Chapter 41
The next destination we end up at is a vampire-themed club that they must’ve renovated after the Last War.
Everything from the blood bags filled with alcohol to the bloody wallpaper and coffin-shaped tables screams classic vampire.
I would think that they would hate playing into the stereotype that the humans created, but maybe this is their way of reclaiming that power.
A girl walking around with vials of blood stops to offer Kole one, shooting Sienna and me an irritated glance. Kole waves her off, and she hisses at me like his dismissal of her was somehow my fault.
“First things first.” Sienna grabs a hold of the purse on my shoulder and tears the leather jacket off me.
She sprints over to the bar, handing our things over to one of the bartenders and points to Kole, saying something.
The bartender nods and dips down, securing our belongings somewhere behind the bar.
When she comes back over to join us, she’s holding three tequila shots.
We each cheers and toss them back before she grabs a hold of my hand and drags me toward the dance floor.
I glance over my shoulder to see if Kole is following, but find him already sitting on one of the barstools, ordering a drink from the bartender who took our things.
When Sienna and I start dancing in the middle of the crowded dance floor, I earn more than a few dirty looks from random girls who seem to not appreciate their partners’ wandering eyes.
While their hisses and snarls are drowned out by the blaring music, I continue to sway my hips, running my hands over my body seductively.
If they want a show, then I’ll give them one.
I grab Sienna’s hand and twirl her around as we fall into rhythm with the music.
Eventually, most of them seem to accept my presence, only glancing over at me every once in a while.
I suppose as far as they know, I’m still Thane’s pet, so maybe that’s why they seem to tolerate me.
Or maybe they’re just curious about the human girl living among them.
Either way, I’ll take that over being completely ostracized.
I had enough of that when the humans ruled the world.
“You ladies look like you could use a drink.”
I turn around to notice two werewolves crowding around us. One is covered in intricate tattoos, while the other is roguishly handsome with dark features that would make every girl in here weak in the knees.
“I do feel a bit parched. What about you, Fallon?” Sienna says from behind me.
“I suppose I could use a drink,” I agree, shamelessly eyeing the two men.
They guide us to the bar, and I glance over at Kole to flash him a look that says, “Don’t make a scene,” but instead, I see him talking to a tall blonde with her hand on his arm.
Anger immediately consumes me as jealousy flares to life, watching him look at her while she laughs.
I have no right to be jealous, but I can’t help it.
Even if I have every intention of keeping him in the friend zone, I still don’t want to see him with someone else, which I’m well aware is beyond selfish of me.
I should want him to be happy. Besides, it’s not like there’s even a flicker of a future for us, so why shouldn’t he flirt with a super-hot blonde bombshell?
“Fallon, did you hear him?”
“Huh? What?” I ask, turning back to Sienna and the guys.
“He asked what you want to drink,” she says, looking at me like she’s trying to figure out where my mind just went.
“Oh, Tequila Sunrise, please.” I offer a smile to the one covered in tattoos, and he motions for the bartender.
“So, Alpha let you out of the house tonight, huh?” The one with the dark beard and prominent brows moves to stand next to me while his friend orders the drinks and strikes up a conversation with Sienna.
“Something like that.” I shrug, looking up at him with flirtatious eyes.
If Kole is going to have fun with someone tonight, then so am I.
“You know if he were here, he’d probably rip my heart out just for talking to you.”
I take a step closer so that my arm brushes against his. “Well, then it’s a good thing he’s not here.”
The way his dark brown eyes narrow on my lips lets me know I’ve got him right where I want him. I’ve always been good at getting guys to bend to my will. Werewolf. Human. Doesn’t really matter. Men are simple beings who will take the bait every time.
“A Tequila Sunrise for the human,” the tatted one says, passing out the drinks.
For a moment, Kole’s eyes meet mine, and it feels like my heart has been jump-started with a defibrillator. The high of it only lasts a split second before the woman standing between his legs, leans her big ass head to the side, blocking our view of each other.
I quickly down my drink and slide my empty glass to one of the female bartenders. She pauses, glancing down at my neck, where the mark is on full display.
“You’re the human pet?” she asks, looking me over.
“Unfortunately.”
I hate having to keep up this ruse that I’m still Thane’s prisoner. I mean, I understand why it has to be this way, given the fact that he’s the Alpha and all, but it’s going to get really old always having to play victim.
“You wanna have some fun?” she asks, flashing me a mischievous look that takes me by surprise.
She shoots up onto the bar top using her vampire speed and reaches out a hand. I take it while one of the guys grabs a hold of my waist and tosses me up onto the bar.
“Any human who can walk into a club crawling with vampires and werewolves has my respect.” She hands me a bottle of vodka with a pour spout. “Just so you know, not everyone wanted genocide.”
“Thanks…”
“Veronica,” she says, offering me her hand.
“Fallon.”
The two of us smile at one another as we shake hands, and something about it feels significant. Like we’ve just agreed to some sort of truce between our kinds, even though we’ve done no such thing.
“Who wants a shot?” she calls out, holding up the bottle.
The bar is already crowded, but more people come flooding over when she begins pouring shots into their mouths.
She nods to me encouragingly, and I follow her lead, making my way down the bar.
When I reach Sienna, she leans her head back, and I give her a hefty pour that ends up dripping down her chin when she starts to laugh.
“My turn,” the bearded werewolf purrs, looking up at me.
I squat down and grab a hold of his chin as he leans his head back. His hands inch up my thighs while I pour the alcohol down his throat, and not one part of me feels the need to stop him.
He swallows back the vodka, and I run my thumb over his bottom lip, wiping away the remnants. All of a sudden, his head is slammed down into the bar in front of me.
“Kole!” I scream, standing back up.
Blood immediately gushes from the wolf’s broken nose when he lifts his head, looking a bit dazed. He whirls around to see who attacked him, but Kole grabs him by the throat, digging his nails into his neck so deeply that blood begins to trickle down his deep bronze skin.
“Touch her again, and it’ll be your neck I break,” Kole threatens with a vicious snarl.
He releases his hold on the werewolf, and the two men retreat into the crowd without a fight.
“What the hell is your problem?” I sneer, looking down at Kole as he runs his hand through his hair.
“Get down,” he orders, holding out his hand.
“No! You don’t get to tell me what to do!” I turn my back on him and stride down the bar fueled with fury.
What the hell has gotten into him? I could understand if Thane reacted that way, but Kole? That’s so unlike him.
“Looks like Alpha’s still got you on a leash,” Veronica mutters, shooting me a sympathetic look.
“We’ll see about that.”
I make my way over to one of the male vampires who has been eyeing me and squat down in front of him.
“Hey, baby. Let me get some of that,” he says, nodding to the bottle in my hand.
I look over and see Kole glaring at me from the other end of the bar like a controlling ex-boyfriend, but I’m done being controlled.
“Open your mouth,” I order to the vampire standing in front of me.
He turns around and leans his head backward with his mouth open.
I glance at Kole, tossing him a quick smirk before pouring a shot of vodka into my mouth and spitting it into the vampire’s.
“You might want to run,” I advise to the guy when I turn back and see the rage burning in Kole’s eyes.
The vampire looks at me, then at Kole, and takes off in a blur, clearly having no desire to go up against his Alpha’s brother. I stand back up, handing the vodka bottle to Veronica, and she runs her eyes down me approvingly.
“You’re my kind of girl.”
I toss her a wink and slip off the bar, disappearing into the crowd. I’m on my way back to Sienna when Kole grabs me and pins me to the wall with a growl.
“You think that’s funny?” he sneers, as I look up at him with a taunting grin.
“What the hell is going on with you tonight?” I attempt to push him back, but he stays planted, caging me against the wall with his arms.
“If Thane were here, he’d kill any guy who even looked at you the wrong way.”
“But he’s not here!” I snap.
“It doesn’t matter! As far as everyone knows, you’re still his pet, which means no one is to lay a hand on you.”
I roll my eyes, turning away from him. “It’s not like they were hurting me.”
Kole snatches my chin, turning my face back. “That would’ve been preferred to them touching you with lust burning in their eyes.”
The two of us stare daggers at one another, like we’re in some kind of standoff, and I hate it, but not enough to back down.
“Are you going to let me go dance with Sienna, or is she not allowed to touch me either?”
Kole finally steps away, but his anger remains fully intact. “Let’s go.”
“Excuse me?” I demand, folding my arms.
“If you go out there dancing like how you were before, I’m going to have to kill every motherfucker who even thinks about putting his hands on you.”
“So what? You’re just going to stand there like a fucking bodyguard, scaring everyone off?” I shake my head. “You were supposed to be the fun brother.”
“I still am.” The corners of his mouth curve up, and he reaches for my arm.
In a breath, I’m standing in front of Sienna, who is grinding up against some random guy with bulging muscles.
Her eyes dart from me to Kole, clearly picking up on the tension radiating between us, but just as I’m about to ask her to go to the bathroom, Kole grabs me by the waist, pulling me into him.
I whirl around, taking a step back. “What are you doing?”
“You want to dance, and I don’t want any guys thinking they can make a move.”
“So you think I’m going to dance with you after you’ve scared everyone else off?”
He shrugs. “You said yourself I’m a good dancer.”
“That was back when you were dressed like Kevin Bacon and not acting like a total asshole.”
Kole grabs a hold of my waist and pulls me into him again. “Come on, Grey. Let me show you that I’m still the fun brother.”
His voice is seductive, and the way he’s looking down at me is making my body buzz with nervous energy.
“What about the blonde you were talking to?” I ask, as I run my hands up his chest, clasping them behind his neck.
“What about her?” he says flatly, as we both begin to sway back and forth to the music.
“Wouldn’t you rather be dancing with her?”
“No.”
He says it with so much conviction it makes my heart beat out of rhythm.
“Why not? She’s hot, and you two seemed to be getting along,” I press despite feeling the relentless envy stirring up with images of her touching him.
His eyes narrow on me as he forces me closer, leaving barely an inch of space between us.
“She was just a distraction. Nothing more.”
Before I can ask him what she was a distraction from, Kole whirls me around so that my back is to him.
His hands fall to my hips, and Sienna looks at me with a smirk that says she’s loving it.
There’s only a second of resistance before I begin dancing, giving in to the tequila and the music.
All thoughts of keeping Kole in the friend zone seem to fade the longer his body is pressed against mine.
It feels like I’m walking on a tightrope, clinging to it as gravity threatens to pull me from safety.
I know being this close to him will only make things worse, but it’s as if my soul is screaming at me that in his arms is exactly where I should be.
To everyone else it probably looks like Kole is just playing with his brother’s pet, but they couldn’t be more wrong.
If anyone is playing with me, it’s the universe.
Somehow, it feels like no matter how much I try to take control of my life, someone else is pulling the strings.
I keep finding myself caught in the middle, suspended between two versions of reality.
A human living in a world run by vampires and werewolves.
Freed by a contract, only to have to keep up appearances in public.
Bound by a mark and an Alpha, all while feeling pulled to his brother.
There are so many invisible chains restricting me that it feels like I’m slowly being crushed by their hold.
I turn around to face Kole, silently telling the universe to, “Fuck off.” His hands press against my lower back, injecting me with a shot of adrenaline that courses throughout my body within seconds.
I didn’t know I could feel so safe with someone while also feeling like I’m free-falling through an endless sky.
“I’m sorry I ruined your night,” he says, true sincerity lacing his words.
“You didn’t,” I promise, running my fingers up the back of his neck and into his hair.
In this moment, I can’t remember why I was even mad at him for scaring off the other guys. It’s not like they really mattered. The only guy who matters in this whole club is the one standing in front of me. Anyone else was just going to be a substitute for the real thing.