“I knew I’d find you in here,” Slade said as he sat three feet to my right, placed his empty protein container and granola bar beside mine and stretched his legs out in front of him.
Chuckling, I gave him an up nod. “And I knew you’d grab a light breakfast and come find me.”
He said nothing for a long moment, and then he finally sighed. “About last night—”
“Stop. We said our piece. I understand why you did what you did. I’d like to think we could have all made it out of there alive if I had been there, but I wasn’t, and there’s no way to know. I would have probably underestimated that little girl’s skills, too. I don’t blame you, Slade, and I’m glad you chose to speak your mind than fight me last night. Rogan was a good friend—”
“The best,” Slade muttered quietly.
“Yes, your best friend. I got carried away with being an Alpha when I should have been there for you as a friend. I’m sorry.”
There, I’d said it. I apologized, like Andra had asked me to. Since I was still mad at her, I told myself that it was my idea to clear the air between me and my Beta, not hers. Shut up. I’m not childish. You’re mad at her, too. Admit it.
“So…” Slade began, “… What’s going on with you and Andra? She still not letting you into her cockpit? I’ve heard rumors that you’re an excellent pilot. What seems to be the problem? You losing your mojo?”
Instead of answering him, I stood and pulled my right arm behind my head and grabbed my elbow, stretching out the tricep. After a minute passed, I switched arms and did the other. “I told her that I’ve slept with most of the girls in this house and she flipped the fuck out.”
Slade’s eyebrows popped up as he stood and began working his arms. “Kinda hypocritical, isn’t she?”
I nodded once. “I threw that back at her, but she only informed me that we weren’t dating and I could sleep with whomever I wanted.”
“Ouch. Well, then I would, if I were you,” he said.
Out of the corner of my left eye, I caught sight of the punching bag. With two big steps and one hard kick, the chain broke and the bag bounced against the wall behind it, before falling to the floor and rolling to my foot. Chaos whined. Taking in a deep breath, I said, “I can’t,” and then I released the air. “This fucking bond is driving me crazy. I want her and only her. I doubt I’d even be able to get it up if I saw another girl naked.”
“Shit! What are you going to do? Jackoff until the end of the world comes?”
I shook my head. “My patience is wearing thin. It’s time to switch tactics. I only have a couple more ideas before I do something that may destroy us both.”
A slow smile crept across Slade’s mug. “You want to kill the vampire, don’t you?”
“More than anything,” I replied. “But I will explore all other options first. Andra will hate me if anything happens to him. Only God knows why she loves him. She knows hardly anything about him, but the love is real; I can feel it.”
“You’re not in love with her, are you?”
My face distorted. “Hell no,” I lied. “It’s just the bond making me feel possessive. I’m a bonded male. She’s mine, love or not.”
“What’s your plan then?”
I thought about that as I picked up my breakfast and headed toward the door, opening the granola on the way. “Ignore her,” I said, after biting off half the bar.
“What about the vamp?” Slade said, falling into step beside me. “He’ll be here in a few days.”
“I’m not worried. She’ll need me before I’ll need her, and then I will have her right where I want her: in my bed, without him in her mind.”
We were just approaching the door to the dining room when it opened and Sinna walked through it, holding a half-eaten apple and chewing with her mouth open.
I grinned, and whispered, “Watch this,” to Slade. “Hey, Sinna.”
She frowned at me. “Don’t hey me, Ace. I know what you’re about to put me through, and I know why. My bedroom is next to yours. Why don’t you just punish her and leave the rest of us to drink our coffee and plot revenge on that pretty little thing locked up downstairs?”
“Sorry. No can do. But maybe I can make it up to you.”
Her eyebrows rose in interest. “I’m listening.”
“How would you like to accompany me tonight at the Salacious Limerick concert? My date can’t make it and I have an extra ticket.”
One eyebrow dropped, but I could tell that she knew what I was doing by inviting her. “Feed me first and don’t expect to get laid at the end of the night and we have ourselves a deal.”
The grin damn near split my face in two. “It’s a date.”
“It’s not a date unless you kiss at the end of the night. Those gorgeous, full lips of yours ain’t coming anywhere near mine, honey. I know where that mouth has been, and none of them were my type. However, I do like Salacious Limerick, so I will help you make your girlfriend jealous.”
After opening the door of the dining room, my eyes immediately found Andra. She was just looking over at me, so I glanced down at Sinna as if I hadn’t been looking for her. I leaned down to whisper in Sinna’s ear. “She’s looking at us. Giggle, like I said something flirtatious or something.”
Fury was building in her brown eyes as she made eye contact with me. “I don’t giggle, Ace. Giggling is for prissy-ass princesses.”
I should have known that would be crossing a line with her. “Please, Sinna? I’ll buy all your alcohol at the concert.”
A giggle so pronounced bubbled up out of her throat that I almost thought it was real. Her hand came up to rest against my bicep, and then she trailed her fingers slowly down to the bend of my arm. Biting her lower lip, she winked at me. “Hope your pockets are deep tonight, honey. I’m drinking Patrón. You’re buying me a shirt, too, lover boy.”
I smiled through gritted teeth and prayed Andra didn’t see right through all this bull shit. “No shirt—”
Sinna shrugged. “Maybe I’ll go over and get to know your sweetie a little better. I bet I could get her to sleep with me before she does you.” She moved to walk back toward the table where Andra was, but I quickly stepped in front of her, giving our audience my back.
“One t-shirt,” I bit out.
“Thanks, honey. Can’t wait for our date tonight.” Sinna smiled victoriously, then popped up on her toes and kissed my cheek.
I blinked, and she disappeared out of the kitchen.
Chapter 17
Thursday, February 5th 2015 9:21 a.m. PST
Las Vegas, Nevada
Andromeda
Andra’s cheeks flushed hot when she saw Ace walk into the kitchen, smiling and chatting it up with a girl. She was pretty… really pretty. Her long brown hair was tied up in a high ponytail, making her almond-shaped brown eyes pop. There was a small beauty mark above her full mouth and she had straight, white teeth. A dark complexion complimented the neon green workout shorts and white tank top she wore. She was perfect. Had he slept with her, too? Of course he had. He wouldn’t have left out a beauty like this if he’d been with nearly every woman in the house.
An irritating giggle escaped the girl’s mouth, making Andra’s breakfast roll in her stomach, and then the girl’s hand came up to caress his arm as she smiled up at him.
After a moment, Ace moved so she couldn’t see the girl anymore, putting his back to her, and all she could hear were muffled voices from them above the cheery morning chatter of over thirty of Ace’s pride.
I can’t watch this anymore, she said to herself as she grabbed a blueberry muffin and an apple, then stood from her seat.
“Can’t wait for our date tonight,” she heard from across the room as she headed toward the other dining room door, causing her feet to forget how to work. She nearly fell into the wall as her head whipped around just in time to see the girl rise up on her toes to kiss Ace.
What the fuck? she thought, and then her mind began to race through images of Ace’s p
ast where this girl was concerned. She only managed to see one memory—vague, and it told her absolutely nothing about his relations with the brunette—before Ace turned back around to the room.
His eyes found hers quickly, but there was no expression on his face as he looked away and started talking to one of the guys she’d seen earlier during their meeting.
Andra managed to get through the door and out of the room before her palms hit her knees and she began to hyperventilate.
“Pull your shit together, Mena!” she demanded of herself, but it didn’t seem to be helping.
In her rush to get away, she’d dropped the food. The muffin landed by her feet, but the apple was rolling away. She watched it until it stopped—or it was stopped, rather.
Slade took his foot off the apple and bent to pick it up. “You okay, Andra?” he said as he walked over and held the apple out to her.
“I—I’m fine.” Flustered, she snatched the fruit from him and wiped it off on her shirt before bending down to pick up the muffin.
He chuckled. “You don’t look fine. You look like you saw a ghost or something.”
‘Or something’ better explained it. Even gouging my eyes out couldn’t make me unsee what has been seen. “I just have to pee—you know, before we go out to train. I thought the door would be heavier, so I nearly tripped coming out of the dining room.” She waved a hand through the air, even knowing by the look on his face that he wasn’t buying the lie. She laughed, like an idiot. “I’m okay, just… gotta pee.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You taking your breakfast with you to the john?”
She looked at the food in her hands, like she’d just realized the items were there, and then she quickly shook her head. “No. Ace said he didn’t mind if I gave the human some food, just not to get too close to her.”
He gave her a slow nod, and then stepped out of her way as he smiled. “Don’t get too close. She’s dangerous. Believe me.” His smile disappeared. “And hurry up. Training starts in five minutes.”
“I’ll be careful. Thank you. And I won’t be late. I swear,” she said, before practically running for the long corridor to find the hidden basement door.
Thursday, February 5th 2015 9:56 a.m. PST
Las Vegas, Nevada
Andromeda
The pounding of her heart slowed a little as she descended the basement staircase and slowly walked into the large room below. There were four cells, made up of silver bars, just as she’d remembered from the night before. The girl was the only one in occupancy, besides the two dead bodies that had been tenderly covered with sheets and were lying on stainless steel tables twenty feet smack dab in front of the third cell, the cell the girl was locked in.
Curled up in the far corner, with her blond hair matted and covering her face, the girl lay still. If it weren’t for hearing her steady heartbeat, Andra would have sworn the girl was dead; she wasn’t moving.
The food Andra had left her lay untouched in the exact spot she’d placed it the night before.
“Hi,” Andra said. “I brought you more food. Please eat some of it.”
The girl didn’t move, but she did respond. “Why? They are going to kill me anyway,” she said in a weak and raspy voice.
“If you talk to us and tell us what we want to know, I’m sure they won’t. I actually have a lot of say-so about what goes on around here.”
The laugh was light and bone-chilling. “Like I said, they are going to kill me anyway.”
“You don’t plan to talk to us, do you?” Andra said, sadly.
“Nnnnope.” After a long moment of silence, she spoke again. “Leave the food or take it with you. I really don’t give a damn what you do with it as long as you go away and leave me the hell alone.”
Sighing heavily, Andra kept her eyes on the unmoving girl as she reached her hand through, putting the muffin and apple on the plate with the cheese and grapes, and then she slowly pulled her arm back through the gap of bars, being careful not to let her skin get too close to the silver. That was a pain that she never wanted to experience again. “I’ll bring you something to drink and more food later,” she said, hoping to get more of a reaction out of the girl than she’d gotten thus far.
She got no reply.
“Is there anything else I can bring you? Clothes? A book?”
Still nothing.
Andra stood and glanced around the small cell. At least there was a toilet in there. The girl wouldn’t have to soil her clothes. “I’m going now. Last chance for requests.”
“Unless you have a key and can get me out of here alive, don’t bother coming back,” the girl said. “I’m not talking.”
Andra frowned, knowing she would never get away with letting the girl go free. And why should she help her? The girl and her friends had been stalking her and had killed one of her pride members. She was crazy for even being this nice to her after what happened.
“See you later,” Andra said, and then turned and walked across the room, up the stairs and out of the basement.
The memory of Ace talking to the pretty girl in skimpy, tight workout apparel flashed through her mind, and she looked down at the sweatpants and old t-shirt she’d chosen to wear this morning for training.
Shaking her head, she tsked at herself in disapproval. “This simply won’t do, Mena.”
Instead of going back to the dining room where everyone was finishing up breakfast, she turned and sprinted up the staircase beside the basement door.
Chapter 18
Thursday, February 5th 2015 9:42 a.m. PST
Las Vegas, Nevada
Ace
When Andra had practically fallen over people in order to get out of the dining room and away from me, I sort of expected her to be late for training. The fact that she was late twisted its way into my plan with precision. What I didn’t expect was the way she would look when she finally arrived.
Through my mirrored aviator sunglasses, I watched her walk to the group of stretching people. My cock twitched in my shorts, and I was glad that I hadn’t chosen a more fitted pair for training.
She had gone to her room and changed into a black one-piece tank bodysuit. Even though the material went all the way down to just above her ankles, it was skin-tight and revealed all her perfect curves. Her already long legs looked even longer in the dark, seamless nylon material.
I wanted nothing more in that moment than to peel it off her. That would only mess up my plan, even if a miracle somehow happened and she actually let me do it. What I really wanted was Phoenix out of her mind and our lives. A little flirting with another girl wouldn’t make my dream come true. I had to take drastic measures, already knowing that I would be putting myself through as much agony as I planned to put her through.
Fighting the urge to clear my throat, I said, “You’re late, Andra. You have tread duty. Slade will take you and your buddy to the pool.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry. I spilled syrup on my shirt at breakfast and had to change. It won’t happen again.” She smiled sweetly at me.
I smiled back, just as sweetly. It thrilled me that she had chosen to eat pancakes this morning. That was the worst possible thing anyone could eat before intense exercising. “Nobody is late to training. I told you not to be late. Slade told me that he also informed you that you shouldn’t be late. Yet, here you are… late. Nobody would have cared if you had shown up with stained clothes… or with no clothes on at all, for that matter.” The corner of my lip twitched when she flinched at my last words. So I’d made it public that I didn’t care to see her naked. It didn’t mean it was the truth. She hadn’t told me the truth about why she’d changed into something sexy as fuck, either. I call that being even. Actually, she was still a couple of lies ahead of me. I was sure I could come up with a couple more that would help me with my plan. It was only fair.
Her shoulders slumped. “What’s tread duty? I don’t have a buddy.”
“Yes, you do. Karma was Rogan’s buddy. She’s your buddy now
.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Karma snarled, just like a pissed off Valley Girl.
It was my way of paying her back for almost outing me about my sleeping habits with the girls in my pride before I had a chance to tell Andra myself. Her name fit her well. Karma’s a bitch.
I shrugged. “You’re the only one without a buddy. Maybe tomorrow you’ll make sure your buddy shows up on time for training.”
“Wait,” Foster said. “We’re having training again tomorrow, too?”
I nodded. “As well as the next day and the day after that. Actually, plan to meet every morning until the next full moon. I’ve let all of you slack long enough. If you’ve been doing your daily training on your own, like you are supposed to, you shouldn’t have any trouble with the next four weeks. I don’t know the people who were privy to Rogan’s death are, but they are skilled, more skilled than I assume some of you are. We need to be ready. We will be ready. I won’t lose any more of you if I can prevent it from happening. Getting fit is the first step.”
Groans floated through the brisk morning air, but I ignored them. They all knew they were supposed to train every day. Not my fault if they hadn’t done so. Plus, I didn’t want this to look like I was only picking on Andra. She was part of the pride, and our pride was being threatened.
“What’s tread duty?” Andra asked.
I may be a glutton for punishment, but I really wanted to see this. “Slade, take over here. Get them stretched out good. I’ll take the girls to the pool.”
He nodded, and then took my spot as I led Andra and Karma behind the house.
“Nice,” I heard Andra say after I opened the iron gate at the side of the house and let them go into the backyard before me. Jesus Christ, the bodysuit was backless.
“You won’t think so in about five minutes,” Karma said, irritation thick in her voice.
Andra glanced over her shoulder at me, but I acted as if her eyes hadn’t seared my soul when I walked past her without giving any hint that I had heard either of them say anything.
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