I make the drive out to my parents’ place in the late afternoon. We have over two hundred acres of land where their house and both of my brothers’ houses are. The sigma processing facility and research lab are also there, hidden deep in the woods, away from prying eyes.“Mom? Dad? I’m home!” I look around, hoping Dad isn’t actually in the house. He hates when we yell inside. The smell of food is coming from the kitchen, leading me in that direction.“How’s my baby boy?” Mom gives me a kiss on the cheek. “Dad’s out back with your brothers. I hope you’re hungry.”“Do you need help, Mom?” I ask, looking around the kitchen.“Just set the table for me. Always such a sweet boy.” She coos at me with sparkling gray eyes. Her dark brown hair is pulled back into a messy ponytail.As usual, Mom has gone completely overboard with cooking. She insists we eat dinner as a family once a month, whether or not we want to. She gets excited when all of us are under the same roof. One big happy family. We
Zara’s POV“We just need to survive for a month. Hopefully, there is space in the dorms, Lavender. When I go back to town, I’ll stop by the housing office on campus and find out.” I look around at the small pond of water Lavender found in the forest. “I have enough money in my savings to pay for a room since I won’t be moving with Liam, Sylvie, and Mark, but I still need to work at the diner otherwise I won’t have money for food once school starts.”“I think we can manage that.” She says with a sigh. She lets the duffle bag slide down her neck and lays down on the dewy morning grass, rolling around to cool herself down. “How about we shift for a while? I could use a break.”“Okay, how does it work? Like, the opposite of how I shifted into wolf form?” I ask. Keller only explained shifting into wolf form, not back into a human.“Sort of like that, yeah. Just imagine you are stepping forward into your own skin and I’ll fall back the way you did.” Her instructions sound like nonsense, but
Keller’s POVTwo days after I watched Lavender bolt into the forest, Jasper and I start vacation out with a bang. Specifically on his parents' private jet, with the ‘stewardesses’ he hired for the trip. As soon as we land, we drop our bags off at his parents' beach front condo in South Beach and head to the bars.We spend our days on the beach and our nights at the bars, with more alcohol and women than one werewolf should have in a lifetime, let alone three weeks.I didn’t realize how much I needed to get away from work until I’m relaxing on the beach in Miami for a couple weeks. The heat of the sun makes all the images of scrawny, strung out girls melt away from my mind like bad dreams. The hopeless words and empty eyes fade from my memory more with every passing day. Even the crazy series of events from the night I met my mate are no longer consuming my thoughts. I’m able to convince Rocky that Lavender would take care of Zara until she finds a friend to stay with, and we don’t need
“Hi Keller, where have you been, stranger?” Lucy gives me a warm smile when I walk into the diner.“Just took a little vacation.” I reply as she leads me to my usual booth.“Oh, well, that’s nice. What can I get ya? Need a menu?” She hands me the plastic menu and stands next to the booth with a notepad and pen in her hands.“I’ll have my usual, please.” I pretend to look at the menu. “Oh, hey Lucy?”She raises her eyebrows but doesn’t look at me while she writes my order. “Yes, Keller?”“I was wondering how that girl is doing. The one that came in looking like a wreck the last time I was here.” I try to sound as innocent as possible.“Zara?” She tilts her head to the side.“Yeah, I think that was her name.” I lie through my teeth.“Oh, she’s well… she still works here. Tough getting her to stick to a consistent schedule though.” She scrunches her nose up at the notion.“I see. But she’s working. That’s good.” I raise my eyebrows with a smile. “So she, uh, found someone to stay with?”“
The next couple of weeks of work go really smoothly. Schmoozing execs in boardrooms and speaking to high school students about the dangers of drugs is a refreshing change from picking up junkie sigmas off the streets. If this is what it’s like to be in Dad’s shoes, I could get used to it. On Thursday, I’m set to speak to a student group at the university about the dangers of drug addiction and how to help their friends. I laugh, thinking about the bags of ketamine, cocaine, and weed in my kitchen drawers and cabinets. Who's supposed to help me? Which reminds me to call Jasper before I’m set to speak so we can catch up. “So you’re taking over for your old man?” Jasper takes a bite of his sandwich and looks at me, confused. “Just for a month or so, then back out on the streets,” I sip my coffee, “It’s kind of his way of testing me, I think. See if I’m up for it when he is ready to retire. You know, my brothers could never be the face of t
I look in the rearview mirror at Lavender laying on the back seat of my car. Even with the air conditioning on, she is still panting heavily. When I get to a stoplight, I reach my hand back and place it on her belly where there isn’t as much fur. Her skin is practically on fire. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. We will get you in the tub when we get to my place.” I make eye contact with her through the mirror. When the light turns green, I press the accelerator a little harder than usual to get home. Rocky urges me to go faster, but I remind him it would be bad if I got pulled over by the police with what they think is a wild animal in the back seat of my car. Even worse, if she shifts and there is a girl wearing nothing but a suit jacket in the back seat. He drops the subject but paces nervously while I drive. I park in the garage and open the car door, but Lavender doesn’t jump out. She lifts her head slightly and whines between her fa
I order a pizza and pull a couple of bottles of water out of the refrigerator while I wait for Zara to come out of the bathroom. “Rocky, I think I should have Zara stay here instead of in the dorm,” I cave to the idea. “So she can be our mate now?” he sounds so hopeful, “You’re finally thinking straight.” “I was thinking more like a roommate who needs someone to look out for her,” I clarify for him. “We can’t have a sigma for a mate, Rocky. I don’t even want to imagine what would happen if my family found out. She’s safer if we have her move into the guest room and just make sure she is being taken care of.” “So a beautiful roommate?” his demeanor drops when he realizes what I’m saying. “Yeah, she is beautiful,” I agree, “But I think I overestimated her ability to take care of herself.” “So we will protect her.” I sense a shift in his energy to a more serious nature. “Yeah, we will protect her. That’s a g
“Zara?” I call out. A sense of panic settles in my gut. She couldn’t have left. I was at the front door. She would have had to walk past Mom and me. “Where are you?” “I’m here,” I hear her voice from behind the counter. I walk around and see her on her hands and knees, wiping the floor with a rag. The t-shirt barely covers her ass, making me stop short again. I run my hand over my face and bite my finger, not able to look away. I’m not interested in her as a mate, but a pretty girl, wearing only a t-shirt, on all fours on my kitchen floor? Goddess, have mercy. I need to control myself. I try to find something else in the room to look at, but nothing else seems to exist at the moment. “Control yourself? Are you crazy?! Mate with her!” Rocky exclaims, “She’s on her hands and knees, Keller. She wants to do it!” “That doesn’t mean she wants to have sex, Rocky,” I correct him sternly, trying to make myself look aw