by Kate Wendley
He finally left her around midnight and went back to the club. He went straight into his office and closed himself up in the small room. No, no, no, no, no. This couldn’t be happening, it just couldn’t. He kept alternating between feeling dead inside to frantic and angry.
This was too similar to what another Alpha Wolf had done, years and years ago, now. Eli had been Anthony’s feeding partner and also his friend, or so he’d thought. As it turned out, Eli was secretly using his status as the face of one of Anthony’s companies to meet human women, wine and dine them, and then make love to them.
Except making love sometimes meant outright rape, and Eli always bit them hard enough to draw blood. Anthony finally found out because one of the women turned wolf.
He had to believe Sebastian wasn’t another Eli. Sebastian actually was his friend, had been his friend longer than Eli, and he was nothing like him, anyway. If Anthony had paid more attention back then, he would’ve known that a narcissistic playboy like Eli could never have been an honest friend to him.
He was working himself into a frenzy and he knew it, but thinking about Kaia turning into a shifter was panicking him… and it made him think more about her as a vampire.
Would she even consider it? What if she wanted to have children of her own some day? Vampires couldn’t do that.
He’d been too scared to ask her those questions because he was afraid of the answer. It might not even matter now. If she was turning shifter, it was too late to turn her vampire even if she agreed to it. His hopes and dreams for happiness in his long, long life were suddenly, possibly, gone.
He wasn’t sure how long he’d been sitting, staring blankly at his computer screen saver, when Zach’s voice broke him from his trance.
“Hey.”
Anthony jerked his head around.
“What’s wrong, dude? You ok?” He walked into the office as Anthony frowned at him.
“I need you two to finish up early tonight. I need to talk to you before I go to bed for the day.”
Zach cautiously asked, “What’s it about?”
“Kaia.”
“Is she ok?”
Anthony was trying really hard not to explode in anger over the situation, so he didn’t say anything at all.
Zach tensed. “Dude, what happened? Where is she?”
He flatly said, “She’s at home sleeping. She’s fine. I want to talk to you both before I go to bed.” He turned back to stare at his computer while he worked on putting up a wall to block his emotions from Zach and Sebastian. He’d talk to them together about this, and didn’t need to distract all three of them in the meantime.
**
Sebastian was eating at the bar when Zach came over looking all kinds of nervous.
“Hey, Anthony wants to talk to us about Kaia before he goes to bed. Do you know what it’s about?”
He shook his head. “She was upset all day about seeing Anthony sleeping, and I accidentally nipped her neck this morning, but other than that I don’t know.”
“Well, he’s seriously upset about something.”
Sebastian frowned. Was Anthony pissed at him for how he handled Kaia’s stress today over seeing him sleeping? Or was it for biting her while he was half asleep? That didn’t seem like something to get so mad about. Anthony bit her all the time, himself.
He stayed busy with the restaurant the rest of the night, his stomach getting more and more upset as the night wore on. He figured he must’ve screwed up somehow, he just wasn’t sure how.
Hours later, finally the night was coming to a close. Or rather, the early morning. He hurriedly finished up with the restaurant and kitchen, and Zach finished his rounds with the guards in both buildings, then tidied up the club before they both made their way downstairs. Anthony was already waiting for them, tense and roiling with emotion. He’d changed into his pajama bottoms and was sitting on the couch, hunched over with his head in his hands when they came in.
Sebastian blurted out, “What’s going on? What happened?”
Anthony took a deep, angry breath. They nervously sat down when they saw that. Anthony rarely ever breathed unless he was talking, and it was even rarer that he took deep breaths. This had to be serious.
When everyone settled in, Anthony carefully asked, “What do you know about shifter history?” He directed his question to both of them.
They looked at each other, confused. Zach said, “I’m not following you. What do you mean?”
Anthony put his hand on the back of his neck, then let go. He finger combed his hair back and frowned. “What I’m asking is, do you know how shifters are made?”
Zach half mischievously said, “Like the birds and the bees? You’ve never had this conversation with your parents? You want us to talk to you about it?” He chuckled at his own joke.
Anthony sighed irritably and Sebastian’s stomach turned violently because he knew the gist of where this was going.
He whispered as he shook his head in disbelief, “But that’s just a myth. It’s not true.” He’d do anything for it to not be true.
Anthony looked sharply at him.
“What are you talking about? What’s a myth?” Zach stopped snickering to himself and finally got serious. “Ok, someone let me in on it. I don’t get it.”
Sebastian leaned over and put his head in his hands. He felt nauseous.
Anthony said in a tense tone, “It’s rare, but shifters can turn a human into a shapeshifter by biting them and drawing blood.” Anthony paused, then continued in a much quieter tone. “Kaia was bitten by Sebastian today, hard enough to draw blood.”
Zach gasped. “No. That’s… that’s just a myth!”
Sebastian dared to look at Anthony as he shook his head in shock and disbelief.
In a lifeless voice, Anthony slowly drawled out, “It’s not a myth. The wolf Hank Madera is the byproduct of a human turned into a shapeshifter. His grandmother was a bitten wolf. That’s why his blood line is so weak. And, as I’ve recently learned, Marc Giroux’s girlfriend Helena is also a bitten wolf. Not through Marc.” With a deep frown, he continued, “It’s not guaranteed Kaia that will transition so I didn’t tell her about it. If she doesn’t turn, then no harm done. If she does turn, she’s going to need our help. I want you two to help keep an eye on her and watch for signs.”
Sebastian stared at Anthony in disbelief. “It was an accident. I swear it was an accident.”
After a tense, silent moment, Anthony stood up and said, “I’m going to bed.”
**
Sebastian couldn’t help feeling Anthony’s dead emotions as he stood in front of the couch looking completely withdrawn. When he turned his back on them and silently left the room, Sebastian sunk back into his chair and stared at the ceiling in frustration.
Zach quietly said, “We’ll get through this, dude. It’ll be ok.”
Sebastian had no idea what to say, so he didn’t say anything at all. Zach eventually got up and got himself something to drink, then channel surfed with the TV for a while. Sebastian couldn’t look at him and didn’t want to talk, either. He knew he’d fucked up and nothing Zach had to say would make it any better.
But Zach didn’t have anything else to say for once, and that was the worst part.
Sebastian finally mumbled, “I’m going to bed.”
“Hey dude, we’ve gotten through a lot together. We’ll pull through this, too. We’re family.”
Sebastian nodded and felt just a tiny bit better. He went to his room, stripped out of his clothes and got in bed, but he couldn’t fall asleep. He wanted so badly to talk to Jade. He needed to feel normal and not like a fuck up. She made him feel good when they were together… but only when they steered clear of topics that upset her, like talking about her animal, or tasting blood, or how fucked up his world was.
He frowned at the darkened room, pissed off at his life.
Chapter 17
Sebastian didn’t get out of bed until almost five the next night. He showered
in a daze, wishing he could drown himself in a bottle of booze. It was surprisingly one vice he’d rarely indulged in, mostly because back when he’d been even more pissed off at life, he couldn’t afford the stuff that would actually get him drunk.
Now he could.
He dried off, brushed his teeth and combed his hair, then went back to his room to get dressed. He leadenly checked his phone, no text messages from Oskar about anyone calling out sick tonight, but he did have a text from Jade. She’d be leaving her parent’s soon and would be down for dinner with him in the restaurant. He normally liked that she texted him so much because it felt like such a regular thing to do, but tonight he wasn’t sure what to think. Tonight it all felt like a lie with her.
He lifelessly put his phone in his pocket and went out to the kitchen to get a glass of water. His attention was on Anthony’s room as he turned the tap. He’d be awake soon and it was Zach’s night to let him feed, thank God. Sebastian wasn’t sure how he was ever going to face him again, especially if Kaia actually turned shifter.
Anthony’s waking energy filled the apartment and Zach quickly disappeared into his room. Sebastian stared numbly at his half empty glass of water, his shoulders hunched while he wished he could just disappear. He could feel through his blood connection that Anthony’s emotions were just as lifeless as his own, and it made his chest hurt.
He almost dashed out of the apartment, wanting to get away and be by himself right now, but Jade would be upstairs soon, if she wasn’t already, and he wasn’t ready to talk to her, either. He begged his wolf to help numb his head while he sat frozen in indecision.
After a time, Anthony finally emerged from his room, cleanly showered, shaved and dressed. Sebastian looked guiltily at him and felt even worse when Anthony angrily snapped, “How could you bite her?”
He weakly said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
Anthony immediately snapped back, “Don’t give me that, Eli! There’s no way Hilda and the elders didn’t tell you that could happen!”
He had no idea who Eli was and wasn’t sure whether to be confused or scared. Scared won out when he felt Anthony’s power building, and his hair started flying around him all on its own. He glared venomously at Sebastian as his fangs came in, and a moment later his vice grip of a hand was wrapped around his throat. He yanked him from his chair and slammed him against the wall.
Sebastian’s heart beat in terror while he struggled for air. Anthony squeezed harder and Sebastian’s face got tight and hot while his thoughts became chaotic. He wheezed out, “I’m sorry.”
He felt pure hatred from Anthony. His eyes glowed and he looked like he’d rather see Sebastian dead than talk about how sorry he was for hurting Kaia. Sebastian weakly pried at Anthony’s hand, but he knew it was no use. Sebastian might be strong, but Anthony’s power was on a whole other level. He heard himself whimper and got even more frantic when his insides started heating up.
Anthony leaned closer and snarled through gritted teeth, “How could you, Eli? She’s human! How could you bite her? I trusted you!”
From somewhere in the room, Zach loudly snapped, “Anthony! Sebastian said he was sorry! Let him go so we can check on Kaia!”
Sebastian kept frantically trying to free himself even though he knew it was no use.
Anthony frowned even harder than he already was and turned his head in confusion. He spat out, “What?”, then slowly turned back to Sebastian. He seemed startled and instantly loosened his grip, then pulled his hand away as if he’d been burned.
He slowly backed up as Sebastian shakily sucked in air that was too thick with power. He kept his eye on Anthony, wanting to get far, far away from him, but he knew it was no use even trying. If Anthony wanted to beat the hell out of him, there was no place Sebastian could hide.
Zach carefully asked, “Who’s Eli?”
Anthony’s face turned ugly as he whipped around and screamed, “No one! And I don’t ever want to hear that name again!” He stormed towards the apartment door as he stubbornly blurted out, “I apologize for my outburst.” Without looking back he said, “I’m going to Kaia’s,” then thankfully left.
**
Sebastian slid down the wall and sat on the floor for a long, long time. Zach sat with him, but there wasn’t much to say. He tried to cheer him up, but Sebastian was barely listening. Zach wasn’t the fuck up in this house. Zach didn’t know what it felt like for everyone to turn their backs on him, including his best friends.
But Zach was his friend. “I totally fucked up this time and I don’t want to take you down with me.”
He frowned, then shook his head and chuckled. “Shut up. We’ll all get through this. Shit happens around here. This is just another day.”
He wished that were true. He nodded because he didn’t want to talk about it anymore, then eventually watched Zach leave the apartment. He sat by himself for a while longer, his hands finally not shaking quite as bad as before. He thought of Jade waiting for him upstairs and decided he wanted to see her.
He still felt nauseous as he leadenly walked upstairs to the restaurant, and Jade was already eating her dinner by the time he joined her. He slouched into the chair across from her.
“Honey, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just have a lot on my mind.”
“But you’re pale, and… shaking. My God, what happened?” She reached across the table and held his hand.
He looked at her concerned face and was pissed off that he couldn’t share things with her. She couldn’t handle the real shit that happened here. It’d freak her out because she was too delicate in every possible, stupid, way. Everything freaked her out.
“It’s nothing. Anthony’s mad at me. I don’t want to talk about it.”
“He’s mad at you? Why?”
He pulled back from her touch and crossed his arms. “Forget it.”
She looked hurt. “But I thought we were getting to know each other. I’d like you to be able to trust me and talk to me.”
He quietly snapped back, “Why? You don’t trust me. Admit it. You don’t want to get too close because you don’t trust that I won’t hurt you since you’re so delicate. Jade, I can’t tell you things. Don’t you get it? You can’t handle my life. It’d rip you to shreds. You’d never be able to sleep at night if you knew the things I have to deal with, and one of the only two people that understands is now seriously pissed off at me.”
She stared at him, gape jawed, as he angrily got up from the table.
He snapped, “I need to put an order in online before the cut off. I’ll see you later.”
He shut himself up in the office and was pissed at himself for how badly he’d fucked everything up. He fucked up Anthony’s life, Kaia’s life, and he’d obviously just fucked things up with Jade. Who was he kidding anyway, though? Jade and him couldn’t have really made it as a couple. They were too different. Things only worked with her when he wasn’t being true to who he really was, and what kind of relationship was that?
**
Jade left the restaurant and somehow made it to her apartment before she broke down crying. She fell onto her sofa and hugged a pillow to herself as she thought about what just happened. Sebastian said he couldn’t talk to her because she was too delicate. She was tired of people treating her like a china doll. She didn’t want to be so fragile, but was she ready to drink blood to gain strength?
She stilled as she thought about that. Could she? Tears came to her eyes again as she thought about actually drinking blood. People didn’t drink blood, animals did.
She wasn’t an animal!
Except she was. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked around at her knickknacks, suddenly mad at all the little kitty cats that were smiling at her. She wanted to smash them all on the ground.
But carefully, so she didn’t cut herself.
She sobbed pitifully at that. The cat she shifted into wasn’t cute and sweet and happy. Her cat was always sore and uncomfortable through the
shift, then anxious and worried as she ran around the outskirts of animals that were way stronger than her. She always feared for her safety on full moon nights.
Because she was too delicate. She cried big, fat, soggy tears as Sebastian’s words hit home. She was too delicate, and yeah, she probably couldn’t handle his life.
…Could she?
Chapter 18
Torin found Sebastian sitting with his back to the bar, staring dully out into the club. He looked like hell tonight and he heard through the grapevine that he and his new girlfriend had a fight. Torin was maliciously happy about that, then reluctantly reminded himself why he was here. He sucked up his pride and walked over to his alpha.
Sebastian barely glanced his direction before curling his lip and looking out into the club again. Torin settled in against the bar a couple stools down and felt Sebastian’s attention on him even though he wasn’t looking at him. “Can I talk to you?”
Sebastian turned his head and frowned in confusion. “Why?”
He snarled, “Because I asked.”
He immediately regretted his smart mouth when Sebastian seamlessly said, “Fuck you,” and looked away again.
He mentally sighed. He was here because he wanted something different out of life. For that to happen he needed to stop treating Sebastian like an outsider. He stood up and said, “I mean it. I’d like to talk to you.”
Sebastian sprang to his feet and growled as he stalked up to him and got in his face. “You just don’t get it, do you? I’m the fucking alpha here, not you.” He shoved Torin and said, “Got it?”
Torin stepped awkwardly backwards but kept to his feet. The club seemed a lot quieter all of a sudden, and Sebastian looked ready for a fight a lot quicker than he usually did. Torin had to look away to try to calm his own animal down. He took some slow, deep breaths and arched his neck in submission as he more quietly said, “I’m not trying to give you an order, sir. I’d like to talk to you. …Please.”