Twice Bitten (New Moon Series Book 1)

by Belle Harper

  By there was a pang in my chest that told me I couldn’t do that, that I knew Ranger had a piece of me now, Galen too. And I couldn’t just let go of this feeling I had for Maverick. Raff’s eyes told me all I needed, and I nodded. Raff smiled and took my face in his warm hands and kissed me deeply. When we pulled apart, I sagged against his chest, trying to catch my breath. He was an amazing kisser, and I noticed Ranger was openly watching us.

  “Come in.” Ranger gestured with his hands to his room. I had never been in here before. There was a desk with a laptop, he had some trophies, and there was a photo of him and Maverick when they must have been ten, both smiling and wearing football jerseys.

  “Do you want to sit on my bed or…” Ranger trailed off. I shrugged, the bed was fine. I jumped up on it and Raff came to sit beside me, holding my hand I smiled at him. The bed felt the same as mine. Even the white covers were the same. When no one spoke for a few minutes, I didn’t know what to say. We just looked at each other. I was waiting for someone to speak.

  “Did you want to play a game?” Ranger asked, breaking the silence.

  I nodded. “Yeah, why not.” If no one was going to talk, then this would get boring fast, and I would have been better in Raff’s room making out.

  “How about… truth or dare?”

  I laughed, because of course Ranger would pick that game. The door to his room swung open and Maverick was standing there. He had put a tee on before dinner, but now he was only wearing tight white boxers. Holy fuck, they were struggling to hold what he was packing there. I felt heat flare up my cheeks. He had that sexy V that I wanted to trace with my fingers. Shit. My eyes snapped up to his face.

  “Ah, Mav is here. You ready to play, brother?” His face showed his confusion at his brother’s words.

  “I thought we were all just hanging out?” Maverick asked as he walked in, closing the door behind him.

  “Yes, but I thought it might be more fun to play truth or dare.” Maverick hesitated his eyes darting straight to me before going back to his brother. Oh yeah, I already knew where Ranger was going with this. He moved and took a seat across from me. The four of us were in a circle. I crossed my legs, ready for the many dares that would be aimed at kissing me.

  “How about I start?” Ranger asked. I laughed because I knew he would start. “Raff, truth or dare.” I looked over at Raff, even he was confused by being picked first.

  “Truth.” He rubbed his warm hand over my bare knee. Ranger leaned back on his elbows, his T-shirt tight against his chest. He gave me a smooth smile as he cocked his brow at me.

  “If Lex wanted more than one mate, are you okay with that and… do you care if they aren’t all shifters?” My mouth dropped wide open. What the…? Galen. Ranger knew and he was talking about Galen. I looked around at Raff and Maverick. I fidgeted and Raff just patted my leg, trying to calm me. Ranger somehow knew about us.

  “I am okay with all of that.” Raff turned to me; he could obviously smell how anxious I was at the question but didn’t know it was because of Ranger knowing about Galen. Not the sharing me part. “I really am. This is how I was raised, and if you want that, then I want that, too.”

  I nodded. I believed him. I just couldn’t get over the fact the Ranger must have been listening to me and Galen? How? Galen said he turned the device on so other couldn’t hear us.

  Ranger just watched me as I panicked. If he knew, how many others did? Would Galen lose his job? Oh God, was he in trouble with Alaric?

  “Maverick, truth or dare?” Raff asked, snapping me out of the thoughts I was drowning in.

  Maverick’s eyes found mine and gave me wicked smile “Truth.” My heart was racing, there was just something about Maverick. I didn’t know what. He was artistic and a bit of a mystery.

  “Would you share a mate with your brother?”

  Maverick didn’t even blink or have to think the before he said, “Yes.”

  My eyes widened. This was not the way I thought this night was going.

  “Lexi, truth or dare?” Maverick asked. Well, there was no way I was going with a truth, that was too hard right now. I had too much going on in my head.

  “Dare.” I grinned. I knew it was going to be kissing Ranger, which really was a strange way to trick someone into kissing them. He could just ask me outright—he was always so cocky and sure about himself. He didn’t need his brother to dare me to do it.

  Maverick must have clued on that was what I was thinking. He tapped his chin in a dramatic way as he thought for a moment. I gave him my best, “dare me” look.

  “I dare you to play spin the bottle, and the person it lands on, is the one you don’t kiss.” I think all the air left my lungs. Oh, I so wasn’t expecting that. Before I could get a chance to change it to truth, a large textbook was placed in the middle of us and a half-empty water bottle placed on the top.

  “Man, I gotta give it to you, Maverick. That was well thought out,” Ranger praised him. Maverick chuckled and those dimples came out to play again. Well, I guess I can understand what Galen was asking me earlier about Maverick… he must like me more than he had let on to come up with this sneaky game.

  My heart was racing a little, and I was more than excited. I was trying to calm myself, but I knew I was giving off that turned on scent. But none of them said anything. I took the bottle and spun it before I could overthink this. We all watched as it slowed down and when it stopped, I laughed so hard.

  “Oh, that wasn’t fair, spin it again,” Ranger teased and pouted. I turned to Raff, who didn’t need to be asked twice to kiss me. He held my face and kissed me. Our tongues met and danced for a brief moment before he pulled away smiling. His eyes then travelled to Maverick.

  I was a little nervous, only because I was doing this in front of Raff for the first time, and I was still not sure how he would react. He could feel it was okay, but when he sees it, he might change his mind. Say and doing were two different things.

  I leaned across the book and bottle rolled off as I tried to get closer to Maverick. His nose flared. “You don’t smell like him,” he muttered more to himself than he meant it for us. His bare chest rose and fell as his breathing sped up and he took my face in with his eyes.

  “You are so beautiful, Lexi. You don’t have to...”

  I smiled and shook my head, my hair falling around my face, framing it. I liked that he was leaving it up to me, but now that I had really thought about it, about him I wanted to kiss him, even if it was just a chaste kiss to begin with.

  “I want to.” I could hear a low growl in his chest as he moved toward me, his fingers lightly touching my cheeks as he pushed my hair behind my ears. His eyes searched mine before they closed and our lips met. I gasped at the contact, his lips so lush, so soft. This feeling washed over me that this was right, like a piece of me was just put back together. When his tongue brushed over my lips, everyone in the room disappeared but him. I moved across the bed until I was straddling him, my hands in his hair, his tongue sweeping inside my mouth, and the feeling of his growl deep in my chest.

  My heart was racing wildly, and I could feel his hard cock against my core. I was wet and felt a need deep within me. I smiled knowing that I did that to him, that his hardness was for me. As I kept kissing him, I wasn’t the only one affected by this when two throats cleared.

  “Okay, well… That was hot a hell, but now its Lexi’s turn to ask me.” Ranger almost sounded like he was going to sulk like a puppy. I glanced into Maverick’s eyes quickly before I pulled away and crawled back to my spot on the bed. I glanced back to see Maverick had pulled a pillow over his lap.

  “Eeewww… I don’t want your cock touching my pillow,” Ranger mocked joked as he tried to pull the pillow away from Maverick, but he held on tight. Raff laughed and held onto me as the twins were fighting and jostling the bed.

  “Ranger, truth or dare?” I asked. That brought his attention back to me.

  “Ah, this is a hard one. Dare. No, truth… no… dare. I w
ill go truth.” I chuckled, watching him decide. He sat up straight and brushed his hair out of his face. “Truth, Lex.”

  I pretended to think about it, but I had decided to go with the same as Raff had asked, it made sense. Or I would have dare him to kiss me. But he picked truth.

  “Would you share a mate with your brother?” Ranger’s eyes went to Maverick as he nodded. When they came back to mine, I could tell he was being very serious.

  “Forever, yes.”

  I didn’t move or speak. Then I decided to just go for it. I put my arms down on the mattress in front of me and it dipped lightly as I leaned forward toward Ranger. He gave me a cute smirk as he raised his brows.

  “Well? Aren’t you gonna kiss me?” Raff and Maverick laughed. “This was what the game was for, right?” Even I laughed.

  Ranger moved slowly toward me, the playful glint gone, replaced by need. His hands went to my face as he angled his face and our lips met with almost an uncontrollable hunger. I could feel myself being lifted into his lap. The same feeling of rightness washed over me and I felt almost complete.

  I had found the missing pieces of my heart… I was just missing one piece.

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Lexi

  I couldn’t believe it was Saturday already. How did the week go by that fast? Oh, I know… because I was busy making out non-stop with Rafferty while sneaking kisses from Ranger and Maverick all week. I told them I wasn’t ready to go further than that—just not yet at least. I wanted to keep it a secret for now. I wasn’t sure how this would go, but I had a feeling that Olivia and her friends wouldn’t be too impressed that I took Ranger and Maverick, too

  Galen had avoided me all week. He wasn’t even at school. I had seen his car at his place a few times and I found Alaric on Thursday to ask if everything was okay with Galen. I was really worried he had lost his job and he was being punished for the almost kiss because that was what it was… an almost kiss. Alaric said Galen was working on finding out what I was for the pack. That they needed a day vampire to help out the pack at Bardoul with their investigations.

  Day vampire… I asked if there were night ones, too. Alaric looked at me like I was joking, and when I didn’t laugh, he realize I didn’t actually know. He told me that there were a few vampires who could walk during the day, but they were rare. He told me to ask Galen as he would be able to tell me better. But he was a regular vampire, there were not different breeds—night and day.

  Galen had the power to walk during the day, whereas most couldn’t or they would burst into flames. Okay I just guessed that part. Alaric told me to ask Galen about them, that he didn’t know all about them and it would be better coming from him. I would have asked him if I could find him. But Galen didn’t come home last night, and I hadn’t seen him all day.

  “Oh my God, I cannot believe I am here for another Lovell party. And like, you kissed the brothers. Twins!” Ada squealed. “Like, can I have a little bit of what you got? I want me a sexy boyfriend, and just one will do for now, you greedy bitch taking them all. Leave some for me.” Ada giggled as she bounced around my room. The party had started a while ago, but she insisted that we be fashionable late. Plus, she was excited to walk out of the house with me. She wanted people to see her and to make an entrance.

  I had no idea what went through her mind, but she had been sitting with me and the Kiba boys for lunch the whole week. They saw her in the halls and they said hello to her and made the effort to make her feel welcome in the group. No other girls got that kind of treatment… well, apart from me.

  I looked out my window and could see some of the girls from school were in tiny bikinis at the pool and calling out to Ranger. I felt a small pang of jealously but smiled when he waved and moved away from them.

  He was looking super sexy tonight—jeans and a white button-down shirt. I couldn’t wait till later; I was going to unbutton it while I kissed him silly. I smiled at the thought, I can have all the dirty thoughts I want up here. The shifters can’t smell my dirty thoughts from here. I looked down again and found Ranger watching me. “Oh shit,” I hissed under my breath, and I could see him chuckle. Maybe he could smell me…

  “Oh my God, is that Mr. Donovani lurking over there?” Ada gasped as she pointed toward the forest edge. I could see him, he was… lurking. I was confused about what he was doing there, and I was upset he didn’t come see me. I left a message under his door to come see me when he got back. Maybe he was looking for me, or waiting for me over there. That made more sense.

  “Yeah, he is friends with the family.” I tried to make a story of why he was here. I still hadn’t told her about him. I didn’t know how to even start, and I knew she had been so great to me and understanding. But this was a little too much for now. She nodded at my answer but still looked a little confused as to why he was here. It would still be weird even as a friend of the family a teacher to be at a high school party. I looked around and could see Raff and Maverick talking with some other guys, one of which was Saint.

  I had to stop hating him, Raff certainly had.

  “Oh man, do you think Saint is single still? I want some of him.” I laughed as I saw Raff glance up toward us and smile just as the other two did.

  Oh yeah, they heard that.

  “You will have to go ask him yourself.” I put my hands on her shoulders. Unlike two weeks ago, tonight I was really looking forward to going down there and joining the party. I had decided I was going to kiss all three of them tonight in front of everyone. All the Kiba boys knew anyway, and there were fewer non-shifter people here. So I didn’t feel so… judged—not that I ever cared what others thought of me before. I just wasn’t good with being the center of attention and having three boyfriends would make for huge gossip at school. But it was spring break and that meant I had some time before I had to see them all again.

  “Do you think I look nice?” I could see the vulnerability in Ada’s eyes.

  I pulled her into a hug. “You look gorgeous, and I am sure one of the guys out there will think so, too. And then they will find out that you are a beautiful person on the inside and ask you out on a date.” Ada giggled, and so did I, but that was my little subtle warning for the guys out there—they better treat her right or they would have me to deal with.

  “Let’s go. You have three sexy boys out there waiting and you have to kiss them, show those girls which guys are yours and that they need to back the fuck off.” I just laughed as I grabbed the leather jacket and we made our way down the stairs and out into the cool spring air.

  You could feel the damp chill outside. Ada said she would meet with me in a moment. She wanted a small amount of liquid courage; however, I didn’t want any. I grabbed a bottle of water and I watched her, scanning the guys, making sure they knew I was watching them. I saw Noah walk toward her as soon as he saw her. I smiled. He was sweet to her, even though he was much younger at fifteen.

  As soon as I wrapped my arms around Raff, I felt warmer. Mav winked at me and rubbed my back as few times before pulling away. I smiled and told him that it was nice.

  “I want more, I’m cold.” I was ready for this. The family knew, Alaric seemed really okay with the fact that I didn’t just give Ranger a chance, but Maverick, too. There were some extra strict rules about bedrooms and who could be in them and when. Unfortunately for Jett, he has become more or less our babysitter. He had to make sure we didn’t get up to too much. But this was Jett, so anything pretty much went.

  “Wow, you really need to warm up. Your hands are so cold,” Raff said as he twisted me around into his warm embrace.

  “Well, you can both warm me up.” I felt Maverick rub my back. It was only a small move, but I was glad for it. Small steps. I could hear Saint talking away, was he talking about hunting? When I looked at him, he gave me a small wary smile. Then he glanced at Maverick and me. Ah, I forgot Maverick and him were best buddies.

  “What do you hunt?” I was curious because Raff was talking more than ever wi
th them and was just so comfortable here, like he really fit in. More than me. And even though I wasn’t into hunting or guns, I wanted to be supportive.

  “Deer mainly, rabbits for fun, they give the best chase.” And then I realized they weren’t talking about hunting with weapons—no, they were the weapon.

  “When you catch one, then, you know… switch back. Do you like have fur and blood in your mouth.” They all laughed, all of them. I could feel Raff hold me tightly as his body shook and Maverick’s hands were now on my shoulders.

  “What? It’s a serious question.” Saint nodded and gave me a face that told me it tastes just as bad as it sounded.

  “Eeeww, remind me not to kiss you after a hunt.” I turned back to look at Maverick then up to Raff. Ada came over with a red cup in her hand, smiling, but I could tell she was nervous—and nervous Ada talked a lot of random stuff.

  “Hi, Ada. How have you been?” Saint asked and my mouth almost dropped. Okay… he was alright, not forgiven. Just alright. For now.

  Everyone started to feel the effects of the alcohol as the night wore on. Drunk people were everywhere, probably more of them than sober people. I wanted to look for Galen, I remembered seeing him over the near the forest and Ranger disappeared that way a while ago. I wanted to kiss him, but he had run off before we could. Maybe he was with Galen?

  I left Ada chatting with Noah. She kept telling me he was too young for her, but she enjoyed that he was flirty. I just laughed at her; age was just a number. Galen was old but I didn’t care. And Noah didn’t look like a fifteen-year-old, but I was sure he still had a personality of one.

  “I’m just going to see if I can find Ranger,” I told her, a little white lie. I felt bad, but I really needed to see Galen.

  It grew darker and darker as I made my way across the green lawn, reminding me what had happened here only two week ago. I saw the fallen log and again, there were glowing eyes of a wolf. I froze, it was a huge gray one. I looked back to the party; everyone was unaware that he was here.