Chapter 4 #2
A man steps up beside me and slips his hand into mine. I whip my head to the left, my gaze clashing with an alpha with gray-blue eyes, short dirty blond hair, and the most perfect sun-kissed tanned skin. His scent curls around me, so warm and safe, I instantly want to snuggle.
A dimple creases his left cheek when he smiles down at me. “Callum. Sorry I’m late. We didn’t have an invitation.”
This is like a dream come true.
I return his smile. “How’d you get in?”
He leans in and whispers into my ear, “Rammed the front gate. Shhh. Don’t tell anyone.”
I clap a hand over my mouth to contain my giggle, yanking my gaze away from Ms. Arkwright when she catches my eye.
“We appreciate that you have an interest in Juniper, but we’ve chosen an alpha for her,” Ms. Arkwright announces, trying to wrestle back control of the situation.
She’s fighting a losing battle. There’s no way my scent matches are going to let me go, and I’m willing to fight just as hard for them, even if that involves using my stiletto as a weapon. If that causes my mother to faint, then so be it.
“Unfortunately, that other guy seems to be no longer interested,” Torin says dryly, pointing to the space where Sinclair Parrish was standing but has slipped away, probably to get medical attention for the wrist Archer broke.
Ms. Arkwright stares blankly at the empty space for a few seconds before her gaze shifts back to the three alphas currently using their bodies to shield me. “Pack Wells, you said?” she asks them.
And I know exactly whose bites I’m going to wear on my throat.
Theirs.
“I’m sorry,” Callum says.
We’re dancing across the ballroom in my parents' house after the mate bonding ceremony at Haven Academy. It’s nearly ten, and I have a feeling my parents are regretting their decision to host a party to celebrate the happy occasion.
With my new mates being Pack Wells, naturally, everyone crowded my mom for an invitation before she could slip out of the room, cancel the pre-planned party, and pretend she only had one, less embarrassing, daughter.
So now we’re all at my parents’ mansion, enjoying champagne, tiny canapés and dancing before my alphas take me home.
Is his scent too much? Not enough? I don’t know what it is, but I’m leaning into it, sinking into the syrupy, scent-drunk state again, and I am loving every single minute of it.
“What for?” I ask him, tilting my head up to meet his blue-gray gaze.
Callum’s hand on the base of my spine is driving me crazy. I keep wanting to nuzzle him, and he seems to be fighting the same urges. We’re barely moving, and if we don’t separate soon, we’ll be giving my family more of a show than they would ever want to see.
“You should have known more than just my name before I bit you.” His eyes flick to my throat, and I feel the impact of that heated look right between my thighs. “Before we all bit you.”
My mind flashes back to the soft groan he let out against my skin as his arm wrapped tightly around my waist. It hadn’t hurt as much as I thought it would, probably because it was more arousing than I expected for a bite hard enough to break skin and leave a permanent scar.
I’ve been bitten, claimed, and bonded to three alphas, and I couldn’t be any happier about it.
My gaze finds Torin standing near the refreshment table. He holds a glass of champagne as he talks with Archer. Neither of them are wearing a suit or even a tie. Somewhere, my mother is crying into her champagne about it while my dad tries to console her by saying no one will judge her for it.
Torin flashes me a grin, and I return it. He nearly danced me right off the dance floor and outside to my parents' garden. With all the dirty things he whispered into my ear that he wanted to do to me, I nearly let him.
Archer doesn’t smile. He captures my gaze and holds it with such a knowing look in his eyes that I blush, remembering the kiss he pressed against my throat, almost right in front of my parents.
He told me he doesn’t dance, but maybe later, when it's just us, he might. But only with me.
I’m the luckiest girl in the world.
“We have the rest of our lives to learn everything about each other,” I say, once I’ve lost sight of Archer and Torin. “Archer isn’t drinking any champagne.”
“And he won’t,” Callum says. “He’s wary of new places and new people. More than the rest of us.”
I scrunch my nose. Conscious that we’re the center of attention on the dance floor, I keep my voice down so no one can eavesdrop. They’d have to strain to hear over the band, but I’d rather not accidentally spill any of Pack Wells’ secrets in a crowded room. “Why?”
“Because he lost the people he loved, and the person who found him treated him as a thing to be used and disposed of.”
“Who did that?”
He shakes his head, smiling sadly at me. “That’s a long and boring conversation.”
“I don’t think it is. It feels like a painful one. Can I help?”
His smile grows. “You are already helping.” His lips brush mine, and my breath catches.
“My parents are watching,” I whisper. “You shouldn’t kiss me here.”
“Because you don’t like it?” he says, voice husky as his eyes linger on my mouth.
“Because I like it too much.” Our lips brush again. My stomach clenches, my pussy tingles, and I wish the ground were a mattress that Callum would lay me down on.
Someone clears their throat. Loudly. And it must be very loud if I can hear it that clearly over the guitarist.
Swallowing my smile, I inch away from Callum. “That was my mom.”
His eyes flick to the left, and he makes a face. “Yeah, she hates me.”
“She’s hosting, so she won’t be rude, but inside, she is wishing you were at the bottom of the sea.”
“I believe you.” His eyes return to my mouth, and the hunger in them has me forgetting I even have parents. “I want to take you home.”
Need is infecting him as much as it is me. It is eating us both alive.
“What will we do at home?”
“Things we shouldn’t talk about on a dance floor.”
We’d be running out on our own party. My parents would not be happy. But tonight is about us. About our happiness, and the start of the rest of our lives together.
“Okay.” I step back. “Wait a second. I have to say goodbye to my sister first.”
River is hiding out by the refreshment table, as usual. She’s never been a big fan of parties and has always been a little shy. We talked earlier, just the two of us, and she gave me a present to open in my new home.
“For if you ever feel homesick, and for something to do when you can’t sleep at night,” she told me shyly. I’d nearly knocked her to the floor with my hug, tears in my eyes because I’d known exactly what it was.
I draw her into another tight hug, inhaling her sweet and buttery toffee scent and already missing her. Tomorrow morning, she’s going back to Haven Academy to live on campus where students aren’t allowed to have cell phones, and I’ll only see her when she has a break for the holidays.
“Never settle, sis,” I whisper into her ear. “Something amazing could be just around the corner. If you settle, you’ll miss it.”
“You’re that happy?” she asks, brown eyes hopeful.
I grin at her. “I’ve never been happier. This is the start of my happily ever after.”