CHAPTER TEN:~Drake: “Drake?” Archer said again at my side. My heart beat frantically, faster than the beat of the music thrumming through the bar. Everything felt too hot, too loud. Go to Mate, Dane ordered me. And my foot moved forward before I stepped back for a second. This couldn’t happen to me. I was too restless, too different and dark - and in too much sh*t with my Alpha. GO, Dane ordered again. He whined when I stood still. “I can’t-” I began to say, turning to Archer. “I can’t have a mate.” Archer moved to stand in front of me and grabbed hold of both of my shoulders. “Holy Goddess Above,” he said breathlessly. “She’s here? Where?” He looked around the bar. I pushed him away. “I can’t have a mate Arch. You don’t understand.” I looked at my shoes. Fighting Dane’s barking and howling in my head to go after her. “Drake, I can’t pretend to know what you’re feeling in this second. But you know that we are both - different. Put into other roles, and we’ve had to preten
CHAPTER ELEVEN:~Avery: Hurt came over the handsome man’s - Drake’s face. Oh. My. God. He’s serious. I mean, I guess I shouldn’t be this surprised. I exist. Why wouldn’t other otherworldly creatures exist? I felt a need to comfort him, to take away the hurt I caused. “I’m sorry,” I reached out a hand to touch his cheek but thought better of it when it was halfway up and yanked it down to my side. Why would I touch a stranger? “I just didn’t know… I’ve never met a werewolf…” He smiled. I thought my insides would melt. My God, how could he get even more handsome? My insides felt like they were glowing. “And you are a-?” he asked me again. I almost pushed back again before I felt the need to tell him. “I don’t know,” I said in a whisper. I guess it was his turn to look confused. “I, um, I’ve never met anyone… like me,” I told him. The phone in my pocket vibrated. I looked down as I took it out, Beth was calling me. I forgot about why I had come out here, and that she had b
CHAPTER TWELVE:~Drake: My fiery mate was basically charging at me across the bar and my heart thundered as I balanced what I was seeing with all kinds of dirty thoughts. I always thought I would be the dominant one in bed, but seeing her race toward me, with some anger in her gaze, I think I would love to see her take charge of me. She can boss me around any time, Dane said in my mind, making me grin. By the time my mate came up to me I was engulfed by her scent and it was raising my blood temperature. I was still grinning, which seemed to make her angrier. “Move out of my way,” she said between clenched teeth. I then registered I was blocking the side door. I looked at her confused, “Why?” She opened her mouth and closed it then said, “What do you mean, why? I need to go out there.” “I thought your friend needed you?” I asked her, my eyes darting to the woman talking to a vampire at the edge of the bar. “You know he’s not human right?” I watched her face as she heard what I
CHAPTER THIRTEEN:~Avery: The next morning I knew I needed to re-stress the importance of keeping my distance. I let things get way out of control last night. I shouldn’t have been at that bar. I shouldn’t have killed that man (although I still thought he deserved it), and I shouldn’t have met that guy - or werewolf I guess. I began the day making an omelet for myself, and I lost my thoughts in the movements I knew so well. Chopping veggies, cracking eggs, whisking and mixing. I couldn’t get that werewolf out of my head. Drake. It had taken me hours to fall asleep after getting home and making sure Beth was settled. His voice, his eyes, his everything. Just letting my mind go there had my heart rate picking up in pace. I was so revved up after everything that I needed to finish myself off twice, imagining it was Drake doing the touching, just to feel tired. I might be in some big trouble here. I still had so many questions about werewolves and the possibility of other beings in t
CHAPTER FOURTEEN:~Drake: The next morning came, and I still didn’t know what to do about my Alpha trying to marry me off. The remnants of dreams about my newly discovered mate filled my eyes for a moment. But it was time to get up. After leading training for a few hours, I knew that I at least needed to tell my parents. Maybe they could help me figure this out. Goddess knows, Archer couldn’t give me any helpful advice. Or any advice at all. I ran over to my parent’s cottage and knocked on the door. “Drakey,” my mom opens the door with a smile. “Come in, come in.” I follow her to the kitchen table where my dad is eating breakfast. “Are you hungry? I can whip up something?” my mom asks. “No, no, I’m good, mom. Thanks,” I reassure her. I sit down with them and my dad pushes a cup of coffee at me. I thank him. “What is it?” my dad asks me after a minute. I look up to meet his gaze. He’s looking at me questioningly. “You seem - happy?” he says in a question. I widened my smil
CHAPTER FIFTEEN:~Avery: No sign of Drake for a few days now. So then why do I keep thinking about him? I’m again getting distracted when I’m supposed to be working. Instead, I’m thinking about a dreamy guy. Great. Now I’m associating him with the term ‘dreamy.’ Sighing, I close the laptop and get up. No sense in trying to do this anymore. Time for a break I guess. It’s not quite time for my usual breaks, but no matter. I put my shoes on and a jacket that hung by the door and I headed out for a walk. This time something has me going a different way. I passed a few houses, and plenty of trees. I continued on. I soak in the feeling of the sun on my face, and the warmth reminds me of the way I feel around- Ugh. There’s no escape! After about half an hour I reach town and I start walking to an ice cream shop when something gets my attention. A delicious smell - cinnamon. I almost ignore it and keep going, but something makes me stop in my tracks. It feels sad around me. There’s no o
CHAPTER SIXTEEN:~Drake: Well, that could have gone better, Dane says to me as she runs out of view. Yeah, well you were no help, I snap. Someone’s touchy, Dane grumbles. I think about following her but kill the notion. It would only freak her out more if she caught me. And as much as I want to see her, be near her, it feels wrong to do it without her knowing. I walk a bit longer in the forest to try to clear my mind. It, of course, doesn’t work. I need to rail on something. Heading deeper into the trees, I look around carefully before deeming it’s safe to shift. I need to go on a run. Lose myself a bit. I can fix this, she just needs time. And you need to not babble like an idiot, Dane quips. Thanks for the confidence, I retort. But despite the attitude, I can tell he’s thankful to be able to get these worries out. We take off. Almost an hour later and while I’ve begun to feel a little less - crazy - I feel like I need to get back to my mate, even if she’s not quite ready.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:~Avery:The routine is second nature by now. Cash for Beth and a note. Ditch the car, ditch the phone, cash for the motel, hair dye. I picked ‘Rebecca’ this time around so I don’t need to wear contacts. What sucks about Rebecca is she has white-blond hair. Which means bleach. Which means this process takes longer. But it’s still early in the day and I have time.I drove my new beater car for about three hours and tried to keep going, leaving more distance between me and -. But I’m so tired. I sigh aloud. There’s a sign for upcoming motels on the freeway so I take the next exit. I look for the cheapest one. I hadn’t been able to pick up a phone at my last two stops so I wasn’t able to look up prices. Or be tempted to message this handsome guy I can’t get out of my head. The image of his bruised face and pained expression keeps popping up everytime I think I’m at peace with my decision.Singing is something I can’t afford to do with other people around. But alone in