"Can you guys stop fornicating against the wall?" Jacob's loud mouth interrupted Zach and Emily's moment of excitement. He pointed to the stairs that were on the opposite side of the entryway. "If you want to do that, please use one of the many bedrooms available upstairs." The rest of the group coming in through the front door halted all the interaction between Zach and Emily. "Hey, looks like you might need one of these." Jacob tossed Zach an ice-cold beer from Will's cooler.
Zach caught the can like it was nothing as it flew at him at record speed. He set it down, then reached for Emily's hand. "Movie time." He motioned toward the living room and to where everyone else was finding a seat.
Danny put on the first horror film of the night, and everyone else was finding a comfy spot to sit. Zach sat on one of the sofas and pulled Emily down on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her so she couldn't get up if she tried. Surprisingly, she leaned back and enjoyed the comfort of being in his arms.
The lights went out, and the room was in total darkness. The horror film music's eeriness began, and Brindle's crew let out little shrieks, which were so typical of them.
Zach only saw the opening scene, and after that, he was too busy kissing and touching everything on Emily he could get away within a room full of friends. With the constant grinding of her backside on his groin, this was going to be a long, frustrating night.
***
The lights were turned back on after two gory stalker scary movies played. Jacob stood and stretched his arms over his head. He saw Madison quickly look away when he glanced over at her and caught her staring at him. "I think I've had enough horror and porn for the night." He glanced over at Emily and Zach concerning the little show they thought no one else could see or hear.
Emily's face reddened from embarrassment, and she buried it against Zach's chest. Zach shook his head at his brother and let out a low growl for his ignorance of embarrassing his mate.
"Jacob." Brindle's whiny voice brought both boys out of their staredown.
The beer cooler was empty. Jacob, Will, and Anthony had drunk most of it, but Brindle and the other two had a few, and it showed in their slurred words and erratic movements.
"I thought we could go for a late-night swim." She stumbled toward Jacob and ran her hands up and down his body while kissing his neck.
After listening to Zach and Emily go at it for the past three hours, he was more than ready to get some type of release from the built-up sexual frustration he felt. Too bad Brindle wasn't the one he was thinking about that could help him relieve himself. His girl was still seated on the loveseat, pretending he didn't exist.
"I think Will needs to drive you guys home." Jacob peeled Brindle's hands off his body and took a step away from her. He looked over at Will and motioned with his head toward the door. Will got the hint and grabbed Rachel's hand to lead her out. Anthony and Heather followed. Brindle got a pouty face but did as Jacob told her. She stumbled across the living room and walked out the door, following behind her friends without saying anything else.
"Can we go swimming?" This was the first time Alex had spoken all night. She glanced over at Zach, who confirmed they could with a nod.
"Um, isn't it a little too cold ?" Emily didn't want to freeze in the water when it was like thirty degrees out.
"It's a heated pool. Plus, there's a hot tub and towel warmer right by the pool." Zach picked Emily off his lap and put her on the sofa spot he vacated.
"We don't have any bathing suits."
Zach leaned down and kissed her seductively on the lips. "We don't need any." He leaned back and saw a hint of pinkness cross her cheeks. "But, I have tons of long T-shirts that will cover you."
Em's eyes shined with excitement.
"Be right back." Zach ran up the stairs to his room to get the shirts for the girls.
***
The guys didn't feel the cold of the night as they dived into the clear blue shimmering water. The girls' teeth chattered as they slowly lowered themselves into the warmth of the pool, which had been heating all day. Zach came behind Emily and pulled her over to a dark corner of the pool where the outside lights didn't shine as bright. Danny did the same to Alex but took her to the deeper end of the pool.
Madison stood in the shallow end of the pool, creating tiny ripples as her fingers waved through the water. She had her eyes closed and focused on the quietness of the night. A splash by her side ruined her moment of peace.
Jacob had dived in beside her and was swimming laps.
Madison watched in awe as this was another sport he had perfected. His strokes were flawless, as was the way his body looked while doing this exercise. The water glistened from the moonlight on his sculpted chest and arms every time he broke the surface for another breath. She didn't even realize he had stopped and was staring back at her until he spoke.
"See something you like?" Jacob walked toward her since they were in the shallow end. The way she looked so serene and beautiful, just standing in the water without any worries, made his wolf want to take her right then and there. He, as a man, still had this whole sexual tension he needed to get rid of. Not even Brindle had been able to satiate him since he had his first taste of Madison. Now, his wolf wanted to be closer to his mate, and this was something Jacob couldn't fight for too much longer.
"Nope, just something that nauseates me." Madison spit back the exact words he had said to her once before. She walked backward, knowing she would eventually run into the pool edge and have no escape. Jacob pressed forward like he was on a mission. The wall of the pool came much quicker than Madison wanted. She could pull herself up and get out, but then that would show she was weak and running away from him. She pressed herself firmly against the pool wall and crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"Does your mouth always water, and your eyes show hunger when something nauseates you?" Jacob was only about six inches away from her. He placed his hands on the wall so his arms were on either side of her. He looked her up and down and noticed her lips were trembling and her nipples were erect. This could be due to the coldness of the night air or the arousal of him being near her. She continued to stare at him without any comment. This had been the scenario with them for the past two months. The once outspoken and always had a rebuttal comment girl was replaced with one who wouldn't give him the time of day. It could only be resolved with one solution.
Madison beat on Jacob's chest for release as his lips claimed hers. He wasn't touching her with his hands, but the mere presence of his sumptuous mouth on hers made all resistance she felt break down and her knees weak. Instead of doing what the rational side of her mind told her to do, which was get out of the pool, she tugged at his hair and pulled his head closer.
Jacob's hands were now roaming on the outside of Madison's shirt, and he felt her shudder with each touch. He let one hand slide down the length of her body and stroke the outside of her bare thigh. He gripped it and brought it up until it was around his waist. Madison followed suit with the other, and she now had both legs wrapped securely around his waist. They began to grind against one another. The faster they went, the more aroused they both became. Jacob wanted nothing more than to rip her panties off and finally gratify himself and his wolf with their mate.
Madison's sensible side finally won out, and she moved her legs away from Jacob's waist. He stopped kissing her and slowly backed away. There was the same look in his eyes, with the same startling gray coloring, that only the wolf from the field possessed.
"No more." Madison clambered out of the pool and grabbed a heated towel from the warmer to cover herself.
"Yeah, I was losing interest and my hard-on anyways." Jacob took one leap out of the water and landed feet first on the patio deck surrounding the pool.
"I fuckin' hate you." Madison threw down the towel and picked up her clothes from the patio table. She tried to put her pants back on without falling over. But since her hands were shaking from being pissed, her body aroused and freezing, and her skin still
wet, the task was becoming too complicated.
She glanced up and saw Jacob had the sarcastic smirk she always wanted to slap off on his face. Maybe now would be a perfect time. She quit trying to put her clothes back on. That would have to wait until she got into the safety of her car. Madison focused on the gate and walked past Jacob without another glance his way.
"You don't fuckin' hate me. You wanted that more than you want yourself to believe." Jacob had to have the last comment before she left.
Madison quickly turned around and brought her hand up to slap him. It was his wolf instinct and quick reflexes that allowed him to catch her hand before it made contact.
"Go back to playing witch."
Madison’s face paled like she was in shock.
Jacob realized his mistake of what he'd said. As far as he knew, no one else had any idea of what she could do except for him, and she didn't even know it was him because he was always in wolf form.
Madison's face gained its color back, and she ripped her hand out of his grasp and ran for her car.
"You're a dick." Alex's voice alerted Jacob the others were still around.
He turned from watching Madison once again walk away and found four very pissed-off people behind him.
"Why do you have to fuck with her all the time?" Alex was walking toward him with a loathing vibe coming off of her.
Jacob picked up Madison's thrown towel and wiped off his face. It still had her smell written all over it, and he breathed it in deep. This would have to do for the meantime. "I didn't fuck with her. We were sort of fucking around with each other." He sat down on one of the lounge chairs and covered his face with the towel. He heard murmuring going on around him. It wasn't like Danny and Zach had to talk in whispers. With his wolf hearing, he could understand them as if they were speaking right next to him.
Let's see, Danny was taking Alex and Emily home, Madison had already left, and Zach would talk to Jacob about all that had gone on. Jacob heard the sounds of kissing. Zach would text Emily before he went to bed, and then there were car doors slamming. The latch on the gate opened, and footsteps came across the deck. The lounge chair next to him squeaked as Zach sat down.
"Madison's your mate, isn't she?" Zach was certain about this matter as both Jacob and Madison showed the classic behavior signs of mates. Well, young mates that didn't know they were or maybe didn't want to be paired off with the destined person.
Jacob removed the towel from his face. "No, she's not. It was all for fun." He sat up on the chair and grabbed his shorts on the deck. "Maybe if you and Emily wouldn't have given everyone an amateur porn show and I made Brindle leave, then I wouldn't have been so horny."
"Bullshit, Jacob. You're both fighting the pull." Zach moved closer to his brother. "I don't know why we are all finding our mates now, Danny and Alex, me and Em, but just go with it. Quit trying to push her away. You're eventually going to lose her for good. You know it's not the right thing to do to your wolf or yourself."
"I don't want her." Jacob felt his resistance breaking down. He didn't want to talk about this whole mate thing. He wanted everything to go back to how Madison didn't think twice about him, and he could go to Brindle without feeling like he was cheating.
"It's an awesome feeling to have your mate by your side. Your wolf is happy, you're happy, and everything seems perfect. All you want to do is to make her happy and keep her safe." Zach's expression radiated as he spoke concerning Emily.
"That's great for you and Emily, but I don't want Madison messed up in the whole family shit we have going on." Jacob stood and walked over the ledge of the pool deck. The temp on the railing said it was only thirty-five, but he was burning up.
He was angry at himself.
Angry at this whole thing about being a shifter.
Angry because he couldn't lead an everyday life like every other seventeen-year-old boy.
And so freakin' angry and sexually frustrated it was making every part of his body hurt.
The only thing he wanted to do was find his mate and make everything better between them. Too bad his stubbornness and her resistance would never allow that to happen.
"You just admitted she was your mate." Zach sounded excited about this whole ordeal.
"I never said that. I said I didn't want her mixed up with our family." Jacob let out a deep breath and turned around to look at Zach. "I don't want her to end up like Rose and mom. What if I can't protect her? What if something happens to her when I'm not around? I don't want to be like Adam and lose my mate before we had any time together." All barriers had been broken. Jacob finally admitted his fear to his brother, why he kept pushing Madison away.
"None of us can guarantee we'll be able to protect our mates from anything Orfeo or the dhampir does." Zach rubbed his face out of frustration. "Shit, we don't even know what we're looking for. This offspring could be anybody, and we wouldn't know." He walked over and stood by Jacob, who looked nervous about the whole situation. "All I'm saying is we have to do our best to protect what is ours. And you know, as well as I do, Madison is yours."
Jacob rolled his eyes at Zach's assumption but didn't deny the fact.
They both jumped as about ten members of their pack came rushing through the gate.
"You two okay?" Adam jogged over to his two brothers.
"Yeah, what's up?" Zach felt the tension in the air, which signaled the pack could be on the trail of something or someone.
"Are your brothers here?" their father yelled over the gate in his loud alpha-sounding tone.
"Yeah," Adam shouted back.
Their dad and Luke came bounding through the gate.
"Have you seen anyone?" Luke questioned Zach and Jacob. Both boys shook their heads no.
"We had some of our friends over for movies. We've," Zach pointed between him and Jacob, "been out here for about an hour or so. We didn't see, hear, or sense anything out of the ordinary."
"Our lead tracker," Luke pointed to one of the members talking to Adam, "got a trace, and it led over to your property."
"Who was here?" Their dad appeared stressed by the whole matter and had every right to be. Orfeo, one of his clan, or the offspring, was getting close, as close as they'd been when Rose and his mate were brutally murdered.
"The usual. Will, Anthony, a couple of the girls from the cheer squad. Zach had Danny, Alex, Madison, and Emily over." Jacob wanted to shift and go on the hunt with the rest of the pack. He wanted to run over by Madison's house and make sure all was good.
"I know of the others, but who's this Emily?" Zach's father turned and stared at him, waiting for an answer.
"It's Zach's mate." Adam came up behind his brother and answered the question for him.
"You've found your mate? Have you gone through the mating process without permission from your elders?"
Zach knew his father meant did he have sex with Emily, and did he bite her to mark her as his own. "No, we're friends. We're sort of a couple, I guess." He looked over at Adam and slowly shook his head once. Hopefully, he would think Zach had found out Emily wasn't his mate and not that he needed to shut the fuck up in front of their dad. He didn't need all the aggravation of trying to explain how Emily could be his mate.
"What is her last name? I've never heard you mention anything about an Emily before." Their father continued his one hundred question interrogation of the matter.
Well, of course, you wouldn't know anything about her, you don't know much about any of us.
"Her last name is Beauford. It's her aunt's surname. Emily never knew her mother or father."
Zach could tell the wheels in his dad's mind were turning at a rapid pace, trying to figure out if he knew the name or not. Finally, after about thirty seconds, his father announced he hadn't heard of the last name before.
Two pack members came from around the front of the house and shook their heads no at the Alpha. Zach was guessing they had run a security check of the house and perimeter and didn't find anything.
"Okay, boys." Derek turned to his three boys still standing on the pool deck. "Enough bonding. It's time to hunt." He knew his mate's killers were out there, and he could be sending the pack, including his own sons, on a suicide mission, but retribution must be paid for the detestable crime that had been done years ago.
The boys all shifted into the wolf form. Jacob was the glossy midnight black coated, Zach's coat was a lustrous light gray with darker circles around the eyes, and Adam was darker gray coated with a white patch running from his bottom jaw down past his chest and belly. All three of them together, with their muscled physiques and stance that only future alphas were able to carry, looked like they were ready for a battle they intended to win.
With one long howl given off by the elder brother, all three took off at a high-paced run, with the rest of the younger members of the pack following.
Chapter Twenty
The hunt was unsuccessful the previous night. The pack tried to pick up another scent or lead, but whoever was around the Lovell residence when Zach and Jacob were home with their friends had long disappeared.
This afternoon they were all meeting over at Danny's house for football watching and some pizza from a shop in town.
Zach had picked up Emily and then the pizza. Jacob was going to shift and run over but decided he better take his Hayabusa. Will and Anthony were thankfully leaving Brindle and crew at home for today's get-together. The room was all set by the time everyone got there and the boys, along with Emily and Alex, sat down to watch an afternoon of football.
***
"I can't believe you each ate a whole pizza." Emily looked at all five boys and was astonished each of them had put away sixteen slices in less than fifteen minutes. None of them showed any signs, as in weight problems, of overeating. They all had muscular legs, arms, and stomachs. She loved to run her hand over Zach's abdomen and feel the ripples everywhere she touched. Just the thought made her get a little wet in her panties. She didn't know what it was with this guy, but she wanted him more than she'd ever wanted anyone else in her dating experiences.
Revelations (Separate Worlds Book 1) Page 11