Meadow whistles at me, almost deafening me with the strength she can emit with just two fingers in
her mouth, and motions with her hand in a circling manner to get me to turn around. She’s bossy, but there’s something likable about her, and I’m fast warming to her pushy personality.
She’s gone to town on me in a short space of time. My hair sleek, combed until it was glossy, and pulled up into a high ponytail that she said made my waves come together to an almost ringlet at the back. She’s blushed, pinched, dabbed, painted my face with various products, and squeezed me into clothes she swears are my size, but the restrictions I feel make me doubt it. My bust is surprisingly close in size to what she wears, so no doubt she heavily downsizes for extra ‘oomph’ in her breast department.
Skintight soft denim jeans, paired with a fitted white tank with a low-cut V. I’m all cleavage I never knew I had, a booty I feel is out on show from sculpted pants, and I’m pulling on the soft mauve velvet hoody she told me to leave open. My feet are in crisp white sneakers because we’re going for the ‘casual and didn’t try too hard’ look, and she’s thrown some silver hoops in my ears, with a simple dainty necklace holding a tiny green crystal said was the color of my eyes.
Honesty, I spent my life dressing in shapeless or loose clothing to feel comfortable and not to draw attention, and now I feel like I have way too much on show. And a bit too dressed up for a wolf pack meeting in their communal. I know Colton has seen me naked after turning, but this feels more exposed somehow. Maybe because I rarely wear makeup and what’s done feels strange on my skin, my lids heavier with the lashings of mascara.
Everything is perked and propped up, held in tight fabrics that enhance my curves, and I wish I could see it for myself to tell how bad or good it is. For all I know, I look like a clown. But no, I only busted every damn mirror in this mansion some hours ago and can only go by Meadows reaction, which seems to be positive.
“I would bang you, Chica.” She winks, throws me a kiss, and blows it my way dramatically, clicking her fingers and her tongue on the roof of her mouth in unison to make an approval noise.
“Thanks, I guess,” I respond with a half-laugh, half nervous cough, not sure if that’s the right thing to say, but she laughs airily.
“I like you, girl. You’re funny, without trying to be. You’re like this little naïve, awkward kid, but with a heart of a vixen, waiting to come into her own. Never change that.” She eyes me over once more, nodding to herself with evident pride at what she’s created, and it warms me to my stomach. It’s weird to have someone genuinely look at me with a hint of pride and acceptance like this. I mean, Colton doesn’t count when he did it earlier. He has to feel that way about me as it’s ordained by the Fates to be so.
“I’ll try not to.” I smooth my hands down the soft fabric smothering my legs, and do one last check from my viewpoint.
All I can see is boobs.
“You sure I look okay and not too obvious?” Doubt is already swarming me, denting the bit of confidence she’s been building up in the last half hour, and Meadow shakes her head, loosening those beach curls she has going on at the ends as she puts in some oversized gold hoops in her ears.
“Please ... I know what I’m doing, and I ain’t no fool when it comes to teasing men. We went for sexy casual, just work it, and trust me on this. One eyeful of that bootylicious and Colton gonna be dry humping your ass into next week like a wolf in heat.” She extends a hand, that mischievous glint on those pale blue sultry eyes, straightening her fitted white blouse down over those mega breasts of hers with her free hand, and I hop forward to catch her fingers in mine. Eager to go before I lose all my nerve and wipe this off.
We’ve only been up here for around twenty-five minutes, maximum, but it feels like hours have passed, and I’m so much more relaxed with her even if I’m not relaxed with how I’m kitted out. I guess having her right in my face with various implements she could have gouged my eyes out with has built trust. I can’t explain and can only go by the memory of what being part of a pack was to compare, but this feels like Meadow is bringing me to her as her pack sister, initiating a bond. It makes me choke up a little, suddenly so grateful that she’s Colton’s second and has her own kind of bond with him, which has pushed her to invest in me. It’s nice to have another person who likes me, for whatever reason.
“Let’s go find your man and make Carmen’s face implode.” Meadow sounds like she’s a little too invested in doing that, her accent a tad heavier when she’s smirking, her lips curling like the cat that got the cream. That smug tone and I can’t deny she’s lifted my mood entirely in terms of that ‘skanky puta’ which I now know means ‘dirty slut’. Eloquent. I guess having someone on your side, who’s not ordained by the Fates to be so, makes a difference. It’s no longer just Colton and me.
Meadow leads the way, and with a combination of moving fast and giggling at nothing in particular as we play, push, and shove each other around corners and doors, downstairs, back to where we started, we seem to get there in record time. I barely took in my surroundings at all this time. Who knew a Santo Beta wolf could be so fun to hang out with?
The door to the study is shut, but I know before following her in that Colton isn’t here yet. I can’t feel him anywhere near this room, nor any fresh scent, and swallow down hard as I step in, right behind her, almost hidden in her shadow.
The rest of them are in various states of lounging, uninterested by our return, and did not miss our presence. Someone is playing music in the corner on a cell phone or a small device, I can’t see, and it seems they have all had a couple, or a few, drinks in our absence. The smell of alcohol wafting our way and tinting the air with that chemical whiff.
I can’t miss Carmen sitting alone at the desk, sulking. She’s flicking through a large book, something heavy with aging pages, and glances up hatefully as I make eye contact. She doesn’t say anything and goes back to what she’s reading and pretending we didn’t just walk in.
“I have to admit, she scrubs up well, and I guess I can see why Cole couldn’t keep his hands off her …” One of the twins' remarks as Meadow gets out of my way, exposing me fully to the room. There’s a cough as Carmen reminds them of her presence, how much she doesn’t like that comment, and Demi shuts up. Romi pushes his brother in the shoulder playfully, shaking his head at him, and eyes me up too. I can tell by the way he flickers over me, nodding with a smile that he agrees.
“Okay, so like this, maybe I can see the potential. I mean, ... Ouch” He makes a motion with his hands as though he touched something hot and then dramatically blows his fingers and makes a sizzling noise with his mouth. Despite the earlier hostility with these two, I smile slightly, giggling involuntarily, screwing up my nose in shyness at being scrutinized as my heats with a blush.
“See, Chica, they like. My boys, they know sexy when they see it. I think it’s a massive improvement to wearing Cole’s castoffs.” Meadow walks around me, her final appraisal as though she didn’t spend minutes upstairs admiring her handy work, and then sashays away again, grinning. She’s congratulating herself on her excellent skills.
“Who likes what?” Colton seems to appear out of thin air while I was too distracted to pick up on him, and I spin in both surprise and instant nervousness, realizing I didn’t get any time to prepare myself for him walking in. I’m just standing here halfway into the room like some awkward kid who’s been asked to model the ugly jumper her grandmother knitted for Christmas.
Our eyes lock as he hits me with that megawatt cute-boy smile, a hint of dimples, and a reminder of how gorgeous Colton is when he relaxes and lets his charms shine. That’s before breaking contact to let his gaze slide down my outfit and back again. I can tell by the raised brow expression he likes what he sees, and that smile turns into a full-on, dimple-enhanced, swoon-worthy sexy smile, with an accompanying twinkle in his eye that melts me to my core. It does weird things to my insides, and my butterflies rise and set my skin alight with a smoldering fire.
Well, I’ll be damned. I thought naked was good.
His mental message has me blushing insanely, heat consuming my face, his voice dripping with heightened lust, but it’s short-lived when I catch his eyes glancing towards Carmen, and he seems to put his tongue away instantly. Pulling back his reaction and yanks on that serious persona once more. It’s like he got scolded, and I wonder if she mind-linked him and gave him what for. In her head, they’re still trying to work things out, even if I know otherwise.
“My father gave me a schedule of where all the packs, teams, and such are to report at dawn. We meet in the mess hall at first light. Our subs are convening on the West River, the old basketball court, and we’ll be in charge of continuing training with the pack members already learning combat ... and of course, Lorey.”
Straight into leader mode, pushing that spark between us aside as responsibility kicks in. I don’t know who gasps louder, out of literally everyone in the room. Even I take that last word
or two in with a little inhale of ‘what?’
“She’s training with us? Has she ever done any sort of hand-to-hand or weapons training in her life? We might kill her by mistake!” I never got a good look at the previous silent member, and he steps forward now. Appearing from behind the bar area and I cringe when I catch sight of his face.
He’s older than Colton for sure, a little graying of his hair at the temples, and he has one utterly white eyeball that suggests he’s partially blind. The other is so dark brown in comparison that you can’t help but react when you see it. A raggedy awful-looking scar running from cheek to forehead and passing right through, so deep you can tell he was wounded pretty severely whenever this happened, and it’s the first thing you see.
I try not to stare, but it is so scarce to see a wolf with any kind of scars. We selfheal, miraculously, and instantly most of the time, and only one type of wound will ever leave a mark like that on a healthy wolf. Silver dipped in wolfsbane. I heard they used it against our kind in the wars with some success, although it killed most.
If it doesn’t kill you, it leaves you forever marked as he is by creating an infection inside you and poisoning the site around it. It eats into your body and flesh and makes you so very sick that healing won’t cure the mess. You have to heal like a human. I don’t recall ever seeing him, but I guess he wouldn’t want to be seen outside much with damage like that.
Wolves have very high egos, and any kind of failure in battle makes them act weird and live in shame. We’re all about that. I mean, it’s affected my entire existence.
“Where else would she train? She’s safer with me, and I’m safer being the one to teach her to fight. This thing is real, and no one has more experience than the combat teams, of which we are one.” Colton has an edge to his tone; his gaze flickers my way, and I catch Carmen out of the corner of my eye, throwing him a full-on pathetic and woeful look. Aiming to manipulate him with what I assume used to be a tried and tested method when he was with her. Tears come out to play, and I try to ignore her. Colton’s jaw muscle twitches, and he glances away from her, back at his pack, somewhat unimpressed. A frown creases his forehead, and his eyes cloud over a little in glowing amber.
“Radar, I think it’s the best plan, and we as a unit can bring her up to speed and teach her how to sync with us, to become one fluid machine with an extra set of teeth. Our pack lost numbers with Karly and Ebony both being with pup and out of action.” Meadow throws me an encouraging, warm smile as she backs up Colton’s, bringing my attention to the fact there’s more to this sub pack usually, bringing femme numbers to match the males. She starts subtly growling at her mate when he opens his mouth to say something, and he shuts it just as quickly.
I blink back at the scarred wolf and click; his name must be Radar. It's weird for a name, but I assume it’s a nickname, something to do with whatever gift he has. I know some wolves possess the ability to feel things coming from afar and have insight into certain things in the way a real radar pulse would. I wonder if it’s what he can do, although maybe not if the vampire attack was unforeseen.
“And if she’s useless and slows us down ... what then?” Carmen butts in nastily, abandoning her pitiful act bitchily because he didn’t bite, and instead pushes between us to get in the middle of the conversation. Putting herself between Colton and me and nudges closer to him to mark her territory. Colton steps sideways away from her, turns, walks to the bar, pulls out a bottle of water from a concealed fridge, and takes a slow drink without reacting to her.
“Why would she be? We’re good teachers; we’ve taught many of our kind and started them in their training. Besides, didn’t you see the chaos in the house, or were you too busy being blinded by your seething hatred?” Meadow doesn’t hold back, her words dripping with venom, coming at her from across the room where she’s been standing back to admire her handiwork, and Colton sighs loudly. He turns, perches his butt against the edge of the bar, and it’s only now I notice the dark circles under his eyes and the ashen pallor of exhaustion.
“Can you two stop for just an hour? I swear this shit gives me a headache.” Lackluster too, and I wonder what exactly went down with his meeting with his father. His usual shine is missing.
“She started it!” Carmen blurts out, like a juvenile, and it makes me frown at her with a subtle shake of my head. Mature she is not. She’s following Colton once more across the room as he pushes off and heads for a couch, but he sees her coming and crosses away to perch on the arm of the opposite one, where the twins are sprawled with cans of beer. She looks instantly annoyed at the fact she can’t sit anywhere near him, and it irritates me endlessly that she’s chasing him around. It’s evident to all of us he wants her to leave him alone.
“She has a name, and no ... I think your skanky puta always starts shit. When are you going to stop trailing his ass and sit down? You’re being pathetic.” Meadow lets out a frustrated ‘arghh’ noise under her breath when Carmen doesn’t stop edging closer to him. Mirroring my sentiments exactly. She walks over and yanks Carmen by the arm harshly, pushing her into a nearby chair aggressively, so Carmen stumbles backward ungracefully and butt thuds, then she throws a commanding pointer finger in her face. One of her talons millimeters from the end of piercing Carmen’s nose.
“Now sit! Like a good little puppy, or I might have to spank you.” Meadow is throwing attitude, and with a tone and glare like hers, I wouldn’t argue. Carmen’s face turns puce with outrage, her eyes darting wildly to Colton to overrule his second in command and chastise her for talking to her that way, manhandling her, but Colton inhales again, sighing heavily, and goes back to his previous position of sipping on his bottle of water. Carmen looks like she may self-implode and make Meadow’s and my day, after all.
Meadow slinks over to Cesar on one of the armchairs and crawls onto his lap, curling herself around him and nestling her butt against his crotch. I can’t help but watch the way he opens up and accepts her invasion, wrapping her in his arms willingly, and whispers something in her ear before she smiles at him sexily and flutters a kiss on his lips quickly. So fluid, no refusal, and no insecurity in her that he might not want her sat on him.
They’re entirely bonded in all ways, and although I haven’t seen her mark, I can tell it’s done. They have that connection oozing from both of them that says their union is finalized, and they can communicate on a deeper level than what we have so far. A mark can be wherever your mate decides to put it, although most males like to have it on show and put it on a femme’s throat, not all do. They’re known for territorial possessiveness, so it’s more common than not. Cesar is obviously very secure about his fiery hot femme, who can battle off males by herself.
I ache for that, wondering where Colton would choose to place his and have to tear my eyes away from him before Carmen kicks off again. My heart is beating a little too fast, and my soul yearns stronger than before. I miss his touch already.
I realize I’ve zoned out, blinking back to reality, and they’re talking about zones and patrols and something to do with the new containment areas. I try to listen in as Colton explains that they’re setting up homes in the valley to accommodate the families from other parts of the mountain tomorrow. That tents and temporary buildings will need to be erected, and they will convert the local bar and school on this side, along with the gym and the community hall. They have caravans and mobile homes coming out of storage for some, but many of the people they want to move closer refuse to leave their homes and unite on this side.
“You can’t force people to shift everything and up and leave to move a few miles. I get the why, but these people, they don’t want to leave their homes for a tent in the fields, Cole.” It’s Jesús, and I watch as they all lean forward, seriousness kicking in as they talk this out and freely throw in opinions. Everyone except me, and of course Carmen, who is focused on the conversation at hand and silently listening on the outskirts of the huddle, gazing longingly at Colton.
“We don’t know when another attack will come, and it’s easier to keep them safe if we have them here.” Colton shrugs, repeating what he’s been told, but a look flashing across his face tells me he disagrees. I almost will him to stop mimicking his father’s words and be honest with what he thinks we should be doing.
“Easier to control, you mean? We all know your father has been angling for supreme reign for years, and this sounds a lot like he’s trying to force the packs into one place, so they’re easier to police.” Mateo verbalizes what I guess I was thinking and feeling, surprising me that I’m not the only one. Colton throws a dangerous look at Mateo, a growl in the undercurrent as he jumps on the defensive over an insult aimed his father’s way, but Mateo doesn’t back down. “You know it, Cole. You know how he is. Tell me it’s better to coral people together when they have a device that can disable us all within one space, and I’ll drop it.”
Mateo talks sense, and I agree. Bringing the people together means we’re a sitting target if they use the same device. At least spread out, we have a chance of escaping the effects and fighting back. They can’t attack us all in one go with one of those things, surely.
I catch Colton glancing my way, something flickering across his eyes as he thinks, and then he turns back to Mateo. I miss the quick message in his look. Not sure what it meant.
“Okay, maybe. I mean, we always knew he would try to maneuver some sort of union around the mountain. I just didn’t think he would physically expect them to move here. The device, we don’t know enough to second guess what it would do to us all in the valley. What we brought back has a limited range.” Colton is uneasy, and I can tell he doesn’t like his pack questioning orders from above. He truly is hooked by the nose when it comes to his father, and I need to figure out how to get in there and remove the darn thing. Maybe I wasn’t paired with Colton so he could save me from my life; perhaps I was paired with him so that I could save him from his. The Fates work in mysterious ways, and things aren’t always obvious.
“You can’t keep tabs and instill fear into people if they’re not close enough to feel your wrath.” Radar butts in again, and it’s easy to see that Radar isn’t completely loyal to his Alpha when it comes to Juan Santo. There’s a hint of malice in that tone, definite sarcasm in what he said, and I glance to Colton to see if he reacts in any kind of way.
This entire conversation isn’t all that friendly where Juan is concerned, and Colton isn’t biting back in the way I expect. Outside, if anyone dared to offend his father, he would rip them a new one and leave their remains smeared across the mountain, so I’m a little surprised to find he lets them speak freely. I guess he respects them enough to let them be honest with their opinion, and nothing said is repeated outside of their circle of trust.
I’m envious for a moment, a longing of belonging I used to know well eating at me, and it pushes me to sit in the corner on a stool by the bar. Listening, but not part of this as it’s not my place, and they are not my pack. My opinions on this mean nothing.
“Whatever the reason, he wants us out tomorrow afternoon, driving to the other villages and changing minds.” Colton gazes at the floor this time. That same twinge of jaw muscle and the color of his eyes glow a little amber for a second. A hint he isn’t happy, his emotions in turmoil as I suddenly feel them strongly, and it only takes a second to find out why.
“Is he suggesting we apply force to families and children if they refuse to be re-homed?” It’s Cesar who bursts out with it, outrage in his tone, and almost accidentally evicts Meadow from his lap with his aggressive thrust, who looks equally startled, adjusting her position with a frown at him.
Colton remains silent, and the room also falls into silence as they take it in. I can feel and taste the confusion and disgust, but no one wants to be the first to say it. I gawp at him, not sure I heard that right, but looking from ashen face to ashen face of a group of people who all know what he means, I realize that’s exactly what Juan wants.
He expects his sub packs to go and forcefully remove people from their homes and into the valley floor on the south side. In the name of protecting them from attacks, the motive is bringing them in and taking control. He will not tolerate refusal, and I wonder what kind of punishment he plans to exact. Juan is a cold bastard of a man, and this isn’t even as low as I expect he’ll go. Juan always intended to push his agenda, and now he’s using the attack as his excuse. He hungers for power and reign across the packs and has been biding his time for so long.
They won’t be any safer camping in the valley than they will in their villages under the guard of patrols and watchers. Setting up alarm systems and training all who can fight how is a better use of their time. They can all work together to safeguard and improve security from their own homes. How will they care for and cater to the hundreds who live around the mountain skirt if they dump them all in the center of the valley on this side?
There are enough Santos to spread out successfully and patrol the mountain every night after dark; the only time vampires can come out. They can rest during the day. Raising the alarm is enough to get them there fast. The orphanage is proof that they can span miles in half the time of a human in a car, and if they had a warning, they would move to get there in time. With patrols already out there, the people would have way more expectations of getting through it. It makes no sense to bring them here. Mateo is right; this is about control.
“What good is gathering us all in one place. As Mateo said, they set off that machine, and every one of us, corralled in the valley, will be rendered useless. No one will be able to turn or fight back. It’s easier to massacre a race when we’re all laid out like fish in a bowl, and no one will be free of its effects if the only area we patrol is the valley. I’m sure they can make bigger, or use multiple, to hit us all at once.” Jesús is now on his feet, pacing, agitated, and getting worked up by the second. I’m feeling the restless unease spreading through them all like a virus as they mumble their agreement, and I keep looking to Colton to say something.
“This is pointless. Do you think I don’t think the same and that I didn’t try to reason with him? Nothing I said made a difference. It never does.” Colton stands up, losing his temper, agitated too, and utterly drained. I can feel it coming off him intensely, and his eyes lock on mine again as he catches me across the room, ignoring Carmen throwing hers his way.
“Come on, Lorey. I need to show you your new room. I’m too tired for this, and we all need to meet down at the mess hall for dawn. Go to bed, you reprobates. Stop arguing with me because it’s futile, and it’s not my place to make you obey him. We need sleep.”
I don’t need to be asked twice. I jump up, suddenly a little too excited at being alone with him again, and know it’s because I’ve mentally taken another path and have a plan in place. One that hopefully involves those beefy arms around me and the sexy mouth on mine once again. I go to follow him as soon as he makes a move towards the door, and I almost gloat at the way Carmen’s face crumbles.
“One of us could show her.” She snaps bitterly, and he spins his head back, stares down at her with a blank expression, and doesn’t move a step further.
“Yeah, you could, but that’s not what’s happening. I’m doing it.” He shrugs with one shoulder, his tone icy cold, and it seems to shut her up. Recoiling back as though she’s been burned, and I can tell he’s in no mood for more defiance or squabbling. Her eyes mist over with what I expect are fake tears, maybe not this time, and I try hard to figure out what it is he ever saw in her. Carmen’s a horrible person with a selfish, spoiled attitude, and I don’t like her.
At least I now know why he’s this way with her. The indifferent behavior and biting tone. Colton’s ego’s wounded, his pride dented, and as much as I don’t want to believe he had any feelings for her after we imprinted, I can feel the hurt in him radiating outwards. He maybe doesn’t love her anymore in the way he used to, but he cared enough that he thought he could salvage their pairing until she hurt him. Her betrayal in that way cut him deep, and he’s lost all respect and trust for her, which doesn’t bode well in a sub pack.