. Ever since I was a young pup, I’ve dreamed of dancing in a beautiful dress at one of the balls, but everything is so tainted by what’s going on right now that I can hardly find any enjoyment in this.
Kinsey spots me moping at the line of gowns and frowns. “Not that this will be your last hoorah, but if it was, wouldn’t you want an opportunity to wear a pretty dress to a ball before you go?” She lowers her voice. “Especially if Nathan’s going to be there.”
I blink at her, a solid plate of ice forming in my stomach.
She eyes me knowingly. “You could’ve told me,” she chastises.
I give her big, worried eyes. “How do you even know?”
She moves closer so there’s no chance that we can be overheard. “I see the way he acts around you. It reminds me of someone else I know,” she says wistfully, and I’m sure she’s picturing Jonah in her head.
“I didn’t want to bring you into that. It’s bad, Kinsey. We could—”
“It’s not like I’m going to say anything. I love you two together.” She flips through gowns on the rack like we’re simply having a conversation about the weather. “From this point forward, trust me with everything. I’m serious about helping. No friend of mine is going Feral. Especially one who helped me through one of the most difficult times of my life.”
I wrap my hand in hers, out of view from everyone else.
She squeezes me back. “Let’s pick out a few, and then we’ll talk strategy. Plus, I want to hear all about him,” she says. “We can talk boys.”
I chuckle and roll my eyes. Kinsey’s so different from the girl who showed up at the academy. I like both versions of her–the fierce one and this one. I only hope I have as much fierceness in me like Ms. Ebon pointed out. If I’m to survive this, I’m going to need it.
Kinsey and I try on dozens of dresses. She decides on a beautiful, shimmering, midnight blue that hugs her curves and ends on a small train. I choose a stunning black one that skirts the floor and laces all the way up the back into a collar around my neck. We both felt that the black suited me better than the purple one I’d also loved. Unfortunately, the purple in my hair and the purple in the gown clashed.
We sip from the glasses of wine that the store owner provided us as she rings up our orders. It was such a happy, carefree hour that it’s hard to step back out into the real world.
With the dresses in fancy garment bags, we make our way back to the car. Kinsey hangs both of them on the rear seat hooks and then starts to drive. When we’re out of town, she says, “Okay, let’s talk. I’ll just cruise, and you get everything out. And I mean everything.”
I don’t even know where to start. As much as I’d love to gush about Nathan the whole time, the reality is, I’m not sure if that’s what’s in my future. “I don’t know what I’m going to do, Kinsey. Lydia seems to have a hard-on for getting me out of the academy. Nathan and I thought I could just get Sean back, but that doesn’t seem to be an option now. So, I can go Feral or I can turn Sean in.”
“Sean should go down,” Kinsey grinds out. “Asshole. But there has to be another option besides Feral.”
“I wish,” I huff, rolling my eyes. “The hairdresser at Greystone mentioned some community of wolves that accepted Ferals, but that sounds like a bunch of fantasy bullshit. Who would do that?”
“Wait. What?”
I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter. Either way, I lose Nathan. We go Feral, we both die. We turn Sean and Gayle in, if by chance we find evidence, who knows what will happen to us. We’ll have to live in secrecy for the rest of our lives.”
“Mia, wait. This other community, that could be your ticket to safety. Yours and Nathan’s. If they accept Ferals, I find it hard to believe that they would care you weren’t really mated.”
“It’s only a rumor, Kinsey. I can’t stake my life on a rumor.”
“Humor me. What did Grace say?”
I blow out a breath. I shouldn’t have told her about it in the first place. I need real, concrete routes to take. She glares at me, and I crumble. “Okay. She says it’s in Twilight Pack. Well, not exactly in Twilight Pack. Near Twilight Pack. That’s the pack where the—”
Kinsey snaps her fingers as she takes a right, heading down a narrow street. “That’s the pack where the alpha heir ended up at Greystone, right?”
I nod in agreement. “It’s rumored the brother bribed the future alpha’s mate to reject him so he could become alpha. The guy went Feral. Of course, no one knows what became of him. He’s probably skeletons in the woods by now,” I say off-handedly.
“Did you tell Nathan about this? What does he think?”
“I honestly can’t remember if I did or not,” I tell her. “There’s been so much that’s happened. If I did, he obviously thinks it’s a pipe dream, too.”
Kinsey tosses her auburn hair over her shoulder, her fingers tightening on the wheel. “
I don’t blame you for seeing no way out. Your situation seems impossible. But you’re forgetting that you do have friends on the inside. We can ask around.” Before I can tell her she’s crazy, she lifts a finger to shush me. “They wouldn’t trust you if you were asking, but I’m a respected member of the community. Plus, I know how to talk to people. There are going to be so many shifters from other packs here tonight. There’s got to be people from Twilight coming.”
I shake my head. Tonight, the festival starts. There’ll be many other shifters from different packs here, but most of them will be higher-ups. Regular shifters don’t usually get to travel from one pack territory to another.
Unless it’s shifters who’ve remained unmated for a long time. They’ll often accompany their alpha to these parties to see if they mate with anyone from a different pack. That’s why every party has a run involved. We all gather together under the moon in our shifter forms and frolic through the forest.
I always thought it would be kind of cool to mate with someone from another pack. The waiting around part wouldn’t be fun but being able to experience another way of life would be cool.
Kinsey doesn’t bring it up again, but I recognize the set of her shoulders. She’s not going to let this go. “I worry about Nathan, too,” I admit, changing the subject.
“That he’s going to go all alpha on Sean’s ass? I’d like to see that.”
“That would be fun, but no. I don’t know when Gayle, or Gayle and Sean, will try to do something to him like Sean did to me. If they are together, wouldn’t Gayle try to break her mate bond with Nathan?”
“Unbeknownst to them, it’s already happened.”
I smirk, rubbing my hands down my thighs. “Why do you think that happened?” I ask. “I don’t get it.”
Kinsey reaches over and pats my hand. “Don’t question things that make sense. Though, if I had to guess, you can’t breathe life into things that you keep rejecting. Even if fate had something to do with it. When Jonah rejected me, I was ready to say fuck it. I didn’t care if he was mine or not. I’m glad it turned out that he was just a stubborn asshole who thought I was trash.”
I laugh. “I bet you haven’t let him live that down.”
“Hell no. When we have pups, I’m going to make him eat out of the palm of my hand.”
I could see her following through on that threat, too, but the mention of pups brings me back to Nathan. I wonder if we’ll ever get the chance to do that.
Kinsey peeks over at me. “You know, shifter babies aren’t everything. There’s a lot of fun to be had between the two of you.” She gives me an exaggerated wink that rinses all my negative thoughts away. “Which reminds me,” she says, hitting the steering wheel. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it in the two of you before.”
“We’re all kind of preoccupied with ourselves at Greystone. Plus, it didn’t really become a thing until after you were gone.” I leave out the part where our very first kiss happened just before she knocked on my door.
“I’ve seen the way he looks at you and the way you return it. I wouldn’t doubt for a second that you guys are the real thing. He’s much more your match than even your own—” She stops herself. “I don’t want to call him your mate because it just seems so wrong. I bet Nathan’s beside himself with worry. And when he gets like that, he’s bound to do something stupid. I dealt with it with Jonah.”
I rub my temples. More and more, I’ve been waiting for Nathan to blow up at the wrong things; to give us all away.
“I’ll have Jonah speak with him,” Kinsey offers. “I’d like to tell him what’s going on so he can help, too. But I also don’t want to betray your trust.” She waits for my answer. When I don’t give her one right away, she says, “I wouldn’t offer unless I was absolutely sure that he’d be on your side. Yes, he’s been engrained since he was little into the pack system, but my situation opened his eyes. He’d help, I’m sure of it.”
I swallow the pit of uncertainty. “Yeah, let’s do it. I’m going to need all the help I can get.”
20
“So, I guess you’re my babysitter?” Nathan asks Jonah. He’s not happy that we all need chaperones, but what are we going to do? He can’t stay in the cabin and protect me at the same time.
Jonah grunts in response. Looks like neither one of them is crazy about this predicament we find ourselves in. My stare lingers longer on Jonah. I know he’s a good guy because he did the right thing by Kinsey, but the only thing I want from him is reassurance that he’s not going to turn Nathan and I in for breaking the mate law.
His shoulders are still, and he looks a bit uncomfortable; however, that might not have anything to do with us. It could be because Kinsey has basically inserted herself into this whole mess, and since she’s his world, he would obviously be worried for her.
Kinsey pats his chest. “We’re fine, aren’t we?” she says, giving him a look.
He relaxes a little, some of the thick tension sliding off him with her touch. He nods. “Yes, completely fine.” He drills holes straight into Nathan and me when he says it, and some of the tension eases off my shoulders.
The other member of our rejected mate trio has already left for the festival with her mate, so it’s only the four of us here. We don’t discuss anything until we get into Kinsey and Jonah’s vehicle. Nathan reaches over to hold my hand and my heart flips. We’ve never been able to show our affection outside of very small spaces. We’ve hidden touches, cut lingering glances short. And right now, my heart soars as his fingers entwine with mine. Coming together out in the open feels right.
Kinsey turns to face the backseat. “Okay, Jonah and I discussed strategy last night. One pair spies on Sean and Gayle. The other mingles with shifters outside of our packs, preferably Twilight.”
Nathan agrees the Feral Pack angle is too far-fetched. I’ve only really been exposed to two packs—Daybreak and Lunar—but the rumors about the rest are that they’re just as strict. There are rejected shifters from Twilight at Greystone Academy. If there was a pack of abandoned wolves nearby, wouldn’t they know about it? Wouldn’t they do anything to not show up at the Rejected Mate Academy?
Beggars can’t be choosers, though, and my options are dwindling. So, pretend Feral Pack, here I come.
Nathan and I navigate Jonah to a side street he can park on to avoid the traffic heading toward the festival. All of our huge parties are held in a meadow just to the south of Daybreak proper, and the Winter Solstice celebrations are no different.
Each year, the pack that hosts the different solstices tries to outdo every single one that came before them. Mom told us a few of the plans when we had dinner the other day. Daybreak is going all out. There’ll be live music downtown, along with shopping booths and food carts.
Oranges and pinks blush the darkening sky as we get out of the car. Street performers and spectators walk toward the clearing, and we fall in line with them. Acrobats on huge stilts breathe fire from their mouths or juggle. The theme for the solstice is Awakening. Some of them take it in a dark route with fangs and black paint. Others went lighter, yellow sunshine and enlightenment.
Moody music plays from an enormous, concert-level stage. Giant speakers hang off metal supports on both sides, blaring the tunes back at us. A crowd of shifters—both wolves and humans—form a semi-circle around it, dancing and screaming. The woman singing is a firecracker, running around on stage and rocking out with her all-male band.
Kinsey wraps her arm around mine. Nathan and I are both wearing our Greystone Academy uniforms so we don’t rock the boat, and yet, she has no shame in showing everyone that she’s hanging out with me.
She leans over. “With Jonah’s background, he and Nathan will search out Sean and Gayle. He says two pretty girls like us should be able to talk a couple of male shifters out of anything, so we’re on the rumor hunt.”
I smirk. I highly doubt Jonah said anything close to calling me pretty because Kinsey would probably tear his heart out.
&
nbsp; What can I say? Shifters are a jealous bunch.
But I’ll go with it. We both know I can’t be asking any questions like that with my Greystone Academy uniform on, anyway. This will have to be all Kinsey while I wait in the wings.
Before we split, Jonah drags Kinsey to him in a hug. Words pass between them, whispered into one another’s ears. Then, he tilts her head up, and I look away, giving them a significant amount of time before looking back.
Come to find out, I hadn’t given them nearly long enough.
Kinsey breaks away with a laugh. “Go get ‘em, Big Guy.”
Jonah gives her a daring look before she and I walk away. I peer over my shoulder to find Nathan and Jonah making their way through the crowd. I only wish I could’ve given Nathan an equally sexy send-off. He looks back, meeting my gaze, and in that moment, I know we’re both feeling the same thing.
Whatever we do next is for the two of us. If I focus on that, I can do anything.
“Where are we going?” I shout to Kinsey over the music.
“We’re going to wherever people are drinking. Loose lips and all that.”
I can still feel the dead weight of the alcohol I’d consumed the other day.
“Don’t worry, we’re not going to partake,” she tells me. “We’re going to pretend.”
That sounds like a good plan. I take control, steering her toward the area behind the stage where food and drink booths line a walkway. The grass has been trampled down, well worked over already. We got here in the evening on purpose.
At the very end of the food and drink alley, a seating area has sprung up—complete with picnic tables and personal chairs dotting the space. As I watch, someone jumps back while flames from a huge bonfire shoot toward the sky. Several people laugh like it’s the funniest thing they’ve ever seen in their entire lives.
“Looks like we found them,” Kinsey says.
Too true. Why do drunk people like to play with fire? I’ll never get it.
We stop off at the closest booth to the lounging area. It boasts the largest line, so where better to start?