by Jody Morse
Samara glanced down at her shoulder, but she didn’t see anything at all. She twisted so that she could see the back of her shoulders, which was where Emma and Kyana’s tattoos were, and she frowned. “Well, I don’t have the same tattoo that the rest of you do,” she commented. She turned to Luke, whose tattoo had imprinted on the same area of his shoulder as the other guys. “Can you check my back for me?”
From the corner of her eye, she saw Declan’s head jerk up. There was a look of jealousy in his eyes. Was he jealous because Samara was asking Luke to examine her back for her instead of him?
Luke nodded. “Yeah, turn around.” As Samara turned and faced the other direction, Luke lifted up the back of the tank top she was wearing. He ran a finger down her spine. “You have a tattoo back here . . . a big one.”
Samara felt a trail of goose bumps drift down her spine at his icy, fiery touch. It made all of her skin tingle, more than it ever had before. “It’s bigger than the tattoo I had before?” she managed to ask, even though her mind was focused on the way his fingertips felt against her back.
Luke continued to touch the tattoo, as he studied it. Finally—and much to her relief—he removed his hand. “It’s much bigger than your old tattoo. And more elaborate. You’re definitely the Alpha of our pack.” He pulled Samara close to him and nuzzled his chin against her neck. “Your tattoo may be bigger than it was before, but don’t worry. It’s beautiful . . . just like you.”
Declan’s voice filled her head again. Oh, God. What a suck up.
Samara pulled away from Luke and glanced into his eyes. She was positive, based on the sereneness in his green eyes and the calm feeling that radiated from his body and over to her own, that Luke hadn’t heard Declan’s thoughts.
She wasn’t sure what was going on, but if it was fate’s way of testing her patience, she wasn’t sure if she would pass the test.
And that’s when it dawned on her. This was the reason Declan and Luke’s faces had both flashed through her mind before she’d blacked out. It was fate’s way of letting her know that this was real; she was definitely mated to both of them.
Something else dawned on her, too. When she’d promised Luke that nothing was going to change between the two of them, it had been a big lie because things obviously had changed. It was no longer just the two of them. Now, it was Samara and Luke . . . and Declan.
Chapter 8
As Seth and Samara walked through the woods and back to their house later that night, Samara couldn’t help but notice that her brother was unusually quiet. He walked about ten steps ahead of her the whole way home, keeping his eyes focused on the ground ahead of him.
“Seth, can you slow down?” Samara called to him.
Seth whirled around and looked at her. She expected there to be an angry look in his eyes, but there didn’t seem to be any anger within them at all. They were sort of somber. “What?”
“I’m sorry, okay?” Samara said. “I know it can’t make up for the fact that I’m Alpha and not you, but I was rooting for you to be Alpha. If I could choose, I would let you take the position.”
“You don’t want to be Alpha?” Seth questioned, a surprised look taking over his amber eyes. The surprise quickly faded and it seemed like he was accusing her—almost as though he were thinking that she didn’t deserve the position if it wasn’t what she really wanted.
“It’s not that I don’t want to be,” Samara replied, defensively. “I just think you're more deserving of it than I am. You’d be better at it than I ever could be.” She shrugged. “I wanted it to be you, and I’m sorry that it’s not.”
“It’s okay,” Seth replied, shifting in his shoes anxiously. “I know it’s not your fault. You couldn’t have any control over this. I just . . . I have to wonder sometimes why you were the chosen one.”
Samara raised her eyebrows. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, why is it that you’re the one who gets to be this awesome, kick-ass werewolf that Grandpa Joe had all these visions about? Why wasn’t it me?” Seth questioned, and Samara realized that it still really bothered him that she was the one who Grandpa Joe believed was going to be the most powerful member of their family once he died. Her brother thought that he was, in some way, inferior to her.
“I don’t know why it happened this way,” Samara admitted. “All I know is it doesn’t mean you’re not going to be strong and powerful. Grandpa Joe even wrote in that letter he left behind for me that you’re destined to be powerful, too. And if you ask me, the whole Tala pack is going to be the most powerful to ever have existed. It would make sense that a powerful Alpha needs a powerful pack. All of you are already starting to feel more powerful than you did before.”
Seth stared at her, studying her face for a moment. “And you?”
“And me what?” Samara asked, confused by what he was asking her.
“Are you feeling more powerful than usual?”
Samara hesitated. “I . . . I don’t know. I think I feel more energetic, but . . . I’m not sure. I just feel weird.” Knowing that her brother was probably going to question what she meant, she turned away from him and began walking towards the house.
“Samara, wait,” Seth said, yanking on her elbow. “Are you okay? You’ve been acting weird ever since you blacked out. It’s like something happened . . . and you don’t want the rest of us to know about it. You’re not feeling sick are you? If you are, you need to tell someone so we can figure out what’s wrong with you. There are really good werewolf doctors we can take you to see.”
“Don’t worry, Seth. I’m feeling fine. I just have a lot of stuff on my mind right now.”
Seth met her gaze. “Like what? You know you can always talk to me, Samara.” His jaw hardened. “We always used to talk before we became werewolves . . .” He trailed off, but he didn’t have to bother finishing what he was saying. Samara knew all too well what he meant; after they’d both became werewolves and had to be enemies, they’d stopped confiding in each other, for the most part. Even though they still cared about each other and they trusted each other again, it had all been difficult to move past.
Samara lowered her eyes to the ground. “I know I can talk to you, Seth. And if I ever feel like I need someone to talk to about it, you will be one of the first people who I come to. I’m just dealing with some of my own stuff right now. I’m not talking about it to anyone.”
“Is it really a good idea to keep things bottled up inside like that?” Seth questioned with raised eyebrows.
“Probably not.” Samara shrugged. “These just aren’t things I can talk about to anyone right now. I need to figure out what they mean for myself first.” And even then, she wasn’t sure if she would ever be able to tell anyone else. It would be difficult for the other members of her pack to be able to really understand what she was going through when none of them had gone through the same thing before.
Seth met her gaze before asking evenly, “Does this have to do with Luke?”
Samara studied her brother’s eyes, hoping they would reveal something. How did he know that her thoughts had to do with Luke? Was it because it was that obvious that there was something going on—something that might jeopardize her relationship with Luke? Or was it because it was his natural instinct to assume that her problems probably had something to do with her mate? “Why would you ask that?”
“It’s . . . It’s just . . . There’s a rumor going around school,” Seth stammered nervously. “A rumor about you and Luke.”
Samara felt a knot tighten in her stomach. Had Brad told everyone about what he’d given her advice about? For some reason, she had trusted him, but . . . what if she had been wrong? The last thing she wanted was for her whole high school to think she was having a fling with a guy who wasn’t Luke. “What is it?”
Seth hesitated. Not meeting her eyes, he explained, “People are saying that Luke is abusive towards you.”
“What?” Samara said louder than she meant to. Realizing that their parents a
nd their neighbors were probably all sleeping, she lowered her voice. “Why would people say that?”
Seth shrugged. “Some incident at a restaurant some of the guys from school work at.”
“Brad,” Samara grumbled angrily. Turning to her brother, she asked, “Did you believe this ‘rumor’ when you heard it?”
Seth shook his head. “No, of course I didn’t—don’t—believe it, it’s just that. . . you seem different lately. That’s all.”
“I have been acting different,” Samara agreed, knowing that she couldn’t deny it when it was so obvious, “but it has nothing to do with Luke abusing me. He got a little jealous this one time, but Colby said I should forgive him because it’s normal to get jealous when humans act a certain way around your mate. Even I got jealous when Ashley Everest was hitting on Luke once. It’s perfectly normal.”
Seth studied her face for a moment. “Okay, as long as jealousy is all this was. Because I’m pretty sure if he was abusing you, we could kick him out of the Tala. I mean, I don’t know what the protocol for that would be, but I know that we’re supposed to protect pack members from abusive mates.”
“Well, he’s not abusive, so we don’t need to worry about that.” Samara rolled her eyes, but she really wanted to smile at Seth’s overprotectiveness. She had forgotten what it was like to have a big brother. “Come on, let’s go in the house.”
“I think I’m going to stay out here for a little bit,” Seth said, sinking into one of the lawn chairs in the backyard.
“It’s late. We have school tomorrow,” Samara reminded him. She had been getting on his case a lot lately about school. With all of the absences he’d had the past semester when he was a member of the Vyka, it didn’t seem like he was going to graduate on time, but she was trying to convince him that there might still be time to redeem himself.
“I know. I’ll be up in the morning. I just feel like I need to be out here right now for some reason. I’m not sure why. I just know that I do,” Seth explained. “Go to bed and don’t worry about me.”
Deciding not to argue with her brother, Samara said goodnight and climbed into her open bedroom window. As she shut the window behind her, she noticed her mom’s Yorkie puppy, Lucy, curled up in her bed waiting for her to return.
Her mom had brought the puppy home on Christmas Day, and she was already attached to Samara’s hip. It was a relief because Samara had been worried that she would be tempted to eat the dog—since she had been tempted to eat a rabbit once—but Colby was right. Eating a dog would feel a lot like cannibalism. And Samara wasn’t positive, but she had a feeling that the reason Lucy had become so attached to both her and Seth because she could sense that they were part dog.
As Samara climbed into bed next to Lucy and pulled her comforter over them, she pictured Luke in her mind. Goodnight, she told him.
Goodnight, Samara. I love you, Luke said back.
Samara felt the happiness—and the relief of knowing that she had gotten home safely—as it washed over Luke’s body. She felt surprised by the feeling. Even though she had felt his emotions on a few other occasions, she didn’t feel anywhere near as connected to him as she did tonight. It was still hard to get used to, being able to feel Luke’s emotions all the time.
I love you, too, Samara thought back. Even though things had changed between them, she knew that she wasn’t telling a lie. She really did love Luke.
Rolling over, she tried to decide if she should say what she wanted to say next. After a few moments of going back and forth with herself, she finally thought: Declan?
Yeah? Declan asked hesitantly.
Just hearing him made her feel a sense of relief; it meant that she wasn’t going insane. There was no denying that this was really happening right now. Whether she liked it or not, she was mated to not just one, but two, guys. She could try to resist it, or she could try her best to figure out what it really meant.
Samara closed her eyes and pictured Declan lying in his own bed, feeling the same mix of emotions as she did at the moment. Goodnight, Declan, she thought.
Goodnight, Samara.
There was a long moment of silence and just as Samara was about to drift off to sleep, Declan asked: Luke can’t hear us, can he?
No, he can’t.
Why can’t he? Is he still your mate?
I’m not sure why he can’t hear us. It doesn’t make much sense, Samara replied. But Luke and I are still mates. Can you hear Luke’s thoughts?
No, I can’t. Declan hesitated. So, let me get this straight. You’re still mated to Luke, but you can hear my thoughts, too. What does that make us?
I guess it makes us mates, too, Samara replied with a sigh. I have no other explanation for it.
There was another long pause on Declan’s end, but when his thoughts filled her mind again, he sounded the happiest she had heard him in a long time. Sam? I’m glad Luke can’t hear our thoughts to each other.
Me, too, Samara replied. Saying it made her feel guilty—like she was betraying Luke in some way—but it was the truth. She was glad that there was a way for her and Declan to communicate with one another privately.
It also made Samara feel relieved to know that, just like Luke, Declan was only a thought away now, too.
*
The next afternoon after school, Samara stormed into the public library. The librarian eyed Samara suspiciously as she walked past him and headed to the table where Brad was sitting, reading from a biology book that was open in front of him as he waited for her.
“What the hell, Brad?” Samara hissed at him, trying to keep her voice at a normal level, while still letting him know how pissed off she was at him. They were in the tutoring area of the library, so it was okay to talk, but she knew that she couldn’t scream at him the way she wanted to.
Brad glanced up at her, a confused look in his eyes. “What the hell, what?” Jokingly, he added, “I know the study guide I made you wasn’t that easy, but don’t worry. I’m sure we can figure out the answers together.”
Samara rolled her eyes. “No, this has nothing to do with biology. Why did you tell people that Luke’s been abusing me? Apparently, the whole school thinks my boyfriend is a psycho now!”
“Samara, chill,” Brad said gently. “I didn’t say that.”
“Oh, so now you’re going to lie about it? You can’t even be honest about the rumor you obviously started.” Samara shook her head in frustration. “I thought I could trust you.”
“I didn’t start it,” Brad replied. “Do you know Matt London?”
Samara nodded. “Yeah . . . Well, sort of. I know who he is, but I don’t know him personally.”
“He was working the same night at the restaurant,” Brad explained. “He kept staring at you guys. He said you were wearing a sexy outfit, and he wanted to ask you out on a date when Luke wasn’t looking, I think. But before he got the chance, you and Luke stormed out of the restaurant. I think it made him mad that he didn’t get the chance.”
“Oh.” Samara wanted to protest, to find a way to prove that Brad was lying, but the truth was, she actually believed him. Why would he blame Matt London if he really was the one who had started the rumor? It wouldn’t make any sense.
Sighing, she set her backpack on the floor and sat down in the chair next to him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to attack you. It’s just that when I heard it . . .” She laughed. “This is kind of embarrassing to admit, but at first, Luke had me thinking that you liked me.”
Brad met her eyes. He smiled and, for a moment, Samara was positive he was going to admit that he had feelings for her. Instead, he said, “Well, I do like you. I think you’re a great person.” He paused and tapped his fingers against the table nervously, as though he were trying to find the right words to say. “And since I do like you so much, that’s why I have to ask you . . . are you sure that Luke isn’t abusive?”
Samara sighed. “Yes, I’m sure. But why would you ask that?”
Brad shrugged. “I don’t
know. That day at the restaurant, it just seemed to me like you deserve better. That’s all.” He flipped open to the section of the book they were studying in the biology book. “Let’s get to work.”
As Samara pulled her study guide out of her folder, she allowed Brad’s words to sink in. Was that why fate had decided to give her not just one, but two, mates . . . because she deserved better?
Chapter 9
“I still can’t believe my mom cancelled my credit card,” Emma said, rolling her eyes as she led Samara out of Nordstrom’s. She motioned to the bags of clothing that she held in her hands. “Thank you so much for buying all this stuff for me. I’ll pay you back as soon as I can.”
“That’s okay, don’t even worry about it. It’s my treat.” Samara smiled, happy to see that their shopping trip had made Emma happy, aside from the initial shock of finding out that her credit card had been deactivated. Samara had agreed to pay for everything not only because she could afford to, but also because she knew that Emma’s life hadn’t been easy lately. It was bad enough that Emma had basically lost her mother; the last thing Samara wanted was for her to not be able to enjoy the activities that she had done before her life had changed—like shopping. And Samara couldn’t help but feel responsible for that.
If Emma hadn’t been Samara’s best friend, this whole werewolf thing never would have happened to her. She would be the same normal, carefree teenager she had been before this had happened. Except, Emma had been Samara’s best friend, and her life was changed forever. And for that reason, Samara felt like she owed Emma in some way. That’s why she had been willing—eager even—to buy her best friend clothes. She wasn’t sure if she would ever be able to repay her—it seemed impossible to make up for Emma’s lack of a human life—but Samara wanted to try.
“I wonder what the boys are up to,” Emma commented, as they descended the stairs that led to the ground level of the mall.