by Leia Stone
As soon as I arrived at the edge of the woods behind the hovel I called home, I shifted back into my human form. The need for my mate waned though not nearly enough, and I quickly dressed and ran inside, sighing with relief to see everything as I’d left it—gross and dirty with a stack of textbooks on the table.
The next morning, I understood why Nolan had no energy for cleaning this place, but it needed to be done. I’d dust as much of this place as I could now and worry about the rest later. The blessed weekend had come, praise the mage.
It was just after 8 a.m., and Nolan was still sleeping because that’s the kind of lazy bum he was. I, however, was up on my tiptoes with a wet washrag in hand, wiping down all the cupboards in the kitchen. The murky black water of the bucket was disgusting, but it felt good to get this place cleaned up.
“Knock knock!” Kaja yelled from the entryway.
“In here!” I shouted back.
Kaja and Nell had asked me to the same beach party that Noble and the boys had been asking me about last night. But I’d told them I’d had housework to do. They were probably here to beg, but I was going to put my foot down. I couldn’t live in this dump any longer. It was depressing.
When they walked into the room and I looked up, emotion tightened my throat. Nell was carrying a mop and bucket while Kaja held a paint roller and a gallon of paint.
Kaja set the paint bucket down. “We thought you might need help.”
“You guys … you don’t have to.” They were heirs for mage’s sake. They’d been waited on hand and foot their whole lives. Living on Alpha Island as an heir meant you had a household staff and certain amenities. I’d bet my life Kaja had never painted a wall in her entire existence. And Nell wouldn’t know the first thing about mopping. But having them show up was so sweet I rapidly blinked to keep from crying.
Nell held up the mop. “Oh, honestly, how hard can this be?”
I grinned. “You guys just want me to go to the beach party tonight, huh?”
They both nodded, and Kaja said, “Yep.”
“The king sent word that the border around the island is secure again,” Nell added. “So the party is on.”
Laughter pealed out of me. “Well, whatever your motives, I’m grateful.”
The next eight hours were brutal. We cleaned, mopped, and painted my bedroom and the kitchen, covering the old stained walls with a fresh lemon yellow. By the time we were done, the place looked decent. The kitchen was spotless, entryway clean, and living room livable, and my room was perfect. The rest of the house would have to wait for another weekend because I was dead. Nell and Kaja had just left to go back to their house and get ready for the night. I was supposed to meet them in an hour. They’d finally worn me down about going to the party. After hours of helping me clean, I owed them big-time.
Chapter 11
“I don’t know why I agreed to this,” I muttered, following behind Nell, Rue, and Kaja as we made our way down the sloped trail. All of us wore bikinis under our shorts and t-shirts. I tugged on my tank-top, self-conscious of the wave-like mark on my solar plexus. I wouldn’t take my shirt off tonight, not after seeing the Harvest girls’ unmarred skin. I wasn’t about to reveal it to anyone else until I knew what it meant.
We stepped barefoot into the sand, me and the apparent supermodel Harvest girls. I would kill for those long lean legs. At least they’d pulled their red hair up into messy buns, mimicking mine. Loose strands fell around my face and neck, and for every single one I tucked up into the elastic, two more fell out.
Nell glanced over her shoulder at me and grinned. “Because you know we’ll have fun.”
The sun dipped below the horizon, twilight painting the sky in rich fuchsia and violet. Wolf-shifters occupied the beach, most of them crowding around the three fires, roasting marshmallows or drinking mage wine. One girl squealed as a guy hefted her over his shoulder and ran into the surf. Not all of them were students. I recognized a few king alpha guards who patrolled the palace and school grounds.
My gaze fell to Noble and Honor, both wearing huge grins as they waved me over.
Kaja told me to find her in a bit and left to follow her sisters, probably in search of food, leaving me with the two princes.
Noble settled back in his beach chair and pointed to the empty one next to him. “Come sit with me. Tell me how your week’s been. You’ve got meal duty every day, right? That sucks.”
I rolled my eyes, thinking of my sad little life here at school in comparison to the others, but accepted the chair. “You don’t have to remind me how much my life sucks. I’m living it—one hundred percent of it—so I know.”
Honor set down two more chairs on the other side of the coolers and winced when he came down on his right leg.
Noble froze. “Pain bad today?”
Honor nodded, but I didn’t dare ask. Whatever made my friend permanently limp must have been a bad injury. Wolves healed from almost anything, and pointing out weaknesses could be considered a challenge.
Honor opened the lid of the cooler, and my mouth dropped open. Bottles and bottles of mage wine were interspersed with water in one and food in the other. Kaja went to the wrong place. I wanted to cry when I saw chips and…
“Is that pico?” I asked, reaching for the chips and chunky salsa. I hadn’t seen anything resembling salsa in a week. Belatedly, I remembered my manners. Meaning my mouth was already full of chips and salsa when I mumbled, “May I have some?”
“Umm, are you getting enough food?” Noble poked me in the ribs when my shirt rode up as I reached for a bottle of water. “I don’t remember you being this bony when we picked you up last week.”
Last week? It seemed like an eternity ago. “How would you know if I lost weight?”
Hey, man, I only got a bagel from the coffee cart some mornings, two meals, and barely any snacks. For a shifter’s diet, that was practically starvation, but Nolan and I were getting by. Kinda.
Noble shrugged. “I may or may not have noticed your body. I am a guy.”
“You totally checked me out!” A grin pulled at my lips before I shoved another chip in my mouth.
“It doesn’t take a genius to see it.” He leaned forward, looking past me at his brother. “Don’t you see it, Honor?”
I dipped another chip and shoved the entire thing loaded with tomatoes, onion, cilantro, and jalapeno into my mouth.
So good.
Before Honor could answer, I felt someone approach at my back.
“Answer his question, Nai,” Rage growled. “Are you getting enough food?”
His voice washed over me, and heat radiated within the narrow space between us. The strength he exuded was like a magnet. I gritted my teeth, steeling myself before I turned to look at him.
Snapping my mouth shut, I nodded, nearly choking when I forced a swallow. Rage and Justice stood there; both their sets of emerald green eyes skimmed over my body like hungry wolves.
No pun intended.
The Midnight boys were paying attention to my weight? Noble was all goodness and kindness and light, so I could see him looking out for me. But Rage? He’d spewed his eternal hatred a week ago and ignored me ever since. Why the hell did he care now?
“I mean our fridge isn’t exactly stocked, but I eat three times a day.” My cheeks flamed red. I’d shifted for a run at night, and that burned at least a thousand calories, and I hadn’t exactly been eating as much as I would’ve back home … but I couldn’t really afford to.
Rage’s eyes flashed orange. “Are you ever hungry?”
“Doesn’t the school deliver groceries?” Justice chimed in with a growl.
“Nai, are you seriously not getting enough food?” Noble asked as his voice crashed in with his brothers.
I dropped the chip in my hand and cringed. Too bad I couldn’t shrink myself or turn invisible.
“Dudes, drop it,” Honor snapped at his brothers. “You’re embarrassing her. Can’t you see that?”
Bless you, Honor.
Rage shook himself, eyes back to green, and the other brothers pulled their gazes away from me.
“Sorry, Nai. No offense intended.” Noble cleared his throat and shared a look with Justice.
“It’s … uh … fine. No worries. Seriously.” I burbled the words, nearly incoherent as my mind spun. The boys were acting very, very weird. Like super protective.
If all of the Midnight princes knew and believed the same backstory of the Crescent Clan’s banishment, that my uncle killed their dad, then why would any of them be nice to me? Either some of them questioned those events, or they knew I had nothing to do with it. I was a baby at the time. Their actions didn’t seem fake or forced, but was I reading them right? My instinct said yes, and I was 87.2% sure they liked me.
Maybe even Rage—well, ‘liked’ might be a little much. Tolerated was better.
I studied Honor and Noble; they both had hazel eyes, not the same vibrant green like my mate’s. I certainly didn’t get mate-vibes from either of them, more like pack-support vibes. Which left only Rage and Justice as mate-possibilities if, in fact, the asshat who kissed me was one of the Midnight princes.
“Hey, guys. Hey, Nai.” A blond dude who I’d seen around campus plopped in the sand at my feet, mercifully providing a distraction from the conversation about my eating habits.
The guy was stacked, his muscles jacked like a football player’s—the big ones who always tackle the smaller guys—and his emerald green eyes were warm as he appraised me.
How did he know my name? He was a guard, and though I’d waved to him going from my late-night dinner shift, I’d never spoken to him.
“You in for beach volleyball?” he asked as my eyes flicked to the Midnight Pack moon mark embroidered on his t-shirt.
But he had those green eyes. I was a connoisseur of green eyes and full lips now. Was this my mate?
I raised my eyebrows. “You want to play volleyball … at night?”
It wasn’t super dark yet, but volleyball wasn’t my thing. I was more of a stroll along the sand kinda gal. If dark worked as an excuse, I’d use it.
“It’s not like we can’t see,” he responded, his smile softening his reproach.
He was a looker—that’s what Lona would’ve called him—and while I leaned more toward tall, dark, and hot, this guy had me rethinking my preference.
“Touché.” I scooped up another mouthful of salsa while I asked his name.
“I’m Beowulf,” he said, grinning. “Like the poem.”
I choked on my food—again—because I’d read that epically long poem from a billion years ago for English lit. After I finished my coughing fit, I asked, “You do know what happens to Beowulf at the end, right?”
“Yup.” He winked. “But that’s after a good long life.”
This time when he grinned, his smile was feral, and his eyes sparked with fire. He radiated power so strong it was a palpable force, and it took conscious effort to raise my chin in defiance. While I could respect Beowulf as a dominant male, I refused to submit to his display of power.
He extended his hand. “Come play with me, Nai. I promise not to bite—unless you want me to.”
Before I could respond, Justice growled, “Go hit on someone else Beo. Nai’s with us.”
Um, what? My eyes widened, and I glanced at Justice out of the corner of my eye. Did he really just say…
“That’s how this is?” Beo glared at the princes before grumbling, “Fine.”
He kicked the sand and then waltzed off.
That was … awkward. And weird. I sucked in a breath and turned to tell Justice I could handle myself when Noble stole my vehemence.
“He’s a total player, Nai. You dodged a bullet,” he said.
“Beo probably has herpes,” Honor added.
I shook my head, trying to reboot my brain so I could make sense of this new version of reality, and my gaze collided with Justice’s. His eyes narrowed in a look I could only call possessive, which made zero sense, unless…
My heart skipped a beat.
Glancing away, my attention landed on—surprise!—Rage. Vitriolic anger poured off him like it was intentionally his namesake. The tension simmered just under his skin, his muscles clenched so tight I thought he might explode.
What … the … hell? How dare they?
I stood, setting the chips and salsa down, and faced the four boys. “Listen, I’m not your little sister. Most of the time, I’m not even sure you all like me, okay? So whatever game this is, stop it. The last thing I need is for you all to scare off any guy interested in me or I’ll die a virgin!”
The second it slipped out, I slapped my hand over my mouth.
Kill. Me. Now.
“I gotta go … find Kaja.” I spun on my heel and strode away, mortified, pausing to call over my shoulder, “Thanks for the food.”
Why did I say that?
As female alpha heirs, we were expected to stay virgins until we took a breeding mate. Most never followed the rules. I did. My dad said it was important to him and one day I’d understand. Pretty sure that was never going to happen though. I’d just freaking admitted my V-status to the four Midnight princes.
Kill me now.
I rolled my shoulders, trying to dislodge the discomfort settling there. Maybe it wasn’t as big of a deal as I was making it. Maybe they didn’t care as much as I thought.
Sucking in a deep breath, I decided to take a peek over my shoulder and see. If they were staring, I’d leave the planet and go live on Mars. If they weren’t, they’d probably already forgotten about it.
Here we go.
Four sets of yellow eyes tracked me like prey, and my stomach flipped.
Mother Mage, have mercy.
Mars it is. Right after I find Kaja.
Pushing my virgin confession from my mind, I scanned the beach for my BFF. How long ago did Kaja leave to find her sisters? Ten minutes? Fifteen? Twenty?
I jogged away from the princes and sexy-but-possibly-herpesy Beo playing volleyball and looked over the crowd. Evil Barbie glared back at me, but other than that, I found no one I really knew, besides when I was serving food to them. Heading up the beach back toward the wooded path, I hollered, “Kaja? Nell? Rue?”
Nothing.
Maybe I’d missed them and they went the other way. I spotted a set of rocky cliffs melting into the sand. A great place for football or tag but too far away to see whether people were there. If nothing else, it was a good place to hide. The sun had fully set, and only the moon lit my path.
When I got away from the hubbub of my schoolmates on the beach, I picked up on the sound of someone sniffling up near the cliffs. The sound was high-pitched enough to identify the person as a female, and those broken sobs meant she was crying.
“Stupid Nai,” she wailed.
I pulled to a stop in the sand as her words and voice registered. Was this Kaja? Was she upset that I’d lingered too long to hang with the boys?
“Kaja?” I called, picking up my pace and drawing closer. The overwhelming scent of seawater and sunbaked sand made it difficult to scent my friend by smell.
“Nai?” she called back, her voice breaking. “I’m over here.”
Her voice came from behind a rock jutting up out of the sand, and I jogged toward my friend’s voice. I turned the corner … and nothing was there. “Kaj—?”
My breath caught in my throat as a massive wolf launched from a nearby sand-dune right at me. His mottled fur was impossible to distinguish in the darkness, only that he had a multitude of dark gold and brown shades.
The thought barely registered before the wolf crashed into me. We toppled, and he pinned me to the sand with a teeth-baring snarl.
Shock ripped through me, and I brought my forearm up, just in time, as he lunged for my neck. My vision turned white, and I screamed with agony as his jaws shattered the bone in my forearm.
Shit. He’s trying to kill me.
The searing pain overwhelmed me, slowing my thou
ghts. Nausea roiled through my stomach, and I whimpered.
Pull it together, Nai! You know what to do in a fight.
Breathing through the pain, I grabbed the back of the wolf’s head and then shoved my own forearm deeper into the wolf’s mouth to gag him.
The wolf choked and instinctively loosened his jaw, but I wasn’t done. I’d practiced this a million times with my dad—although not injured and bleeding like this. Adrenaline coursed through me, keeping most of the pain at bay.
I pushed back harder, still holding the animal’s head and pressing my forearm into his mouth, climbing to my knees. The wolf fell backward, gagging, and yanked his head away from me, releasing my arm from his jaws. I’d been able to get to my feet, which increased my chances of survival, but it would take a few days for the damage on my arm to heal—even with our quick healing regeneration.
Time to go on the offense. I called up my wolf, there just under the surface, but when I tried to shift. Nothing.
Dammit! Plan B.
Reaching out, I grasped the wolf by the back of the neck, bunching his fur into my fingers. It was risky, but there was no way I could run from this fight. He’d attack me from behind and then leave me to bleed out. Whoever this wolf was, he wanted me dead.
I drove my knee into the animal’s neck, aiming for the larynx but hitting the wolf in its chest instead. It yipped and tried to back up, but luck was on my side. Still holding its neck skin in a firm grasp with my good hand, I drove my knee forward a second time just as the animal dipped toward me. The crunch of bone made me grin as my knee smashed into its throat. As the wolf tore loose from my hold, the glint of broken glass caught my eye. Perfect. Reaching over, I grabbed for the broken bottle while blood continued to pour down from the open gash in my arm, saturating the sand. After picking up my makeshift weapon, I then faced the wolf.
“Let’s dance, asshole!” My vision tunneled, but if I showed weakness, I was dead. 91.5% of these fights were bluffing. I might still die, especially if I fainted from blood loss, but I needed to appear strong. “Come on!”