Chapter 16 Sleepover at the Alpha’s House
Wynn
“Bane’s waiting for you in the kitchen.”
Josh sends me off to find my cousin while he works on sneaking Marlow into the apartment unseen.
Inside, the lights are dimmed in honor of our arrival, but I don't need my enhanced senses to navigate.
Though they haven't lived here long, I've already been here so often that the place feels like a second home.
Bane doesn't love coming to my place since he thinks my roommate is "too much.
" Guess he has that in common with Marlow.
The kitchen overlooks a bustling city street, and it's a great view, but all the curtains are shut tight when I enter, blocking out the world.
I find Bane behind the counter, fists resting on the grey and white marble, his expression grim.
"What have you gotten yourself into, Wynn Blackwood?" comes the deep rumble.
"Believe me, I’ve been asking myself the same question."
If any other Alpha with hard-packed muscle loomed over me with murder in his eyes, I might turn with my tail between my legs and bolt. But the stern Alpha act only lasts another second before Bane’s striding over and wrapping me in a tight hug.
There he is, my best friend and cousin. Questioning my judgment but still totally in my corner. That's family. It's good to see him.
"I’m so sorry for dragging you guys into this," I say as soon as we pull apart.
Bane raises an eyebrow. "Do you think that’s what happened? Josh and I have been trying to track you down since you left. We want to help.”
"Well, I'm sorry there's something for you to get involved in."
"Come on, man. Have a beer. Bet you could use one."
My cousin has two cold beers with the caps popped off and ready to go, one for each of us. And that’s what makes him my best friend.
"When did you realize something was going on?" I ask after taking a long drink.
"Almost immediately," Bane replies, which hurts my pride a little.
"Wow, am I really that obvious?"
"If you were that obvious, you'd be caught," he retorts with a smirk.
"You texted me complaining about some mystery man without sharing the details like usual.
Not once did you mention you'd caught an intruder and brag. Then you were gone and Iron Pack lost a prisoner at the same time. I wondered if it was all connected.”
Bane suspected me from the very beginning. Yet he started searching for me instead of turning me in. That’s what makes him my family and my best friend.
Now comes the hard part. I steel myself, taking a deep breath. "Okay. Lay it on me."
"What?" Bane looks momentarily confused.
"The lecture," I clarify. "How could I get myself into this? How could I help a fugitive? Haven't I learned my lesson from Ava, Dante, or any of my horrible exes?"
Bane glowers at the names of my former partners. "No one knows your track record better than me."
"So let me have it."
He shrugs. "Nothing to say."
"Really?" I challenge, not quite convinced.
Bane simply nods, taking a swig of his beer.
A timer dings, breaking the silence.
"Are you cooking something?" I didn't pick up on anything. Sniffing the air to be sure, no scent catches my attention.
"The oven is done preheating." Bane retrieves a box of frozen pizza from the freezer and peels off the plastic wrap, revealing frozen slices of red and green peppers, black olives, and mushrooms atop the stiff, cold cheese.
Huh. I make a face at the pizza and Bane laughs.
"Josh's doing," he says with a huff, rolling his eyes. "He noticed that I add meat even on the meat lover's, so he thought it was the perfect opportunity to sneak some veggies in under the 'mountain of meat.' We still load it up with sausage and pepperoni."
"We've been doing that since we were kids," I say. In a house full of werewolves, our definition of 'meat lovers' wasn't quite the same as a regular person.
Bane pulls packages of pre-sliced meat from his fridge. Italian sausage and pepperoni, the spicy aroma hits my nose immediately. My mouth waters at the scent. I grab the pepperoni, he picks up the sausage, and we get to work.
"You take a chance on people," Bane says. "You see something in them."
"I'm wrong a lot," I admit, my gaze fixed on the pepperoni I steadily apply to cover the vegetables.
"Yeah," Bane agrees. "And then you're in my kitchen or my car or we're jogging in the woods, and you're lamenting about how you can't believe you didn't see it sooner. Down on yourself, down on dating, down on everything for a few days. Then you pick yourself up and move on."
"So this is a new low?" I ask, half-joking.
"It's new, alright," Bane says. He seems to take great joy in covering up all the black olives with the sausage slices. Personally, I think it's kinda sweet Josh buys veggie pizzas. As a fellow werewolf, he must like meat as much as us, but he also cares enough to sneak in some healthy things too.
"The thing is," he continues. "Once you take a chance and it doesn't work out, you move on. And here, it would have been so easy to leave this guy in a cell once you doubted him. Even when you weren't sure if you could trust him, you went with your instincts. There had to be a reason."
I grimace."You're not going to like it."
"You're sleeping with him?" He tosses me a smirk as he reaches for his beer bottle. "Figured that."
"No! No, I'm not," I correct him hastily. "It's... it's more than that."
"What are you saying?"
I lay out the details, confessing Marlow might be my mate while his expression morphs from 'supportive best friend' to 'protective, rage filled Alpha.'
"Now are you going to give me the lecture?" I wonder.
Bane drains the rest of his beer, setting the bottle down so hard it's a wonder the thing doesn't shatter. "If he's lying, I'm gonna kill him."
"He's not lying," I tell him immediately. "But he could be wrong."
Bane rubs his temple and sighs. "Then that just proves my point, doesn't it?
This isn't a sure thing, but you don't seem willing to let him go.
Maybe that means something. Hell, maybe it's a good thing you dated so many losers.
You're used to giving people a chance. If you weren't, you would have dismissed this guy immediately. "
Like all my dating disasters were just practice to get me ready for the moment the real thing crept into my pack's territory and his ass got tossed in the dungeons? Huh. That sentimental theory is entirely too tempting, so I crack a joke.
"Wow, are you going soft on me?"
"Don't tell anyone," he says wryly. "I've had reason to get back in touch with the more…
romantic side of myself." His eyes drift down to the cute oven mitts on the counter Josh picked out, which look like little doggies.
"Look, I kind of hate this guy on general principle.
But at least you already know exactly the mess you're getting into here.”
"Maybe I'm an idiot," I suggest.
"I don't think so. You may make some bad calls, but your heart's always in the right place." He nudges me with an elbow fondly. "That part hasn't changed."
Except there’s one problem. "But if we're really mates, why haven't I Recognized him?"
"I don't know, man. Just... be careful." He puts a hand on my shoulder. "But if you are meant to be, you gotta trust that it will all work out."
Bane loads the pizza in the oven while I lean against the counter. But my mind isn’t on dinner.
My cousin might be right. I hope he is. That’s the problem. I think Marlow is different from my terrible exes. It would be so easy to just fall into him and not come up for air. But where would that leave me? I'm not sure he's my mate, but Marlow Maddox is entirely the kind of man I could fall for.
It was hard to see at first or maybe I didn't want to see. Now that I do, I can't unsee it.
But that doesn’t mean we want the same things. Hell, Marlow not being interested in love could be interfering and preventing us from Recognizing each other if we are mates. What if I end up wanting more than Marlow's willing to give?