by CY Jones
“You’re right,” Mekka finally croaks out. “I should have went to you sooner, and only for that, I’m sorry. You’re my brothers and I love you, and if I have to share my mate, I’m glad it’s with you.”
Walking up to Mekka, my brother and I hug him tight. He’s right. If I have to share my mate, besides my brother I’m glad it’s him. I don’t know why the world decided Aspen needed three mates, I’m just glad I’m one of them. Inside, my wolf growls in agreement.
“You’re right man. I’m glad its you too,” I tell him once we pull back from one another.
“Aspen will not want us fighting with each other. It’s already bad she’s pissed with us about Kassie,” Logan states.
“What are we going to do about her? Kassie, I mean. She’s starting to become more than a thorn in our side. We can’t sleep on her threat. Who knows what she’s capable of when she has already proven she can do damage with just a few words,” I say reasonably.
“She’s a spoiled brat who’s throwing a tantrum because she’s been told no. Besides her petty words, what else can she possibly do?” Mekka questions.
“Maybe, but my gut is telling me it’s a mistake to underestimate her. We should still keep an eye out on her,” I murmur.
“Ok, we’ll do that. Now let's go find our girl,” Logan says, and we walk back to the party.
22
Aspen
When we pull up to the house party, Lanely is waiting for us outside with a drink in her hand.
“Hey,” she squeals. Handing someone her cup and runs over to us, crashing into me as she hugs me tight.
“Hey,” I giggle holding up her lean body. I have no clue how many drinks she’s had, but clearly she’s already sloshed. When I pull back, I introduce her to April, and she hugs her just as tightly as she did me, like they’re old time friends.
“Gosh you’re beautiful. It’s not fair to have two friends that are so fucking hot. Come on, let me introduce you to everybody,” she says, threading her arms through ours, and walking us up to the house.
“April, Aspen, this is my boyfriend Michael. Michael, this is my friend Aspen, the girl I’ve been telling you about, and my new friend April,” Lanely says introducing us to a cute guy with dyed dark green hair, dark grey eyes, many piercings in his eyebrows, and a hoop through his lip. His build is slender, and he’s totally rocking the bad boy rocker persona. The exact opposite of the kind of guy I would imagine Lanely with.
“Hi,” I say, giving him a small smile.
“Hey,” April replies.
“Do you guys go to LAU too?” He asks, looking us over with way more interest than a boyfriend should.
“Sweetie, this is the girl I met at the store, remember when I told you about her,” Lanley says frowning.
“The high school kid, wow! She doesn’t look like one,” he mutters, eyeing my body with interest, specifically my tits. I don’t like the way he’s looking at us. Before it was uncomfortable, now it’s downright disrespectful, and I wanted to punch him on Lanely’s behalf.
Hitting Michael on the arm, Lanely mumbles, “she’s not a kid.”
“Yeah, I see that.”
“Anyways,” Lanely says in a singsong voice. “Let’s get you two a drink.” With that, we leave Michael out on the porch, and step inside where the party is already in full swing.
As soon as we enter the home, my nose is immediately assaulted with the briny scent of weed, and I feel the heat of dancing bodies. People are just chilling and packed everywhere to the point that you can’t help but to rub up against someone, or bump into people as you walk past. In fact, the music was playing so loud and there were so many people here, I don’t see how any of the neighbors haven’t called the police yet to break up the party, especially in this neighborhood. I don’t know much about the area, but I could tell when we pulled up, we were in a well off neighborhood, judging by the size of the houses. The house we were in now could give my old home a run for its money.
Noticing the look on my face, Lanely says the guy who threw the partys parents are super rich. They’re from an old family and his dad is some big time investment banker. No one in their right mind would dare call the cops.
“Oh wow, I guess being rich does have its privileges,” I tell her.
“Exactly, I almost wish I was going in a field that pays more money, but it’s important to me I help as many people as I can and give back.”
“That’s because you’re a good person,” I yell over the speaker we just walk past.
When Lanely swings a door open we step into a lavish kitchen. Walking up to the counter like she owns the place, Lanely starts to makes us drinks from a bunch of multicolored bottles into the red plastic cups provided like a pro.
“You’ve done this before,” April teases, looking at Lanely amused.
“Maybe once or twice,” she replies with a wink. “Here have a taste.”
I take a tentative sip at first, but before long I’m emptying my cup and holding it out to Lanely for some more.
“That was fucking delicious,” I tell her, and she chuckles before mixing me another drink.
“I use to work at a bar before the store gig.”
“Why did you quit? These drinks are yummylicious,” April says handing her cup over.
“The late nights were getting in the way of my school work, and I used a fake ID to get the job, since I’m not twenty-one yet,” she explains.
“Well, if being a psychiatrist doesn’t pan out, you can always open up your own bar,” I tease.
“That sounds like a plan,” she giggles, taking a sip from her own drink.
We mingle in the kitchen, downing our drinks a little longer before heading out to the backyard. Lanely wants us to meet some of her other friends she knows from college who were out there playing drinking games. A little tipsy and laughing like idiots, we try our hand at a game where we split into teams and tried to bounce a ping pong ball into a row of cups. The team that misses had to drink the number of shots from the number of the row they missed from. Lanely and her friend Crystal were ok, and I had the advantage of good accuracy from my wolf to help me, but poor April couldn’t get the ball in the cup if it was right in front of her. Not to mention all the alcohol we had to consume from her continually missing didn’t help matters either. By the time the game ended, we were both beyond wasted, and I had to drag April back inside to dance all the liquor off. Supernaturals don’t get drunk easily, but when we do, it takes a lot for us to sober up, and while intoxicated, our shields over our minds are down, so we’re open to danger, but I wasn’t worried about that since their seem to be just as many humans here as supernaturals. We don’t have many common laws within the species, but the one we do have that comes with the most consequences in no exposing us to humans whatsoever.
Once on the dance floor, April and I writhed and moved our bodies against each other to the music, and when my favorite song, Mother’s Daughter by Miley Cyrus, comes on I lose myself in the lyrics. Everyone fades away out my mind until it’s just me and my wolf moving to the music. When a pair of hands latch on to my hips, I don’t even notice it’s not April until I’m pulled against a hard body. His scent is sweet like cream and peaches, and I know without looking back that whoever it is with their hands on me is a vampire.
“Nice seeing you here,” the guy whispers against my ear, and his warm breath makes me shiver.
Turning my head slightly, I recognize the guy from school, Karter I think he said his name was. “I did tell you I would be here,” I reply.
“That you did,” he murmurs. Gripping me tighter. He turns my body so I’m now facing him, and pulls me closer until I’m flushed against his body.
“You know, for a wolf you’re very beautiful.”
“What does that mean?” I ask offended.
“Don’t give me that face, little wolf. Don’t try to tell me you don’t know about the beef between the vampires and wolves.”
“I’m not prejudice lik
e that, and as far as I know there is no longer a feud since the humans became aware of our presence. Either way, I don’t do supernatural politics. I don’t care to judge people by what species they are.”
“That’s very level headed of you, but politics is your future since you’re a True Alpha. I can smell it on you. ”
“Are you here to dance, or bore me with a history lesson?” I ask, twirling my hands around his neck. As creepy as that comment is, I don’t want to talk about what I am. I want to be reckless for once, and have fun, because with the complication of my mates, who knows how long I have of being carefree. Soon we will have to come to terms with our past, and what that will mean for our future.
I know I’m beyond tipsy which isn’t a good combination when you’re seeking an escape from the real world. Without what’s going on in my real life and the added encouragement from all the alcohol I consumed, I probably wouldn’t allow Karter to get so close. Now he’s in my face so much so that even in the dim lighting I can see every facet of every color reflected in his hazel eyes. His gaze is calculated with the underlining of lust hidden deep within, but not so deep for me to not notice. I should find April, but for the life of me I can’t pull away, and I don’t know why.
One song blurs to two, then five, until I completely lose track of how long I’ve been dancing with him.
“Would you like to go somewhere more private, little wolf?” Karter whispers seductively in my ear.
His voice is like silk almost hypnotic, and it takes great effort for me to tell him no. Not deterred in the least, he moves against my body, and I grind into him in our own private erotic dance until another pair of hands come around me, and I’m jerked out my stupidity. What the hell am I doing? What would my mates think if they were here? When I try to pull away Karter grasps on me harder, and his hazel eyes light when he gazes directly in my eyes.
“You’re not afraid, this is my friend,” he says, and this time his voice does take on a hypnotic tone bending me to his will, and my body relaxes against the forign body pressed against my back. Never lifting his gaze off mine Karter says, “you’re going to dance with us like the true little slut you are.”
My wolf is offended, and she tries to break the hold Karter has on us, but in my drunken state, I can’t fight him off. Horrified, I realise he’s a manipulator. I should have known, he’s way too charismatic, seductive even. How quickly I was able to relax into him, when something was screaming in the back of my head that this was wrong. He lured me in his trap, and like the fly, I was caught in his web. In my defense, manipulators are crazy rare, a power that’s long forgotten.
Following his command, I do as he says, and soon the three of us are indecently moving against each other on the dance floor. The guy behind me hands move up to my breast and he squeezes them like he’s expecting ripe fruit. I have no clue who or what he is. He has the faint smell of herbs like April, so he could be a mage.
“Aspen,” April says, pulling me away from the duo. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” She questions angrily.
“Dancing,” I reply tartly.
“Did you forget you have mates? I’m sure they wouldn’t appreciate you acting like this,” she tries again.
The comment does help to worm its way through the compulsion, but it doesn’t last when Karter says, “you’re fine,” and I turn back to April and tell her the same thing.
“Come, little wolf, let's go somewhere more private,” Karter commands, and I follow after him and his friend without a backward glance.
23
Ethan
“Where the hell is Aspen?” I growl once we go back to the party tent after our little chat.
“The fuck if I know, I was with you guys,” Mekka replies.
“Let's split up and look for her, and then meet back here once she’s located,” Logan says rationally, and I nod my head in agreement.
Worried, I break off from them in search for her. I don’t know what it is, but I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach and I want to find her quickly. Using the mating bond, I try to follow the pull I have to her, but it was faint which told me Aspen has been gone from here for awhile. I’m the last to meet the others at our designated meeting spot, and my face falls when I see she’s not with neither of them.
“Maybe she went back to the house with her friend,” Mekka offers hopefully.
Grasping onto that hope like a lifeline, I walk with quick strides back to the main house. When we get to the hall where Aspen’s room is I catch sight of Kassie in her slutty ass dress as she steps out into the hall. I’m not sure since their rooms are right across from each other, but I could have sworn she was leaving out of Aspen’s room.
“Lose something?” She says smiling wickedly.
“Where’s Aspen?” I growl, tired of her shit.
“What makes you think I know where she is?” She questions.
“Stop acting dumb, we know you know,” Mekka says getting in her face, and I have to grab his arm to hold him back before he does something stupid, like harm the Alpha’s daughter.
Kassie looks at us like she’s pretending to think about our request before taking a light pink journal from behind her back, and quickly shoving it in her purse. Rooting around in her bag, she takes forever before pulling her cell out and scrolling through it until she finds what she’s looking for.
“I think she’s doing just fine where she’s at,” Kassie says laughing, and I snatch her phone out her hand. When I peer down at the screen I almost break the cell when I playback the video of Aspen dancing indecently against Karter and his friend Joey.
“What is it bro?” Logan asks, and I toss him the cell.
I hear his faint growl, and I know just like me, he’s barely keeping his wolf contained.
“See what happens when you mate a whore? You two were better off with me,” Kassie whispers in my ear, and I push her away.
“Come on, I know where she is,” I say stalking off, not caring to look back to see if Logan and Mekka followed.
Despite the video, I know that whatever is going on with Aspen, Kassie is behind it somehow. No way in hell would Aspen betray us publicly like that. Pressing hard on the gas, I drive like a bat out of hell to Joey’s house up in Landon Park. Joey thinks his status as a high profile mage coming from a prominent and wealthy family allows him to have and do whatever he wants. Supid parties like the one he’s throwing now, happens just about every weekend. With my breakneck speed it doesn’t take long to get to the house. As soon as we step through the door, Aspen’s friend April runs to us teetering half drunk on her high heels.
“About time you got here, something is going on with Aspen.”
“Where is she, and why aren’t you with her?” I growl.
“I tried to pull her away from Karter and his douche canoe friend Joey, but she wouldn’t budge, and then she just went off with them. I could tell she wasn’t acting herself, and when I tried to follow they just disappeared, so I’ve been waiting for you three to show up.”
“Fuck, I would say split up, but I think it’s wise to stay together just in case we have a fight on our hands,” I say turning to Mekka and my brother.
“I think that’s smart since we’re in their territory, and I heard Karter is a manipulator,” Mekka states, and I gaze at him wide eyed.
“What? Bullshit,” Logan yells.
“That does explain her weird behavior,” I say, trying to rationalize everything.
“But Aspen is a True Alpha, it would be hard as fuck to break her shield and compel her,” Logans replies.
“Not if she was as wasted as her,” I reply, pointing at April.
“Well if that’s the case, I will be breaking a lot of rules tonight, because Karter and his slimy friend won’t be leaving here alive,” Mekka grumbles.
“Agreed,” Logan co-signs, and I nod my head in agreement. We will be waging war harming them, but they brought it upon themselves as soon as they decided to prey on our girl, and
if they’ve touched her, there's nothing that will stop me from killing them.
24
Aspen
Karter drags me through the humongous house like a man on a mission. The farther in the house we travel the fainter the music is, and I start to panic. The adrenaline I’m producing starts to burn off the alcohol in my body, and slowly I feel more like myself.
“Where are we going?” I ask, trying to pull my arm free, but it wouldn’t budge from his vice grip, and I’m guessing Karter is using his vampire strength against me.
“Stop fighting, we’re almost there,” he responds.
“Where’s there?” I huff, pulling harder.
Suddenly stopping, Karter faces me, and very slowly he says, “everything will be fine,” in his hypnotic voice.
I growl, trying to fight off the compulsion, but soon, his words wrap around my head trapping me again until I no longer have any control over my body. Karter’s friend, which I learn during our little stroll in the hallway is named Joey, lays his hand on a plain white wall and in a flash of light a room is revealed. When we step inside, I gaze vacantly around the room. It was decorated like some kind of elaborate man cave for the rich. One side of the room had a row of retro arcade machines, a pool table with red velvet inlay sits dominating the middle of the room, and a polished foosball table with antique looking figurines sat on the far side next to a display case filled with trophies and signed merchandise. The walls were painted a cream color with sports paraphernalia decorated throughout, and a huge flat screen TV was mounted on the wall by the sitting area, which was currently playing a porno with five other guys watching it in various states of undress, lounging on the deep leather couches.
“About time you guys got back, who did you bring us?” One guy with his dick out fisted in his hand asks.