by CY Jones
“It landed between the twins. Who do you kiss?” Brittneys asks.
“I’ll kiss both of them,” I declare, and her eyes goes wide. “Ok you two, close your eyes, and no peeking,” I order and immediately they do as I say.
Creeping on the other side of my room, I pull out the racoon I caught earlier today. Before giving it a sedative, it was a wild frightful creature, and I’m pretty sure it has rabies. Walking over to the twins, I put my finger over my lips to make sure everyone stays silent, and I tell Logan to pucker up. As soon as he does , I push the racoon to his face, and the coon licks his mouth.
“Keep your eyes closed while I kiss your brother,” I order over everyone’s giggles. Turning to Ethan, I do the same, but this time when the racoon’s mouth touches his lips he bites Ethan, and Ethan screams out in pain. Both twins open their eyes to see the raccoon while Ethan holds his palm over his bloody lip. Not able to hold it in any longer, I fall on my butt laughing hard with everyone else.
“You might want to get checked out by the pack healer. I’m sure that ‘coon has rabies,” I tell them between giggles, and both twins run from the room like they’re on fire.
I wake from my dream shivering as I relive the memories from my past. I was nine when I did that to the twins. Everyone picked on them mercilessly after that incident. I don’t know why, but the twins were always the targets of my worst pranks. Maybe it’s because I was so mean to them is why I’m remembering all the horrid things I did. Turns out Ethan did get rabies from the raccoon, but with our shifter healing, he was able to heal quickly.
My stomach starts to rumble loudly and I sit up. I was starving. It felt like I haven’t eaten in years. Rooting around in my bag, I pull out my phone, and see I’ve been asleep all day and night. I also notice that I have over twenty miss calls from the compound in Colorado. Turning my phone off, I pull out the battery, and chuck both pieces into the wastebasket on the side of my bed. Phones can easily be tracked, and I’m not trying to make it easy on dear ol’ dad. I’m sure he thinks mum would never return here, so he probably thinks we’re out and about somewhere. It’s not like he even wants us home. It’s his bruised ego that’s driving him to search for us.
Awake and rested, I take a look around my temporary room. The walls are a pretty light blue except for the ceiling which is painted such a dark blue it’s almost black. Tiny stars litter the ceilings, looking like specks of diamonds, and if I didn’t know better, I would say they are designed in actual constellations. The queen sized bed I’m sitting on is a beautiful white four poster bed with sheer drapings hanging across each post entwined with clear fae lights. The sheets are a pale blue, and the comforter is indigo. A matching white wood desk sits on one side of the room, and a beautiful crafted oak bookcase filled with books sits on the other. The room is a nice size, and big enough to have a small sitting area with a white sectional, and a flatscreen mounted on the wall. I even have my own balcony. I really like this room, and best of all, I don’t have to share a bathroom with that bitch across from me since I have my own ensuite bath.
In the bathroom, I take a long hot shower, letting the water pour down on me from the rain shower nozzle above my head. The hot water feels good as hell on my tight muscles. I want to go out for a run and stretch my legs. My wolf and I have been cooped up for far too long, and these dreams were not helping with our agitation. Since I’m not here to impress anyone, I put on a bright yellow bra under my baggy grey superman muscle shirt, ripped knitted tights, cutoff jean shorts, and my worn black chucks. Just in case I need to shift, I don’t bother with jewelry. Besides the piercing through my nostril, that is all I usually wear anyway.
When I make my way downstairs everyone is already at the table eating.
“There's my sleeping beauty. Did you sleep well, figlia?” Mum asks. Figlia is mum’s nickname for me. It literally means daughter in Italian.
“Yes, mum, I did,” I answer taking a seat. “Alpha,” I say, nodding my head in respect. I may be a rotten girl, but I am one with manners.
“Morning Aspen. I hope you found your room to your liking.”
“I did. It is very beautiful. Thank you,” I reply.
Not sure how the etiquette goes here, I serve myself a nice helping of scrambled eggs and fruit. The first bite melts in my mouth, and I hum in appreciation. It’s been a full forty-eight hours since I had a hot meal, and not that gas station crap we had to fill our bellies with. Lifting my eyes from my plate, I notice the Alpha’s daughter looking over at me with disgust on her pretty face. I guess my table manners isn’t to her liking.
“Mum,” I say after I swallow another bite of food. “I need to get a new cell phone from the mall today.”
“What happened to your old one?” She asks.
I don’t want to say our business over the table, and since she cut off our communication I can’t talk to her in her head, so I give her a ‘you know why’ look and thankfully she catches on.
“Oh, I’ll give you the keys and my card. You’re going to need to pick up some new clothes for school while you’re out anyways. Most of your clothes aren’t suited for the weather here,” she says understanding.
“Actually, Kassie, weren’t you just saying you were going to meet up with some friends and go shopping today? You can take Aspen with you,” Alpha offers, and Kassie frowns.
“Daddy,” Kassie whines. “I wanted to hang out with my friends, not babysit.”
“Aspen is not a baby, and this is not up for discussion. You will take her with you,” he orders while he pulls something from his back pocket. “Here, use this while you’re out to get whatever you need. It has no limit,” he says, trying to hand me his black card.
I’m reluctant to take it, and before I can mum starts to protest.
“That’s not necessary, Tyler. I have my own card I can give Aspen.”
“It’s my job as Alpha to take care of the members of my pack, and Aspen needs clothes suited for the weather here,” he replies, pushing the card into my hand.
“No fair, Daddy. You never give me the black card,” Kassie pouts.
“You don’t need to buy a whole wardrobe. You already have a walk-in full of clothes,” he tells her, smiling at her antics.
The answer doesn’t pacify Kassie one bit. If anything, it makes her glare at me even more. Tucking the card in my jeans pocket, I ignore Kassie’s dirty looks, and finish eating my food.
“When you’re done shopping swing by your grandparent’s house. They would like to spend some time with you,” mum says as she stands from her chair.
“Sure,” I answer, watching her walk away.
What’s up with her? We’ve only been here one day, and she’s already acting strange. As soon as mum leaves Kassie’s father follows closely behind her. My only guess is they’re having trouble with getting my father on board with letting us stay here. Besides that, I don’t know why she’s in such a foul mood.
“Are you done pigging out? I don’t want to be late meeting my friends,” Kassie scowls over at me.
“Sure,” I say not rising to her bait. I know exactly what she’s doing. She’s trying to piss me off so I’ll do something for her to tell on me to her father. Too bad for her, I’ve met worse bullies, like my father to name one.
“You should give me that card to hold. You know, for safekeeping.”
“Yeah, that will be a no. I can keep it safe just fine,” I tell her, and she narrows her eyes at me.
“Just remember what I told you the other day, and don’t think my dad is going to adopt you or anything. He’s just being nice to a couple of strays.”
“Wow, Kassie, tell me what you really feel,” I say sarcastically as I walk away.
I’m trying to be a better person.
I’m trying to be a better person.
I’m trying to be a better person.
I repeat this over and over in my head in an effort to calm my wolf down. I can already tell I won’t be able to take any more of this, and
Kassie does not want to get in a fight with me. I may have been spoilt rotten, but I was also taught to fight, and I was born a True Alpha with special powers. The only survivor of a litter of three. Without even trying, I’m sure I can rip her throat out.
Of course Goldilocks drives a Range Rover. As soon as she unlocks the door, I silently get into the passenger seat. We don’t speak the whole way to the mall. Despite our living situation, we’re not friends, and we will never be. During the whole drive I make sure to pay close attention to where we’re going, mapping the area out in my head. I want to make sure I can get around on my own. A long forty-five minutes later we pull up to the mall, and Kassie doesn’t waste any time kicking me out her car as soon as she parks in the parking lot.
“What time do you want to meet back?” I ask, and she turns back to me agitated.
“Three hours should be long enough to shop, even for you,” she says, looking my clothes over and wrinkling her nose.
Not bothered by her comment, I walk off and into the cool air-conditioned building. I’ve always loved the smell of the mall, and clean new clothes. I’m weird I know, but no other smell compares. Stores just have their own signature scent, especially the mall. The first thing I do is find a cell phone store. As I walk past all the sleek phones, I pause in front of the new Droid and iPhone. Looking between them I read over their statistics. Unlike other people, I don’t just go for looks, or the next big thing. I want the best, so I don’t have many problems later on, like an exploding phone for example. That does take points away from the Droid, maybe Kassie needs a new phone.
“Can I help you?” A cute salesperson asks smiling widely.
“Just trying to make a decision between these two phones,” I tell him. He is really cute, and I’m sure his looks help him sell a lot of phones. His eyes are a bright green, and it contrasts nicely with his dark olive toned skin, and dark hair.
“It depends. What kind of phone did you have previously?” He asks.
“I had an iPhone. An older version to this one, “ I answer, trying hard not to stare at his plump bow lips.
“With you deciding between a Droid, I can tell you’re not a die hard Apple user. By the way, my name is Mekka.”
“Cool name, and no, I’m not a die hard,” I reply smiling.
“Do you do a lot on your phone, or need it for work?” He asks, moving closer, taking a deep whiff of my skin.
To humans this may seem odd, but I could already tell that Mekka is a wolf shifter. With him so close, I can smell his wolf on him.
“You’re new. I know I would have remembered your pretty face around the compound.”
“My mum and I just got here. We’re staying at the Alpha’s until we get settled,” I explain in a low voice.
“Ouch, you’re staying with Kassie. I’m sorry,” he says wincing, and I laugh.
“So it’s not just me,” I say in between giggles.
“No, and I’m sure it doesn’t help that you’re fucking gorgeous.”
My wolf is preeing over the fact that he finds us attractive. “She can be difficult, and extremely picky, but I try to ignore her opinions for the most part.”
“That sounds wise,” he states, grabbing a strand of my long hair, and twirling it around his finger.
“So, I think I’ll go with the iPhone,” I tell him breathlessly as I gaze deep into his eyes. They’re so pretty, like priceless jewels.
“Good choice,” he whispers close to my ear and my hair stands on its ends, and I fight clenching my thighs together. I am very attracted to Mekka, and I want him badly.
After our little flirting session, Mekka helps me check out. He doesn’t even question why I have the Alpha’s black card, so maybe what Tyler said at breakfast was true about taking care of the members of his pack. I do notice that when Mekka hands me my new phone he has put his number in it under the name Hottie Wolf.
The rest of my time at the mall is uneventful. Despite needing a whole wardrobe, I don’t buy a lot. Just the necessities. Several different styles of jeans, shirts with funny logos, some shorts, and a couple of sun dresses. The old me probably would have found a limit on an unlimited card, but the new me wasn’t comfortable with spending the Alpha’s money. The most expensive thing I bought was my phone, and that was because I had to start a whole new plan separate from my old pack. Mekka already knew the information to put me on the Alpha’s phone plan, and he did it before I could stop him. With a half an hour to spare, I spend it in the food court. It’s been a while since I had a good burger, and shopping always helps me work up an appetite. Munching on my food, I’m so lost in my head, I don’t even notice Mekka until he’s sliding in the chair across from me.
“Honey, you started eating without me,” he teases.
“Yeah well, I was starving after a cheeky wolf held me up at the phone store,” I say playing along.
“Maybe I need to find this wolf. You’re too beautiful to leave alone for long.”
“Are you on break?” I ask him as he steals a fry off my plate.
“No, I just got off. I’m supposed to meet some friends here to go to the movies,” he answers stealing another fry, and I just roll my eyes and push my plate over to him. "Do you want to join us? I can take you back to the pack afterwards."
“I wish, but I’m supposed to meet Kassie in the parking lot. In fact, I need to leave now,” I tell him as I gather my bags together.
“Here, let me help you,” he says, taking a couple of bags off me.
I don’t argue, I just let him help, and we walk out to the parking lot. Backtracking to where Kassie was parked earlier, I notice her car isn’t in the spot, in fact, her car is no longer in the parking lot at all. Taking a deep sniff, I can no longer catch our scent which tells me the bitch ditched me here a while ago.
“Fuck,” I growl. She knew with my bags I wouldn’t be able to shift, not that getting home that way is safe, and taxi and Uber drivers don’t travel that far into the forest. The bitch literally left me with no way to get home.
“Let me guess. She left you,” Mekka says beside me.
"Yep,” I reply still staring at the empty spot, hoping her car will suddenly appear.
“That’s low even for Kassie. I can take you back if you want,” he volunteers, and I gratefully accept.
The drive back to the compound with Mekka is far different than being in the car with Kassie. For one, he fills the car with conversation, and keeps me laughing the whole time, telling me stories about himself and his two best friends, and all the chaos they cause together at school and around the compound.
“What about your friends you were supposed to meet?” I ask, guilty that he had to drive me back.
“They’ll understand. They know I can’t turn down a pretty face.”
“Really, are you that kind of guy?” I inquire, but before he can answer his phone rings.
The bluetooth in his car picks up the call, and he answers, “yo,” to whomever it is on the other line.
“Dude, where are you? You’re over fifteen minutes late,” a slightly familiar voice says through the speakers.
“I had to take a friend home, she got ditched at the mall,” he answers.
“I should have known you were chasing tail.”
“Dude, you’re on speaker,” Mekka growls interrupting him, and I raise my brow.
“Kassie is here, and you know how we hate dealing with her. When you didn’t show, her and her friends just invited themselves.”
That fucking bitch. She always planned to ditch me, so she can go to the movies with guys who don’t even want to hang out with her by the sound of it.
“Well, I’m taking the girl she ditched at the mall back to her place,” Mekka replies, before I can ask for the phone to cuss the bitch out.
“No shit. She said she didn’t like the new wolf, but that’s low even for her, and super dangerous. How did she expect for her to get back?”
“No fucking clue. I’m sure if I tell Alpha he won’t
be pleased. You know he doesn’t let Kassie get away with shit like that.”
“Alright well, I guess you’re busy. We’re going to cut out on the movie, and meet you at your place. Kassie just gave us the perfect excuse to leave,” and I can tell even over the phone that whoever is talking is smiling.
“Sure dude, see you soon,” Mekka replies before hanging up the phone.
“You don’t need to tell Alpha about what Kassie did. I can take care of myself,” I tell him after a long minute of silence. He’s pissed, and I can’t understand why he’s so mad on my behalf. He doesn’t even know me.
“I’m sure you can, but what Kassie did is wrong, and very dangerous for you with the way humans are today with our kind. It was reckless, and we don’t let shit like that slide. My friends transferred here years ago because the Alpha there had a daughter who did really shitty things to them. It’s kind of like a sore spot with all of us, so yeah we don’t let shit like that slide.”
“What pack did they transfer from?” I ask, holding my breath.
“Wolfhaven, why?” He questions, looking me over concerned.
“No reason,” I mumble, turning my attention to the scenery passing by out the window.
No fucking way, it can’t be. My luck cannot be that bad, but that voice over the phone sounded so familiar, like a much older version of one of the twins I use to terrorize. Please let it be someoneone else, and all this is a big ass fucking coincidence, because I don’t think I can handle facing them. Not after all I’ve done.
I’m practically sprinting out the car as soon as Mekka pulls in front of Alpha’s house. Declining his offer to help, I assure him I can make it from here and carry my stuff inside myself. Once I get my clothes put away and settled, I swiftly leave without anyone seeing me. Since my grandparents wanted to see me, I thought I'd walk there. I have too much shit on my mind, and the fresh air could do me some good. I hope for all our sakes that the twins are not the friends Mekka was talking about, if so I don’t think I can stay here. I’m going to have to tell mum we need to leave, and she’s going to have to be ok with that. With a firm plan in place my walk to the Grands is lighter now that my body isn’t weighted down with so much uncertainty.