by Jen L. Grey
Thank God. He said those words as he rocked inside me, and the feel of him had me coming unglued. We moved together as one for minutes or hours. I wasn't sure, but I wouldn't change it for the world.
Soon, he sped up as the pleasure built inside both of us. We both needed the release, and when it poured through our bodies, we both moaned in pleasure.
He rolled to the side and pulled me against his chest. Tonight, let's focus on you and me. We need a break from this world.
That sounds perfect to me. I cuddled against him and tried to enjoy the moment. Tomorrow, we had hard decisions to make.
Chapter Thirteen
The next few days passed in a blur. The rumor mill was going wild with Amber, Tripp, Kai, Robyn, and her two friends disappearing without a trace. A scandal like this hadn’t happened for years.
We'd planned on taking the others to the rebellion. Having our group meet everyone and begin training, but we were being watched like a hawk tracking its prey. We figured, at least the first time, the whole group should be present, but that couldn't be a habit. Eyes were on us at all times, so we had to be careful. Luckily, we were able to communicate with them via the burner phone. I wasn't even willing to risk calling from my personal phone any longer.
It was Saturday, and the guys had another football game offsite. One that was hosted by a below-average college and far enough away that we'd have to stay overnight. It worked in our favor.
Liam had been called bright and early this morning by his father, informing him that he and the other council members wouldn't be able to make it to the game. Something about the possibility of them finally catching a break in their mole problem.
At first, we'd all been suspicious, but most of the guards had left with them. Mr. Thorn had comforted us several times, telling us they were chasing a ghost, so there were no worries on our end.
Liam had informed the coach that they were driving separately. The coach hadn't been thrilled, but what could he do. They were the heirs after all. Others still saw that as a big deal even though we were all well aware that their fathers didn't intend to hand things over.
Bree and Sherry sat beside me in the student section, and despite it being an away game, the bleachers were half-filled. Most of them were from surrounding wolf packs who wanted to support their future leaders.
As usual, Liam and the others on the field were dominating the other team. It didn't appear that the host team had one wolf shifter playing for them. We were in the final quarter when the coach called the heirs to the sidelines to let the more inexperienced team members out to play.
Hey, we’re in the locker room, changing. Liam linked with me. Go on and head back to the car. We will meet you there.
"This wasn't even a game." Bree rolled her eyes. "It was more of a killing."
"Ain't that the truth?" Sherry snorted and shook her head. "But I still enjoyed watching Simon, especially when he leaned over."
"Oh, my God. Ew!" Bree closed her eyes and stuck her fingers into her ears.
"Well, you've been enjoying this game then. The offense has been the one playing the most." I couldn't help the laugh that fell from my mouth. Bree grew up with all four of them, so she thought of them more as her brothers than anything else. "I can safely say I've thoroughly..."
"Stop right there." Bree jerked her head in my direction and pointed at me. "It's bad enough hearing her say that about Simon, but hearing you say something similar about my actual flesh and blood will make me vomit. And I'll be aiming at your shoes if I do."
She had a flair for the dramatics. I didn't realize how much I missed her until this moment. Now that I was living with Liam... and Evan, I didn't get to spend time with either Bree or Sherry very often. "Hey, I thought you were happy I mated with your brother."
"Oh, I am." She knocked her shoulder into mine. "But I still don't want to hear anything that would make him sound like more than a brother in my mind. You got it?"
I thought about my own brother. If someone was saying stuff about him, I'd probably feel the same way. "Got it."
“Hey, we need to sneak out.” I tried not to glance over my shoulder, which could alert the guards, but we needed to get out of here without them noticing. “The guys are already changing.”
A group of girls stood up in front of us. It was our best chance.
The three of us stood on our feet and followed the group of girls who were climbing the stairs to leave. I bumped in between the eight of them and held out my hand to one. "I'm so sorry." Instead of moving out of the way so they could all walk together, Sherry and Bree jumped in next to us.
The ones in the back rolled their eyes, but one of them seemed to recognize Bree. The observant one poked her friends in the side. "It's one of the councilmen's daughters."
"Oh... shit." They stopped in their tracks, motioning for us to keep going.
A larger group of people merged with us the closer we got to the top. I turned around and almost lifted my hands in victory when I saw the guards were still in their place, scanning for us. Our scent was lost in the sea of people.
The three of us reached the main floor, and we took off toward the doors. I tried walking slow enough to not alert any of the humans, but it was so damn hard. We reached the glass doors, and I swung them open as Bree and Sherry pushed through.
I glanced over my shoulder and grinned at the mass exodus that was taking place. As long as they didn't follow the guys, we were in good shape. We were lucky that the council members weren't here or we wouldn't have been able to pull it off, given how closely they were making the guards watch us.
The guys had parked at least three miles away, so it would be harder to locate us. They would expect us to use a paid garage close by.
The scent of shifters dissipated as we followed more of the college students toward the dorms here. It had probably worked even more in our favor to park over there.
"Hey, there." A guy touched my arm as he caught up to me. "Would you and your friends like to go to a party with us?" The guy was cute, but he had the douche look down pat.
"Nope." The less we interacted with anyone, the better.
"Oh, come on." His cold eyes scanned me from top to bottom. "It's the best party going on. Most people would die for an invite."
"Not interested." I hated men who couldn't get a clue. Hell, calling him a man was an overstatement since he obviously had the impulse control of a pre-pubescent teenage boy.
Bree tilted her head downward with her eyes raised in front of us. She wanted us to lose the creep, so the three of us sped up, leaving the guy behind.
"Hey!" I heard him call out, but if he hadn't gotten the hint before, he should have definitely figured it out by now. There was no way I was going to engage with him anymore.
After a few minutes, we spotted Liam and Evan's cars. They'd parked on the side of the road so we could easily jump in and move out.
We headed over to the cars. I pulled out the extra set of keys and unlocked the door. It'd be better if we hid inside before we drew any other unwanted attention.
Right as I reached the passenger door, someone grabbed my hand and turned me away from the car. It was the asshole again.
"I said come to the party with us." His eyes flared as I noticed his two buddies standing behind him.
"And I said no." My wolf surged forward inside me.
"Holy shit, her eyes are glowing." One of the guys behind him said. "That's freaking hot."
"It has to be the moon or something." The other guy said as he took a step back.
That was the thing about humans. They always tried to justify anything paranormal they might have seen. Granted, I had instantly pulled my wolf in enough to dissipate the glow from my eyes. She hadn't taken over completely; we knew the laws.
"Look, we're trying to be nice here." He lifted his hands outward. "We just want to get you a drink, and then you can be on your way."
"You seem to have a problem with the word no." Sherry came over and stood
beside me.
"Hey, I just said we're trying to be nice," the guy who had been harassing me said as he took a step toward me. He reached out to grab my arm, and I easily side-stepped, making him catch air.
"This is your last chance before I turn mean." He breathed hard as he locked eyes with me.
"Get away from her … Now!" Liam's deep voice came from a few feet away.
All four of the heirs approached us, and Liam and Evan turned, standing next to me and facing the assholes down.
"Is she sleeping with both of you?" The guy smirked.
Liam reared back and punched the guy right in the face, and we heard a sickening crunching sound.
"Aw, shit! My nose." The guy held his nose as blood poured down his shirt and onto the pavement.
Liam turned to move, but I grabbed his arm. "We don't need to make a scene, and he's not worth it."
He paused, not wanting to go.
"She's right, man. Let's go." Evan spun on his heel and headed to his car with Micah following behind him.
I tugged on his arm once more. "Come on."
He relented as he watched the guy cradle his nose.
The rest of us climbed into Liam's car, and Liam squealed the wheels as he pulled out.
"Hey, dumbass," Simon called from the backseat where he was next to Sherry. "We're supposed to be staying under the radar."
"Oh, bite me," he growled. "If you saw someone doing that to Sherry, you would've lost control."
"Damn right I would." He lowered his head and kissed a smiling Sherry on the lips.
Bree leaned forward and turned her head to me. "It's so weird seeing him like that."
I had to agree with her. Simon had changed so much, but he was still a loose cannon. I didn't think that would ever change.
We pulled up to the rebellion headquarters around ten that night. Bree had used the phone they’d given her to call when we turned down the road close to the area. Max, Nate, Tripp, and Kai were standing at the entrance, waiting on us.
“When did Nate get here?” I asked as I opened the door.
“Oh, the rebellion helped their family escape. It appears Dad got wind of their involvement.” A smile spread across her face. “So I get to spend the night with him.”
“Well, I’m sure he’s as excited as you.” I gave her a side hug as we closed the distance to them.
“Are you guys the welcoming committee?” I went to Max and wrapped my arms around him.
The trunks closed, and soon the heirs joined our group with our overnight bags.
Liam handed Bree’s over to Nate. “This one is Bree’s.”
“What?” Nate stood there a second before it sank in.
“Isn’t she staying with you?” Liam tilted his head.
“Oh, yeah.” Nate nodded his head while his body tensed with unease. “She can stay with Max and me.”
“We have three units set up for the rest of you.” Kai gave me a quick hug and then took a step back.
“Yours is closest to me.” Tripp nudged me in the side. “So no loud moans tonight ’cause I don’t want to think of you that way.”
A low growl rattled from Liam.
“Dude, I said I didn’t want to.” Tripp stumbled back with both hands in the air.
“Come on.” Max waved us toward the houses. “We all need our rest, especially since we’re waking up at six in the morning to train with everyone.”
Liam took my hand as all of us headed toward the back of the subdivision.
When we reached one of the last rows of houses, Kai stopped at the first one and opened it. “This one’s for Liam and Mia.”
“Okay, great.” I yawned. “We’ll see you all in the morning.”
When I walked into the little house, I stepped directly into the living room that connected with the kitchen. There was a loveseat against the wall, and the kitchen contained a wooden table.
I turned down the short hallway where a bedroom sat on the right and a bathroom with a stand-up shower to the left.
A queen bed took up almost the entire bedroom with a tiny closet that was hidden when the room’s door was open.
“I’m going to take a quick shower and get to bed.” Liam dropped our bag against the limited section between the wall and bed. “Go ahead and get some rest if you want to.”
“Okay.” I turned around and wrapped my arms around his neck. “Don’t take too long.”
“I won’t.” He leaned down and kissed my lips before he turned and headed into the bathroom.
I almost lost it when I saw him try to fit in the bathroom. He was able to just barely, but if it had been any smaller, it could’ve been bad.
Not wanting to waste another second, I crawled into the bed and got settled. I fell asleep before he even got out of the shower.
"You ready?" Liam glanced back into the tiny bedroom. The mattress was not the most comfortable, but at least we had a roof over our heads.
"Yeah, let's go do this." I pulled my shirt down in place, finally dressed to start the day.
We walked outside and found the others waiting. Simon had dark circles under his eyes, and he was frowning.
"What's wrong with you?" He looked like he hadn't slept any last night, but he didn't have the afterglow or the smell of sex on him.
"Princess here couldn't sleep on such an uncomfortable mattress." Sherry rolled her eyes.
"Hey, I told you to stop calling me that," Simon growled.
"I don't know, man." Micah chuckled. "Princess seems pretty fitting."
"Shut the fuck up." Simon glared at his friend.
"And if I don't." Micah took a few steps in his direction.
"Oh, for the love of God." Bree rolled her eyes as she stepped out of the house with Nate. "I can hear you two bickering all the way inside the house."
"They sound like an old married couple." Liam sighed. "Can we at least pretend we have our act together?"
"Those two are impulsive." Evan walked over and hit Micah on the back of the head. "And you are instigating, so stop it."
"Ow, dammit!" Micah rubbed his head. "You know it's sensitive."
"These are the four idiots who are going to train everyone?" Willow's words dripped with sarcasm as she and Mr. Thorn walked over to us.
"Watch it, Red," Evan growled as his grey eyes took on a glow.
I wasn't sure if there was anger or lust behind them.
"They'll be fine." Mr. Thorn smiled as he took our group in. "The others are getting ready for training." He pointed to a group of people gathering in a large section of grass that was several rows of houses behind us. "We have everyone under the age of fifty there to train. The older ones are too weak."
"We need to get a move on since we have to get back on campus at a decent hour." Evan surveyed our group. "You guys ready?"
"Yeah." Simon yawned. "Let's do this so I can get back to my bed."
"I'm taking my crew out for another survey." Willow gestured in the direction of a few motorcycles. "We need to make sure they aren't on to any of the other families in that area."
"They shouldn't be." Nate frowned. "We all made sure to keep our distance from each other for plausibility, but thanks for going to check."
"That's our job." Willow sneered. "You all better make sure you get their asses ready to fight." She spun around and marched over to the five motorcycles where four of her guys were waiting for her.
Evan watched her for a second before he took a deep breath and pointed to the group of fifty. "Let's start with this group."
Mr. Thorn stayed with us, and when we reached the group, their attention locked on him.
"These are the four heirs who are here to train you." He pointed at each one. "You listen to them. They are allies to us. Now, we must prepare for war."
Max jogged over to us. "Hey, you."
"Hey." I moved over and joined the line with the other people.
"What are you doing?" Liam's brows furrowed.
"I need more training." If he thought
I wasn't going to be part of the fight, then he didn't know me at all.
"Hell yeah." Sherry stood next to me. "I'm down too."
"Ugh, fine." Bree joined us. "I guess I better learn as well."
"All right, we're going to split up into four groups." Evan didn't miss a beat. "Let's split into groups of thirteen."
The group separated evenly with Sherry, Bree, Nate, Max, and me in the same group with eight other people who I didn't know. They were all about the same age as us.
"All right, I'll take this group." Evan pointed in our direction.
"No, I want that group." Liam stepped in between me and Evan.
"You can't train this one with your sister and Mia being in it." Evan nodded over to the others. "You won't do what needs to be done, and you know it. You want them to be able to protect themselves if it comes down to it, right?"
"Fine." Liam took my hand and pulled me into his arms. If you need me, you know what to do.
A smile spread across my face, and I stood on my tiptoes, placing my lips on his. He's right. Now, go focus on your thirteen, and take out your anger productively.
Do you want them to die? Liam winked at me and kissed me once more before turning and heading the other way.
"All right." Evan spread his arms out. "Pick a sparring partner."
"Oh, let's team-up." Max stood in front of me. "For old times’ sake."
"You sure?" I wouldn't be holding anything back now.
"Yeah." He got into a fighting stance and held his fists out in front of him.
Evan made Nate fight someone else so that Bree and Sherry could team-up. When everyone got paired up, a huge smirk spread across his face. "Now, show me what you’ve got. Go!"
I had learned with him before; he'd make things harder on me if I didn't react, so I immediately struck out, and my hand slammed Max in the stomach.
"Holy shit." He groaned as he cradled his stomach. "I wasn't prepared."
"He said go." I circled around him, allowing my wolf to see him as prey. She would never severely hurt him, but right now, we wanted to come out on top. She wasn't going to allow us to lose like we used to.