Elise was more than relieved that she could meet that man now, but from their gaze, she could tell there was something else to it.
“What is it?” She asked the twin brothers.
“As we said, our father's mental condition isn’t all that stable for years now, and his chambers are hardly opened out to the public because of that, but the festival in two days will be the perfect opportunity,” Hayden explained. "So, you have to wait a few days, please.”
It’s just a few days; there’s no harm since they’ve assured her that she’d be able to meet their chief, she thought, so she nodded in agreement.
Though it slows down her plans to leave the pack soon, she sees something almost like relief on Hayden’s face when she agrees to stay another day. *Stop letting your heart show on your sleeves, brother,* Holden channels, but he ignores it.
“I’ll take you back,” he tells Elise. She spares a short glance at Holden but is met with a smirk that has her confused as to what it means. She follows Hayden as they walk back to the path leading to Abby’s home. Today was tiring enough as it is. “I’m sorry for how my brother acted; it was out of line and...”
“Don’t worry, I still won, didn’t I?” Elise muttered, and Hayden’s eyes shone with awe, a gaze that she could recognize as admiration. Almost immediately, she stopped smiling at him, fixing back her cold expression to lick out anyone. She didn’t want to be out in the situation, to be cared for yet lied to again.
"Goodnight, Hayden,” she calls, quietly shutting the door. She closes her eyes to stop her mind from flashing back those memories of being betrayed by people she trusted; these were her people. And Hayden was... ugh, she didn’t know how to describe what he was to her at this point.
She goes to sleep with a doubtful mind that has her wolf trashing all night, but sleep is lackluster; she wakes up with eye bags, cleaning up quickly before she takes up a task to meet him. But today felt all too weird, maybe because Hayden had been the first person she’d set her eyes on; he was relentless with being where she was and always in her sight.
But today he’s nowhere to be found, which made her feel a bit out of the ordinary. This time she was alone, and by evening she saw two familiar men who were Hayden’s friends, his betas.
Jax and Brady walked by the clinic; she came out of the door with a call to them, and both their eyes widened with surprise when they saw her. Brady, on the other hand, couldn’t stop being in awe of her beauty. "Hello, pretty girl,” Brady starts, but gets decked on his side with Jax’s elbow.
“Hi, I was wondering if you'd seen Hayden. I need to talk to him about something,” she asked both betas. They had this knowing yet secretive gaze as they gave each other a quick look of apprehension before they chorused.
“No idea.” It felt like they were hiding something.
“Well, I have an idea." Holden's voice echoed from behind, his smile filled with mischief. “I know exactly where my brother is, and I can bring you to him.”
Jax glared at Holden, trying to send a signal for him to shut up, but he ignored it. Elise's attention was now fully turned to him, her brows raised to her studying gaze. "Oh, come on, you don’t think I’d do anything to you, El? You won fair and square.”
“That's Elise to you. Lead the way.” She says, with a defiant smile, that Holden's lips also curl up in a cunning smile before he leads the way.
“The males have our cabins where we stay, more like privacy quarters, for our rut and such,” he explains as she leads her down the short route. Especially with activities we males are allowed to, my brother had a specific taste, should I say?” he mutters.
“He doesn’t let anyone into his cabin, not even me, so he had other places for his...promiscuous activities.”
Elise is confused, wondering why he’s going in circles with his words. “He prepares barrooms and more inclined spaces for his hobbies." He says it with a smirk. “Don’t worry, we just have to wait for him,” he says.
They head into a place called a tavern. The stench of wine and people’s scent filled her nostrils, almost making her dizzy. The life band, by the end, had people pleased and dancing sensually on the dance floor, making the whole room alive. “Over here,” Holden calls over the music as Elise follows him and walks up the steps to the open space.
She felt uncomfortable taking a step away from the crowd and out to another door that Holden pointed out for her. Only if she’d known why she was walking into...
*****
“Ahh! Fuck! Deeper!” A female mutters, her skirt ridden up as she straddles the alpha, his member plunged into her hole as her body writhed from the delicious ride of his cock. "Please, Hayden,” she moaned.
Her breast jiggled with each thrust of his length in her drenched hole, but it wasn’t enough; he wanted that lavender scent on his skin and his tongue.
The image of a redhead filled his mind as he fucked the brunette deeper. He held onto his hair, the pleasure immense. He wanted her. He wanted her.
He feels her sex clamp harder on his cock, his growls in her neck, his breath hearts as he reaches the edge of his climax, her name hot on his tongue as he pushes in his length. “Elise, Elise, Elise!” His wolf howls her name as he roars it out as he reaches his climax.
In that moment, the door opens up. His eyes meet familiar, icy blue ones, Elise. The look of shock on her face as she slams the door. She had heard everything. He heard her name on his tongue while he fucked another woman. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” he hears her mutter.
Hayden pulls his pants up, getting away from the female as she walks up. “El, this ain’t what it looks like!” He calls down the stairs the scent of his coming rut looming in the air.
“It is exactly what it looks like, and I am no one to judge; I mean, you are a single and very healthy male, so do not stop on my account!” She mutters, hurrying down the steps. But Hayden catches her arm.
He puts her against the wall with his hands firmly on her shoulders. “El,” he pleads, having no idea how to explain; she isn’t wrong. They were nothing to each other, as it was casual and well-accepted for a single male to frequent bars and satisfy his cravings.
She feels his heated breath on her lips; his stare is so stern and dark. For a fleeting moment, she thinks he’s going to kiss her; he was wondering if she wasn’t going to move, so she says this.
“We are nothing but strangers. It does not matter if you fuck or even mate, and I do not know you enough to care,” she mutters. “I will be out of your hair tomorrow after the festival,” she mutters to him, his grip on her loosening. “Good night, Hayden.”
And Elise ignored even her orders to turn back to him; she hated that she was feeling this from a man she barely knew. Maybe due to the fact that he acted so caring.
But this is what she chooses now: she chooses to close her heart from anyone so she won’t ever be broken apart from trusting anyone.
Never again.