by Lane Whitt
Hearing the growls from several of my bro's at Kellan's statement surprised the hell out of me. I guess I could picture having Kitten as my own as well. She's the perfect girl really. Smoking hot, but she doesn't know it. Sweetness drips from her every pore, heart on her sleeve even after the life she's lived. Oh yeah, I could wake up to that every morning. I imagine painting her, the early morning sun pouring over her naked form on my bed. My cloud bed, as she called it. I chuckle at that. She says the cutest things.
Ash
I growl at Kellan. Of course we can't all have her! How dare he even imply that shit! As much as I like the thought of always having her around, her being mine to protect, I know she deserves better. Before this morning I thought maybe Remy could claim her, it would still be my job to protect her that way. The alpha's mate always has the pack looking out for her. He can be an asshole at times but I thought he'd make it his mission to make her happy, and my Little One deserves to be happy. I'm too rough and surly to make a sweet girl like her content. I know that. Even though he didn't hurt her like I thought, I still question his actions this morning. That girl is untouched and frankly pretty un-fucking-prepared to take shit to that level. It's clear as damn day. I doubt she's even held a guy’s hand before. Fucking Remy....
Jace
Well...there you go. My worst fear realized. They all thought my outburst at Kitten yesterday was because I thought she was after money. One look at the girl and you know that's not true. If she was after money she could get it easily. Not by whoring herself out exactly but by marrying some hideous, rich, old man looking for a trophy. She might be a bit young for that yet, in today's society, but I'm sure most of them would put her up until she turned eighteen, then marry her. Kitten is gorgeous, prettier than me even. My fear was that having her here would tear my family apart. Wars have been fought for her kind of beauty, my brothers don't stand a chance.
I won't deny for an instant that I don't want that tight little package as my own. I'd be an idiot not to, every inch of her is perfection. I've dated models that pale in comparison to her. I hated being so cruel. I knew she'd be hurt by my words, that's why I said them after all. I didn't expect her to forgive me though. That was a real shock. She's beautiful on the inside as well it seems, that's a rare occurrence, one that I haven't seen in a very long time.
What Logan said just now makes me feel guilty. I didn't think about the long term effect my words might have on her. I've already decided to make it up to her. As if I had a choice anyway, my brothers would probably string me up and take turns hitting me with a bat if I didn't. Or worse, scratch my car! If we're going to make her choose one of us soon, I better get myself in the game. No way could she be here without her belonging to me. I'd be lucky to find someone with half her beauty, and that just won't do.
Tristan
I watch as every single one of them drift off into their own little worlds. Most likely thinking about Kitten. I had no idea the impact she'd have on us all when I brought her here. I'll never forget the night I found her. She was strong, ready to face death on her own terms even though her body gave up on her. I know the others see her as weak, but they're wrong. Living on the streets for sixteen years does not produce weak beings. She raised herself and I think she did a pretty good job considering. As soon as she was awake she had all of us wrapped around her finger, it's been interesting to watch. I love her reactions to me. I don't know why I have the effect on her that I do, but I love it. She has the same effect on me but she can't see it. I like that too.
I can't believe what Remy did, but I won't say I don't understand why he did it. Kitten has never been around men, not ones that didn't want to harm her. I'm sure her hormones are all out of whack. It's natural for her age but it's not like she's been eased into any of this. She didn't get kissed on the playground in primary school, or held hands with a crush in middle school, she's a blank slate, suddenly exposed to eight testosterone filled werewolf males. If she even hinted that she wanted something from Remy, he'd give. I doubt the others have noticed his lack of control when it comes to Kitten. I have.
Since no one has spoken after Kellan's statement of 'we can't all have her', I take the initiative. "Why not?" I throw out.
"What!" Ash booms.
"I said, why not. Why can't we all have her?" I shrug.
"How about because she's not a whore?" Reed drawls, rolling his eyes at me.
"Now hold on, Tristan may have a point." Remy jumps in, rubbing at his eyebrow with his index finger. I'm happy he found his confidence again. He's not used to being questioned and the guys have been rough on him today. "Why does she have to be whore to be shared by us? If it's only us she's with, then what does it matter?"
"Are you saying that you, Alpha of this pack, would willingly share a female with the rest of us?" Asks Jace incrediously. Interesting, he said 'us', so he must want her too. He has a disturbing way of showing it, but I see his eagerness now.
"I think I would be willing…yes, Mr. Rotherstone. I admit to feeling a pull towards the girl since the moment I layed eyes on her. You would think I would have felt anger, or even jelousy, at having the rest of you paw at her, but…I haven’t.” Remy states, confusing us all and looking quite perplexed himself.
"You all are insane. You can't share a tiny girl like that! Who says she even wants to?" Ash seems frustrated.
"I say she does." I meet Ash's eyes, showing I'm serious. "I'm not saying she's ready for a sexual relationship with all eight of us right this minute. I still think Kellan was right about that. I'm saying that I think she's strong enough to handle the lot of us. You all think Kitten is young, naive and weak. You're wrong. I mean, she is, but that's not all she is. I think she has as many personalities as us combined. She's intricate. We haven't given her a chance to shine yet, to show us who she is."
Finn clears his throat, getting all of our attention. Rarely does he speak in family meetings. He must feel whatever he has to say is important. "I would just like to point out that Kitten has yet to show any favoritism to any one of us. Given the differences among the eight of us in personality, size, looks and so on, I think it would be reasonable to state that this is an abnormality. Furthermore, given our lacking knowledge of our kind, unless we have personally delt with an issue…." He trails off and shifts uncomfortably in his seat.
"Please continue Finn." Kellan gently prods his twin.
Finn glances briefly at each of us before settling his gaze on Remy. "Well… it might not be unreasonable to think that Kitten may be our mate.”
“Our? As in all of us? How the fuck do did you come to the conclusion that that shit is reasonable?” Ash booms angrily.
“You will watch your tone Ash!” Remy barks. A glance over at Finn tells me that he’s withdrawn back into himself. I shake my head, Ash should know better. I think all this talk about Kitten has him all worked up.
Ash huffs and slouches back into his seat, so Remy continues on. “I believe Finn was just pointing out that Kitten seems to work well with each of us individually, as well as a group. He’s right about none of us having any knowledge of mates. In all our time here, we’ve never encountered a mated couple that wasn’t protected by a pack or ever encountered a mate for ourselves.”
“Honestly, it’s the most reasonable conclusion. With our instincts to covet and protect what is ours, we should be ripping each other’s throats out by now.” Kellan nods his head as he speaks.
“So what are you saying? We just pass her around like a football? Dudes, you’re forgetting the most important fact here…Kitten is human.” Reed chimes in.
Remy huffs out a breath. “Very true Reed, though there has to be some kind of explanation as to why a slip of a girl can have this reaction on eight grown wolves. My suggestion is for you, Finn, to research all that you can on this matter, but do not go so far as to speak to any other wolves about her.” Finn nods his head in agreement, but doesn’t reply.
“To address your other statement Reed, I sugg
est that we continue on as we have been. We allow Miss Kitten to set the pace romantically and allow her to choose how many of us she is willing to take on, if any at all. I also want it stated, that even if Kitten decides none of are right for her, she will remain with us for as long as she wishes. Understood?” Remy speaks to all of us while sending a pointed look at Jace.
I look to Ash, thinking for sure he'll be against this. He seems calm though. I mentally wipe my brow, thank God. I was sure he'd try to rip us all apart for even suggesting this.
Rem looks to each of us. No one objects. "Good, we're agreed. Logan, Tristan, go cheer our girl up." He smirks.
I look to Logan and smile, he returns it, looking like the cat that swallowed the canary. We race each other down the hall and up the stairs, getting back to our girl.
Chapter 12
Kitten
Tristan bursts through the bedroom, scaring the bejeebus out of me. Logan is right behind him. Both of their faces are a little flushed. "Were you guys running?" I ask.
Tristan smiles wide. "Yeah, we were racing, and I won." He states proudly. I give him a weak smile in return. "That means I get first hug!" He says right before he plucks me off the chair I was sitting on, spinning me around. I feel dizzy by the time stops.
"My turn." Logan whispers in my ear. Instead of spinning me, he wraps his arms around me and carries me princess style out of the room. I laugh at his playfulness. These two are so fun.
"Where are you going?" Tristan calls after us, giggling himself. What a cute sound.
"We're taking her to have some fun, keep up. My car's a two-seater so run and get your Charger ready." We're leaving? To go where?
Outside I see the pretty red car that was in the garage when I hung out with Ash. Logan sets me down, helping me into the back seat, buckling me in. I giggle. "You know I can do that right?"
"Of course I know, I just want to do it for you." He winks at me before hopping in the passenger seat. Tristan messes with the radio, flipping through stations.
"Where are we going anyway?" I ask, excitement starting to bubble up.
"It's a surprise. You can't know yet." Logan answers.
"You might want to tell me dummy, since I'm driving." Tristan says playfully. Logan leans over, whispering in Tristan's ear. It's annoying. I don't like surprises.
……..
Tristan stops the car in front a large brick building. I don't see a sign, so even though we're here I still don't know what we're doing. Logan takes my hand and we walk to the door, Tristan following behind us. We walk into a small hallway like space, the lighting is dim and the carpet is neon pink. Logan and I stand back as Tristan pulls out his wallet and talks to the guy behind the little window. He says something about full rental gear. That's not really a clue.
"Stop biting that lip Babygirl, we're here to have fun, nothing bad is going to happen." Logan tells me in a low voice. I didn't know I was biting my lip but I stop. He did ask nicely.
Tristan opens a door leading further into the building. "Let's go." As soon as we enter my eyes widen. What is this place? There's a lighted area with racks of who knows what, I see helmets, so that must be the 'gear' Tristan mentioned. The rest of the space is filled with huge red and black foam shapes. Triangles, squares, circles, rectangles, some of them forming pathways. Paint is splattered all over everything. I see two people carrying guns, dressed in all black with helmets covering their faces. I stand behind Logan, gripping his shirt.
I lean on my toes, whispering in his ear. "Logan, those people have guns, we need to get out of here. If we move slowly they might not see us." Instead of moving to leave though, Logan bursts out laughing, bending at the waist. The noise draws the attention of the gun holders.
I keep my eyes on them as Logan keeps laughing. I feel like kicking him in the shin. Tristan gets my attention. "We are here for paintball Kitten, those are paintball guns, and they won't shoot at you." My head tilts to the side. Paintball guns? I don't really understand but this is Tristan, I can trust him.
I'm lead to the gear area where the two of them work together to get me in all the stuff. I feel smothered with a vest, helmet, gloves, and knee and elbow pads on. When they get themselves suited up we pick out guns of our own. I'm especially happy about this, if the other people here are armed I want to be too. Tristan picks out red paintballs, Logan, blue of course, I can't choose between lime green ones or sparkly pink ones. I end up picking the lime green. Logan shows me how to load them in while he explains how to shoot and where the trigger is.
"Who are we shooting and why?" I ask. I get that it's pretend shooting, I won't be killing people, but why pretend to do it?
"There's other people here too, we'll find a small group and ask them to play against us. And we're doing it because it's fun Kitten. Just give it a try." Tristan says kindly.
"Okay."
Logan found a group of four guys and two girls. I notice both the girls chose the pink paintballs. There's a countdown after we enter the foam shape area. Tristan told me it's so we have time to take shelter. I guess we need to make our way to our flag quickly so we can defend it against the other team. The object of the game is to shoot all the other players, taking them out of the game, or capture their flag.
"Just stay beside me Kitten, move when I move. Got it?" Tristan says. I can tell he's excited, which makes me excited too. Also kind of scared. I give myself a mental pep talk. It's going to be okay, they don't have real guns, this will be fun, and no matter what, those bastards aren't getting my flag. That's right bitches, MY flag.
The countdown stops and a buzzer sounds. Logan takes off immediately, Tristan and me behind him. Dang he's fast! We make it behind a tall rectangle. Tristan signals to Logan to climb the tower that holds our green and white flag. It's kind of ugly, but whatever, I'm protecting it anyway. We wait for Logan to hide behind a triangle before Tristan creeps along the wall, poking his head out. He turns waving me forward, he points to a short square then back at me. I run for it.
A 'pop pop pop' sounds right before three purple splats of paint land right next to my face. I stop and turn, lifting my gun, I pull the trigger, aiming at the person who I think shot at me. I'm tackled to the ground before I see if my shots hit my mark.
"Don't stop and stand there Silly Girl." Tristan laughs out. "Not if you want to continue to play." We back against the wall, huddled together.
We hear a "You're out, Mofo!" Called from somewhere. Tristan turns to me, a brilliant smile on his gorgeous face. I beam back at him.
He sticks his gun above his head, two splats of paint hit it immediately, one light blue, one orange. Tristan makes a signal with his hands telling me where the two shooters are. Holding up three fingers, then two I get that he's counting down and ready myself. When all three fingers are down I jump up, aiming at the target on my side, pulling the trigger. I let out a war cry as I advance on the guy, hitting him once in the chest and once on his face mask. A popping sound comes from my left so I dive to the right.
Whoever was shooting sounds close, so I weave through the shapes in the direction I think I heard them. As I move I hear two more 'you're outs'. I wonder if Tristan hit his mark too. That means three down, three to go. I spot a red and white flag up in a tower. This must be the other team's. The two girls are stationed up there, talking to each other.
I decide to try to get their flag. That's one way to win the game and protect my flag right? How hard can it be? Just as I take a step forward I spot Tristan on my left, making a run for me. The girls stop their chattering and start shooting at Tristan. Something inside of me snaps. Those bitches are shooting at Tristan? MY Tristan? How DARE they!
My battle cry is back- the one I didn't know I had until today- and I run to the tower as fast as I can. Pink splats land to the left and right of me but so far, haven't hit me. I take the steps two at a time. A head pops out, over the railing. My gun was ready for that and I release a steady stream of lime green paintballs at her face. Gottcha.
I jump up, letting out the girliest squeal I've ever heard. I cough, trying to act cool as the two girls pass me on the stairs. One has her mask up, probably because it's covered in my paint. I smirk at her. I walk into the tower space and yank their flagpole out of the holder, tossing it to the ground below. I can see our flag tower from here, and I see Logan shoot at their last remaining player.
"Game over!" Is yelled from the announcer person. I hear laughing from below me. I lean out the little window, seeing Tristan looking back at me. I smile and wave.