4. Chapter Four
Chapter Four
16 years old
“ W hat is it?” I asked, eyeing the clear liquid in the shot glass.
“Baijiu. I think…” Elliot replied. He and Callie had talked me into coming to this party to stop my moping.
Two years on and Axel and Lauren were still going strong. Yesterday at dinner, he’d told us she’d got a spot at Raynard Uni, the closest large city, so they ‘wouldn’t even have to do long distance’. He’d said it cheerfully, too, like he wasn’t crushing my withering heart in the palm of his hand.
Realistically, that was it now. She would go to uni, and in three years, she’d return to her beau, and he’d build them the loveliest fucking den ever, and I would die alone.
I necked the baijiu and winced. It was strong and burned something awful going down my throat.
“More, please,” I said, holding out the glass to Elliot.
Several hours and many shots later, Elliot and I were dancing together on top of Jia’s dining table.
Jia always threw the best house parties; her mum often had to travel for business, and their house was huge.
I could feel eyes on me, and it made me up the ante. Grinding my arse into Elliot’s crotch in a way that was only okay because, well, it was Elliot, and he wouldn’t read anything into it. We were both omegas, after all.
I glanced over my shoulder, hoping to spot a set of dark brown eyes lined with thick lashes looking back at me, but instead, I found a set of blue.
“Who’s the blue-eyed hottie alpha?” I muttered under my breath to Elliot as we continued to dance. He skillfully manoeuvred us to take a better look.
“Oh boy. Trouble is who he is. That’s Jia’s new stepbrother, Adam. Moved here a couple of weeks ago.”
Adam. I let the name roll around in my head. Similar to Axel, but not.
“How old is he?” I asked.
“Seventeen, he’s my year,” Elliot replied.
Seventeen. I could definitely work with seventeen.
“Let’s go get a drink,” I said, tugging Elliot with me in the direction of the kitchen where Callie was holding court to a bunch of alphas. It just so happened to also be where Adam was.
I pretended not to notice him, brushing past him on my way to the fridge to grab a lemonade. I smelled him, though, and he smelled good. When I spun back around, his eyes met mine, and he didn’t break eye contact.
“Omega,” he said in a low gravelly voice.
I bristled a little. “It’s Dylan, actually,” I said, with as much sass as I could pour into it.
He chuckled. “I like that. Got some fire in you, Dylan.”
“Well, I am pretty hot.”
His gaze raked over my body from head to toe. “Isn’t that a fact?” He grinned, and I could feel the spark of something.
After I finished my drink, Adam followed me into the living room, where several couples were making out on the sofa.
He sat down on the floor, his back leaning against the wall with his legs outstretched and patted the patch of carpet next to him. I joined, sitting with my knees pulled up to my chest.
“So, Dylan, what do you do for fun around here?” he asked, picking at some lint on the shaggy carpet.
Do not tell him about your knitting projects.
“Um, this, I guess? In autumn, we usually have a bonfire on the weekends in Vixen Woods,” I explained.
“Party boy?”
“I could be,” I replied, trying to sound flirtatious. Adam had the palest blue eyes. Like a frozen lake, peeking through a dusting of snow.
“What about you? You’re new here, right?”
“Yep. My alpha dad has a new family now, and then my omega dad met an alpha here and wanted to move. Seems a waste of time starting over for a year only to head to uni and start over again.”
“What are you gonna study at uni?” I asked. My brother often acted as though my desire to carry on learning made me the odd one out.
“Medicine.”
“Wow. Know where you wanna go?”
“Just somewhere far away.”
“From here?”
“Not sure.”
“Very mysterious,” I said, smirking at him.
“Working though, isn’t it? You’re totally into me.” We both laughed at that. His was deep and vibrated from his chest in a way that made my stomach swoop. “What about you, little omega, big dreams?”
“English lit and creative writing. Also somewhere far from here, but I’ll try not to cramp your style,” I replied, winking at him.
Adam reached over, brushing an errant brown curl out of my eye. Then he cupped my jaw and pressed the pad of his thumb to my bottom lip. Without really thinking, I kissed it. And the next thing I knew, his lips were on mine, soft but firm.
I’d never kissed anyone before. I wasn’t sure exactly how I felt about his wet tongue slipping inside my mouth, but it made me feel desired and wanted. Made a warm sensation build in my belly. I wanted more of it.
I straddled his legs to continue the kiss, letting my tongue touch his and exploring the sensation. His hands rubbed up and down my back, but he didn’t press for more, even though I could feel how turned on he was.
And then, all of a sudden, my lips were ripped from his, and I was being dragged backwards by my t-shirt.
“What the fuck?” I sputtered, confused. Adam’s eyes were dilated, and his gaze kept darting between me and whoever had just ruined my first kiss.
I followed Adam’s line of sight only to find a very large and angry Axel towering over us both with his teeth bared. And was that… was he growling?
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know he was claimed. I’m sorry,” Adam kept saying with his hands raised defensively.
“I’m not fucking claimed! And certainly not by him,” I squawked, pointing at Axel. “What the fuck Axel, why would you do that?” I asked.
“I… You’re… He was taking advantage of you. He’s too old for you.” Axel sniffed the air before adding, “And you’re drunk,” he tried to justify.
“He’s seventeen, arsehole. And like you didn’t drink at my age.” I huffed. “What are you even doing here?”
I spotted Cooper standing a little further back than Axel, looking equally perplexed by his actions.
“Lei invited us,” Axel said through gritted teeth. Lei was Jia’s older brother; he was in the same year as them.
“Just you and Coop?” I asked.
“Sorry babe, there was some kid vomming in the toilet. Have you got a drink already?” the perpetually cheery Lauren said. Bouncing over in that bouncy way, she did. “What’s going on?” she asked when she spotted the weird standoff going on between Axel and Adam.
“Absolutely nothing, Lauren. You guys have a lovely night. Adam and I are gonna go find somewhere a little more… private,” I said, really enunciating the last word as I made eye contact with Axel.
Before he could reply, I tugged Adam out of the living room and into the garden, where the wall of cold air sobered me up a bit.
“What was that about?” Adam asked.
I rubbed my palms over my bare arms, trying to get warm.
“Here, wear this.” Adam wrapped his jacket around my shoulders.
“That was my brother’s best friend, Axel.”
“Ahh, I think I’ve read that one,” he replied, and I snorted a laugh because he probably had. “Let me guess, you’ve had heart-eyes for him forever, and he sees you as a surrogate baby brother?”
“Something like that, yep,” I admitted for the first time out loud to a near-perfect stranger at that. But there was something warm and kind about Adam, and I decided then that Elliot had been wrong; Adam wasn’t trouble at all.
“Well, my year here could be a lot more interesting if I spend it pissing off an obstinate alpha.”
I grinned. Okay, so maybe he wouldn’t be trouble for me. “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
“Louis?” Adam arched an eyebrow at me in question and I rolled my eyes.
“Casablanca, you heathen.”